After Naruto and Sasuke left, the other children immediately erupted into excited chatter.
“What was that just now?
Some kind of clone?”
“No way!
Clones can attack people?”
“Since when did Naruto become that strong?”
“And Sasuke used such a powerful Fire Release jutsu!”
Kiba nudged Shino with his elbow.
“Hey, Shino.
Those techniques they used just now…”
The high-collared boy nodded.
“They were most likely the Great Fireball Jutsu and the Shadow Clone Jutsu.”
Neither Kiba nor Shino came from ordinary civilian families.
As heirs to the Inuzuka and Aburame clans, they could at least recognize those two relatively advanced techniques.
“I’m not surprised that Sasuke can use the Uchiha clan’s Great Fireball Jutsu…”
Kiba crossed his arms, a strangely grave expression appearing on his childish face.
“But Naruto already mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu?
Looks like I need to learn the Gatsūga as soon as possible too.”
“Woof!”
Kiba looked upward and patted the small puppy perched on his head.
“You need to work hard too, Akamaru.”
“Woof!”
“Those two are really strong…”
Chōji sighed in admiration, then casually reached into his bag and resumed crunching on his potato chips.
It wasn’t only the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Shikamaru continued staring in the direction Naruto had left.
He combined Shadow Clones with the Transformation Jutsu, and that taijutsu combination was far too polished.
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Just what happened to Naruto in such a short time?
“Naruto…”
Iruka finally pulled his gaze away.
However, his thoughts drifted back to what had happened the previous day—
When the Third Hokage himself had come to speak with him.
…
“What did you need from me, Hokage-sama?”
Iruka walked around the corner of the corridor.
The elderly Third Hokage was standing there alone, wearing his ceremonial hat and quietly smoking his pipe.
“Iruka…”
Hiruzen released a slow breath of smoke.
“When I placed Naruto in your class, I did so because you had suffered through a childhood similar to his.”
“You both lost your parents when you were young.
You both desperately wanted the attention and acknowledgment of those around you.”
The old man’s expression softened.
“That is why I hoped you would guide him properly as he grew.”
Iruka nodded.
He understood all of that perfectly well.
He had also been trying his hardest to accept Naruto.
After all, strictly speaking—
Naruto…
Or rather, the creature sealed inside him…
Was responsible for the deaths of Iruka’s parents.
“But now, something has happened.”
Hiruzen’s voice became heavier.
“Naruto is no longer merely an innocent child.
From now on, he may behave very differently from the Naruto you knew before.”
“Even I can no longer predict what kind of path he will walk as he grows.”
The Third Hokage looked directly at Iruka.
“All I ask is that you do everything in your power to guide him in the right direction.”
A six-year-old mind now carried the weight of seventeen years of life.
No one could say what such a child would eventually become.
“Something… happened?”
Iruka frowned in confusion.
However, when the Third Hokage offered no further explanation, Iruka immediately understood.
Whatever had happened involved information he was not permitted to know.
“My apologies, Hokage-sama.
I spoke out of turn.”
Hiruzen said nothing.
He merely turned and slowly walked away.
“Only six years old…”
His aged voice quietly drifted down the corridor.
“Naruto… just how far will you grow?”
…
“What did you mean by that?!”
Sasuke suddenly spun around.
He strode back toward Naruto and glared into his eyes with enough hatred to make the air around him feel heavy.
Even Naruto instinctively took half a step backward.
But he immediately stopped himself.
He planted his foot back where it had been and stared directly into Sasuke’s furious eyes.
“I meant exactly what I said.”
Naruto’s voice remained steady.
“You can’t even beat me right now.
So what gives you the right to walk around every day looking like you’re about to charge straight at Itachi and take revenge?”
Sasuke’s fists trembled.
“You’re his younger brother.
You should know better than anyone how strong Itachi was at your age.”
Naruto pointed at him.
“Could the six-year-old you defeat the six-year-old Itachi?”
Sasuke’s fury exploded.
He grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him forward.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
His eyes were consumed by rage.
“Someone like you doesn’t understand anything!
Itachi… Itachi, that bastard, he…”
Sasuke’s voice suddenly broke.
His eyes turned red.
The words became trapped in his throat, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not force another one out.
Naruto made no attempt to remove Sasuke’s hands.
He quietly stared into those eyes—
Eyes overflowing with hatred, anger, and grief.
He tried to imagine how his future self had felt when he came to regard Sasuke as an irreplaceable bond.
Unfortunately, the memories Naruto had inherited contained everything except those feelings.
They included battles.
Techniques.
Training experience.
Knowledge accumulated over seventeen years.
Yet they contained none of his future self’s emotions.
Sadness.
Joy.
Pain.
Loss.
Satisfaction.
Happiness.
Despair.
There was nothing.
“…”
Sasuke slowly released Naruto’s collar.
Naruto remained silent.
Only when Sasuke was almost out of sight did he finally call after him.
“Hey!”
Sasuke stopped.
He did not turn around.
“Defeat me!”
Naruto shouted.
“What did you say?”
“I said, do everything you can to defeat me!”
Naruto clenched his fists.
“If you don’t know how to train right now, then fight me!”
“If you want to talk about revenge, then at least defeat the class dead-last first!”
Sasuke remained motionless for several seconds.
Then—
“Hmph…”
He gave a quiet snort.
“Idiot.”
With a single leap, Sasuke vanished from sight.
…
After classes ended, Naruto headed toward the mountain behind Konoha, just as he had done every day recently.
He intended to continue training alone.
However, while passing through one of the village streets, he spotted two people who were extremely familiar to him.
Or rather—
They were familiar to the memories inside his head.
“Oh!
Kakashi-sensei!
Pervy Sage!”
Naruto happily waved toward them.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
Wait.
Neither of them knows me yet!
His raised hand froze awkwardly in the air.
Naruto had just started lowering it when Jiraiya turned around.
A broad smile appeared on the white-haired Sannin’s face.
“Well, well.
If it isn’t my adorable student.”
Kakashi visibly stiffened.
student?
He carefully examined the child standing before them.
Spiky blond hair.
Clear blue eyes.
A round face marked by three whisker-like lines on each cheek.
Kakashi turned toward Jiraiya.
“Jiraiya-sama, could he possibly be…?”
“Yeah.”
Jiraiya nodded.
“This is Minato’s son, Uzumaki Naruto.”
Naruto already knew about his parentage, so there was no longer any reason to conceal it from him.
Naruto’s eyes widened.
“Pervy Sage… you know that I know?”
The phrasing was confusing, but Jiraiya immediately understood what he meant.
“Yep.
I know that you know.”
Kakashi stared silently at the two of them.
What kind of ridiculous conversation are this old man and this kid having?
“Oh…”
Naruto nodded.
For some reason, he felt unexpectedly happy.
Ever since receiving those memories, a strange loneliness had followed him everywhere.
It was a loneliness even more intense than the isolation he had suffered as the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki.
No one else could understand what he had seen.
No one else knew what awaited them in the future.
But now, at least Jiraiya knew.
Naruto’s expression softened—
Until his gaze shifted slightly to the side.
“W-WAAAH?!”
His shout echoed through the street.
Kakashi silently glanced at Jiraiya’s missing left arm.
So he finally noticed.
Still, Kakashi could not help wondering—
Just what kind of enemy had managed to injure one of the Legendary Sannin so severely?
“Ahaha!
This?”
Jiraiya casually waved his remaining hand.
“It’s nothing worth making such a fuss about.”
Then his tone changed.
He looked directly into Naruto’s eyes.
“My opponent was Pain, after all.
Escaping with only one arm missing was already a pretty good result.”
Naruto’s pupils contracted.
“Pain…”
That single name tightened around his heart like the hand of an approaching disaster.
Pain’s assault on Konoha.
The village reduced to ruins.
An army of a million White Zetsu.
Battlefields consumed by war.
Towering Susanoo that resembled wrathful gods.
Uchiha Madara’s suffocatingly powerful Fire Release.
Water Release.
Wind Release.
Sandstorms.
Explosions.
Enormous apparitions formed from chakra.
And finally—
The image of himself dying, powerless to stop it.
The memories surged back alongside Pain’s name, carrying a stench of blood that refused to fade.
They clung to Naruto like a vengeful ghost.
Cold breath seemed to brush against the back of his neck as a voice whispered into his ear—
You see?
None of it was a dream.
It was all real.
Your future… ends in death.
Naruto shuddered.
His complexion had turned pale, yet he forced a laugh onto his face.
“H-Haha… I see.
Well, if it was Pain, then I guess that makes sense…”
He hurriedly stepped backward.
“I-I should get going!”
Before either man could answer, Naruto turned and ran away.
Kakashi watched his rapidly disappearing back.
“What was that about?”
Jiraiya’s expression became complicated.
The future memories might have provided Naruto with extraordinary advantages.
But for the current Naruto— You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Perhaps they were more of a burden than a gift.
…
That evening, Naruto lay exhausted upon the grass of the training forest.
Just as he had every day recently, he had pushed his body until it could no longer move.
“It’s no good…”
Naruto gasped for breath.
Sweat covered his face and soaked his hair.
Without his usual goggles, the fine strands of blond hair clung messily to his forehead.
“With the amount of chakra I have right now, there’s no way I can use the Rasenshuriken.”
He stared at the darkening sky.
“I have the experience of successfully entering Sage Mode…”
Naruto swallowed.
“But if I fail, I’ll turn into a stone toad.”
“Chakra…”
His breathing gradually steadied.
“More chakra…”
Naruto silently gazed at the evening sky.
Without realizing it, one hand had come to rest upon his abdomen.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time—
His consciousness descended into that place.
…
By the time Naruto finished training and began walking home, the sun was already sinking toward the horizon.
Along the way, he suddenly noticed several boys surrounding a lone girl.
They were shouting and laughing, and judging from the situation, they appeared to be bullying her.
“Hey!
You guys!”
Naruto immediately rushed forward.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Whether it was the Naruto from before or the Naruto who now carried memories of the future, one thing about him had never changed.
He could never ignore someone being treated unfairly.
As he drew closer, Naruto finally recognized the girl.
“Huh?
Hinata?”
“N-Naruto-kun…”
Hinata looked startled.
Then, realizing that he had seen her being bullied, she became even more embarrassed.
“Who are you supposed to be?”
“You planning to interfere?”
“You wanna get beaten up too?”
The boys turned toward Naruto with irritated expressions.
Naruto had no interest in wasting time arguing with them.
He immediately formed a hand seal.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
Then he remembered—
Oh, crap.
I already used up all my chakra during training.
Poof!
Poof!
Two tiny shadow clones appeared on the ground.
Each one was barely more than ten centimeters tall.
“…”
Everyone fell silent.
Even the boys stared blankly at the miniature Narutos.
A moment later, they burst into unrestrained laughter.
“Hahahahaha!”
One of them charged forward first.
“What are you supposed to be, some kind of comedian?”
Naruto sighed helplessly.
With his body already exhausted from training, he threw himself into a clumsy brawl against the group of boys.
It took far more effort than he wanted to admit, but he eventually managed to wrestle all of them to the ground.
“Y-You better remember this!”
“Don’t think this is over!”
After shouting their parting threats, the boys scrambled to their feet and fled.
Naruto bent over, breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?”
He had already trained himself to the point of complete exhaustion, and then he had immediately gotten into another fight.
Even he was beginning to feel that it was too much.
“I-I’m fine…”
Hinata’s face turned bright red.
“I’m sorry!”
Overwhelmed by nervousness, she bowed deeply.
Naruto stared at her in confusion.
“What are you apologizing for?”
Because of his future memories, Naruto already had a very favorable impression of Hinata.
After all, she was the girl who had once said—
“I love Naruto-kun more than anyone.”
Although Naruto assumed that she probably meant love in the same way someone might say they loved Ichiraku ramen.
“Well, I’m heading home.”
Naruto raised a hand in farewell.
“Be careful on your way back too.”
He had only taken a few steps when—
“U-Um!”
Hinata called after him.
Naruto stopped and looked back.
“What is it?”
Hinata’s face became even redder.
She lowered her gaze and spoke in a tiny voice.
“Thank you… Naruto-kun.”
Naruto grinned.
“Ah, you don’t need to thank me.”
He waved and continued walking.
Hinata remained where she was for a while before eventually leaving as well.
However—
After taking several more steps, Naruto suddenly stopped.
He spun around and carefully searched his surroundings.
“Huh…?”
There was no one there.
Naruto scratched his head.
“Was someone watching us just now?”
For the briefest moment, he could have sworn he had seen—
“A white figure…?”
He looked around again.
Nothing.
“That’s strange…”
Naruto eventually shrugged.
“Whatever.
Time to go home.”
He turned and continued walking beneath the setting sun.
I need to work hard again tomorrow.
So I won’t die.
The young Uzumaki Naruto walked toward the crimson horizon with that thought burning inside his heart.
When he imagined the future, he could no longer tell whether what he felt was anticipation—
Or fear.