Pain surged in like a tidal wave—wild, relentless.
After his physique broke past a thousand, it was like his body had snapped open some kind of limiter and brushed against an entirely different realm…
With a muffled groan from Roy, a thin, blood-red film visibly seeped off his skin. It wasn't like a Nen shroud—it looked more like his blood-energy was overflowing, bursting through his pores and venting outward.
Which meant—
The sheer abundance of vitality and blood-energy inside Roy at this moment had reached a terrifying level.
"Tss—" His fingertips carved into the wall, leaving ten deep grooves. Gotoh had just had people patch and smooth the place a few days ago, and tonight Roy added new damage again… the young butler would probably have to call a repair crew again.
"Hnng…"
Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty. A minute…
At last, the agony started to ebb.
Roy regained control of his body, gritted his teeth, and braced himself against the wall. He straightened—and every joint in his body crackled like beans exploding in a hot wok.
The increase this time was so large that even his height couldn't stay suppressed—he shot up another two centimeters. At this rate he'd be at Silva's eye level.
"Haa…" After ninety seconds, the pain vanished completely.
Shower water poured down, washing away the grime clinging to his skin and revealing dense, full muscle underneath. These muscles weren't like before—under the overhead light they glinted with a bronze, shadowed sheen. When Roy exhaled and they subtly flexed, veins shifted beneath the skin like earth-dragons turning over—pure, brutal power.
…
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Physique: 946.5 → 1246.5 (Note: average human = 1)]
[Visible Aura: C+(54620/100000) → C+(89541/100000) (Rated using chimera ants as reference)]
[Potential Aura: C+(87841/100000) → B-(1451/1,000,000)]
[Rating: C++ (Note: peak squadron leader tier, just a hair below the Three Royal Guards)]
…
Roy stepped forward. His overwhelming Nen surged outward and formed En, exploding from his toes as the center.
One hundred meters… one-fifty… two hundred… two-fifty…
It ripped past three hundred in a blink—only then did the expansion slow, finally stopping at a radius of three hundred and twenty meters.
That range already exceeded what Zeno had shown in the original story.
"Tch… how long has it even been—two days?" In that dim yellow room by the garden on the first floor, Maha was covered by Roy's En. Rocking cheerfully in his chair, he reached out at some point, pinched a heart-worm that tried to burrow into his heart, and drawled, "Adult business. Kids shouldn't pry."
He flicked it with a finger. The heart-worm tumbled, whimpering as it crawled back, then lifted its long mouthparts toward Roy like it was complaining.
Roy opened his palm and let it sit there. He soothed it softly. "It's fine. Sooner or later, he won't be able to block it."
"Grrrk…" Another heart-worm immediately got flicked away and landed curled up in Roy's palm.
"Getting cocky after a little progress… You're worse than your grandpa—don't even mention your great-grandpa…" Silva's cold voice drifted in, leisurely, as if following the worm's trail.
Roy nodded like nothing happened. "I know."
Three hundred meters was only because that villa where his father and grandfather once tried to assassinate Chrollo had a footprint of about three hundred meters—not because three hundred meters was Zeno's true limit.
Still, when Roy measured the Zoldyck estate with En, aside from Maha and Silva, everyone else—including Tsubone, Scarface, and One-Eye—failed to catch a heart-worm.
Even Illumi reacted, but he still couldn't grab one.
In Illumi's bedroom, the "stupid little brother" was—as usual—wearing a disguise that looked like his nii-san, curled up in his pit, hugging the Godspear wooden nail Roy had given him. Sensing the aura ripple, he snapped his eyes open and stared through the walls toward Roy's room.
Calmly, he said, "You don't need to peek. Whatever you want to know, I'll cut my heart open and tell you everything."
Roy: "Shut up."
"…Oh." Illumi obediently shut up—and even closed his eyes while he was at it.
Roy retracted En, letting it flow back into him like a tide.
He raised a hand and turned off the shower. With a thought, he split off a strand of aura, coated it with searing intent, and flash-dried the water on his skin. Then he changed into pajamas and stepped out of the bathroom.
He unwrapped the pills Gotoh had brought, crushed them into powder in his palm, and studied them carefully…
Sleepiness crept in.
At ten p.m., deep in Kukuroo Mountain, Mike let out a wild wolf howl.
Roy went straight to bed, folded his hands over his stomach, and slowly closed his eyes.
A faint snore slipped out. With a caw, the three-legged golden crow flapped over, buried itself by Roy's pillow, and started rolling around to keep watch. Beneath its thick feathers, the third leg's toe peeked out—like it had grown a little longer again.
"Dong…" The wooden clock in the corner chimed.
Roy sank into consciousness as usual, entering his cognition realm through deep sleep. He walked through the kaleidoscopic dream corridor and arrived at the blue Sea of Cognition, where waves surged and many doors stood quietly on the horizon.
He rolled up his pant legs and waded through the water, palm gliding over the Demon Slayer door, the Dark Continent door, and the door with the fierce corpse-demon charm—until he stopped in front of the Naruto door, looking up at the eye-shaped ornament.
He lowered his gaze to his panel.
[Notice: To awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan by "collecting negative emotion," you still need about… 9,000+ points of negative energy]
[Notice: Yin Release lv3: (941/10000)]
Roy fell silent.
Then he pulled the stored negative emotions from his unconscious domain—the ones from Obito, Old Mark, and Nora—and poured them all into Yin Release.
[Yin Release lv3: (941/10000) → (2741/10000)]
[Remaining negative energy needed for Mangekyō: 7259]
Roy murmured, "Third Ninja War… here I come."
He pushed the Naruto door open and slipped inside.
A sleeping bubble at his nose popped. The familiar falling sensation took him.
When Roy opened his eyes again, he was back in the Naruto world—back in that familiar home, the four-person household of Itachi, Fugaku, Mikoto… and him.
A March wind blew, scattering cherry blossoms.
In the courtyard, the water jar tilted, trickling into a winding stream. The drip-drip sounded soft and constant.
Roy shook off the drowsiness, peered out through the open wooden sliding door—and saw a small figure beneath the cherry tree, holding a wooden sword and practicing among the falling petals.
A flash of blade—shk, shk—and several blossoms split cleanly in half along their veins.
The cuts were sharp. The control was exact. It was already starting to look like someone who had fully mastered Flame Breathing.
"Your blade still isn't steady. Your heart still isn't heavy enough. Five hundred forty-seven petals… you missed four. Itachi—still needs work…"
"nii-san, you're awake." Itachi sheathed the wooden sword, took a small breath, and looked back.
The wind rose again, dropping more petals.
Roy smiled and nodded. Then he raised two fingers like a sword and flicked a slash through the air.
A dazzling blade-light vanished in an instant—passing right beside Itachi's ear—yet every single cherry blossom in the air split perfectly along its grain. Not one more, not one less. The fragments rained down, dusting the boy's shoulders.
"It's like the sword is the body, the heart is the sword—one flower is one world, one leaf is one bodhi… that's all it is."
A figure drifted down—Roy, moving like a ghost on mastered footwork that carried a faint trace of Shunpo's rhythm. He turned his back to Itachi, scooped a palmful of water from the jar, and tipped it into his mouth.
Sunlight was perfect today—worth a big drink.
"It's a bad idea, nii-san. Mom doesn't let you drink raw water."
Itachi said it calmly—
—and nearly made Roy choke.
Roy wiped his mouth and muttered, "Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. If you don't tell, how would she know?"
"She's not blind!" Mikoto Uchiha appeared with her hands on her hips.
She rolled up her sleeves.
She grabbed someone's ear.
And she "escorted" him to the dining room like a criminal.
"I haven't even washed up." Roy glanced at Fugaku Uchiha, who was already waiting at the table.
Fugaku sighed and shot Roy a look like are you serious? "By the time you wash up, Minato Namikaze will be knocking at the door."
Today was the day Sarutobi ordered Roy to report. Minato's team was supposed to meet at eight, and it was already 7:30.
Mikoto pressed him into his seat. "Eat first."
Roy had no choice. He told Itachi to squeeze toothpaste for him, then got several fresh glares from Mikoto for that too.
Fugaku waved it off—just this once.
"Eat." He glared again and started using his chopsticks.
Breakfast was miso soup, fried eggs, and sushi Mikoto had made the night before and chilled. It was a little bland—but Roy forced it down anyway, swallowing it more like "fuel" than food.
Fugaku sipped miso soup and said evenly, "I've already talked with the clan elders. I'm having Uchiha Tekka and Uchiha Inabi secretly shadow you. They're on the list too. Both of them now have three-tomoe Sharingan—at least they can back you up."
"Oh." Tekka and Inabi were solid talents in the Uchiha youth, even if they weren't "genius-tier."
Roy took a bite of sushi. The vinegar cloth was too heavy—worse than the sushi his old teacher used to make back in the misty mountains. He forced it down anyway.
Fugaku continued, "On the battlefield, your safety comes first. Don't let yourself end up alone."
"And the mission?"
"You can fail it."
"And my teammates?"
"Who are your teammates?"
"Obito. Kakashi. Rin." Roy listed them.
Fugaku stared at him. "Do they have Uchiha blood?"
Roy: "..."
Silence.
Fugaku spoke coldly. "When people die, they have nothing. Including 'teammates.'"
He set down his chopsticks and looked Roy in the eye. "It doesn't matter if they're Minato's students or anyone else. Even among the Uchiha, anyone can die—except you."
Roy thought of Old Mark and Nora, who'd chosen death just so Maddy could live. That kind of resolve wasn't ordinary.
"I understand." Roy nodded.
Fugaku finally exhaled and shared a look with Mikoto. His tone loosened. "Don't underestimate yourself either. I know what you can do. As long as you don't run into some truly terrifying jōnin, you'll be fine."
"…Mm." Roy's expression didn't change as he glanced at his panel.
Visible aura: about 3 "Kakashis."
Plus a whole pile of abilities, techniques, and jutsu.
He kept quiet.
"Enough doom-talk at the table." Mikoto shot Fugaku a look, then handed Roy another sushi. "When you're out there, listen to Minato. I asked Kushina to tell him—he'll keep you safe and bring you back."
Mikoto straightened Roy's collar and smiled. "If anyone can run away, it's Minato."
Fugaku nodded seriously. "His space-time talent is ridiculous. As far as we can tell, he's the only one who's inherited and mastered the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God."
Roy swallowed the sushi and said, "I know."
"If it gets bad, I'll just copy Uncle Minato and use space-time ninjutsu to run."
Fugaku and Mikoto both snapped their eyes at him.
Right then, Itachi walked in—having squeezed toothpaste—and froze at the sight of his parents glaring at Roy.
His tiny head filled with a huge question:
…What just happened?
~~~
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