Six-year-old Naruto Uzumaki trudged home from his first day at the Ninja Academy, his small shoulders slumped and his bright blue eyes dimmed with disappointment.
"I'm home!" he called out to the empty apartment, his voice echoing off the bare walls.
The room greeted him with silence and mess. Clothes lay scattered across the floor. Empty instant ramen cups formed a small tower on the kitchen counter. Expired milk cartons and bread wrappers littered every surface, filling the air with a stale, sour smell.
Naruto kicked off his sandals and dropped his academy bag by the door. His usual energy was nowhere to be found.
Today had been nothing like what the old man had promised. When Gramps had told him about the academy, he'd made it sound amazing—a place where he'd make friends, learn cool ninja techniques, become strong.
Instead, Naruto had watched every other kid get dropped off by their parents. Mothers adjusting their children's clothes, fathers ruffling their hair with pride. Families everywhere.
And Naruto had arrived alone.
During lunch, he'd tried to sit with a group of boys. They'd immediately gotten up and moved to another table, their parents having clearly warned them about the "demon boy." A girl named Sakura had actually wrinkled her nose when he walked past, like he smelled bad.
Maybe he did. He wasn't great at laundry.
"What the heck?" Naruto muttered, climbing onto his bed without bothering to change. "This is completely different from what Gramps said! He lied!"
His throat felt tight. His eyes stung.
"I wish I had family to be with me," he whispered to the empty room. "Why does everyone treat me like this? What did I do wrong?"
The questions had no answers. They never did.
Naruto pulled his blanket over his head, imagining a different life. One where he had a mom who made him food. A dad who trained with him and told him he was doing great. Siblings to play with. Friends who actually wanted to hang out.
In his imagination, he wasn't alone. He wasn't hated. He was just... Naruto.
Within minutes, exhaustion and loneliness dragged him into sleep.
------------
Cold water splashed across Naruto's face.
"Ah!"
He bolted upright, sputtering and flailing. His hands met wet sand that stuck to his fingers.
"What the—"
Naruto's words died in his throat. He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't even in his apartment.
He was on a beach.
A real beach, with actual ocean stretching endlessly before him. Waves crashed against the shore, sending spray into the air. The salty, damp smell of the sea filled his nostrils. Behind him, a dense jungle rose up like a wall, full of trees so tall they seemed to touch the sky. Strange plants he'd never seen in Konoha grew everywhere, and somewhere deep in the jungle, something roared.
"Huh? Am I dreaming?"
Naruto reached down and pinched his thigh. Hard.
"Ow, ow, ow! Okay, that hurt! That really hurt!"
He rubbed his leg, confused and a little scared. Dreams weren't supposed to hurt this much.
"If this is a dream, it's way too real! How did I even get here? I was just in bed—"
RUMBLE!
The ocean surface erupted.
Naruto's head snapped toward the water. His jaw dropped.
A mountain was rising from the sea. Except it wasn't a mountain—it was alive. Water cascaded off its massive form like waterfalls as it emerged, revealing a serpentine body covered in dark scales and a head like an alligator's, but the size of a building.
The creature's shadow fell over the beach, blocking out the sun, swallowing Naruto in darkness.
The beast's eyes focused on the tiny figure on the shore.
"Gulp."
Naruto's face went pale. His legs trembled.
"Mon—MONSTER!!!"
Pure instinct took over. Naruto spun around and ran, his short legs pumping as fast as they could go. He didn't care where he was going—anywhere was better than here!
"Somebody help! Gramps! Anybody!"
Behind him, the giant beast tilted its massive head, curious about this tiny, screaming thing. It raised one webbed claw the size of a house and reached toward him, almost playfully.
"Waaah! Don't eat me! My meat tastes awful! I only eat ramen, so I'm all salty and gross! You won't like me at all!"
Naruto's legs moved so fast they were practically blurring. Fear gave him speed he didn't know he had.
WHOOOOSH!
A sound cut through the air—high-pitched, growing louder. Something was falling from the sky, and fast.
The sea monster froze. Its playful curiosity vanished, replaced by terror. The creature let out a distressed bellow and dove back into the ocean, swimming away as fast as its massive body could move.
Naruto, too busy running, didn't notice. His focus was entirely on reaching the jungle, finding somewhere to hide.
The whistling sound grew louder.
Something in Naruto's gut screamed danger. He risked a glance up.
A black shape was plummeting from the sky—a meteor, maybe? Whatever it was, it was heading straight for the forest in front of him.
"What is that thing?!"
The shape grew larger, darker, accompanied by booming sounds that hurt his ears.
"Wow! What kind of dream is this?! It's terrifying! I want to go home! I want to go home! Gramps, please!"
BOOM!!!
The impact shook the world.
The ground beneath Naruto's feet surged like ocean waves. Trees snapped like twigs. The earth split open in massive cracks that spread across the island like spider webs.
A shockwave exploded outward from the impact point—a wall of force carrying broken rocks, uprooted trees, and clouds of sand and dirt.
Naruto didn't even have time to scream. The shockwave hit him like a giant's fist, lifting him off his feet and hurling him through the air like a rag doll.
He slammed into the ground hard. Something in his chest cracked—multiple somethings. Pain exploded through his body, white-hot and overwhelming. He tasted blood, felt it filling his mouth.
Naruto tried to breathe. Couldn't. Tried to move. Couldn't.
Am I... dying?
His vision darkened around the edges. His heartbeat grew faint.
Then something stirred inside him. Red chakra erupted from Naruto's body. It wrapped around him like a blanket of living fire, seeping into his wounds. Bones shifted back into place with sickening cracks. Torn organs knitted themselves together. The taste of blood faded.
Naruto's breathing steadied. The pain receded to a dull ache.
---------------
At the center of the island, a figure climbed out of the massive crater their landing had created. Impossibly tall with horns rising from their head and a presence that made the air itself feel heavy.
"Hic... I missed the intended landing spot by quite a bit."
Kaido of the Beasts grabbed the gourd hanging at his waist and took a long swig, alcohol dribbling down his chin into his beard.
"Hic... Forget it, I'll fly back later. Damn, the booze from that Marine base is still the strongest. I should grab some more before I leave. Hmm..."
His head turned toward the beach, sensing something. His grin widened, showing teeth.
"Worororo, looks like I found something fun..."
On the beach, Naruto's body convulsed. The red chakra that had been quietly healing him suddenly boiled, violent and wild. It erupted upward in a pillar of crimson light that pierced the sky.
Naruto's eyes snapped open—not blue anymore, but blood-red with vertical slits.
The chakra formed a tail behind him. Then another. And another. Four tails lashed the air behind him as he rose to his feet, moving in a way that wasn't quite human.
"ROAAAAR!!!"
The sound that came from Naruto's throat wasn't his voice. It was bestial, full of rage.
Through the red haze, Tailed Beast Naruto sensed the approaching threat. Roared again in challenge.
"Worororo! Little guy, you've got a temper!"
Kaido approached, each footstep shaking the ground. His grin was manic. He drew the massive club from his back—the weapon that had ended countless battles.
Black armament haki coiled around the club like living shadows, making it gleam with an ominous sheen.
"I'm Kaido, King of the Beasts! And you, little thing, are just the right size to help me stretch my bones!"
Kaido's club swung with impossible speed for something so large.
"Thunder Bagua!"
WHAM!
Tailed Beast Naruto was smashed into the ground so hard he created a crater within a crater. The earth cracked and split. Dust and debris exploded outward.
For a moment, silence.
Then—
BANG!
The ground erupted. A massive dark-red claw burst through. It caught Kaido across the chest and sent him flying back hundreds of meters.
Tailed Beast Naruto emerged from the crater, and he'd changed again. Bigger now, his body taking on more animalistic features. Four tails whipped behind him, and his eyes had become hollow black sockets that somehow seemed even more terrifying.
He stood on two legs but moved like a beast, chakra radiating off him in waves that made the air shimmer.
"Tch, that wasn't quite enough. Again!"
Kaido stood up, completely unharmed. He shook his hand, cracked his neck side to side.
"Come on, little thing. Hit harder! This level isn't enough to make me serious!"
The taunt worked.
Tailed Beast Naruto threw back his head and roared. The sound was so loud it created visible shockwaves. The Nine-Tails chakra went into overdrive, flooding through the seal, pouring more and more power into the small body struggling to contain it.
Naruto's form swelled. Sharp claws grew from his hands and feet. His face stretched and distorted, becoming more fox-like, less human. The blood-red aura intensified, and a fifth tail materialized behind him.
WHOOSH!
Tailed Beast Naruto dropped to all fours and moved.
One second he was there, the next he was directly in front of Kaido, massive claw aimed at his face.
Kaido raised his club just in time to block. The impact sent vibrations up his arm—real force behind it this time.
His grin widened.
"Now that's what I call power!"
Kaido ripped off his coat. His aura exploded outward, so intense it was almost visible. Above them, the clear sky darkened as thunderclouds gathered from nowhere, swirling into a vortex.
Lightning crackled through the clouds. A bolt descended, wrapping around Kaido's club, coating it in crackling electricity that mixed with his haki to create something devastating.
"Alright, little beast! Let me show you what happens when I gets serious!"
He swung his club with both hands, putting his full weight and power behind it. The weapon tore through the air, leaving a trail of lightning and displaced atmosphere.
"Ragnaraku!"