Chapter 2: The Weight of the Void
The air in the Hokage's office was thick with the scent of old parchment and tobacco. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stared through the crystal ball on his desk, but his mind was on the report lying before him.
Beside him, Iruka Umino stood with his arm in a sling, his face pale..
"He didn't just defeat him, Lord Hokage," Iruka whispered, his voice trembling. "Mizuki is... empty. The medics at the hospital say his chakra pathway system hasn't just been drained. It's been atrophied. It's as if he was born without the ability to mold energy at all."
The door creaked open, and Naruto stepped in. He wasn't wearing his usual boisterous grin. He looked at his hands with a sense of profound detachment.
"Naruto," Hiruzen said, his voice soft but commanding. "Iruka tells me something happened in the woods. Something... new."
"I felt a pull, Gramps," Naruto said, looking up. His blue eyes seemed sharper, less chaotic. "It was like he had something that belonged to me. No—something I needed. When I touched him, it just flowed in. Now, I can feel him.."
"Feel him?" Hiruzen leaned forward.
"The way he throws a kunai. The way he focuses his breath. I know it all now." Naruto raised a hand and, without a single stutter in his form, performed a series of complex hand signs. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu."
A single shuriken thrown from his pouch multiplied into twenty in a blur of motion. The technique was flawless—a Chunin-level feat performed by a boy who had failed the basic graduation exam three times.
Hiruzen's heart sank. He looked at the seal on Naruto's stomach through his telescopic vision. The seal hadn't broken, but it had adapted. The Nine-Tails was a battery of infinite energy; it seemed the seal was now using that energy to create a vacuum, allowing Naruto to store the "blueprints" of others within himself.
"This is a power that can change the world, Naruto," the Hokage said solemnly. "But it is also a power that will make people see you as a predator. If the other villages—or even our own people—learn you can strip a Shinobi of their life's work... they will hunt you."
"I just want to be a ninja, Gramps," Naruto said, his voice cracking. "I want to be Hokage so they'll stop looking at me like I'm a monster."
"Then you must be a protector, not a thief," Hiruzen declared. He pulled out a Konoha headband and laid it on the desk. "You will graduate. But you are forbidden from using this 'touch' on anyone unless your life, or the life of a comrade, is in mortal danger. Do you understand?"
Naruto gripped the headband. The metal was cool against his palm. "I understand."
The Team 7 Assignment
A week later, the academy was buzzing. Naruto sat in the back of the room, feeling the "echo" of Mizuki in the back of his mind. It was like a library book he hadn't returned.
"Team 7," Iruka announced, reading from a scroll. "Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno."
Sakura cheered; Naruto stayed silent.
"And... Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke didn't look up, but his dark eyes flickered toward Naruto. He had heard the rumors. He had heard that Mizuki, a Chunin, had been broken by the "dead last" of the class. Sasuke lived for power—the power to kill his brother. And for the first time, he saw something in Naruto that wasn't just annoying noise. He saw a shortcut.
When their new sensei, Kakashi Hatake, finally arrived and led them to the roof, the atmosphere was electric with tension.
"Goals? Likes? Dislikes?" Kakashi asked lazily, leaning against the railing.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said, ignoring Sakura's fangirling and Sasuke's brooding. "I like instant ramen. I dislike the 'hollow' feeling in my chest. And my goal... is to find a way to use what I have to make everyone equal."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. He had been briefed by the Hokage. He knew Naruto wasn't just a Jinchuriki anymore. He was a walking "All For One" in a world built on inherited bloodlines and secret techniques.
"Interesting," Kakashi muttered. "Meet me at Training Ground 3 tomorrow. Bring your gear. And Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"Keep your hands to yourself."
The Internal Ledger (Updated)
Current Storage: 1/5 Slots (The Nine-Tails' chakra allows Naruto to hold 5 "stolen" essences before his mind risks instability).
New Insight: Naruto realizes he can "feel" the specific elemental affinities of people nearby. He senses a "Static/Lightning" feel from Kakashi and a "Burning/Ice" feel from Sasuke.