"Naruto is a good child. His dream has always been to become Hokage and protect the village. How could he possibly do something like that? Grandpa believes you—completely."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's unreserved trust was, for Naruto—who had grown up surrounded by coldness and rejection—nothing short of rain after a long drought.
Naruto froze for a moment.
Then joy, grievance, and relief surged together. With a loud "Waaah!", tears and snot streamed down his face at the same time.
Yet he was smiling as he cried, nodding hard with all his strength.
"Yeah! Yeah! I'll definitely become Hokage!"
Watching Naruto's pure, blazing reaction, Hiruzen's conviction only deepened.
This child would never choose evil of his own accord.
More and more, he believed that the future tragedy must have been caused by some enormous later upheaval—
some horrific experience capable of twisting the heart of a sunny, hopeful boy and driving him down that path of destruction.
I must stop it, Hiruzen vowed silently.
I have to prevent it before it ever happens.
He placed both hands on Naruto's small shoulders, his expression turning solemn as he looked straight into the boy's eyes.
"Naruto, remember what Grandpa tells you. From now on, no matter what strange things you encounter—or if anyone bullies you, hurts you, makes you feel sad or wronged—you must come tell Grandpa immediately. Don't bottle it up by yourself. Do you understand?"
Young Naruto couldn't fully grasp the anxiety and calculation hidden behind those words.
All he felt was the care and protection of "Third Grandpa."
He wiped his tears and nose hard with his sleeve, puffed out his chest, and answered loudly without hesitation:
"I got it! Third Grandpa! If anything happens, I'll tell you first!"
Seeing Naruto's eyes full of trust and his earnest promise, Hiruzen smiled with relief and gently patted his head again.
"Good child."
The turmoil of the outside world.
Konoha's choices.
Naruto's fate.
All the waves stirred up by the projection were now completely outside Yin An's concern.
He sat cross-legged at the center of the space, eyes closed, focusing his mind.
A warm yet vast energy poured endlessly into his body from the void itself—
the system's settlement reward.
Yin An could clearly hear the subtle sounds within himself, like rushing streams and resonating bones.
Every cell greedily absorbed the energy, undergoing deep tempering and purification.
The heaviness and sluggishness he once felt as an ordinary human rapidly faded, replaced by an unprecedented sense of lightness, clarity, and raw power.
After an unknown amount of time, the energy infusion finally slowed… then stopped.
Yin An snapped his eyes open. A sharp gleam flashed and vanished.
He stood up slowly, feeling the surging strength within his body, and casually threw a punch forward.
Whoosh—!
Without any technique at all—pure physical strength alone produced a clear sonic crack!
A concept surfaced naturally in his mind:
[Physical Strength: crushing physical force]
"Two thousand jin…"
Yin An looked at his fist, unable to suppress a grin.
And this was just raw bodily strength. With proper force application, the destructive power would be even more terrifying.
In the early stages of the Naruto world, most shinobi's physical bodies were… honestly pretty fragile.
Glass cannons, the lot of them.
His thoughts shifted again.
Yin An's gaze landed on an ordinary small knife lying nearby.
Buzz…
The knife trembled slightly—then, as if lifted by an invisible hand, wobbled into the air and floated there!
"chakra manipulation."
Delight flashed in Yin An's eyes.
He focused, controlling the knife to perform all sorts of complex movements in midair—
rapid acceleration, sudden stops, sharp turns, tight spirals—
It responded as naturally as an extension of his own arm.
After some testing, Yin An confirmed:
He could remotely control objects of considerable mass, launching attacks at supersonic speed.
A literal humanoid artillery platform.
Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to fling something that heavy around casually—
concentrated penetration, not brute mass, was the optimal approach.
Feeling the vast power in his body and the effortless control of his psychic force, a dangerous illusion arose:
I'm invincible.
If he struck from ambush right now, even a Kage might be finished.
"System."
The word echoed in his mind.
A virtual interface appeared before him—visible only to him. Compared to before, it was far more streamlined, functional, and cold.
[Status Update Complete]
[Beginner Guidance Phase Ended]
[Formal Mode Activated]
[Host]: Yin An
[Power Level]: Lv.2 (Body & Mind: crushing physical force)
[Points]: 157 (+47/min)
Below it was a smaller line of explanation:
[Point Acquisition]:
Points are calculated in real time based on the impact the host has on the shinobi world
(including but not limited to: information disturbance, fate deviation, emotional harvesting - chakra absorption through emotional resonance).
As long as the impact continues, point accumulation continues.
[Point Usage]:
Can be exchanged in the System Shop for abilities, items, intelligence, and more.
"As expected—the newbie benefits are over," Yin An murmured.
That massive leap in power earlier was clearly part of the beginner rewards.
From now on, if he wanted to grow stronger, he'd have to stir things up himself to earn points.
His eyes settled on the points counter, which continued to tick upward by dozens every minute.
"157 points—and still climbing fast… Looks like even though the projection is gone, the shockwaves it caused are still spreading."
That was excellent news.
It meant he had a steady stream of passive income, even if he did nothing.
Watching the rising number and feeling his newfound power, a deeper smile spread across Yin An's face.
"steady accumulation is acceptable... but progress remains too gradual."
He murmured, turning his gaze back toward the turbulent shinobi world.
"It's time… to start producing the next stage of the 'script.'"
"…But first, I'll go cast a couple of carefully laid plans."
Konoha responded to the joint external inquiries with strategic silence.
To the other four great villages, that silence was nothing short of arrogant provocation.
Covert operations intensified.
In just a few days, several unknown infiltration and assassination attempts targeting Naruto Uzumaki occurred.
All were intercepted by reinforced defenses and ANBU—but each incident darkened Hiruzen's expression further.
Konoha's defensive pressure mounted by the day.
Then—amid this internal and external crisis—
The return of two heavyweight figures finally gave the exhausted Third Hokage a moment to breathe, like a powerful stimulant injected straight into the heart.
Two of the Legendary Sannin had returned at the same time.
Jiraiya.
Tsunade.
"So," Tsunade said, arms crossed, eyes sharp as she looked down at the Ninja Academy training field below,
"that brat… is Naruto Uzumaki?"
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