Whoosh… whoosh…
In the small forest behind Konoha Village, sharp sounds of wind cutting through the air echoed repeatedly.
A figure flashed briefly among the trees.
Click.
With a mechanical sound, a one-meter-long black sniper rifle suddenly appeared in his hands.
Through the long-range scope, Kirito locked onto a target several hundred meters away.
Then—
Bang!
With a loud gunshot, the bullet shot out at 777 m/s.
It was so fast that even a blur could not be seen.
Almost the moment the trigger was pulled, the bullet had already struck the target.
Through the scope, Kirito could clearly see the result.
On the target hundreds of meters away, the bullseye had been pierced.
However—
Kirito frowned slightly.
The bullet had not hit perfectly in the center.
It was slightly above and to the left of the red dot.
Feeling the gentle breeze brushing past his hair, Kirito murmured quietly:
"Environmental factors like wind speed, temperature, humidity… and the shooter's micro-movements…"
"All of them affect shooting accuracy."
Click.
He rotated the bolt, smoothly ejecting the spent casing and loading a new round.
This time he aimed at a target about 100 meters away.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed again.
The bullet passed directly through the center of the bullseye.
Nearly perfect accuracy.
Kirito nodded slightly.
"Within 100 meters, I can basically achieve 100% accuracy."
Of course—
that only applied to stationary targets.
Hitting a fast-moving target would be far more difficult.
With a casual motion, he dismissed the M700 sniper rifle.
With his current marksmanship, the rifle still couldn't be used effectively in real combat.
Unless he was hiding and ambushing from the shadows.
If he faced enemies head-on without the skill to hit moving targets, it would be hard to produce meaningful combat power.
A flash of light appeared.
This time, a short katana materialized in Kirito's hand.
"So… what I really need right now is close-combat ability."
Kirito realized that both the Assassin's Blade and the sniper rifle were suited for mid- to long-range attacks.
What he lacked most was close-quarters combat strength.
To compensate for that weakness, he needed focused training.
---
Kirito gripped the sword with both hands.
He raised it high—
and slashed forward with force.
Then raised it again.
Another slash.
Over and over.
He repeated the same basic sword technique in a monotonous cycle.
Kirito was only 13 years old, yet he possessed patience and composure far beyond others his age.
At an age when most youths were impulsive and hot-blooded, it was hard to imagine someone enduring such dull and repetitive training.
But that was simply Kirito's personality.
He didn't train for some grand ambition.
He just followed his own instincts.
He sought strength simply for the sake of becoming stronger.
He rejected his own weakness.
Everything else could wait.
First—
he needed power.
---
Of course, there was another reason pushing Kirito to train harder.
As someone who possessed knowledge from another dimension, he knew that a major event would soon occur.
And that event involved life-and-death battles.
Kirito did not have a strong sense of loyalty toward Konoha.
He had no desire to sacrifice himself heroically for the village.
But—
if trouble came knocking at his door…
He certainly wasn't going to sit there and wait to die.
Therefore,
becoming stronger as quickly as possible had become Kirito's top priority.
---
In such a large village, a young boy who wasn't even a ninja training alone in a remote forest normally wouldn't attract anyone's attention.
Yet—
someone did notice him.
The person with the highest authority in Konoha.
The Third Hokage.
Through the village's barrier system, he could observe any place in Konoha using the crystal ball in his office.
The elderly man watched silently.
Inside the crystal ball—
Kirito continued practicing.
"The boy…"
The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes.
"If I remember correctly… he should be the child from the Hyuga clan."
"He doesn't use hand seals, nor does he rely on sealing scrolls… yet he can freely summon various weapons."
"That's strange… but also an extraordinary ability."
Then his gaze shifted toward a tree holding a target.
The tree trunk was thick enough that three people could barely wrap their arms around it.
Yet—
it had been pierced cleanly by Kirito's "hidden weapon".
"In terms of destructive power," the Third Hokage muttered thoughtfully,
"A chakra-enhanced blade thrown with full force could possibly achieve something similar."
"But the problem is…"
"The speed of the projectile fired from that black tubular weapon is astonishing."
He continued analyzing.
"If used at close range without warning…"
"Even an experienced Jonin might be killed instantly."
Then his gaze returned to Kirito.
The boy had been practicing for a long time already.
Yet he still continued the same dull sword drills without stopping.
The Third Hokage murmured:
"A boy with such determination…"
"Is he really the useless failure people say he is?"
"It seems the Hyuga clan misjudged him."
After all—
Kirito was from the Hyuga branch family.
Yet he had not even inherited the Byakugan.
He was also one of the extremely rare students who failed to graduate from the Ninja Academy.
Who would have thought that someone like that would secretly possess such abilities?
---
"Speaking of which…"
The Third Hokage suddenly recalled something.
"A few days ago, Guy's team's mission report…"
He opened the report.
Mission: Escort noble goods to the Fire Daimyo's residence
Rank: C-Rank
Participants:
Hyuga Neji
Tenten
Rock Lee
Several convoy members
Mission Details:
Encountered a wandering ninja with Jonin-level strength at Qinshan Road. The escort team was defeated. At the critical moment, convoy member Hyuga Kirito successfully launched a sneak attack and used strategy to force the enemy to retreat.
The Third Hokage tapped the desk lightly with his finger.
A sharp glint flashed briefly in his narrowed eyes.
"Successfully sneaking up on a Jonin… and forcing him to retreat with strategy…"
"No matter how I look at it…"
"That's not something a Genin could accomplish."
"Let alone someone who isn't even a ninja."
---
If you'd like, I can also explain something very interesting about this chapter:
1. Why the Third Hokage's observation ability here is actually referencing a canon Naruto technique.
2. Why Kirito's sniper rifle is terrifyingly broken in the Naruto world.
3. And why the Third Hokage noticing him here is actually the beginning of a major plot shift later in the story.