Naruto: From Ninja Academy to an Early Grave

Konoha Year 66, October 1st. Night.

Makoto stood in the plaza, gazing up at the crescent moon hanging in the sky.

The ninja world had neither a Gregorian nor a lunar calendar. Its unified calendar was synchronized with the phases of the moon—from the waxing crescent at the beginning of the month, to the full moon in the middle, and then the waning crescent afterward.

In many ways, it seemed no different from the moon of Makoto's previous life.

That moon had only ever been home to gods in the myths and legends of various peoples. In reality, it was nothing more than a barren natural satellite. Humanity had already left footprints on its surface and confirmed that no moon god lived there.

But the moon of the ninja world was different.

It was artificial.

And it really did imprison a lady upon its surface—the Rabbit Goddess, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.

Besides her, the descendants of her second son also lived there. Though by now, that clan had probably been all but wiped out by internal conflict. Only the naturally blind Ōtsutsuki Toneri and his father remained.

That father likely didn't have many years left to live, either.

The irony was hard to miss.

They had always viewed themselves as lofty arbiters of order, constantly seeking to reshape the failed ninja world that Hagoromo had created, yet they never once reflected on themselves.

Hamura's descendants were far more ruthless than the people of the ninja world.

At least despite the endless wars, civilization in the ninja world had continued advancing steadily. Meanwhile, they had slaughtered their own clan to extinction and ultimately been forced to come down to Earth in search of wives.

In the blink of an eye, twenty-five years had passed since Makoto arrived in the ninja world.

He had begun walking the path of a ninja at the age of three. Twenty-two years had gone by since then, and the gifted child of the past had transformed into the strongest person in the ninja world.

Time itself seemed to have forgotten him over the years, unwilling to carve any traces into his appearance.

His looks had frozen in his early twenties.

And it wasn't just him.

Even Minato, whose Natural Energy Training had grown increasingly profound, still looked to be around thirty years old despite the fact that he would turn forty next year.

Others who had started practicing Senjutsu early had likewise begun aging at an extremely slow rate.

The most representative examples were Sarutobi Hiruzen and the rest of his generation.

These days, Hiruzen, Torifu, Homura, and Koharu spent their days immersed in training, unable to pull themselves away.

The abundant vitality flowing through their bodies made them feel as though they had returned to their youth.

The thing the four old-timers lamented most these days was:

Danzō had truly been a fool.

He had completely missed Konoha's greatest era.

All of this proved that the True Sage system, centered around secondary primordial natural energy, genuinely possessed the ability to extend human lifespan.

If things continued developing this way, perhaps many years in the future, some humans would become long-lived beings like the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

Maybe new conflicts between human subgroups would arise when that time came.

But that would be a problem for future generations to worry about.

Conflicts could be resolved.

They could never be eliminated.

...

As the night grew deeper, more people gradually arrived at the meditation chamber within the dōjō.

Besides those closest to Makoto, others came as well.

Tonight was a special day.

After years of training, the fifteen-year-old Naruto and Sasuke were finally about to reach a critical stage of transformation.

They would use an enormous amount of secondary white natural energy to wash through their bodies, remove the miscellaneous wills mixed within their chakra, and achieve complete control over their own chakra.

The third stage:

Constant Sage Mode.

Only after mastering the second stage, Standard Sage Mode, to the point where one could absorb secondary natural energy without any time limit could this step be attempted.

At present, aside from Makoto himself—a special case—the entirety of Konoha had only three people who had reached the Constant Sage Mode stage.

The first was his eldest disciple, Tenten, who had accidentally obtained an enormous blessing back then.

The second was Namikaze Minato.

The third was Uchiha Shisui.

The latter two possessed exceptional talent for training, and the darker sides of their personalities were comparatively weak, allowing them to gradually pull ahead of everyone else.

Even Makoto's own family members couldn't keep up with them.

It couldn't be helped.

Training was also something that depended heavily on talent.

Itachi and Kakashi certainly had the talent, but both carried too many distractions in their hearts. They still lacked the final bit of refinement.

As for Sasuke and Naruto...

They were special.

After all, they were the beloved sons of the Sage of Six Paths.

The saviors of the original timeline.

One of them was even the Child of Prophecy spoken of by Gamamaru.

Unfortunately for fate, Makoto's existence had disrupted everything, forcibly steering the future of this world onto an entirely different path.

As the first person in Konoha to advance the new system to the third stage, Tenten was now sixteen years old.

She had grown into a lively and beautiful young woman.

Makoto said, "Haven't you already passed this stage? Why did you come here?"

Tenten replied, "I'm just curious, Sensei. I've always felt that Sasuke and Naruto are different from the rest of us. There's something special about them, but I can't figure out what it is."

"I didn't expect you to be that perceptive, Tenten."

Kushina said, "Of course they're special. He's my son, after all."

Mikoto added, "Every child is special in their mother's eyes."

A mysterious smile appeared on Makoto's face.

"Ladies, Naruto and Sasuke aren't special for that reason."

Kushina: "..."

I was just saying that casually. Wait... is there some secret I don't know about?

Naruto isn't my son?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

I gave birth to Naruto myself. He's definitely mine and Minato's child.

Mikoto, on the other hand, didn't care.

No matter how special Sasuke was, he was still her son.

The only thing she cared about was his safety.

Minato, Fugaku, Itachi, and Shisui exchanged silent glances.

They knew Makoto had obtained a great deal of information from Urashiki and had even visited another world. If Naruto and Sasuke were truly special, there had to be a reason behind it.

But none of them asked.

The answer would reveal itself soon enough.

At the center of the training chamber, Sasuke opened his eyes and glanced at his beloved older brother.

At long last, he had surpassed Itachi in training.

His next goal was to surpass Shisui and become the strongest Uchiha.

The thought filled him with a bit of pride.

As everyone knew, young Sasuke's greatest weakness was how easily success went to his head.

Makoto said, "Sasuke, your mind is unsettled. If you can't calm yourself, focus your spirit, and cast aside distracting thoughts, you won't achieve your transformation. Besides, you don't want Naruto getting ahead of you, do you?"

Only then did Sasuke remember that his direct rival was sitting right beside him.

"I understand, Makoto-sensei. I won't let that guy surpass me."

...

Time passed slowly as everyone waited patiently.

At the center of the chamber, Sasuke and Naruto followed their previous experience and completely immersed themselves in the process.

They allowed the secondary natural energy to enter their bodies freely, no longer carefully controlling it as they normally did.

Sage markings appeared on their foreheads.

Both entered Standard Sage Mode.

But this was not the end.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, the influx of natural energy reached a critical threshold.

Their bodies opened completely.

If their bodies were houses, then all their previous training had merely involved guiding secondary white natural energy through the front door while carefully controlling the amount and monitoring it closely.

The moment it became excessive, they would shut the door.

But now every door and window had been thrown wide open.

The energy filling the dōjō began pouring into the house without restraint, washing through every cell in their bodies.

As time passed, visible wisps of chakra began emerging from their bodies.

The moment they left their bodies, they were rapidly annihilated by the natural energy filling the dōjō.

These were the foreign wills hidden within a ninja's chakra.

Chakra originally belonged to the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

The wills contained within it were extremely mixed.

Some belonged to Kaguya.

Some belonged to her two sons.

There might even be traces of the will of the entire Ōtsutsuki Clan.

Only by removing these things could a ninja achieve complete control over their own power and continue advancing their training in the seven chakra attributes.

Several minutes later, less and less chakra carrying foreign wills emerged until it was completely gone.

Only after the body had fully adapted to the annihilating power within natural energy and daily training was no longer restricted by time could one attempt to enter the third stage.

Even then, it was still dangerous.

An excessive influx of secondary white natural energy could suddenly amplify the annihilation effect severalfold, creating the risk of erasing oneself entirely.

At the moment, it seemed Sasuke and Naruto had successfully overcome that danger.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

But they celebrated too soon.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto had finished.

Secondary white natural energy continued flooding into their bodies, as though it were hunting an even more stubborn enemy hidden within them.

Soon, foreign chakra that had already disappeared began emerging once more.

And this time, the quantity far exceeded what had appeared before.

Large amounts of chakra poured out of their bodies.

Unlike before, however, it was no longer annihilated by the surrounding natural energy.

Instead, it began gathering together.

Gradually, a translucent chakra figure appeared above each of their heads.

The figures resembled illusory projections, yet they undeniably existed.

Their faces were clearly visible.

Seeing this, both families were completely dumbfounded.

Why were strange people hidden inside their children?

Who were they?

When Tenten, Minato, and Shisui entered Constant Sage Mode, nothing like this had ever happened.