__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
The chapter got you itching for more? Read ahead and get exclusive content before anyone else? Join me on Patr -e-on! Your support would mean the world to me.
( | p@treon.com/FictionGoat | )
Read over 20+ chapters in advance.
. . . .
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
Kaito peeked through the crack of the door, his muscles tense and the hair on his skin standing on end. He had no idea what might be waiting on the other side. But as he peered through the narrow gap he had made, a sigh of relief escaped him.
He opened the door to reveal a man in a brown uniform, a box insignia prominently displayed on his chest. A bag was strapped across the man's torso, resting at his side, and in his hands, he held a single letter.
The man glanced at Kaito briefly, his surprise evident at seeing a child answering the door. Still, he remained focused on his job, professionalism overtaking his initial reaction.
"Are your parents home?" the man asked Kaito, who only frowned in response.
"I'm an orphan," Kaito replied bluntly, his tone flat. The mailman froze for a moment, his face shifting to one of awkward regret. He gave a small, nervous cough to break the tension. "Uh, well, this is for you then," he said, handing Kaito the letter. The boy hesitated briefly before accepting it.
The mailman quickly held out a clipboard with a piece of paper attached. "Sign here... and I'll be on my way," he said. Without a word, Kaito scribbled his name. The sooner this man was gone, the better it would be for both of them.
After signing the paper, the man nodded and headed down the stairs without another word. Kaito sighed, shutting the door behind him before dragging himself over to his bed.
"What could this be?" he muttered, carefully tearing open the letter. His eyes darted across the page, and with each line he read, his eyebrows knitted together tighter and tighter until they practically formed a unibrow.
"Those bastards..." Kaito groaned, running a hand down his face in frustration. The letter was from the village—or more specifically, the organization responsible for distributing allowances to orphans. It stated that his allowance was being cut off. While they had covered this month's rent and utilities, he would be entirely on his own from now on, forced to find a way to support himself.
One day in, and he was already having the worst time of his life. He'd barely had enough money to begin with, and now there was nothing coming in. What a miserable situation.
With a heavy sigh, he admitted to himself what his only option was. "Getting a job..." Kaito grumbled. He was in the Naruto world, and now he had to figure out how to make a living. He didn't even know what the minimum wage here was, but he was certain it wouldn't be enough. He'd probably need two jobs, maybe even more. No matter where you went, it seemed you couldn't escape the grind of a nine-to-five.
Frustrated, Kaito crumpled the paper and tossed it to the side.
That was an issue for later. Right now, he had to focus on grinding his chakra control. Walking back to the table, he shook off any lingering negative thoughts and grabbed another leaf, pressing it firmly against his forehead.
He released it slowly, channeling his chakra with careful focus. To his relief, the leaf stuck just as he had hoped. Encouraged, he decided to raise the difficulty. He grabbed a second leaf and positioned it on his forehead next to the first.
As soon as the second leaf touched his skin, both leaves burst into fragments, scattering onto the floor. Kaito let out a groan of frustration. "Shit..." he muttered under his breath. This was going to take a while.
. . . . .
_______________________
__________
The next morning, Kaito had finally managed to keep two leaves stuck to his forehead at the same time. It was a massive improvement from before, but just like every other time, the progress came at a cost. He was utterly drained, his chakra reserves dangerously low.
Slowly, he pushed himself up from the floor, wobbling slightly as he walked around the room, the leaves still clinging to his forehead. After a moment, he sighed, and the leaves lost their hold, fluttering gently to the ground.
"I'm so hungry..." Kaito groaned, clutching his empty stomach. Dragging himself to the fridge, he opened the door only to be greeted by the sight of near emptiness—just a few pots of leftover food sitting inside.
The lights in the fridge flickered constantly, and it felt more chilly than truly cold. One day, when he had money, Kaito promised himself he'd invest in a better fridge. But he knew that day was a long way off.
Kaito pulled a pot from the fridge and placed it on the stove. Without a microwave, he had to reheat his food the old-fashioned way. After some time, the food was warm enough, and he served himself a small portion—just enough to satisfy his hunger while leaving plenty for later.
Even though his stomach growled and his brain screamed at him to eat it all, he resisted. Patience was key, and he couldn't afford to be greedy.
He ate his fill and placed the pot back into the fridge. Afterward, he headed straight to bed—yes, in the morning, when most people were just starting their day. His sleep schedule was completely messed up thanks to his training, but that was a problem for another time.
He slept for a good while, eventually dragging himself up and throwing on a fresh set of clothes before heading out of the apartment.
Today was one of those days—back to the grind. As he walked through the village streets, he couldn't help but admire its beauty, even after all this time. After a while of wandering, he arrived at the training grounds, ready to get to back to the GRIND!
How did he know? A gut feeling...and the sign that said "Training Grounds" pretty much confirmed it. As he walked further in, he passed by a few people scattered here and there.
He made his way to the very last training ground, one that looked like it hadn't been used in years. How did he know? The grass was overgrown and untrimmed, and the wooden dummies were so worn and rotten that it was clear they hadn't been replaced in a long time.
It seemed whoever was responsible for maintaining the training grounds had completely neglected this place. Perhaps they simply didn't have the budget to clean it up and replace the utilities. After the Kyuubi attack, the village likely diverted most of its resources toward rebuilding more important areas.
A training ground this far out, unused by anyone, must have seemed like a waste of time and precious resources to repair. Or maybe it had just been forgotten entirely.
It could have been either reason, but Kaito leaned toward the latter. Even the sign was overgrown with vines, almost as if nature itself had forgotten it too.
He wasn't exactly against it; for him, it was perfect. Having people around made him feel uneasy. Being far from others helped him focus and allowed him to do what he wanted without the fear of someone discovering his secret—that he was from another world. Though it was unlikely anyone would figure it out, they might still see him as an incompetent novice. And in his mind, being too cautious was never a bad thing.
Even now, as he was 'alone,' he reminded himself that you could never be too sure who might be watching. He needed to act completely normal, blending in to avoid raising any suspicion. This wasn't just a concern for the moment; it was a principle he needed moving forward.
The less attention he drew to himself, the better. That would give him the freedom to work comfortably, undisturbed, and focus on his goals without interference. If he did anything even remotely suspicious, he'd likely be interrogated and have his mind raped by the Yamanaka clan. That was how cautious the Leaf Village was. Even the slightest perceived threat would be dealt with swiftly and decisively.
Getting rid of him would be no more significant than removing a single grain of sand from an endless beach—an action so trivial it barely mattered. That was just how insignificant he felt in the grand scheme of things.
With a sigh, he started running around the training ground to warm himself up... But he found that even after running barely anywhere for two minutes straight, he was completely spent.
He felt like a sweat magnet, with beads of sweat swelling up on his skin and drizzling down his legs onto the ground. It wasn't even funny how weak this boy was. Years of insufficient nutrition had stunted his muscle growth and left his body unreasonably fragile. His thin frame was a testament to the struggle of surviving on whatever scraps were available. It wasn't fair to blame the kid; he was simply doing the best he could with what little he had.
His arms felt like lead, and it seemed as though he had just run a whole marathon, his breath completely sapped. Groaning, he leaned against a tree and slid down to sit beneath its shade, gasping for air as he tried to recover. Despite his frustration, he knew he had to keep pushing—he had no other choice.
"His body simply isn't cut out for physical activities...how did he even make it to the academy?" Kaito complained. Why couldn't he have been reborn as someone from the Uchiha or Uzumaki clan...or anybody else except for Kaito?
Being an Uchiha would definitely have been incredible, but he'd still choose being an Uzumaki over an Uchiha because of how undeniably powerful they are in comparison.
The Uchiha were famous for their Sharingan and Mangekyō Sharingan—abilities that allowed them to cast powerful genjutsu, create the Susanoo, and use techniques like Amaterasu or Tsukuyomi. However, these powers often came with high costs, such as blindness or the need to endure intense emotional trauma to unlock them.
The Uzumaki's power, on the other hand, didn't require such extreme sacrifices. They were renowned as masters of sealing techniques, capable of creating jutsu like the Reaper Death Seal—a technique so powerful it could claim the souls of its targets. Perhaps even more impressive was their ability to seal entire tailed beasts, the walking nukes of the shinobi world.
These beasts, each containing an enormous reservoir of Chakra, were so powerful that entire nations feared their destructive potential. Yet the Uzumaki could subdue and contain them, showcasing how crazy they were.
Even Kushina Uzumaki, who had a literal tailed beast forcibly extracted from her—an act that would normally kill any jinchūriki instantly—managed to survive. Despite being gravely weakened, she was still able to temporarily restrain Kurama, the Nine-Tails. Kurama wasn't just any tailed beast; it was the strongest of them all by far, a catastrophic force of destruction feared across the shinobi world.
The Uzumaki's immense Chakra reserves also allowed them to perform powerful jutsu for extended periods, where even the most skilled shinobi would have been drained within moments. Their endurance in battle was unmatched, and their mastery of sealing techniques made them indispensable allies and terrifying opponents.
Another significant advantage of the Uzumaki clan was their natural healing ability, which allowed them to recover from severe injuries much faster than most shinobi. As direct relatives of the Senju clan, they also inherited many of the Senju's traits, including their robust physical energy and life force. This connection further solidified their reputation as one of the most resilient and powerful clans in history.
Madara Uchiha's decision to entrust Nagato Uzumaki with the Rinnegan and control of the Gedo Statue highlighted just how powerful they were. Even Obito, who was considered a prodigy, struggled to handle a single Rinnegan due to its enormous Chakra demands. Meanwhile, Nagato, despite being gravely ill, wielded both Rinnegan effectively and commanded the Six Paths of Pain with relative ease.
How did they get wiped out? Kaito would blame it all on the plot.
Thinking about it, Kaito couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. "If I had that kind of Chakra, training wouldn't be such a struggle," he muttered. But, as he reminded himself, there was no use wishing for something he didn't have. He could only move forward with what was given to him.
Getting up off the floor, Kaito stretched to make sure he didn't pull a muscle. He then headed over to the tree in front of him, determination etched across his face.
The tree-walking technique was both challenging and rewarding. The difficulty stemmed from having to channel chakra to the soles of his feet—one of the furthest points from the heart and notoriously hard to control. Mastering this skill required precise chakra control, which was essential for a shinobi.
Kaito closed his eyes and focused, channeling his chakra through his tenketsu, the tiny energy pathways in his body. He carefully directed the flow to the bottom of his foot, aiming for just the right amount of chakra to stick to the bark. Too much, and he'd blast himself off; too little, and he'd slip.
He pressed his foot against the rough bark of the tree. For a moment, he thought he had succeeded—but the next instant, an overwhelming force sent him flying backward. His body hit the ground hard, and his face skidded through the dirt before he came to a stop, sprawled on his stomach.
The recoil left his legs trembling, his muscles aching, and his entire body trembling.
Despite the pain, he refused to stop and wouldn't stop until he mastered the technique. He returned to the bark, but instead of focusing the chakra in his foot, he shifted it to his palms.
He pressed his palm flat against the bark, channeling chakra through his system and out through the tenketsu in his hand. As he applied pressure, his hand fell down the surface instead of attaching itself. Why couldn't he be blessed like spiderman who naturally could stick to walls?
_________________________________
________________________________________________________
Leave a review and comment!
Read over 20+ chapters in advance, on P@treon.