Chapter 12: One Year Later
One year later — Death Forest.
In the past year, Naruto had grown over ten centimeters taller, towering over most kids his age.
Many things had happened in Konoha during this time. The most shocking event was undoubtedly the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Not even the civilians were spared. And the one who carried out the slaughter was none other than the Uchiha genius and clan heir — Uchiha Itachi.
Deep within the vast Death Forest, many wild beasts roamed. Some Konoha ninjas even came here to find their own summoning animals.
Right now, Naruto had encountered one such beast.
Ten meters ahead, a massive bristled wild boar — over three meters long with long, curved tusks — was staring at him with murderous intent.
A beast of this size had terrifying defense. Even most chunin would struggle to deal with it.
Compared to the giant boar, Naruto's small figure looked weak and helpless.
Finally, the boar pawed the ground, snorted loudly, and charged forward in a savage rush, eager to enjoy the reckless little snack in front of it.
Naruto gripped his black sword, stepped back into a low stance, and swung the blade!
Second Form: Claw Strike — Kotō Wind!
Four massive cyan wind blades, several meters long and twisting like dragon claws, shot forward violently toward the charging boar.
The display was far more dazzling than most Wind Release ninjutsu!
Its power was equally terrifying.
The wind blades sliced through the boar's thick hide and tough flesh like cutting tofu, neatly dividing the beast into five large pieces.
The heavy chunks of meat thudded onto the ground one after another.
A thick stench of blood instantly filled the air.
Naruto flicked his sword in a clean flourish, shaking off the blood, and sheathed it smoothly.
He glanced at the boar meat on the ground.
Looks like this week's meat supply was secured.
Over the past year, by training the nine sword forms of Wind Breathing for two and a half hours every single day, he had mastered them completely. They now felt like natural extensions of his body.
The system reward for the task had been issued three months ago.
Name: Uzumaki Naruto Age: 6 → 7 years old Physique: 23 → 25 (Average person = 1) Chakra: 66.6 → 75.6 cards Bloodline: Perfect Uzumaki Sage Body Abilities: Constant Stage Wind Breathing, Nine Sword Forms, Transparent World Ninjutsu: Three Basic Jutsu, Phantom Transformation Jutsu
In one year, both his physique and chakra had improved significantly. His chakra had broken through 70 cards. At this rate, he had a good chance of reaching 100 cards before turning ten.
The [Transparent World] ability was the reward he received after nine months of consecutive check-ins.
Transparent World: When activated, grants X-ray vision, greatly enhanced dynamic vision, and — once fully mastered — the ability to roughly predict the enemy's next move through observation.
This ability was one of the supreme "Three Treasures" from Demon Slayer. It combined the Byakugan's penetrating vision with the Sharingan's dynamic tracking and predictive capabilities.
Just as Naruto was about to carry the meat back, noise came from behind him again.
He turned around.
Two baby wild boars, each about one meter long, were staring at the scattered pieces of their parent, eyes filled with sadness.
They were clearly the offspring of the large boar.
"Poor little guys," Naruto sighed softly.
On the way back, he carried one dead baby boar on each shoulder. Even though they were juveniles, each weighed nearly a hundred pounds.
Yet Naruto carried them with ease.
"I wonder if baby boar meat is more tender?" he muttered to himself. His figure gradually grew smaller under the glow of the setting sun.
But before he could leave the Death Forest, three figures wearing cat masks suddenly appeared and blocked his path in a triangular formation.
A sharp glint flashed in Naruto's eyes as he instantly activated Transparent World.
The faces of the three masked men became completely visible to him.
They were not the three Anbu who usually monitored him.
The leader spoke in a deep voice: "Uzumaki Naruto, where did you learn those sword techniques? Come with us to Root and explain yourself!"
[So it's Root after all. That old bastard Danzo finally couldn't hold back.]
Naruto's heart sank. He loosened his grip, and the two baby boars dropped heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
[Kurama, get ready for a fight.] Naruto secretly communicated with the Nine-Tails, hand already resting on the hilt of his sword.
After a year of coexistence, although their relationship wasn't as deep as in the original story, they had reached a mutual understanding of mutual benefit.
Kurama's lips curled into a grin. It let out a lazy snort, but its eyes clearly showed barely concealed excitement.
At that exact moment — whoosh, whoosh, whoosh — three more figures appeared, positioning themselves between Naruto and the Root ninjas.
The Anbu and Root members stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Then the Root ninjas used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared.
Kakashi glanced at Naruto once before leaving with the other two Anbu.
Naruto let out a breath and quietly picked up the two baby boars again.
Inside the sealing space, Kurama clicked its tongue in disappointment that no fight had broken out.
This was clearly just a probe from Danzo.
Hiruzen Sarutobi would most likely protect him for now, but Naruto knew he could only truly feel safe when his fate was in his own hands.
Thinking of this, his desire to become stronger grew even more urgent.
The next day, at the Ninja Academy.
Today's first class was Tracking Techniques. Compared to the usual lectures about the Will of Fire, this was actually a practical subject, so Naruto paid attention.
After two periods of theory, Iruka suggested:
"Everyone, we'll now put the tracking theory into practice. Today's outdoor location is the Death Forest!"
Hearing they would have an outdoor class — and in the mysterious Death Forest no less — the students cheered excitedly.
Naruto remained calm. The Death Forest had long since become familiar territory to him.
Over the past year, it had practically been his personal "cafeteria." Whenever he ran out of meat, he would go there to restock and practice his sword forms on the wild beasts.
The entire Class A arrived at the Death Forest. For safety, two elite jonin accompanied them, and they were only allowed to operate in the outer area.
Even so, the kids' faces were flushed with excitement.
Iruka raised his hand to quiet the restless students.
"Alright, everyone. We're going to play a game. Nine passing scrolls have been hidden nearby. You can find them using the clues left behind."
"Form teams of three. The team that finds a scroll will get free ramen from me! Those who don't find one will have to keep searching until school ends this afternoon."
"Now, form your teams!"
The moment Iruka finished speaking, the classroom erupted with excitement at the prospect of a game and a reward.
Many students looked around, searching for reliable teammates.
Ino walked over energetically with her hands behind her back. "Naruto, can I team up with you?"
Naruto nodded.
He noticed that not far away, Hinata was surrounded by many students trying to invite her.
"Hinata! Your Byakugan can see through things, right? Team up with me!"
…
"Get out of the way! Hinata is obviously teaming up with me!" A chubby boy who looked a bit like a young Fat Tiger pushed the others aside and tried to grab Hinata's hand to force her into his team.
Hinata, who rarely spoke in class and had little presence, had never encountered such a situation before. She stood there, completely at a loss.
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