What Is He Doing?

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the incident of the Hyuga Clan killing someone didn't stir up any ripples in the village.

Now it was the start of a new year, and Naruto was five years old.

Of course, he hadn't just aged a year; over these two months, under his father's personal guidance in the Sealed Space, his strength had improved rapidly.

At the very least, he could be considered at the level of a Konoha genin, though his Taijutsu was uncertain.

Under constant surveillance, he could only learn ninjutsu in the Sealed Space during these two months, then go to the Mirrored World to continuously challenge puppets and hone himself.

The virtual battles felt decent, but he had never actually fought in the real world, so he couldn't gauge his current strength.

Over these two months, Naruto had steadily built his foundation. His chakra had grown dramatically each day since switching to a new refining method, and the first thing he learned was the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Additionally, these past two days, he had been studying the sensory ability his father had taught him, which the Uzumaki Clan used to perceive their surroundings with their own chakra.

Thanks to the growth in chakra, he had leftover time each night to challenge the Mirrored World, and several times he had outright won against Kotetsu Hagane by exhausting him with Shadow Clones.

He wanted to make use of the daytime too, but he couldn't.

The Anbu who had been withdrawn earlier only gave him a single day off before returning.

Today, Naruto had just bought two kunai from the Ninja Tool Full Point Hall and returned home. The shop had thrown in a cheap Ninja Tool Pouch as a bonus, but Kurama immediately warned him that Hayate Gekko had been following him the whole way and was now standing right behind him.

This left Naruto a bit speechless. It seemed he had to master the sensory ability as soon as possible.

If even a mere Transparency Jutsu user like Hayate Gekko, who could be sensed, required Kurama's warning, then what would he do if he encountered someone with a terrifying, undetectable invisibility ability like the Second Tsuchikage's Dustless Camouflage?

The kunai were for use in the Mirrored World, where he could project the tools and equipment he carried.

Over these two months, he had continuously challenged Kotetsu Hagane, but the rewards he got were somewhat unsatisfying.

He had received a ton of rewards—Kotetsu Hagane's personal ninjutsu and the training experience of both genin and chunin.

Aside from the training experience, the ninjutsu were useless; Naruto couldn't learn them, including the earlier Great Fireball Jutsu.

After testing with five Chakra Test Papers, he currently only had Wind Release Chakra.

Thinking that Hayate Gekko was behind him, Naruto put the kunai into the Ninja Tool Pouch, walked to his desk, spread out a sheet of paper, reached for a brush, and started writing directly.

'Wo mei you wen hua'

'Wo zhi shang hen di'

After writing these two lines, he left them on the table without a care and went downstairs to prepare his own lunch. Behind him, Hayate Gekko stepped forward, silently recited the lines several times, then climbed out the window and left.

~~~~~~~~~

On the rooftop of the Hokage's Office.

"What do these two sentences mean?"

The Third Hokage frowned deeply as he looked at Hayate Gekko's surveillance report. At the top were the two lines Naruto had written earlier.

He recognized every character, but strung together, he had no idea what they meant.

"Cough-cough! Lord Hokage, I don't understand either. The target wrote this down right after returning home from buying two kunai at the Ninja Tool Full Point Hall."

Hearing his superior's question, Hayate Gekko coughed out a sentence, though it was a mystery how he managed to suppress his coughs while tailing Naruto earlier.

The Third Hokage's expression hardened. "Kunai? Has someone in the village already started making a move to bully Naruto?"

"No!" Hayate Gekko, with dark circles under his eyes, shook his head firmly. "The target has been the same as always. Every day, he follows a fixed route, goes out, and comes back home shortly after. And now, he uses the Transformation Jutsu every time he goes out. He hasn't had any conflicts with anyone in the village."

The Third Hokage furrowed his brow. If no one was bullying Naruto, then why had he suddenly bought offensive ninja tools?

This was not a good sign!

Hayate Gekko's answer left him uneasy.

Naruto had already refined chakra and could be considered a ninja. If an ordinary villager angered Naruto...

He had to know what Naruto was thinking!

Everything about Naruto had to be kept under control!

"Have Shikaku come over."

"Yes!"

~~~~~~~

At nightfall.

Inside the Sealed Space, under Minato Namikaze's watchful gaze, Naruto spread one hand in front of him. In his palm, a visible mass of chakra rapidly formed, and under Naruto's control, it flowed in different directions while continuously compressing, quickly shaping into a high-speed, high-density spinning chakra ball.

Naruto had successfully formed a Rasengan.

With the experience gained, he extended his other hand, and in an instant, another brand-new Rasengan appeared in his palm.

After dinner, Naruto had been sitting in a chair practicing his sensory ability when his father suddenly excitedly told him he was going to teach him a Ninjutsu without Hand Seals.

He instantly guessed it was the Rasengan.

But after spending nearly three hours, Naruto still hadn't grasped the trick.

He wasn't in a hurry, because he had seen the Original Work.

His father had spent three years developing this jutsu, and even the Sage of the Toads, Jiraiya, had taken three days to learn it.

Unlike the Uchiha Clan or Kakashi, he couldn't copy jutsu with the Sharingan, so it made sense that he was slow to learn.

So Naruto decided to go buy a balloon tomorrow and practice according to the plot.

That's when Kurama couldn't stand it anymore. With one glance, he knew the Rasengan was developed by Minato Namikaze based on their Tailed Beast Bomb.

Kurama first mocked Minato for not thinking outside the box, then directly had Naruto bump fists with him, instantly transmitting the complete process of how they successfully condensed a Tailed Beast Bomb to Naruto.

After that, he replenished Minato's Chakra, shot him a look that should have been self-explanatory, and lay down nearby to feign sleep.

Naruto knew the plot, so of course he understood that using Kurama's Chakra could link others to his mind, but he couldn't say it. Now that Kurama had demonstrated it himself, Minato's intelligence grasped it immediately.

Naruto's mind couldn't help but wonder if his father and the other half of Kurama, sealed in the Reaper Death Seal, had already become allies.

But Minato, who only had a portion of his Chakra sealed here, truly hadn't expected Kurama's Chakra to be capable of such a miraculous feat.

Snapping back to reality, he immediately bumped fists with Naruto inside the seal, cramming everything from how he developed the Rasengan to his various experiences using it straight into Naruto's mind.

With that, it didn't take Naruto long to successfully learn the Rasengan.

And without needing a Shadow Clone, he could spin it with one hand.

Standing in front of the iron door, Naruto held a Rasengan in each hand. For some reason, he pressed both spheres directly against the door.

Hum! Hum!

Two faint vibrations sounded, then the Rasengan vanished, and the iron door remained completely unmoved.

Minato's eyes went blank. "Naruto, what are you—"

Naruto examined the unscathed iron door. "Just thought I'd try if the Rasengan could blow the seal open."

"Hey! Don't bother, Naruto. I've blasted that iron door with Tailed Beast Bombs countless times," Kurama said, opening his eyes the moment Naruto acted, though his gaze was rather dejected.

"Then let me try from outside the door with the Rasengan. Maybe—"

"The Third Hokage is downstairs!"

Before Naruto could finish, Kurama suddenly warned.

"What business could he have at this hour?"

A knock sounded from outside the door. Naruto went downstairs and welcomed the Third Hokage inside.

After seating the Third Hokage, he casually poured a glass of cold water, then sat down to wait for the Third Hokage to speak.

"Naruto, I made time to come see how your training is going," the Third Hokage said with a kind expression. "I've been busy lately. How is it? Have you run into anything you don't understand?"

"Lord Hokage, I've already mastered the Transformation Jutsu!" Naruto stood up and performed a textbook-perfect Hand Seal.

Poof!

Naruto transformed into someone he didn't recognize.

Without any instruction, Naruto had already used the Transformation Jutsu flawlessly.

Seeing this, a glint flashed in the Third Hokage's eyes. He grabbed Naruto's arm in a flash, then immediately let go.

The moment his arm was caught, Naruto felt a surge of Chakra from the Third's hand sweep over him and vanish.

"Heh! Very good! Little Naruto is indeed hardworking. Since that's the case, I'll teach you other jutsu next time I come."

"Okay, thank you, Lord Hokage!"

With that, the Third Hokage smiled, said his goodbyes, and left, as if he truly had only come to check on Naruto's training.

"Hmph! Naruto, that old man has bad intentions!"

As soon as the door closed, Kurama spoke up.

"Naruto, when the Third grabbed your arm just now, he recorded your personal Chakra signature!" Minato warned with a grim expression.

Hearing this, Naruto's gaze turned icy cold. He knew his father hadn't finished speaking.

Sure enough, Minato's face grew serious as he continued, "The Third knows the Scrying Jutsu. It lets him remotely monitor specific people using a special Crystal Ball in his office, but the prerequisite is having that person's Chakra signature."

Naruto's expression darkened abruptly.

He knew about that Crystal Ball. In the original anime plot, the Third Hokage often used it to spy on Naruto's movements.

He'd thought keeping a low profile would be enough, but it had come to this. Now the Third Hokage would probably go back and immediately use the Crystal Ball to peek at him.

Moonlight spilled through the window and fell beside him. Naruto stepped out of his second-floor room, climbed the ladder on the side wall, and reached the rooftop.

He grabbed a lounge chair, lay down, and stared at the night sky.

~~~~~~~

Back in the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage finished reviewing some documents, then pulled a Crystal Ball from his drawer.

Soon, he saw Naruto's image in the Crystal Ball.

"What is Naruto doing? Staring at the moon?"