Chakra: My Mirrored World

Near dusk.

"Naruto, don't rush. Everyone's chakra is unstable when they first refine it. You've grasped the basics of chakra now—just train step by step from here. After all, you've only just started learning about chakra and ninjutsu."

The Third Hokage saw Naruto repeatedly trying to refine chakra, only to freeze when he finally formed the Boar hand seal to perform the Transformation Jutsu. Assuming the boy was discouraged by his early failures as a beginner, he spoke up to comfort him.

"I understand, Lord Hokage. Thank you for your patient guidance!"

Naruto lowered his head in thought for a moment, then dismissed the hand seal he'd been preparing for the Transformation Jutsu. He bowed solemnly to the Third Hokage.

"Heh heh! Little Naruto, remember what you said earlier—work hard. I'll come see you when I have time."

The Third Hokage showed a kind smile once more.

"Of course, I'll definitely work hard!" Naruto knew today's home visit from the Third Hokage was over.

The Third Hokage left.

As he walked downstairs and stepped out the door, a flicker of guilt passed through the Third Hokage's eyes. Naruto's every word and action showed not a trace of a child's typical demeanor. Originally, he'd planned to place Naruto in the orphanage.

But the orphanage was under Root's control.

And Root would never hand over management of the orphanage, because it was the foundation of their recruitment. Even as Hokage, he had no authority to intervene—Konoha's political structure wasn't a one-man show for the Hokage.

So who was Root's leader?

Shimura Danzō!

That childhood friend of his had now fully descended into darkness, his methods growing increasingly unscrupulous. While some of that was due to his own indulgence, the Jinchuriki absolutely could not fall under his control.

The Nine-Tails had to remain in the hands of the Hokage—himself. This wasn't just about maintaining peace in the ninja world; it was for Konoha's safety!

With that thought, the Third Hokage's eyes regained their resolute gleam. He reached down, took off his Hokage hat, and gently placed it on his head. There was still plenty of administrative work waiting in his office—he'd already wasted a lot of time today.

Naruto stood at the window upstairs. He saw an Anbu not far from the door, who, as soon as the Hokage walked out, swiftly moved to close the downstairs gate.

This left him slightly displeased, because it reminded him of scenes from ancient costume TV dramas he'd seen in his past life, where people visited prisoners.

In those scenes, without exception, the moment the visitor left the prison, the warden outside would eagerly lock the gate, terrified the inmate inside might seize the chance to escape.

Still, getting the method to refine chakra today had officially opened the door to training—this was excellent!

A moment later, a sharp glint flashed in Naruto's eyes. He gently closed the window, walked slowly into the bedroom, sat down on the bed, and began refining chakra again using the method he'd just learned.

"Minimum energy consumption met! Activate Mirrored World?"

As he attempted to refine chakra and felt a surge of energy course through his body, a prompt sounded in his mind!

"So it wasn't an illusion! This invitation is still here!"

He'd first heard this voice earlier, when he'd successfully refined chakra and was about to perform the Transformation Jutsu, only to freeze. Back then, he'd been stunned.

Until the Third Hokage, thinking he'd failed at chakra refinement, started comforting him. The voice kept reminding him every ten seconds, and he realized only he could hear it.

Not knowing what would happen if he activated this so-called Mirrored World as prompted, and afraid of exposing himself in his haste, he'd silently refused in his mind while bowing slightly to the Third Hokage. Then the voice vanished.

After the Third Hokage went downstairs, he tried to summon the invitation again in his mind, but got no response. Once he was sure it was safe, he guessed the invitation was tied to chakra.

Sure enough, after refining a certain amount of chakra, the invitation reappeared.

"Activate Mirrored World?"

After a few seconds of deliberation, Naruto chose to activate it.

A pop-up box suddenly appeared, with strings of text scrolling across it. A mechanical prompt voice slowly echoed in his mind.

"Mirrored World activation in progress."

"Transmitting instructions."

"Transmission complete. Current bound user: Uzumaki Naruto. Current authority: Level One World Master."

"Beginning data collection on current world. Current data completeness—1%. Please complete data as soon as possible."

"Activation complete. Welcome to the Mirrored World."

The moment all the sounds ended, Naruto's mind stirred. Without any preparation, he found himself in another space.

His gaze sharpened as he realized he was standing at the entrance gate of Konoha.

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki stood on either side of the gate, looking no different from real people, but their faces showed not a trace of life.

From the instructions, Naruto understood they were just puppets materialized from copied character data in this world. The Konoha before him was merely a replicated scene.

But as long as he challenged these puppets in this world, win or lose, he'd earn corresponding scores and rewards—like the puppet's training experience and ninjutsu. If his score was good, there might be even greater gains.

Of course, the challenges he could initiate had rules.

What entered here was just a projection of his soul and consciousness, which required corresponding chakra to sustain. Due to the low data completeness, each visit consumed a certain amount of chakra, and once it ran out, he'd be forcibly ejected.

Naturally, he could also choose to leave at any time by withdrawing his consciousness.

Damage taken in this world wouldn't affect his real body, but it would drain his mental energy. And the flow of time here differed from the outside world.

To have a world like this—wasn't that like cheating?

Having survived to age four in this world with constant fear, he finally had a foundation to stand on and become strong.

Naruto excitedly walked up to Kotetsu Hagane, and a pop-up box immediately appeared.

"Would you like to initiate the challenge?"

Naruto directly selected yes.

A voice devoid of any emotion suddenly sounded.

"Please note! Your current projection state has 10 minutes of challenge time with your Chakra!"

As soon as the words fell, Naruto only felt his vision blur, and he and Kotetsu Hagane were already standing on a dedicated sparring arena.

As for Kotetsu Hagane across from him, he seemed to have fully come to life. Just as Naruto was about to marvel at the realism of this space, he saw Kotetsu Hagane take a deep breath and finish forming a hand seal.

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Jutsu!"

"Me—"

A herd of alpacas ran through his mind. Naruto only had time to spit out one word before a fireball about a meter in diameter came straight at him.

He was stunned.

And just like that, his first battle ended.

Then he found himself and Kotetsu Hagane back at the Konoha gate where he had initiated the challenge. The whole process took only three seconds.

"I really got one-shot."

After Naruto mocked himself, he started to recall. He had watched the Naruto anime all the way to the end. Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki were two chunin-level ninjas. It was normal that he couldn't beat them since he had only learned to refine Chakra today.

But hadn't the instructions said there would be a reward whether he won or lost? Why hadn't he gotten anything just now?

Was it because he lost too badly?

After thinking for nearly two minutes, Naruto decided to try again. He still had some time left anyway.

The scene shifted, and the two appeared on the same arena again. This time, Naruto was prepared. Before Kotetsu Hagane could make a move, he first put a lot of distance between them on the arena, then started running all over the place.

"No matter what, I have to put up a fight this time. I can't get one-shot again!"

After this thought crossed his mind, Naruto kept running while his glossy, azure-blue eyes tracked Kotetsu Hagane's figure, ready to dodge any sudden attack like the one before.

Kotetsu Hagane on the field seemed to have gained intelligence. His gaze followed Naruto as he ran, and the moment Naruto slowed his pace, he vanished from his spot.

When he reappeared, Naruto saw Kotetsu Hagane right in front of him, rapidly closing the distance.

"Crap! That must be the Body Flicker Technique!"

By the time he had just turned in another direction, there was no chance to change course again.

His heart jolted, and then he saw Kotetsu Hagane leap high into the air.

"Water Release! Water Candy Capture!"

This time, Kotetsu Hagane spat.

But the spit grew as it hit the air, instantly forming a large puddle on the ground that flowed toward Naruto. Unable to stop in time, Naruto tragically stepped into it.

The puddle stuck Naruto to the ground like glue.

Without a doubt, the battle ended again.

Under Naruto's resentful gaze, Kotetsu Hagane finished him off with another Great Fireball Jutsu.

But this time, Naruto was pleasantly surprised to hear that emotionless voice.

"Congratulations, you have obtained the training experience for Kotetsu Hagane's Great Fireball Jutsu!"