Plot Begins

Naruto used to desperately crave friends. He wanted people to gather around him, and he dreamed of becoming someone like Sasuke, someone who drew attention wherever he went.

But now that he had truly become that kind of person, he found it rather troublesome. Every day, countless people came looking for him without tiring of it, and they all wanted to pet his Snow Charm.

Of course, that was impossible. Only he and Yu could touch Snow Charm now. Even Sasuke was not allowed to pet her.

Naruto did not know what was wrong with him. Though he truly liked Snow Charm in his heart, he felt as if a special power inside his body was controlling his actions. Whenever anyone—male or female—showed any interest in Snow Charm, it would provoke his anger.

Naruto told Yu about it as well.

After hearing this, Yu laughed twice, then patted Naruto's belly. "Don't worry. This is perfectly normal. It might even bring you enormous benefits in the future!"

Naturally, Naruto was completely baffled by those words. But no matter how he questioned Yu, Yu only smiled without answering, repeatedly saying, "When the time comes, you'll naturally understand."

Naturally, Naruto had no idea what Yu meant. He still did not know that he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, or that a being capable of destroying heaven and earth lived inside his body.

But the Nine-Tails was a little different now. Creatures like it should have been invincible beings, free to enjoy the freedom of this world as they pleased.

Yet it had never imagined that it would be captured by someone named Hashirama Senju, then endlessly suppressed, controlled, and ordered around. It had never known freedom throughout all that time.

As a result, the Nine-Tails' heart was filled with violent darkness. So long as it gained even the slightest chance to catch its breath, it would unleash destructive power, seeking revenge against everything.

Just like ten years ago, when it had been controlled by a masked man. Those eyes had left it unable to resist at all, turning it into someone else's toy.

But at the time, the Nine-Tails had not struggled much. It had even willingly given up resisting, because as long as it could destroy that place it hated beyond measure and kill those who had imprisoned it, that was enough.

It did not matter who controlled it. As long as it could release the violent urge for destruction buried deep in its heart, that was all the Nine-Tails wanted.

But ever since seeing Snow Charm, the Nine-Tails had discovered that it had changed a little. Its boundless fury and violence had actually subsided, and while trapped within the seal, it would occasionally think of that snow-white, incomparably beautiful fox.

"Love?"

The Nine-Tails was not unfamiliar with those two words. While sealed inside a Jinchuriki's body, it could sometimes sense what happened outside, so it understood the meaning of love.

The Nine-Tails had always disdained human emotions. To it, it was the only true existence in the world; everything else was nothing but passing clouds.

As long as it had a chance to escape, it would destroy everything in the world.

But now, the Nine-Tails no longer wanted to do that. Something seemed to have appeared on its journey through life, and it wanted to preserve that thing completely.

Snow Charm was that thing. In order to keep Snow Charm by its side forever, the Nine-Tails did not hesitate to use the power it had painstakingly accumulated to influence Naruto, keeping others clean and tidy while also preventing anyone from wanting to approach Snow Charm.

The Nine-Tails had essentially fallen in love with Snow Charm at first sight. The world was just that wondrous, and love was even more miraculous.

Yu had originally thought that the time ahead would not be peaceful. He had humiliated the Anbu, so they should have come to regain their dignity no matter what. And Danzo, Konoha's greatest shadowy power, would naturally not let him off either.

Moreover, he had so flamboyantly revealed his strength in order to attract the attention of Konoha's higher-ups and pave the way for his future.

Yet after that night, no one came to investigate him again, let alone show up at his door to cause trouble.

Yu found this deeply unsatisfying. This situation did not match his expectations at all. He had made a whole series of preparations to deal with the coming turmoil, only for none of them to be of any use.

Still, this was not bad for him. It allowed him to continue developing in peace, since there was never any end to improving one's strength.

Yu would never think that he was strong enough, because he deeply understood the saying, "There is always someone stronger, and there is always a higher sky." Somewhere out there, enemies far more powerful than him surely existed.

Furthermore, his slime cultivation experiments needed to continue. Slimes were his primary source of strength, and cultivating stronger, more useful slimes would provide him with a tremendous boost.

Although the Chakra Conducting Metal Skeleton had already made a huge breakthrough, it still needed continual research and upgrades. Of course, the most important thing was obtaining more chakra-conducting metal. With Sasuke's financial support, he had acquired some bits and pieces of chakra-conducting metal, but the quantity was still far too small. It was a long and arduous process.

He still had more than two years to improve his strength. Once the Hokage storyline began, he would inevitably become involved. By then, the entire plot might undergo enormous changes, and he could only rely on powerful strength to withstand the upheaval.

Another issue was that while the upper limit of his power was extremely high, he was not particularly proficient in using his own strength.

His ninjutsu in particular still required constant practice and improvement. That was a matter of steady effort, something that needed to be accumulated bit by bit and could not be achieved overnight.

More than two years slowly passed. Yu's life had not changed much from the previous two years, except that he had grown much taller. At thirteen, he was already 1.7 meters tall, with muscles all over his body and a sunny, handsome face. He did not look like a thirteen-year-old child at all.

Of course, his height was still nothing remarkable at the Ninja Academy, but what delighted him was that Sasuke and Naruto were a full head shorter than him.

This left Sasuke and Naruto extremely depressed. Why did Yu grow faster than them when he was clearly younger than they were, even if only by a few days?

"Students, tomorrow you will take your graduation exam. As long as you pass, you will receive your forehead protector and become a genin of Konoha.

"As your teacher, I wish all of you good results." Hoshino Reiyuki said to the students with a smile.

"Waaah..."

"We're finally free!"

"Tomorrow, I'll be a ninja!"

"We're doomed! What are we supposed to do about tomorrow's exam?"

"I don't think I'll pass. After tomorrow, I'll just prepare to take over the family business. Being an ordinary person isn't so bad..."

As for the graduation exam, some students in the class were happy while others were worried. After all, not everyone could pass it.

"It's finally beginning."

Listening to his classmates' noisy chatter, Yu rested his chin on both hands, stared at the desktop, and murmured softly.

A faint smile could clearly be seen curling at the corner of Yu's lips.