Kekkei Genkai, Shikotsumyaku

Fifty meters apart.

Naruto immediately opened the Gate of Life, going from the first gate straight to the eighth.

He pushed off, shooting forward!

The air he stirred up sliced through the lake like a blade.

Like a cannonball launched straight at him, Naruto meant to blow his opponent to pieces in a single strike.

"So strong."

Kimimaro shouted, "Dance of the Larch!"

Dozens of bones quickly sprouted from Kimimaro's body. They crossed over one another, forming the defense he trusted most in front of him.

At that moment, Kimimaro looked like a hedgehog bristling with spines.

"My Dance of the Larch offers the strongest defense, and it's covered in sharp bone spikes. If you charge straight at me, you'll be the one who gets hurt," Kimimaro said confidently.

Focus.

Naruto's gaze was resolute. His speed didn't falter, and he added even more force to his charge. "Is that so? You should know your own limits."

Explode.

Naruto pushed the fundamentals of Taijutsu to their absolute limits.

The lake beneath them immediately caved in.

The displaced water surged back under its own momentum, crashed together at the center, and shot up in a column.

Kimimaro was like a bursting soccer ball. The bones in front of him snapped again and again under the force of Naruto's attacks, only to grow back each time through Kimimaro's sheer will.

"You don't have time to adjust. Passive defense only guarantees your eventual defeat." Naruto appeared again, somehow still keeping his eyes on Kimimaro despite his incredible speed.

Kimimaro possessed the Kaguya Clan's Kekkei Genkai, Shikotsumyaku. He could use his will to control the osteoblasts and osteoclasts in his body, and even regulate the concentration of calcium to form bones. Those bones were as hard as steel, capable of withstanding any impact, no matter how powerful.

The Kaguya Clan treated Kimimaro as a secret weapon. Since the entire clan had deployed its full strength to wipe out Kusagakure this time, they had brought him out as well. They had stationed him on the outskirts of the Land of Grass, leaving it entirely up to him whether or not to join the battle.

Beneath a flurry of fists and kicks too fast to follow, Kimimaro was battered like a sandbag, skidding across the surface of the water again and again.

"Damn it, you can't break through my defense!" Kimimaro had truly managed to take every one of Naruto's fierce, rapid attacks while the Gate of Life was open. But he also knew that his strength was rapidly dwindling.

Naruto was expending chakra just as quickly. "I don't need to break through it. Seeing Taijutsu that uses your own bones as weapons has been fascinating. I'm not trying to kill you, either. I just need to beat you until you can't fight back."

Fighting on the water also limited Kimimaro's ability to fully use Shikotsumyaku.

"Five hundred hits." Naruto drove Kimimaro into the muddy bottom of the lake, then broke through the surface and scattered all his Explosive Tags, linking them together. "When you come back up, you'll be in for a rough time."

Naruto vanished in a flash.

"We can go now."

Karin's mother had also seen how powerful Naruto was in battle. He had left even the Kaguya Clan utterly helpless. There was no way someone like him was just a nobody in the Shinobi World.

Perhaps this person really could protect her and her daughter.

"Yes!"

They no longer had any desire to resist.

Naruto smiled slightly and led the two of them across the border into the Land of Fire.

Prompt.

Sign-in task complete.

Completion rewards: Awaken the Uzumaki Clan's Super Self-Healing ability; Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation (100%); complete Rasengan instructional video series.

Super Self-Healing: Even a single remaining cell is enough for resurrection. The time needed to heal depends on the severity of the injury.

Naruto marveled at how incredible the Uzumaki Clan's ability was. No wonder so many members of the clan were powerful medical ninja.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Naruto kept up his speed.

Kimimaro climbed out of the lake, dejected. The moment he touched the surface, he set off the linked Explosive Tags. The blasts raised layer upon layer of water and sent Kimimaro plunging back beneath the lake.

Konoha.

At the Fourth Hokage's home.

Worried about Naruto, the couple couldn't fall asleep.

"Did Naruto go with Guy?" Kushina Uzumaki asked.

Naruto was still a child. According to their plans, he would soon enroll in the Ninja Academy in Konoha and follow the most conventional path to becoming a ninja.

Minato Namikaze shook his head. "Guy and Kakashi went on a mission. He wouldn't take Naruto off to train by himself. Naruto's been getting more and more independent. I've noticed that his Taijutsu is improving quickly."

Kushina Uzumaki pinched Minato Namikaze's waist. "You're not worried about Naruto at all, are you? We haven't heard from him, and he said he was going on a long journey. Isn't that just reckless? He's far too bold. When he gets back, I'm giving him a serious lecture."

Minato Namikaze stirred. "There's a noise. Could Naruto be back?"

Minato Namikaze hurriedly tried to distract Kushina Uzumaki, because her grip was getting tighter and tighter.

If she kept pinching him, Minato Namikaze really wouldn't be able to take it.

It wouldn't do for Konoha's Yellow Flash to injure his waist.

When Naruto sneaked back into Konoha, he was surprised that none of the patrolling night guards had stopped him to ask questions. He made it all the way to his front door without a hitch.

The door opened.

The first person he saw was Kushina Uzumaki.

Naruto smiled ingratiatingly. "Mom, I had a reason for coming back so late. Teacher Guy taught me to broaden my horizons and not confine myself to little Konoha. I should seek out Taijutsu practitioners throughout the Shinobi World and learn from them."

"So I did just that. I never expected to meet some distant relatives from the Uzumaki Clan while I was away training. After talking with them, I felt both sad for them and sorry for them, so I took it upon myself to bring them back."

Naruto briefly explained what had happened, then shamelessly handed Karin and her mother over to Kushina Uzumaki.

Naruto wasn't capable of arranging a place for them to stay just yet.

Minato Namikaze looked at Naruto suspiciously. My son seems to have a lot of secrets.

"I'm exhausted! I'm going to bed. Good night." Naruto immediately ran into his room.

Naruto had forgotten that Minato Namikaze's house only had two rooms.

Kushina Uzumaki arranged for Karin and her mother to sleep in Naruto's room, while Naruto slept in the living room with his bedding.

Minato Namikaze naturally valued the surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan. Recruiting capable people to strengthen Konoha's forces was entirely in line with the village's policies.

When Karin's mother saw Kushina Uzumaki, she was so overwhelmed that she burst into tears.

She had found the heart of the Uzumaki Clan. She believed that she and her daughter could finally live stable lives.

No one would turn down the chance to live a happy life.

There was no problem at all!

Kushina Uzumaki arranged for Karin's mother to work as a nurse at Konoha Hospital.

After two days sleeping in the living room, Naruto finally returned to his own room. He slept soundly that night.

As the days passed, Konoha's Ninja Academy began selecting new students.

Kushina Uzumaki forcibly dragged Naruto from home and took him to the Ninja Academy.