A Child's Future Shows at Three: Naruto's Beloved Life in Hidden Stone Village

Time flew by like the wind through the canyons of the Land of Earth, leaving no trace once it had passed.

In the blink of an eye, more than three years had passed since the Uchiha Clan's great relocation.

Third Avenue in Hidden Stone Village had now become the busiest and most prosperous part of the entire village.

"Stop right there! You dead last!"

"Damn it, Sasuke! If you've got guts, stop running! Take my Rasengan... Ow!"

With a bang, a tiny blond boy in an orange jumpsuit ran too fast without watching where he was going and slammed headfirst into a stone bollard by the roadside.

The little boy landed hard on his butt, but he did not cry.

He merely rubbed his reddened forehead, puffed out his cheeks, and angrily climbed back to his feet.

Several adorable whisker marks still adorned his childish face.

He was none other than three-year-old Naruto.

"Nyah nyah nyah! Can't catch me, can you, idiot Naruto!"

Not far ahead, an equally small, cool-looking black-haired boy stopped, turned around, and stuck out his tongue at him.

It was Sasuke Uchiha.

The two little brats chased each other along the broad stone-paved road, having the time of their lives.

When the pedestrians along the street saw the scene, not only did they not find the boys noisy, they all smiled kindly.

"Well, if it isn't young master Naruto!"

A burly Hidden Stone Village uncle who had been hammering iron outside a blacksmith's shop saw Naruto fall and immediately put down his hammer before walking over.

With one fan-sized hand, he lifted Naruto off the ground and dusted off his backside.

"Fighting with young master Sasuke again? Here, uncle's got some candy for you."

As he spoke, the Hidden Stone uncle pulled out a handful of colorful fruit candies from his pocket and forcefully stuffed them into Naruto's hands.

"Thank you, Uncle Dashan!"

Naruto immediately broke into a delighted grin, peeled open one, and popped it into his mouth as he offered his muffled thanks.

If anyone from Leaf Village saw this, their eyes would probably pop out of their sockets.

The child who, in the original story, should have been despised by the entire village as a demon fox, growing up alone amid cold stares and insults.

Here in Hidden Stone Village, he had practically become the beloved darling cradled in the palms of everyone's hands.

Under Ōnoki and Uchiha Yoru's forceful intervention, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki's identity had become the village's most closely guarded secret.

To outsiders, everyone only knew that he was the precious son of Minato Namikaze, the great hero of Hidden Stone Village and the Fourth Hokage.

Who would dare gossip behind his back and say a single bad word about him?

Kitsuchi would be the first to show up at their door carrying a huge blade.

"Naruto, Sasuke, stop running wild outside! Come back and eat!"

From the balcony of a three-story stone building at the street corner, the figure of a gentle, beautiful woman leaned out.

Mikoto Uchiha wore an apron and held a spatula as she beckoned to the two children.

"Got it, Aunt Mikoto!"

The two little boys answered in unison, immediately stopped fighting, and scampered home.

Over the past few years, Kushina had been weak and recuperating in peace.

The responsibility of caring for the two boys had thus fallen upon the gentle and virtuous Mikoto.

She treated Naruto as her own, even doting on him a little more than she did her biological son, Sasuke.

"Slow down! Don't fall again!"

Watching the two children rush into the house, Mikoto shook her head helplessly yet fondly.

Inside, the dining table was already covered in steaming dishes.

Braised pork, tempura, and Naruto's favorite miso ramen.

"Thanks for the food!"

Naruto picked up his chopsticks and, like a little piglet that had been starving for three days, lowered his head and began slurping down food ravenously.

Though Sasuke still wanted to maintain his cool-guy image, seeing Naruto eat like that made him speed up as well.

"Eat slowly. No one's going to fight you for it!"

Mikoto smiled as she wiped the broth from the corner of Naruto's mouth.

Just then.

Deep within Naruto's consciousness, in that dark and damp sewer-like space.

Kurama, the Nine-Tails demon fox sealed behind the iron bars, lay sprawled on the ground, yawning in boredom.

Watching the excessively harmonious scene outside through Naruto's eyes, its enormous fox face was filled with existential doubt.

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

As Kurama remembered it, weren't jinchuriki all pitiful little things unloved by their fathers and mothers, isolated by the entire world, with hearts full of hatred?

How had the whole tone changed so bizarrely with this brat?

Every day, he was either fed meat by that woman or given candy by that man.

Even the icy mistress of the Uchiha household looked at the kid with eyes so soft they could drip water.

This brat's childhood was even more comfortable than Kurama's life before it was sealed away!

Where was even the slightest trace of darkness in his heart for Kurama to corrupt?!

"Damn it... Is my mighty power of hatred really going to have nowhere to go?"

Irritably, the Nine-Tails slapped the ground with its tail, splashing water everywhere.

At the same time.

Inside the newly completed Supreme Elder's office, the tallest building in Hidden Stone Village.

Uchiha Yoru stood before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the vibrant streets below.

Over the past few years, under his guidance from a higher dimension and with money clearing the way.

Hidden Stone Village's development had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Not only had its military strength skyrocketed, its commerce and civilian livelihoods had flourished as well.

The Uchiha Clan had also completely integrated here, no longer suffering from the oppression and alienation they had felt in Leaf Village.

Everything was developing in the best direction he had envisioned.

"Hmm?"

Yoru's gaze fell upon the two tiny children chasing each other in the street below.

With a sweep of his Sage sensing, he could clearly "see" it.

Though Naruto and Sasuke were still very young, their bodies already contained enormous chakra far surpassing that of their peers.

One was Ashura's reincarnation, and the other was Indra's reincarnation.

These two were born with cheat codes.

Failing to properly train them would simply be a waste of resources.

Yoru nodded in satisfaction, a "kindly" smile curling at his lips.

"Their foundations are nearly set. It's time to raise the intensity for these little brats."

"I need to find a few durable sparring partners and properly draw out their potential."

Yoru stroked his chin like an old farmer preparing to harvest his crops.

Turning around, he casually asked a masked Anbu standing in the shadows at the corner of the office.

"By the way, have there been any particularly troublesome newcomers in the village lately?"

The Anbu dropped to one knee and answered respectfully.

"In reply, Lord Yoru, the Demolition Corps has indeed produced a genius recently."

"He's a blond brat who keeps shouting that explosions are art. He's already blown the training grounds behind the mountain flat several times."

"Oh?"

A trace of amusement flashed through Yoru's eyes.

"Blond hair? Always shouting about art?"

He remembered him now: the genius ninja from the original story who possessed an obsessive passion for explosions.

"Interesting."

Yoru stretched lazily, his joints cracking loudly.

He turned and headed for the office door, his voice carrying a distinctly ill-intentioned note.

"Take me to see him."

"I'd like to see whether his explosions are more artistic, or my fists are harder."