Four Years Later: Hidden Stone's Frenzied Training Plan!

Back then, after Kakashi crawled back to the Leaf Village like a stray dog.

Four years passed in the blink of an eye.

The news that Minato Namikaze had completely gone dark and joined the Stone Village became an SSS-class secret that Ōnoki kept tightly under wraps.

Other than a few absolute core executives, no one knew that the Yellow Flash had not died. He had merely put on a different identity.

With Minato and Uchiha Yoru, two towering figures, holding down the fort.

Over these four years, the Hidden Stone Village had practically boarded a rocket, launching into a frenzied growth spurt that spanned generations.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dull sounds of flesh striking flesh echoed through the thick blastproof glass.

Hidden Stone Village, Modern Ninja Academy.

With his hands in his pockets, Uchiha Yoru looked down through the second-floor observation window at the special training grounds below.

Inside the "Gravity Room."

The first-generation black-tech device developed by Orochimaru through sealing techniques was running at full capacity.

A group of seven- and eight-year-old brats were gritting their teeth as they did frog jumps under double gravity.

Sweat poured from them as they squeezed out every last bit of strength, their little faces flushed bright red.

"Brother Yoru, this modern education reform plan of yours is downright brilliant!"

Ōnoki stood beside him with his hands behind his back, watching the lively youngsters with a smile blooming across his old face like a chrysanthemum.

"In the past, our Hidden Stone genin would graduate without even being able to properly use the Three Basic Techniques."

The old man rubbed his hands excitedly.

"But look at their physical conditioning now! They wouldn't even be scared of going one-on-one against chunin from other villages!"

Yoru curled his lip and mercilessly poured cold water over him.

"You think this is brilliant already? Your standards are way too low."

He pointed at the buzzing gravity generators overhead.

"This thing burns through electricity like crazy. Kakuzu was banging on my desk yesterday, complaining that this month's power bill had exceeded the limit by three times."

At the mention of money, Ōnoki's face immediately fell.

His beard trembled in pain, but after gritting his teeth, he still waved his hand decisively.

"Spend it! Spend what needs to be spent! No matter how poor we are, we can't cut back on education!"

"For Hidden Stone to dominate the ninja world, this old man can afford it even if I have to sell the pots and pans!"

Yoru chuckled and ignored the old fox's pained expression.

The two turned and strolled down the corridor to the neighboring "High-Speed Reaction Training Ground."

Before they even entered, waves of miserable screams and wails came from within.

"Too slow! Faster!"

"There's an opening on your left! Your footwork is far too unsteady!"

Minato Namikaze wore an unmarked black skintight combat suit.

He casually tossed several specially made paint-filled tennis balls in his hand, his figure turning into streaks of black afterimages across the training ground.

Smack! Smack!

Two tennis balls shot out like bullets from a gun, striking two brats squarely on the forehead and leaving glaring red marks.

Minato stopped, a warm, sunny smile on his face.

Yet the words from his mouth were dark beyond belief.

"On a real battlefield, your heads would've already been separated from your bodies from that hit."

Minato smiled at the students trembling in terror.

"Still have the strength to cry? Looks like the weights earlier were too light. Everyone, five hundred extra push-ups!"

The group of Hidden Stone brats had been tortured to the point of tears by this smiling devil.

They could only wipe their tears while desperately squeezing out their potential and continuing to dodge frantically.

"Brother Minato got into character much faster than I expected."

Yoru leaned against the doorframe, watching with great interest.

"Without all those rules and restrictions from the Leaf Village holding him back, the ruthlessness in his bones has finally been forced out."

"Exactly!" Ōnoki nodded in deep agreement.

"With a god of slaughter like him personally training them, these little brats would have a hard time not getting stronger!"

The two continued onward, arriving at the "Genjutsu Resistance Room" at the very end.

The room was incomparably dark, illuminated only by several faint blue wall lamps.

Fugaku Uchiha and several Uchiha elites with three-tomoe Sharingan stood expressionlessly in the center.

"Release!"

More than a dozen Hidden Stone brats shouted at once, forming hand seals and forcefully breaking through the mental interference in their minds.

Though every one of them was pale-faced and drenched in sweat, their gazes were exceptionally steadfast.

Not a single one collapsed from the terror of the genjutsu.

Fugaku nodded in satisfaction and heavily marked a check on the assessment form in his hand.

"See that, old man?"

Yoru pointed at the students below, who were competing with one another like mad, his tone brimming with absolute arrogance.

"Traditional spoon-feeding education only produces useless fools who know how to memorize books."

"What I want is a group of killing machines capable of adapting to any brutal environment."

Yoru's gaze was icy, as though he could see through the future of the ninja world.

"The Gravity Room trains their bodies, precision-control instruments train their chakra control, and then there's this kind of high-pressure combat simulation."

"In just a few years, if we casually pick any genin from Hidden Stone..."

"They'll be able to pin those so-called geniuses of the Leaf Village to the ground and grind sparks out of them!"

Ōnoki's blood boiled as he listened, and he nodded again and again.

The atmosphere in the Hidden Stone Village was outrageously competitive now.

While children from other ninja villages were still playing in the mud and playing house.

The children of Hidden Stone were already studying how to make explosive tags detonate louder and how to slit an enemy's throat within three seconds.

This new generation ate advanced nutritional meals formulated by Orochimaru and used black-tech equipment.

They were practically little monsters raised on steroids!

As the sun set, the day's final ninjutsu assessment was underway on the training field.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!

Several brats barely over seven years old actually unleashed C-rank ninjutsu with fluid ease.

The massive fireball slammed violently into the sturdy earth wall, releasing a deafening roar.

A heatwave swept across half the training field.

The exaggerated destructive power made several spies from other villages lurking in the distance suck in sharp breaths.

They were so frightened that they fled back overnight to write top-secret intelligence reports.

Yoru stood atop the highest viewing platform, looking down at the vibrant scene below.

Facing the afterglow of the setting sun, the corners of his mouth rose slightly into a satisfied smile.

After four years of pouring in money and resources, this most basic foundation had finally been thoroughly established.

"The foundation for the regular forces is already in place."

Yoru turned to look at Minato and Fugaku, who had just finished teaching and were walking up the stairs to the platform.

"They've had enough of the communal meal. There's not much more to squeeze out of these ordinary brats."

A gleam of wicked amusement flashed through Yoru's eyes.

He patted Minato on the shoulder, then looked at Fugaku.

"I heard those blond-haired and black-haired brats from your families have been causing quite a stir in the streets lately?"

Minato and Fugaku exchanged glances and smiled helplessly.

Those two little ancestors possessed terrifying talent and even more energy with nowhere to spend it.

They fought to outdo each other in the village every day, even accidentally blowing off a corner of Ōnoki's Tsuchikage statue.

"Tell them to stop embarrassing themselves outside."

Yoru rolled his neck, his joints cracking sharply.

Looking at the brightly lit Uchiha clan compound in the distance, his tone carried a chilling hint of excitement.

"Make the preparations."

"Starting tomorrow, I'll personally give these two 'chosen sons of destiny' some special tutoring."