The One Hidden in the Shadows

Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, then removed the pipe from his lips and set it aside.

He walked to the desk and formed a hand seal with his hands clasped together.

A gleaming crystal ball floated before the Third Hokage, clearly projecting a live view of Konoha Village.

In the image, Team 7 was carrying out a cat-catching commission.

"Damn cat! Stop running!"

Naruto panted as he darted through the woods, reaching for the fat, nimble cat fleeing ahead while complaining to Kakashi behind him, "Why is it always such boring missions?! I'm going to become Hokage! What's the point of catching cats all day?!"

Kakashi's visible eye curved into a crescent above his mask. "D-rank missions are still missions, Naruto. Every new genin has to start with the basics."

"Ugh..." Naruto pouted and continued chasing after it at full speed, muttering indignantly.

With a leap, he finally pounced on the plump orange cat and pinned it firmly against his chest. "Ha! Got you!"

"Meow!!"

Hakimi swung its claws in extreme unwillingness, scratching several red marks across Naruto's face. Naruto howled in pain and nearly lost his grip.

Watching from afar, the Third Hokage could not help but smile at the sight.

After observing through the crystal ball for a while, he noticed that Naruto seemed more cheerful than before and was especially diligent when carrying out missions.

It seemed that mysterious dream had not negatively affected Naruto. Instead, it had made the boy more proactive?

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded lightly, feeling somewhat reassured.

With a wave of his hand, the image in the crystal ball slowly faded away.

Just as Kakashi had reported, Naruto had shown no abnormalities for the time being.

But... the Third Hokage turned around and stood by the window with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance at the Fourth Hokage's statue atop Hokage Rock. A trace of gravity still lingered between his graying brows.

"A secret technique unlike anything I've ever heard of..." Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "Whoever is hiding in the shadows, what exactly is your purpose?"

After a long while, he sighed and returned to his office chair.

As the sun set, the day's missions came to an end.

"Ah, I'm exhausted..."

Naruto trudged down the road home with heavy steps, his head hanging low as though his soul had left his body.

That afternoon, Team 7 had completed several consecutive commissions issued by the village.

Catching cats, pulling weeds, cleaning riverbeds... without exception, they had all been trivial D-rank missions.

After working all day, he had not even caught sight of a decent enemy.

To Naruto, this was even more discouraging than failing at training.

"Damn it, another day wasted!" Naruto angrily kicked a small stone by the roadside, grumbling without pause. "When will we get a cooler mission?! At this rate, becoming Hokage is going to be forever away..."

Before long, he returned to his apartment.

When he pushed open the door, the dim little room was empty. He had long since grown used to such a sight.

Naruto casually tossed his forehead protector and jacket onto the sofa, then headed straight for his bedroom and took out two practice tools he had prepared.

One was a rubber water balloon filled with water, and the other was a solid rubber ball.

Naruto clenched the water balloon in his hand, took a deep breath, and began concentrating his chakra.

Very soon.

With a soft pop, the water balloon burst, spraying water everywhere.

"Whew, that went pretty smoothly."

Naruto shook off the water on his hands and casually tossed the burst balloon aside.

Next came the main event.

He sat cross-legged on the floor and placed the unscathed rubber ball before him. Pressing his hands against both sides of it, he closed his eyes and recalled the scene of his father demonstrating the second stage last night.

"Make the chakra more concentrated, spin it even faster..."

Naruto muttered as he repeated the words, doing his best to adjust the flow of chakra within his body while gradually applying force with both hands.

One second, two seconds...

A moment later, a faint vibration came from his palms.

A slight dent appeared on the surface of the rubber ball, accompanied by a faint buzzing sound.

"That's it!"

Naruto perked up and was just about to increase the force when he suddenly felt his chakra lose control like a wild horse breaking free of its reins. With a bang, it dispersed from his palms.

Without chakra to sustain it, the rubber ball instantly bounced back to its original shape and rolled far away from Naruto's hands.

"Damn it!" Naruto slammed a fist into the floor in frustration, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain. "It didn't look this hard in the dream!"

He got up, retrieved the rubber ball, and covered it with his hands once more.

However, several consecutive hours of training had already drained his energy. By now, the chakra in his body was nearly exhausted, and his muscles ached terribly.

After struggling for a long time, Naruto still could not make the rubber ball rupture even slightly like the water balloon.

"Whew... hah..."

He collapsed onto the floor, gasping heavily. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his cheeks and dripped onto the floor.

No, that's enough for today...

Naruto's vision kept going dark. No matter how unwilling he was, he could only give up for now.

He dragged his heavy body onto the bed, pulled the blanket over himself at random, and collapsed onto it.

The moment he closed his eyes, he could not help but secretly hope in his heart.

If I get to see Dad in my dream again tonight, I have to ask him properly about the trick to the second stage...

Exhaustion washed over him like a tide. Before long, Naruto's breathing gradually became slow and steady as he fell into a deep sleep.

Inside the Dream Theater.

Within the vast, pitch-black, silent theater, ripples suddenly spread through the void.

Immediately afterward, three blurry figures appeared one after another in the front rows of the audience seats.

Kakashi was the first to adjust to the light. After confirming that he had once again arrived in this mysterious space, he showed no signs of nervousness. Instead, he calmly walked to the seat in the center of the first row and sat down, relaxed as if he were on his own sofa.

He rested his chin on one hand and gazed leisurely at the dim giant screen before him.

So I'm here again.

I already reported this to the Third Hokage. With the Hokage personally investigating, we should find clues about the person behind this soon enough...

With that thought, Kakashi simply waited quietly for the "movie" to begin.