Sasuke came home

The old man peeping on them was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the Ninjutsu Professor.

The old geezer was already in his sixties. After the Fourth Hokage died, he had reluctantly returned to office. In Naruto's early portrayal, he was the strongest man around, capable of using every chakra nature and taking on two previous Hokage at once.

But once the later story turned into a clash of gods and monsters, the Third Hokage began to look rather underwhelming.

The First Hokage: the God of Shinobi.

The Second Hokage: a master of forbidden techniques.

The Fourth Hokage: the fastest in the Shinobi World + Sage + Nine-Tails' Power.

The Fifth Hokage: the First Hokage's granddaughter, super regeneration + monstrous strength.

The Sixth Hokage: Kakashi, the Shinobi World's fifty-fifty man.

The Seventh Hokage: Naruto, Uzumaki + Sage + Nine-Tails + Six Paths.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's take was: You all got new abilities added to your profiles. Why didn't this old man get any? And never mind that-I kept getting nerfed!

Fortunately, at least for now, the old man really was still among the strongest people alive.

"Lord Hokage, we've been watching this girl for quite some time as well. According to our investigation, her personality seems to have changed significantly from before, and she also seems to be hiding her strength. Lord Hokage, should we..."

"Forget it. Don't act yet. Since Uchiha Itachi didn't kill this girl, it wouldn't be right for me to go after his clansmen after making a deal with him. But... if she intends to threaten Konoha, we'll still have to act."

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, the village unquestionably came first. He could sacrifice anything for it. That was his strength, but also... his weakness.

After waving the Anbu members away, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and looked back at the Crystal Ball on his desk.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: Back to peeping~

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked once more at the Crystal Ball in his hands, which showed images of Chinatsu, Sasuke, and Naruto.

Chinatsu was walking behind Naruto and Sasuke, pushing them toward the Uchiha Residence.

The peeping Tom Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of stopping-until Chinatsu suddenly turned her head and looked in the direction from which the Crystal Ball was watching.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: What?!

Startled, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately shut off the Crystal Ball's spying, beads of cold sweat appearing on his deeply wrinkled face.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's Crystal Ball peeping... no, surveillance, had always worked flawlessly. This was the first time anyone had noticed.

That girl... there really is something off about her.

Meanwhile, Chinatsu blinked as she looked in a certain direction, then narrowed her eyes at... a little bird perched on a distant branch.

"That little bird's pretty cute. Come to think of it, when I learn the Summoning Technique, I should make a contract with a bird summon. Toads and stuff... I think I'll pass..."

After all this time, even Chinatsu herself hadn't noticed that certain aspects of her were gradually changing.

Back when she watched the anime on TV, Chinatsu had fantasized that if she ever traveled into Naruto, she would definitely contract with a toad from Mount Myōboku or a giant snake from Ryūchi Cave.

Toad: Don't you love me anymore?

Giant Snake: I can understand rejecting that ugly toad up there, but I'm pretty good-looking, aren't I?!

Anyway, as the three "public troublemakers"-Chinatsu, Sasuke, and Naruto-walked down the street, they turned heads like nobody else.

Some people only registered who they were after passing them, then turned around in shock to stare at the trio already walking away.

They knew they now had something to gossip about for days.

Soon, Chinatsu brought Naruto to the entrance of the Uchiha Residence.

Naruto craned his neck and stared, dumbfounded, at the enormous residence that was in a completely different league from his own home. He had thought he was mentally prepared, but his nerves began acting up again.

"What are you nervous about? Come on in."

With both hands in his pockets, Sasuke casually spoke to Naruto beside him, then strode inside. Naruto paused before hurriedly following him into the Uchiha Residence.

Naruto's first thought upon entering the huge residence was...

Huge! It's so huge!

My whole home isn't even as big as one room here. Is this really somewhere people live?

Of course it was somewhere people lived. It had simply housed an entire clan before, whereas now only Chinatsu and Sasuke lived there.

"This is amazing..."

"There's plenty more amazing stuff!"

Sasuke lifted his head proudly. Even though his clan had been wiped out, he still took pride in the Uchiha name. That pride was also what kept him going, driving him to defeat that man with his own hands someday.

"Sasuke, it's time to train. Get ready."

"Huh? Sis, we have a guest today..."

"Hmm? So you don't want to train today?"

"Huh?! That's not what I meant... Sis, let's do it!"

After a brief internal struggle, Sasuke gritted his teeth and nodded firmly.

Beside them, Naruto tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what they meant by "training," until...

"Aaaah!!!!!!"

An agonized scream rang throughout the Uchiha Residence. Naruto stood off to the side in a daze, watching what Sasuke and Chinatsu called "training."

"Your backhand is weak, your forehand is sloppy, your footwork is loose, and your reactions are slow. If you keep this up, even when you graduate from the Ninja Academy, you'll never graduate from my training!"

Chinatsu evaluated Sasuke mercilessly. In front of her, Sasuke stared at her with a face covered in dust, panting heavily.

Strict! Strict! Even stricter!

As the saying went, "Strict fathers raise talented sons!" Training was absolutely no place for carelessness. Surely Sasuke wouldn't want Chinatsu to help him with some halfhearted attitude, either.

Only Chinatsu hardly qualified as a "strict father." No... she wasn't even remotely connected to the "father" part...

With his face covered in dust, Sasuke panted heavily. After catching his breath for a few seconds, he raised his head, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "Sis! Keep going!"

Sasuke himself had asked for the intense training. To defeat that man sooner, he wanted to make noticeable progress every single day.

Sasuke was only six or seven now, yet he was already a little stronger than he had been upon graduating from the Ninja Academy in the original story... though only a little.

Bell-Grabbing, taijutsu sparring, ninjutsu clashes-which were really just Great Fireball exchanges-and long daily sessions of Water Walking and Tree Walking left Naruto staring in astonishment.

Does Sasuke... have to go through training this strict every day?

Watching from the sidelines, Naruto somehow began itching to try it too. Finally, unable to resist, he ran over during a break, raised his arm high, and asked if he could join.

Chinatsu: "Of course you can~"

Sasuke: "Suit yourself."

Naruto was so happy he nearly broke into a dance right there, while Sasuke folded his arms and huffed.

Naruto: Awesome! This is my first step toward becoming Hokage!!!

Sasuke: Loser. I'm the only one who can handle Sis's hellish training. Let's see how many days you last...