"Oh? You're saying the Third Hokage is certain to die? Why?"
The stars in Fugaku's eyes were almost dazzling to Naruto. Just how much had he suffered to get this excited simply from hearing that old fart Hiruzen Sarutobi was certain to die? Anyone who didn't know better would have thought Fugaku had killed Hiruzen Sarutobi himself.
"Yeah, because that old fart Hiruzen Sarutobi will definitely die by my hand."
Naruto sounded utterly confident as he said this, even clenching his fist.
Now Fugaku was at a loss. Looking at this little fellow who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet, casually declaring that he would kill the current Hokage, he couldn't tell whether he had gone mad or the world had. Were Hokage so easy to kill these days?
But Fugaku soon realized something was off. Hadn't he just done something similar himself? He had actually asked a child about the Uchiha Clan's survival.
He didn't seem to be much better himself.
But looking into Naruto's confident eyes, Fugaku's instincts told him Naruto would definitely do it.
"Still, now's not the time. I'm not strong enough yet. I need time to get stronger."
"But it won't take long. Give me some time, and I'll take out that old fart Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Fugaku burst out laughing at that.
"Haha, good! I'll back you with the entire Uchiha Clan. When the time comes, we'll support you as the next Hokage."
"Huh? No way. Whoever wants that shitty Hokage job can have it. I'm not doing it."
Fugaku was very curious about Naruto's reaction, and so was Itachi. They hadn't expected Naruto to look so disdainful of becoming Hokage, something everyone wanted.
"Oh? Why? You know, the Hokage position is something many people aspire to. Once you have it, both power and money will be yours for the taking."
"Tch, become Hokage? Count me out. You'd get up earlier than a rooster and go to bed later than a dog every day."
Fugaku hadn't expected that explanation from Naruto, but suddenly felt he had a very good point. Being Hokage really wasn't as great as he had imagined. He made up his mind: if Naruto didn't want to become Hokage when the time came, he would have Itachi do it.
Itachi had no idea his father had already made arrangements for him, much less that before Hiruzen Sarutobi was even dead, his dear father had already decided to have him take the Hokage position, completely failing to take Naruto's earlier words to heart.
Listening to Naruto and his dad talk, Sasuke felt he couldn't quite keep up. At his age, shouldn't he still be attending school obediently and waiting to graduate? Why were they talking about killing the Hokage one moment and becoming Hokage the next? What a pain...
At that thought, Sasuke suddenly realized something was off too. That guy Naruto didn't seem to follow normal logic.
"Seriously, why am I competing with him? He's using cheats. Am I just asking to make myself miserable?"
Having suddenly figured it out, Sasuke smacked his own head. He had nearly fallen into a spiral of trying to prove himself.
Meanwhile, Fugaku was still deep in an animated discussion with Naruto, while Itachi listened with great interest. Feeling a little bored, Sasuke went out into the courtyard by himself.
He wanted to try the Railgun Naruto had taught him that evening. Although he hadn't understood the exact principles, Sasuke had remembered one thing: the more chakra he released, the greater its power.
Holding a coin in his hand, he tried to channel chakra into it.
"If I remember right, I'm supposed to put chakra into the coin."
Sasuke formed hand seals with both hands and began gathering chakra from his entire body. After he channeled the chakra into the coin in his hand, predictably, things went unpredictably wrong.
Under the influence of Sasuke's chakra, the originally silver coin slowly turned red, until it actually began to burn. What had started as a coin became a little piece of heated iron. Now Sasuke understood what Naruto had meant earlier.
"Ah, hot!"
The pain made Sasuke fling the coin far away.
"Ugh, this is so hard. Power... I want power. When will I become like Naruto and earn Big Brother's and Father's approval?"
Sasuke lay down under the eaves. Gazing at the stars in the sky, he reached out and clenched his hand hard, while also thinking about the ninjutsu Naruto had taught him that day.
The door opened, and Naruto stepped out to see Sasuke lying on the ground.
"Oi, Uchiha Sasuke, are you catching stars?"
Startled by the voice, Sasuke jumped. He hadn't expected anyone to come out suddenly.
"Naruto, are you done talking? Come teach me that Railgun from tonight. I just tried it, and it feels way too hard."
Only upon hearing Sasuke's words did Fugaku and Itachi realize that Naruto really had taught Sasuke the ninjutsu.
"All right."
Without noticing Itachi's and Fugaku's expressions, Naruto took a coin from his pocket, briefly charged up, and shot it into the sky.
At first, Itachi and Fugaku wondered why Naruto had tossed a coin into the air, but they soon found out.
With a bang, the tiny coin actually exploded in the sky.
Sasuke was completely dumbfounded. Why was this different from the demonstration earlier that evening?
"Naruto, is... is that right?"
"Yeah. It's basically the same principle, but I just compressed a huge amount of chakra into the coin. It's really simple."
At that moment, embarrassment was written all over Sasuke's face.
Simple? How is that simple? Just putting in chakra of a single nature is already hard enough.
Itachi and Fugaku both grew curious about Naruto's ninjutsu, especially after seeing its tremendous power just now. It seemed rather interesting, but with Naruto there, they couldn't very well ask Sasuke directly.
"All right, keep practicing, Sasuke. I'm going home to sleep."
Ignoring the way Sasuke looked at him as though he were a monster, Naruto waved and left.
Sure enough, not long after leaving, Naruto sensed someone following him. It was that same familiar feeling from the other day.
"Tch, this Kakashi. Is he ever going to stop?"
Naruto took out a coin, activated Railgun, and fired at a large tree behind him.
Enhanced by lightning-nature chakra, the coin was visible only as a thin beam of blue-gold light, instantly punching through the tree. Behind it, Kakashi frantically pressed himself upward, cold sweat breaking out across his face.
The coin had been far too fast. Before he could react, it had passed through the tree and flown right beneath his crotch.
"That was close. That was way too close."
"Tch, stop following me next time. It's annoying."
Naruto had no idea where his attack would hit, much less that Kakashi had nearly had his ding-dong and balls uninstalled.
Kakashi swallowed with difficulty. Only long after Naruto had left did he dare move. He had distinctly felt that scorching heat just now. Had it been a tiny bit off, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
"What a terrifying brat."
Looking back again, he saw the thick tree behind him, its trunk bearing two enormous branches that curved around it. Now there was a hole slightly larger than a coin in the trunk, with a faint glow of fire and white smoke coming from its opening.