The first sensation was the sun on his face.
It wasn’t the pale, filtered light that slips through a room's window, but the direct, vibrant heat of the morning sun in an open forest. It was an honest, unfiltered warmth. The second sensation was movement: a rhythmic, constant swaying, paced by the sound of steady footsteps on the earth and the rustle of tree leaves stirring in the breeze.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
The world was blurry, a smear of greens and blues. He saw the treetops pass above him, a natural canopy that occasionally opened to reveal a sky of a deep, clear blue. The air smelled of pine, damp earth, and, strangely and comfortingly, the floral scent that always accompanied Shizune.
"Huh...?" he mumbled, his voice hoarse and thick from a sleep that felt eternal.
He tried to move, to stretch an arm, but found himself strangely restrained. It was then that reality assaulted him. He wasn't in a sleeping bag. He was on Tsunade's back, being carried like a sack of luggage.
The memory of the previous night's conversation hit him in a chaotic flood. Shame was a wave of heat that rushed up his neck to his ears. He had fallen asleep. Worse, he had been so lazy that now the woman he was trying to impress was carrying him like a child.
"Grandma Tsunade!" he exclaimed, his voice gaining strength with indignation. "I can walk! You don't have to carry me, believe it!"
He began to struggle, trying to free himself from her grasp with desperate urgency.
"About time, sleeping bag," Tsunade's voice came from below, a deep, amused growl that vibrated through her back. "You were starting to get heavy. If you move one more inch, I swear on my necklace, I'll drop you on your head. Your choice."
Naruto froze instantly. The threat didn't sound empty in the slightest. Shizune, who was walking beside them with Tonton trotting happily at her feet with little grunts of satisfaction, turned around. A smile of genuine relief lit up her face.
"Good morning, Naruto-kun. You had us worried."
"Worried? I'm great!" he replied, though his stiff body contradicted him. "How long was I...?"
"You slept for almost ten straight hours," Shizune explained kindly. "Lady Tsunade said your body needed to fully recover. You pushed your chakra system to its limit."
"He didn't push it, he blew it up," Tsunade corrected sharply. "If you weren't an Uzumaki, you'd need more time to recover. Now stay still. We'll stop in the next clearing."
True to her word, they stopped a few minutes later in a small clearing by a crystal-clear stream. Tsunade crouched and set him down with surprising gentleness, though she did it with a grunt to keep up appearances. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Naruto stretched, cracking every joint. He felt good. Strangely good. Filled with an energy he didn't remember having.
While Shizune unpacked their supplies to prepare a simple breakfast, Naruto walked a few steps away. He sat on a moss-covered rock by the stream, closed his eyes, and focused. The familiar blue screen appeared in his vision, but it wasn't the same as before. It was brighter, sharper, the letters defined with a painful clarity. And the numbers... the numbers were out of this world.
NARUTO UZUMAKI LEVEL: 2
BASIC STATS (LEVEL 1):
STRENGTH: G-250
ENDURANCE: G-270
DEXTERITY: H-190
AGILITY: G-210
MAGIC: H-135
BASIC STATS (LEVEL 2):
STRENGTH: B-715
ENDURANCE: B-750
DEXTERITY: C-680
AGILITY: C-695
MAGIC: B-705
Naruto nearly choked on his own saliva. He opened and closed his eyes several times, making sure he wasn't dreaming. Seven hundred! His stats were over seven hundred points at his new level! The jump was so massive, so explosive, his brain could barely process it. It wasn't a simple level-up; it was an evolution. The cumulative reward for everything: for the near-fatal wound, for his mental battle against despair, and for somehow earning Tsunade's respect.
Then, with his heart pounding in his chest, he re-read his skill descriptions, this time calmly, absorbing their true meaning.
DEVELOPMENT SKILLS:
[FORERUNNER'S GUIDE]: Passive Skill. Allows the user to grow alongside members of their "Family."
[UNBREAKABLE WILL]: Passive Skill. The user's determination inspires their believers. As long as they keep fighting, their believers receive a bonus to all their stats. The effect is drastically amplified if the user is seriously injured or on the verge of death.
SKILLS:
[FERAL INSTINCT]: Passive Skill. Sharpens combat reflexes and instincts in life-or-death situations. Allows for subconscious reaction to threats.
[VOICE OF CONVICTION]: Unique Skill. The user's sincere words resonate more strongly with those who respect them, making their arguments and requests more persuasive.
SYSTEM SKILLS:
[FAMILY'S SIGHT]: The user can now remotely perceive the basic status (Level, name, and general condition) of all their active believers.
My words are more persuasive? he thought with a mischievous grin. Awesome! Now Iruka-sensei will have no choice but to believe me when I tell him Ichiraku ramen should be part of the mandatory academy curriculum! The joke lifted his spirits, but a deeper part of him understood the true power of that ability.
He focused immediately, squeezing his eyes shut. He thought of Konoha, of Team Seven, of his friends. For an instant, he saw nothing. But then he felt something. It wasn't an image, but a faint connection, a thread stretching hundreds of miles away. He felt Sakura's presence—a stable, vibrant energy, full of determination. And Hinata's, more serene, a calm but equally strong presence. They were okay. He didn't know what they were doing, but he could feel their well-being. The relief was so profound he felt a weight lift from his chest he didn't even know he'd been carrying.
"YEEEEEAAAAAH!!!"
Naruto's euphoric shout was so sudden and thunderous that a flock of birds flew from the nearby trees in a panic. He leaped to his feet, pumping his good fist in the air with uncontainable energy.
"I feel amazing! I could run all the way to Konoha without stopping! And my arm barely hurts anymore, believe it!"
Shizune, who was cutting fruit, approached with a mix of curiosity and amusement on her face. Tonton sniffed his sandals with interest.
"Feeling better, then? Let me see that arm."
Naruto proudly extended his bandaged arm. Carefully, Shizune unwrapped part of the bandage to inspect the wound. The new skin was a healthy pink color. Though the scar would be significant, the healing was miraculous, far beyond what her own high-level medical ninjutsu could have achieved in such a short time.
"Your Uzumaki resilience is astonishing, Naruto-kun," she said, re-wrapping it with expert hands. "Lady Tsunade was right. At this rate, you'll regain full mobility in a week, not a month."
"Told you! I'm indestructible!" he declared, puffing out his chest.
Tsunade, who was watching the scene from a distance while taking a swig from her sake flask, let out an audible snort.
"You're not indestructible. You're a punching bag with ridiculous luck. Now eat something. We have a long road ahead of us, and I don't plan on carrying you again, got it?"
The march resumed after breakfast, but the atmosphere was completely different. The tension that had accompanied them had dissipated, replaced by a relaxed camaraderie. Tsunade no longer walked ten paces ahead, isolated in her bad mood. Now she kept pace with the others, her shoulders a little less slumped. Shizune no longer seemed like a nervous assistant, but a teammate.
Naruto, feeling more confident than ever, decided it was the perfect time to test his new skill.
"Hey, Grandma Tsunade, seriously..." he began, modulating his voice to sound as sincere and curious as possible. He put all his conviction into the question. "What was Master Jiraiya like when he was young? Was he as much of a pervert as he is now, or did that happen with age?"
Shizune, who was drinking from her canteen, nearly choked and ended up coughing, suppressing a mix of laughter and panic. She expected Tsunade to send him flying with a single punch. But she didn't.
Tsunade glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and for an instant, a small, nostalgic smile tugged at the corner of her lips before she crushed it with her usual scowl.
"He was worse," she answered, to Shizune's absolute surprise. "Much worse. At least now he tries to hide it sometimes."
Naruto leaned forward, fascinated.
"Worse? How can anyone be worse than him?"
Tsunade sighed as if unearthing a dusty memory.
"Once, Hiruzen-sensei almost banished him from the village for trying to spy on the women of the Hyuga clan in the hot springs. He claimed he was 'doing research for his next novel'—a ridiculous argument. Orochimaru had to drag him out of there frozen in one of his snake jutsus before the clan leader turned him into a human pincushion."
The mental image was so vivid that Naruto burst out laughing.
"No way! The Pervy Sage has been a lost cause from the start! He must have looked ridiculous!"
"He did," Tsunade confirmed, and this time the smile wasn't so fleeting. "He had frost on his eyebrows and his lips were blue. Orochimaru didn't thaw him out for almost an hour, just to teach him a lesson."
"And he hasn't improved with age," Shizune added, joining the conversation with more confidence. "The last time we saw him in Tanzaku Town, he tried to convince Lady Tsunade to fund his 'research' in a nearby village famous for its hot springs."
"And what happened?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"He ended up owing her money after losing a bet on who could drink more sake," Shizune said, smiling at the memory.
"I remember that!" Tsunade grumbled, though there was a hint of amusement in her voice. "The damn fool passed out after the fifth bottle. Claimed his drink had been spiked. I had to use him as a test subject for a new antidote I was developing."
"Did it work?"
"Perfectly. Though it had an unexpected side effect. He woke up three days later with bright pink hair. The color lasted for almost two weeks."
The image of Jiraiya, the formidable Sannin, with a bubblegum pink mane made Naruto double over with laughter. They walked for hours, and for the first time, the journey felt light. The exchange of stories opened a door Naruto didn't know existed. Tsunade, reluctantly at first, then with a naturalness she hadn't shown in years, told them about her old team.
"Orochimaru was always... intense," she recounted, her gaze lost in the distance. "Even as a kid. While Jiraiya was trying to perfect his peeping technique, Orochimaru spent hours in the library, reading forbidden scrolls that not even chunin were allowed to touch. He was a genius, no doubt about it. But he always had this look... like he saw the world not as a place to live in, but as something to take apart and study."
"And what about you, Grandma Tsunade? What kind of kid were you?" Naruto asked cautiously.
Tsunade shot him a glare.
"I was the First Hokage's granddaughter. I was expected to be perfect. I hated that pressure. That's why I'd sneak off to gamble. And why I hit Jiraiya so often. He was a good punching bag for stress relief."
Naruto listened, fascinated, absorbing his village's history not from textbooks, but from the eyes of a legend. She was no longer just the First Hokage's granddaughter or a compulsive gambler; she was his teacher, his traveling companion.
In the mid-afternoon, as they crossed a denser section of the forest, a choked cry full of pain stopped them in their tracks.
It came from a bend in the road, about fifty yards ahead. In an instant, the relaxed atmosphere evaporated, replaced by the tension of three shinobi on high alert. They moved as one unit, fast and silent, with Tonton tucked safely in Shizune's arms.
Rounding the curve, they found the scene. A merchant's cart was overturned, one of its wheels shattered. The goods—bolts of cloth and sacks of grain—were scattered across the ground. A man lay on the ground, his right leg trapped and twisted beneath the heavy wheel. He had a deep gash on his thigh that was bleeding profusely, soaking his pants and forming a dark puddle in the dirt. His face was pale, covered in a cold sweat. A few yards away, among the trees, a beast's guttural growl could be heard.
Naruto's instinct flared.
"There's a beast nearby! I bet it did this! I'll find it and beat it up!"
In a puff of smoke, he created two shadow clones. All three prepared to charge into the forest.
"Halt!"
Tsunade's voice was a steel whip. Naruto and his clones froze in place.
"Your mission isn't revenge, brat," she said, her voice cold and sharp as she walked toward the injured man. "It's survival. His survival."
Naruto looked from the man to Tsunade, confused. Why not go after the threat first?
Tsunade knelt beside the man, with Shizune at her side in an instant. Naruto watched, silently dispelling his clones. He saw them work with an efficiency born from years of experience. Shizune carefully tore the man's pant leg to examine the wound.
"Lady Tsunade, the wound is deep and dirty," she reported, her hands already glowing with the green chakra of medical ninjutsu. "But look at the claw marks on the edges. There's a dark, sticky substance."
With the tip of her finger, Shizune gently touched the edge of the wound and, to Naruto's amazement, brought it to her tongue for an instant. Her expression changed.
"It's a natural anticoagulant. Strong. Saliva from a silverback forest bear. That's why he won't stop bleeding. The hemorrhage won't stop on its own. I need to neutralize it before I can close the wound."
As Shizune got to work, her hands moving gracefully to extract the toxin, Tsunade turned to him. Her tone was that of an instructor in the middle of a crucial lesson.
"Watch, brat. And listen. The first priority isn't the most visible wound; it's the patient's overall condition. Is he in shock? Yes, look at his pale skin and cold sweat. Is his breathing stable? Barely. It's shallow and rapid. His pulse?" Tsunade placed two fingers on the man's neck. "Weak and fast. His body is losing the battle. If you heal his leg, but his heart stops from the pain and blood loss, you've failed. If you had gone after that beast, he would have bled out here in less than five minutes. A hero who chases glory instead of saving the life in front of him isn't a hero, he's an idiot."
The lesson was brutally direct. Naruto nodded silently, absorbing every word. He watched Shizune, having neutralized the bear's saliva, use her Healing Chakra Threads to perform an internal suture on a torn muscle without having to cut the flesh further.
When Shizune stabilized the bleeding, Tsunade nodded.
"Good work, Shizune. Your chakra is precise, but this man's is depleted. He needs a boost."
She turned to Naruto.
"Your turn. He's lost a lot of blood and his chakra is dangerously low. He doesn't need delicate surgery; he needs vitality. Give him some of yours. Focus. Don't flood him, just give him enough to replenish what he's lost. If you accidentally make him explode, I swear I'll leave you here for the bear to find."
Naruto swallowed hard. He knelt on the other side of the man, his heart pounding. He placed his healthy hand on the injured man's chest. He closed his eyes and, instead of pushing his chakra, he connected with it. He felt the man's weak, flickering energy and channeled a small, steady stream of his own warm, vital energy into him. He felt an initial resistance, but then the man's energy seemed to accept it, stabilizing and absorbing the vitality he offered.
The man, who had been groaning in pain, sighed deeply and his body relaxed. His breathing became deeper and more regular. Color began to return to his face.
Naruto pulled his hand back, slightly dizzy, but filled with a sense of accomplishment he had never experienced before. He looked at his own hand in awe. The same one that had learned to form a sphere of destruction was now a conduit for giving life.
Shizune gave him a proud smile.
Tsunade watched him with her arms crossed, her expression unreadable. There was no praise. Just a dry, almost imperceptible nod.
"Not bad, brat. You passed."
For Naruto, those simple words were the greatest praise he could have ever received.