Naruto nodded firmly. He already understood what needed to be done. In order to release a jutsu, the very first step was extracting chakra.
Fugaku patiently began explaining to Naruto the detailed process of chakra refinement. It wasn't actually all that complicated—at least, not in theory. Those born with talent could sometimes generate a trace of chakra in as little as a single day.
Meanwhile, Sasuke stood to the side, his expression caught somewhere between frustration and disappointment. His father was showing so much patience and care toward Naruto—teaching him the basics of chakra refinement, even planning to introduce him to elemental ninjutsu. Yet Sasuke himself had never once been personally taught Water Release or Wind Release by Fugaku. To the young boy, it felt unfair… even a little biased.
Before long, Naruto began following Fugaku's instructions and attempted to refine chakra for the first time. Fugaku, arms crossed, observed the boy carefully. But as the minutes stretched on, his brows furrowed deeper, his expression growing grim.
Naruto seemed to understand the steps of chakra refinement well enough… and yet, not a single wisp of chakra emerged from him.
A faint doubt entered Fugaku's mind. Could it be… Naruto didn't inherit Minato's talent?
It wouldn't have been strange. After all, it wasn't uncommon for the child of gifted parents to be born without exceptional talent. Still, Fugaku wasn't the sort of man to give up on a student so easily. Even without natural gifts, hard work and perseverance could build a powerful shinobi. And in Naruto's case, with the Nine Tails sealed inside him, he already possessed an almost inexhaustible reserve of chakra. Once he learned how to wield that power properly, the scale of his ninjutsu would become overwhelming.
At that moment, Ryosuke Uchiha approached from the training grounds nearby. Catching sight of Fugaku's troubled expression, Ryosuke slowed his steps. So… is Naruto's training not going well?
Even Sasuke's gaze shifted toward him immediately. The boy abandoned his practice entirely and came closer. He couldn't help himself—Ryosuke fascinated him. His strength outclassed even Itachi's. In fact, many already whispered that Ryosuke was the single strongest shinobi in Konoha, surpassing even the Hokage himself. And he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan—something Sasuke admired deeply.
Ryosuke stopped before Fugaku and asked calmly, "I saw you frown just now. Did something happen?"
Fugaku didn't bother to hide the truth. He sighed lightly and answered, "I think Naruto may not have much natural talent as a shinobi."
He elaborated, reminding Ryosuke that when Sasuke had trained in chakra refinement, he had succeeded in producing a faint thread of chakra almost immediately. It wasn't much, but it proved his potential. Likewise, most Uchiha children of talent could refine chakra with relative ease. But Naruto, despite his effort, had produced nothing.
Hearing this, Naruto's expression sank. His chest tightened with doubt. No talent…? Me?
His mother had told him stories about his parents just the night before. His father, Minato Namikaze—the Fourth Hokage—was the strongest man in the village. With his Flying Thunder God Technique, he singlehandedly kept the enemies of the Fire Nation at bay. His mother, Kushina Uzumaki, had been the formidable jinchūriki of the Nine Tails.
And yet here he was—their son—unable to draw out even a drop of chakra. I'm… embarrassing them. I'm making them look weak.
But Ryosuke didn't agree. Not at all.
No talent? Naruto? Impossible.
He remembered what was destined for this boy in the future. The so-called "dead last" of the Academy would one day twist even a simple technique like the Rasengan into countless variations: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, mini Rasenshuriken, even the Rasengan Barrage. That kind of creativity—taking a single concept and evolving it into entirely new forms—that was true genius.
Even in the original timeline, Naruto had failed miserably at the basic Clone Jutsu during his Academy years. And yet, not long after, he had mastered the forbidden Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu in a single night. That was like failing elementary school arithmetic only to ace university-level mathematics without warning.
Later, he would even master Sage Mode and wield it in ways no one had before. If that didn't prove him a prodigy, what would?
Ryosuke understood why Naruto seemed so weak right now. The reason was obvious: the Nine Tails.
Inside Naruto's body, the beast festered in resentment. The fox hated its prison, hated the child who served as its vessel, and hated Minato and Kushina for sealing it away. It deliberately interfered whenever Naruto tried to refine chakra, disrupting the flow, tangling the balance, twisting his body's control. That was why Naruto failed to produce chakra. That was why so many of his techniques fizzled.
He wasn't talentless. He was being sabotaged.
Ryosuke's Sharingan spun to life, three tomoe forming before deepening into the blazing shape of his Mangekyō. His vision pierced past flesh, peeling away the surface until he gazed directly into Naruto's inner world.
And just like that, his consciousness stepped into a massive dark chamber—a water prison with towering iron bars.
Before him loomed a colossal gate, sealed tight. From the darkness within, a pair of burning crimson eyes opened, locking onto him with lethal focus.
A low, venomous growl rumbled through the space.
"Disgusting… that vile Uchiha stench again. So… another one has awakened these cursed eyes?"
Behind the bars, the monstrous silhouette of the Nine Tails shifted. Memories of past humiliations filled its mind—how it had once been controlled by Madara Uchiha to fight against Hashirama Senju, then later enslaved by the masked man to attack Konoha again, reduced again and again to a puppet of the Sharingan.
The thought filled the beast with searing rage. With a snarl, its massive claws extended through the bars, striking forward in an attempt to pierce the body of the Uchiha before it.
But the iron pillars of the seal blocked its strike. Sparks crackled against the bars as the beast's attack was repelled.
Ryosuke stood unflinching, his Mangekyō blazing as he stared straight into the eyes of the Nine Tails.
Read ahead with 90+ chapters now and daily updates!
@patreon.com/Zefyrus