Time passed.
Not much—by normal standards.
But for me?
It was more than enough.
A newborn body was limiting.
Weak.
Slow.
Incomplete.
But my mind?
Unrestricted.
Endless.
And filled with knowledge spanning hundreds of lifetimes.
I didn't waste a second.
Fūinjutsu.
Sealing techniques.
One of the most complex, versatile, and fundamentally broken systems of power ever created.
And I had access to it all.
Fragments at first.
Then streams.
Then entire lifetimes of experience flooding back into place.
Shinobi who dedicated decades to seals.
Masters who refined formulas to perfection.
Geniuses who twisted reality itself using ink and chakra.
And above them all—
Madara Uchiha.
Sasuke Uchiha.
Their knowledge wasn't centered on fūinjutsu…
But what they had seen—
Was more than enough.
The Fourth Great Ninja War.
A battlefield of gods.
Madara stood above it all.
Watching.
Analyzing.
Understanding.
And among the countless techniques used during that war—
One stood out.
Space-time ninjutsu.
Specifically—
The Flying Thunder God Technique.
Minato Namikaze.
The Yellow Flash.
A man who turned teleportation into an art form.
Into something unstoppable.
Untouchable.
And Madara—
Had seen it.
More than once.
More than enough.
"…Which means I've seen it too."
Even now, lying in a small, fragile body—
I was reconstructing it.
Piece by piece.
Layer by layer.
Not through trial and error—
But through memory.
Understanding.
Perfection.
The issue wasn't knowledge.
It never was.
It was capacity.
No chakra system fully developed.
No physical strength.
No endurance.
And most importantly—
No access to my higher-level abilities.
The Rinnegan remained dormant.
Locked behind a body that simply couldn't handle it yet.
"…Then I'll build up from the ground."
A simple conclusion.
An absolute one.
A week.
That's all it took.
Seven days of constant mental work.
Breaking down formulas.
Rebuilding them.
Simplifying them.
Adapting them to my current limitations.
And finally—
Success.
A mark.
Simple.
Crude compared to the original.
But functional.
A basic Flying Thunder God formula.
Night.
Silence filled the house.
Three infants lay in their beds.
Two of them slept normally.
The third—
Did not.
My eyes opened.
Calm.
Focused.
A faint ripple passed through my mind.
Genjutsu.
Subtle.
Layered.
Perfect.
My parents shifted slightly—
Then stilled.
Their awareness dulled.
Perception redirected.
To them—
Nothing was wrong.
Nothing was happening.
I simply… didn't exist.
At least for now.
I moved.
Slowly at first.
Then smoothly.
Far too smoothly for a newborn.
My body adapted quickly.
Guided by perfect control.
Perfect intent.
Outside.
The night air was cool.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
A mountain stood not far from the house.
Unremarkable.
Isolated.
Perfect.
Minutes later—
I stood within a small cave.
My base.
Temporary.
But sufficient.
"…Let's begin."
I raised my hand.
Chakra flickered.
Weak.
Unstable.
But present.
Barely.
Just enough.
A seal was already carved into the ground.
Simple lines.
Minimal structure.
Designed for efficiency.
Not complexity.
I placed my hand over it.
Focused.
Recalled everything.
Minato's movements.
His precision.
His instant execution.
Then—
I activated it.
Nothing happened.
For a moment.
Then—
A distortion.
Small.
Barely noticeable.
Space itself… shifted.
And in the next instant—
I disappeared.
—and reappeared two meters away.
Silence.
Then—
A slow breath.
"…It works."
Not perfectly.
Not even close.
There was delay.
A noticeable one.
And the chakra cost—
High.
Far higher than it should be.
My body trembled slightly.
Strained.
"…Still incomplete."
But that didn't matter.
Because I had done it.
In a week.
In a newborn body.
Without proper chakra pathways.
A faint chuckle echoed in my mind.
Not bad, Kurama said, clearly amused.
For someone who can barely stand.
I smirked slightly.
"Just getting started."
This was only the foundation.
A crude version.
An imitation.
But it would evolve.
Refine.
Perfect.
I closed my eyes briefly.
Then—
Opened them again.
Focused.
Determined.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
For a split second—
Nothing happened.
Then—
Chakra surged.
Multiple presences split off from me.
One.
Two.
Three—
Then more.
Each one slightly unstable.
But functional.
The cave filled with copies of myself.
All sharing the same mind.
The same purpose.
The same drive.
"Continue development."
Instantly—
They moved.
Some worked on improving the seal formula.
Others focused on reducing chakra consumption.
Some practiced activation timing.
Others analyzed spatial distortion patterns.
Time accelerated.
Progress multiplied.
Understanding deepened.
Outside—
The world remained unaware.
A quiet home.
Sleeping parents.
Three children.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing strange.
Inside the mountain—
A monster was being built.
Hours passed.
Then more.
Until finally—
I dispelled the clones.
Knowledge flooded back.
All at once.
Refinements.
Improvements.
Adjustments.
My body nearly collapsed under the strain.
But I endured.
Barely.
"…Better."
Still not perfect.
But closer.
Much closer.
I sat down slowly.
Breathing steady.
Mind racing.
Already planning the next step.
Chakra control.
Physical conditioning.
Seal refinement.
Everything would progress together.
Everything would evolve.
Because this—
This was only the beginning.
Far above—
Unseen.
Unnoticed.
The world of gods continued as it always had.
Unaware.
Unconcerned.
For now.
Deep within my mind—
Kurama's voice rumbled softly.
You're planning something big, aren't you?
A faint smile formed on my face.
"…Of course."
My eyes gleamed faintly in the darkness.
"Why aim small…"
A pause.
Then—
"...when I can surpass everything?"
And in the silence of the mountain—
The first true step toward that goal—
Had already been taken.