The sky outside had turned a pale shade of grey. Morning had come, but the light did nothing to warm the cold inside Naruto's apartment.
He sat cross-legged on the floor now, a notepad open in front of him. The page was mostly blank—just a few lines scrawled at the top.
"What I Know."
He stared at the words for a long time, then wrote underneath:
1- I have something inside me.
2- People hate me for it.
3- Hokage knew. Iruka knew. Everyone knew.(Do my classmates know! Probably)
4- That red-type chakra can kill a chunin.
5- Shadow Clone Jutsu works. Really works.
He paused.
His hand tightened around the pencil.
Then he flipped the page.
"What I Don't Know."
1- What the fox is.
2- Why it was sealed in me.
3- Who my parents were.
4- Why Hokage didn't tell me.
5- Who I can actually trust.
6- How to stop being weak.
This page filled faster than the first.
He flipped again.
"What I'll Do."
And here, Naruto thought for first time and then wrote slowly, each letter deliberate.
1- Learn everything on your own because Mizuki like bastards are everywhere and they won't teach me or they will teach it wrong.(Learn Taijutsu and kunai throwing properly because the form is wrong)
2- Train harder than anyone else.
3- Master Shadow Clones.
4- Read more. No more just pranks and ramen.
5- Avoid the Hokage for now.
6- Don't show weakness.
7- Never blindly trust anyone.
8- Figure out what the Nine-Tails really is.
9- Become a ninja my own way. Not for them. For me.For Konoha (Not the villagers)
Then finally, a last line at the bottom of the page, underlined three times:
10- "No more being dumb."
[Scene Break]
Naruto stood on the edge of his apartment building's rooftop, wind tousling his hair.
From here, he could see most of the village. The rooftops. The alleys. The Hokage Monument in the distance, half-repainted from his last prank weeks ago.
He didn't smile at it anymore.
He breathed in deep.
If I'm going to be a shinobi, he thought, it's not going to be like them. I'll make my own way. I'll protect what I care about—but I'll never forget how this felt. The lies. The silence. The truth that was to be mine but no one gave me.
He tied his headband not on forehead but on right forearm. This time, tighter.
Not as a sign of being accepted.
But as a promise:
"I'll rise, even if it's alone...But first these spiky hair needs to go."
[Scene Break: Afternoon]
Now, sitting in his dimly lit apartment with his hair cut moderately, Naruto stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror above his sink.
His fists clenched.
He'd killed Mizuki.While he'd been lied to.And yet… he'd grown stronger.
And that strength came from one thing—Shadow Clones.
Not the illusionary ones from the academy.
But real, breathing clones that remembered everything they did.
That thought echoed in his head like a gong.
Naruto stood up quickly, grabbed a cup and filled it with cold water. Then—
Poof!One clone formed next to him.
"Alright," he said to it, voice low but serious. "You're going to the market. Take the back alleys. Don't talk to anyone. Get instant noodles, not cup ramen—they last longer."
The clone saluted and jumped out the window.
Naruto blinked.
I just cut my time in half… No. I just multiplied my time.
He turned to the corner of the room where a dusty stack of shinobi books sat unread—gifts from Iruka, never opened.
Poof!Two more clones appeared.
"You," he pointed to one, "start with chakra control techniques. You," the other, "memorize basic taijutsu stances. I want everything remembered when you dispel."
They nodded and got to work instantly.
Naruto sat back down, heart racing. This wasn't just a jutsu.
This was a game-changer.
[Scene Break: Next Day]
Most of the village still avoided him. That was fine.
Because while they whispered, Naruto was building something silently.
Early morning, he made clones and spread them out.
One trained chakra control in the forest, balancing leaves or climbing trees.
One shadowed ninja's near the training grounds, copying their movements.
One slipped into the academy library disguised with a hoodie, devouring as much as possible about history and chakra theory.
Another helped old man Ichiraku unload cargo just for spare meals and overheard gossip.
And while they worked, for the day he went to complete his ninja registration form with new that wasn't expected from resident prankster.
Yesterday after carefully telling his clone under transformation to buy 2 piece of each
1- Ninja mesh shirt
2- Blue And Grey shirt
3- Black Trouser.
With registration complete he was told to attend academy 5 days later for team placement.
In the evening with all his clones poofed out, Naruto began planning for the future of his training. After reviewing what his clones watched in other shinobi ninja practice, he soon realized his shortcomings.
1- His entire Tai-jutsu form was wretched by follwing 'katas' in wrong form and thus forming bad posture for taijutsu since he learned such form for 6 years of academy life. Fucking Mizuki!
2- His kunai and shuriken throw was also not even in above average category thus forget about competing with sasuke.
Finally he came to solid conclusion he needs some sort of weapon. This brought him the memory of clone which went to library this morning.
[Flashback Memory of Clone]
Sword forms. Samurai flow techniques from the Land of Iron. Balance. Breath. Stance. Disarm. Redirect. Blend it with chakra control and taijutsu. It's possible. No one expects it from a jinchūriki.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Seven names. Seven blades. Seven demons in human skin.
Kisame Hoshigaki – wielder of Samehada, a sentient blade that devours chakra.
Zabuza Momochi – the "Demon of the Hidden Mist," master of the silent killing technique.
Ameyuri Ringo, the lightning twin-blade user.
Fuguki Suikazan… Raiga Kurosuki… Jinpachi Munashi…
Each of them shaped the battlefield with nothing but blades and brutality. Some were dead, some missing-nin, but all feared.
[Flashback of Clone Ends]
"They use swords… and chakra," Naruto whispered to himself. "They fused taijutsu, kenjutsu, and elemental nature into a single fighting style…"
He remembered a phrase from the scroll:
"The blade is not a weapon. It is a conversation."
The sword isn't just to cut. It's to send a message.
He closed his eyes and saw Zabuza's brutal efficiency, Kisame's towering rage, and then imagined… himself.
Not a monster.
Not a prankster.
A shinobi who could face even jonin with a sword in hand—and the will to use them.
That night, he made ten clones just for sword training.
Some studied theory.
Others practiced grip and form by scraping almost a good sword from training ground late at night.
One got cut badly and dispelled with pain searing through his body.
He learned quickly. Pain was a good teacher. His muscles ached, but his resolve hardened.