"Naruto, your biggest problem? Your body's too damn weak!"
Kaido sat cross-legged on the beach, tearing into a massive roasted beast with his bare hands. Grease dripped down his chin into his beard, but he didn't care. When he entered teaching mode, he was surprisingly focused.
"You've got power inside you—tons of it—but you can't use any of it properly!"
Naruto sat across from him, absolutely demolishing his portion of the roasted meat. It was tough and honestly kind of burnt in places. But for a kid who'd been living on instant ramen and expired milk, this was quite a luxury.
"Listen up, brat!" Kaido pointed a half-eaten leg bone at Naruto. "Your body's been starved. Malnourished. You're weaker than other kids your age because nobody fed you right."
Naruto paused mid-bite, looking down at his skinny arms. It was true. He'd always been smaller than the other academy students.
"Here's the truth, Naruto: No matter what kind of power you have—devil fruit, special ability, whatever the hell yours is—a strong body is the foundation! Without that foundation, all that power is useless! You following me?"
"Yes, sensei!"
"Good! Because starting right now, I'm going to train you harder than you've ever imagined!" Kaido's grin was almost manic. "This is going to hurt like hell, brat! Worororo!"
"Osu!" Naruto pumped his fist, eyes shining with determination.
Kaido gestured broadly at the island around them. "This place is perfect. No Marines, no weaklings to interrupt your training. Just you, me, and everything on this island that wants to kill you."
Naruto's enthusiasm faltered slightly. "Wait, what?"
"Your first task: Run around this entire island. Every. Single. Day."
"That doesn't sound so bad—"
"While fighting for your life!" Kaido continued, ignoring Naruto's interruption. "This island's packed with beasts. Big ones. Mean ones. Hungry ones. They'll be your opponents and your food!"
"My... food?"
"That's right! Hunt them down, eat them! Let those beasts become fuel for your growth!" Kaido took a massive swig from his gourd. "That's how you get stronger!"
Naruto's eyes went wide. "Wait, wait, wait! You want ME to hunt those things?! Sensei, I'm six! I saw some of those beasts on the way here—they were huge! Like, several meters tall! Some were even bigger than that!"
He gestured wildly with his hands, trying to convey the absolute insanity of what Kaido was suggesting.
"I thought training would be like. you know, push-ups and sit-ups! Like that weird green guy in the tight suit back in Konoha who's always yelling about youth! Not fighting giant monsters!"
"Push-ups?" Kaido laughed so hard he almost choked on his food. "Worororo! That's not training, that's warming up! You want real strength? You need real challenges!"
He stood up to his full, towering height and looked down at Naruto with absolute seriousness.
"Fighting brings out your body's potential. Running away when you need to builds your stamina. Hunting sharpens your instincts and reflexes. Eating what you kill gives you nutrition. This is how warriors are made, brat! This is how I grew up!"
Before Naruto could protest further, Kaido reached down, grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and with a casual flick of his wrist, hurled him deep into the forest.
"SENSEI!!! Wait! Can't you at least teach me some techniques first?!" Naruto's voice grew distant as he sailed through the air, flailing his arms and legs uselessly. "Like punching! Or kicking! Or ANYTHING?!"
Kaido stood at the edge of the forest, arms crossed, watching where Naruto had disappeared into the trees. Teaching techniques? Please. The kid was so weak right now that one proper swing of his kanabo would turn him into paste. Better to let him figure out the basics through survival.
"Oi, Naruto!" Kaido shouted toward the forest. "Nature's your classroom now! The beasts are your teachers! Your body's got endless potential locked inside it—claws, teeth, fists, feet—they're all weapons if you use them right!"
He paused, listening. In the distance, he could hear rustling and movement. Something was already heading toward where Naruto had landed.
"Looks like your first lesson's about to start. Good luck, brat! Try not to die!"
"SENSEI?! SENSEI?!" Naruto's voice echoed in the jungle. "You're seriously just leaving me here?!"
Kaido said nothing, already walking away. Sink or swim. Survive or die. That was the only way to forge true strength.
"SERIOUSLY?! You're actually doing this!" Naruto's wail of disbelief faded into the background.
----------------
Deep in the forest, Naruto landed in a painful heap, groaning as he picked himself up. Leaves and twigs stuck to his hair. His clothes were torn from crashing through branches.
"Ow, ow, ow... That was crazy! Sensei's crazy! This whole thing is—"
Whoosh!
Something white and fast burst from the underbrush. Sharp claws flashed toward Naruto's throat.
On pure instinct, Naruto threw himself sideways. The claws missed his neck by centimeters, close enough that he felt the wind from the strike.
He scrambled to his feet and finally got a look at his attacker.
"A... a rabbit?"
But this was no ordinary rabbit. It stood nearly as tall as Naruto himself, balanced on powerful hind legs. Its body was covered in sleek white fur with muscles that bulged and rippled with each movement. Its mouth was full of sharp fangs. Its eyes glowed an unnatural crimson red.
The rabbit tilted its head, studying Naruto.
"Okay, that's not like any rabbit I've ever seen in Konoha," Naruto muttered, his heart pounding. "What do they feed you guys here?"
The rabbit didn't appreciate the commentary. It snarled and launched itself at Naruto again.
"Crap!"
Naruto dodged to the side and, more out of panic than strategy, threw a wild punch at the rabbit as it passed.
His fist connected with the rabbit's side.
It felt like punching a boulder. Pain shot up Naruto's arm, and he yelped, clutching his hand. The rabbit, meanwhile, landed gracefully, completely unharmed. It turned back toward Naruto and, if rabbits could smirk, this one was definitely smirking.
"Oh, you think that's funny?!" Something in Naruto snapped. Maybe it was the fear, maybe it was frustration, maybe it was all the years of being looked down on and mocked finally boiling over. "I didn't come all the way to this crazy island to get beaten up by a rabbit!"
He charged forward with a yell, and the two of them crashed together in a tangle of limbs and fur.
It went... poorly.
Naruto had no training, no technique, no experience. The rabbit, despite being an animal, fought with vicious efficiency. Within minutes, Naruto had scratches covering his arms, a nasty bite on his shoulder, and a bruise forming on his cheek. The rabbit had barely a scratch on it.
"Damn it!" Naruto gasped, backing away and trying to catch his breath. Blood trickled from his wounds. "That really hurts! I can't even beat a stupid rabbit?!"
Doubt crept in. Maybe he wasn't cut out for this. Maybe Kaido sensei had made a mistake. Maybe those people in Konoha were right about him being useless.
But then he remembered Kaido's words.
And he remembered his own promise. "Even if I die, I'll die on the path to becoming stronger! That's my ninja way!"
Naruto wiped the blood from his lip and grinned at the rabbit, even though every part of his body hurt.
"Alright, fluffy. Round two! And I'm just getting started!"
----------------------------
One Year Later
Naruto moved through the forest like a shadow, his bare feet making almost no sound on the jungle floor. His eyes constantly scanned his surroundings.
He'd learned the hard way that a moment of carelessness on this island could mean death.
Naruto froze, his gaze locking onto movement ahead. Through the trees, he could see it: a massive tiger, easily eight meters tall at the shoulder and more than ten meters from nose to tail.
The beast was currently feeding on a giant elephant it had killed, massive jaws tearing off chunks of flesh with casual ease.
"The island's overlord," Naruto whispered to himself, a hungry grin spreading across his face.
He'd changed dramatically over the past year. At seven years old now, he'd grown more than a head taller and significantly broader. His shirtless torso revealed defined muscles that seemed impossible on someone his age.
His eyes, though—those had changed most of all. They held a predatory gleam that hadn't been there before. The eyes of a hunter.
Naruto licked his lips, studying the tiger. "You look delicious, big guy."
Over the past year, he'd faced death more times than he could count. Broken bones, deep gashes, internal injuries—if not for his body's strange ability to heal rapidly, he would've died a hundred times over.
But each brush with death had pushed him further, forced his potential to surface. He'd grown stronger with each passing day.
The current Naruto could defeat a hundred versions of his former self without breaking a sweat.
But during the first six months, he'd spent most of his time running for his life from creatures exactly like this tiger. The beasts on this island were no joke and they didn't hold back.
His most dangerous encounter had been with this exact tiger. Six months ago, he'd stumbled into its territory by accident. Before he could even react, one swipe of its massive paw had sent him flying, ribs shattered, barely conscious. If Kaido hadn't intervened at the last second, Naruto would have become tiger food.
Now, he was back for payback.
Naruto suppressed his presence the way he taught himself to ambush the beast here, moving with careful, deliberate steps. The tiger, normally hyper-alert to any threat, was too focused on its meal to notice him approaching.
NOW!
He exploded forward, transforming into a blur of motion. In an instant, he was above the tiger, fist pulled back and then driving downward with every ounce of strength he possessed.
BANG!
His fist crashed into the tiger's skull with a sound like thunder. The impact rippled through the beast's entire body. The tiger let out a howl of pain and confusion, stumbling backward, its legs shaking as it tried to maintain balance. Blood trickled from where Naruto's fist had connected.
Naruto didn't give it time to recover. He pressed the attack. He leaped upward and drove an uppercut into the tiger's jaw with brutal force.
The tiger's fangs shattered. Its massive head snapped backward, and its entire body lifted off the ground before crashing down heavily.
While it was still disoriented, Naruto moved in for the finish. He positioned himself carefully, pulled his fist back, focusing all his strength into one point, and thrust forward directly into where the tiger's heart would be.
The sound of breaking ribs echoed through the forest. Naruto's fist punched through the tiger's chest, the broken ribs piercing directly into its heart.
The tiger let out one final roar. Its body convulsed, legs kicking weakly and then it went still.
Complete silence fell over the forest.
Naruto stood there, breathing hard, his fist still embedded in the tiger's chest. He pulled it out slowly and stared at his blood-covered hands in disbelief.
"Whoa... I actually... I actually did it?"
Just some months ago, this tiger had nearly killed him. Now he'd beaten it without taking a single hit. The difference was staggering.
"Well done, Naruto!"
The familiar booming voice made Naruto spin around. Kaido stood at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed, a proud grin on his face.
"Kaido-sensei!" Naruto's face lit up. "Did you see that? I totally destroyed him!"
"Worororo! I saw!" Kaido walked over. "That last punch was brutal! The old you would've just tried to wrestle it or something stupid. Now you're actually using your brain a little. I'm impressed, brat!"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "Well, you know, I learned from the best—"
"Don't get cocky!" Kaido's hand came down on Naruto's shoulder hard enough to make his knees buckle. "You beat one tiger. The word got plenty worse than that. But yeah, you've improved a hell of a lot!"
"Thanks, sensei!" Naruto beamed despite the fact that Kaido's "pat on the shoulder" had nearly driven him into the ground.
Over the past year, Kaido hadn't stayed with him constantly. He'd disappear for days, sometimes weeks at a time, then suddenly show up out of nowhere with new training techniques or fighting methods for Naruto to practice. It had become his new normal.
"Alright, Naruto, here's the thing." Kaido released Naruto's shoulder and looked around the island. "You've gotten too strong for this place. These beasts can't push you anymore. You need tougher opponents."
Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean...?"
"Get ready, brat! I'm taking you to Onigashima—my territory! You'll get real training there with my crew!" Kaido's grin was almost feral. "The Beasts Pirates will show you what real combat looks like!"
"YES!" Naruto jumped in the air, pumping his fist. "Finally! I've been stuck on this island forever! I can't wait to—"
His enthusiasm faltered, and he looked down, scuffing his foot in the dirt. "But, um... sensei? Your pirate crew... there's a lot of people, right? Strong people?"
"Obviously. They're my crew!"
"Will they... accept me?" Naruto's voice got quieter. "I mean, I'm not from here. I'm different. What if they don't want me around? What if they treat me like the people in Konoha did?"
The memories of isolation, of hatred, of being called a monster by everyone he'd ever known—they still hurt, even after a year away from it all.
"Worororo... WORORORO!"
Kaido's laughter was so loud it startled birds from the trees. He reached down and clapped Naruto on the shoulder several times.
"Naruto, you idiot! Listen up!" Kaido's eyes gleamed with absolute certainty. "In the Beasts Pirates, there's only one rule: Strength is everything! You're strong? You get respect! You're weak? You get crushed! It's that simple!"
He grabbed his gourd and took a swig. "Those bastards won't care where you came from or what you look like. They'll see your strength and that's ALL that matters! So quit worrying about stupid stuff!"
Naruto looked up at his teacher, and hope bloomed in his chest. A place where strength was all that mattered? Where he'd be judged by what he could do, not by what people feared he might be?
"You really think so, sensei?"
"I don't think, brat—I know! Anyone who has a problem with you will answer to me!" Kaido's grin turned dangerous. "And trust me, nobody wants that!"
Before Naruto could respond, Kaido's body began to shift and change. Scales spread across his skin, his form changing to Azure Dragon.
"Now quit standing there looking emotional! We're leaving!"
Having said that, without waiting for Naruto's reaction, he took Naruto in his claw and flew off into the distance.