After leaving the Hokage's office, Naruto headed toward the location of his father's house. According to the directions on the scroll, it was situated deep within a forest far away from the villagers' homes.
After some time, he arrived.
Hidden among towering trees and thick vegetation and bushes. There is a secluded house. Vines crawled across its walls, and the surrounding forest concealed it from casual sight. The place looked abandoned, untouched for years.
Naruto's eyes swept across the area.
No nearby villagers.
No curious eyes.
No unnecessary disturbances.
A perfect location.
He entered the house and began searching through the rooms.
Inside, he found many belongings that once belonged to Minato and Kushina. Clothes neatly stored in wardrobes, old equipment, kunai, shuriken, and various personal items remained preserved.
Naruto eventually found a set of black mission gear that had belonged to Minato during his younger years. After changing into it, he placed several kunai and shuriken into the pockets attached to his legs.
As he continued exploring, he came across stacks of yellow papers and two books resting inside a cabinet.
Curious, Naruto picked them up.
After scanning through the documents, he quickly realized what they were.
Research notes.
His father's research notes.
His gaze shifted toward the two books.
Rasengan.
Flying Thunder God Technique.
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
The Rasengan book contained detailed instructions and training methods, but the information was incomplete. It could guide him close to mastering the technique, but not all the way.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was even more troublesome.
From the notes, Naruto quickly understood that mastering the technique required extensive knowledge of Fuinjutsu.
A field he currently knew nothing about.
For now, the choice was obvious.
He would focus on the Rasengan first.
As for the Flying Thunder God Technique, he would leave it for the future after learning Fuinjutsu.
After storing the books and notes safely, Naruto left the house.
He had not fully searched every room yet, but that could wait.
Looking around the forest, a faint smile appeared on his face.
This whole place looks abandoned. No one will disturb me here, and no one will keep tabs on me.
The privacy pleased him.
He could practice his previous martial techniques here.
Both body cultivation and qi cultivation could be tested without interference.
As for the Heavenly Demonic Sword Technique, he would need a proper sword first.
Only then would that path become available.
Naruto spent the next few hours exploring the surrounding forest.
He sprinted through narrow paths, jumped across streams, and memorized important landmarks.
As he moved, his thoughts drifted toward the cultivation systems from his previous world.
There were two separate cultivation paths.
Demonic Qi Cultivation.
Demonic Body Cultivation.
Both paths contained four major realms.
Within each realm were five sub-levels.
Advancing through a sub-level required breaking through a minor wall.
Advancing into a completely new realm required breaking through a major wall.
The higher the realm, the more difficult the breakthrough became.
For Demonic Qi Cultivation, the realms were:
Mortal Stage → Demon Stage → Demon King Stage → Heavenly Demon Stage.
The martial techniques of each realm became increasingly powerful, with each stage surpassing the one before it.
For Demonic Body Cultivation, the realms were:
Mortal Body → Demon Body → Demon king Body → Heavenly Demon Body.
Unlike Qi Cultivation, Body Cultivation caused direct transformations to the cultivator's body whenever a major realm was reached.
(if one changed from mortal body to demon body. he will undergo a transformation.)
Naruto recalled the first realm of both cultivation paths.
The Mortal Demon Stage for Qi Cultivation contained five sub-levels:
Demon Qi Awakening — Basic control over demonic energy.
Infernal Pulse — Physical enhancement.
Demon's Veil — Formation of a defensive demonic aura.
Fiend's Seed — Creation of a demonic core.
Fiend's Heart Wall — Complete integration of demonic qi into the body.
The Mortal Body also contained five sub-levels:
Flesh of the Infernal Beast — Increased physical strength and stamina.
Bone of the Demon — Stronger bones and greater durability.
Demon's Endurance — Enhanced pain tolerance.
Toughened Skin — Basic protection for the skin.
Demon's Flesh Barrier — whole nervous system will gets repaired.
As Naruto ran through the forest, he evaluated his current progress.
Right now, I am only at the first sub-level of both Mortal Stage and Mortal Body Stage.
His eyes sharpened.
I will start from scratch in my demonic cultivation.
I need to reach the peak of both beginner stages within two weeks.
Only then will I know how much potential this world's qi possesses and how much of my previous abilities can be used here.
At the outskirts of the forest he saw few anbu's stationing to gatekeep for any bandits to enter village.
At the same time, he carefully memorized the terrain.
This forest had effectively become his new domain.
A place for training.
A place for experiments
What Naruto didn't know was that he wasn't alone.
Far away, two pairs of eyes observed him through a crystal orb.
Every movement.
Every action.
Every step.
Nothing escaped his attention.
He is none other than Hokage.
...
...
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage stood before several elite shinobi.
"As we've done each year, newly graduated students will be placed in teams of three, led by an elite shinobi," the Hokage announced while holding his pipe.
One by one, he held private discussions with the future team leaders.
Each jonin was shown information regarding their assigned students through a crystal viewing orb.
Eventually, it became Kakashi's turn.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow as the orb activated.
The first image showed Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke was training intensely, his movements sharp and precise. Every strike carried determination and an obvious desire for strength.
Then Naruto appeared.
He was sprinting through the forest while constantly observing his surroundings. His eyes occasionally moved toward different landmarks as though he were memorizing the entire area.
Kakashi noticed the difference immediately.
This Naruto was far more focused than the one described in academy reports.
Iruka had also informed him about Naruto's recent memory accident.
The final image showed Sakura.
She stood inside her room while holding a new dress.
"Oh, Sasuke..."
She sighed dreamily and hugged it to her chest.
Completely lost in her imagination, she spun around with her eyes closed.
A second later—
Thud!
She walked directly into her bedroom wall and collapsed onto the floor.
Silence filled the office.
Kakashi slowly placed a hand over his face.
The Hokage did the same.
Neither of them knew what to say.
...
The next morning, students gathered inside the academy classroom.
Excitement and nervousness filled the room as everyone waited for the team assignments.
Naruto entered last.
Unlike before, he walked with calm confidence.
His movements were steady.
His posture straight.
Several students noticed the change immediately.
A few girls couldn't help glancing toward him.
Even Hinata's cheeks turned red as she watched him walk toward his seat.
Ino noticed him as well and approached with a bright smile.
"Good morning, Naruto."
Naruto gave her a slight nod and a respectful smile.
"Good morning, Ino."
His calm confidence caught her slightly off guard.
Seeing the interaction, Sakura immediately joined the conversation.
"Ino, when did you start having feelings for Naruto?" she teased.
Ino rolled her eyes.
"Don't be silly, Forehead. Naruto's just a friend. I still have my eye on Sasuke-kun, remember?"
Sakura tried to counter it."Sas..."
Before Sakura could respond completely, Iruka entered the classroom.
The room quickly fell silent.
"Today, you'll receive your team assignments. Each team will have three students and one jonin leader."
Excitement immediately returned to the classroom.
Iruka continued announcing team after team until he finally reached Team 7.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno," he announced. "You three will be placed on a team, and your jonin leader will be Kakashi Hatake."
The moment Sakura heard it, her face fell.
Her dream of sitting next to Sasuke had been ruined.
Sakura saw Naruto with anger face.
Naruto eyes are closed, he did sense Sakura is seeing him angrily. But he is not a child to fight for this.
Sasuke remained calm, though he glanced toward Naruto.
Naruto still, sitting with his eyes closed and with a faint smirk on his face.
Sensing Sasuke's gaze, Naruto briefly opened his eyes.
The two exchanged a silent look.
Naruto's eyes calmly looked him before closing once again.
Naruto felt, Sasuke's comparing himself with me and wanting to beat me in any next chance possible.
Naruto welcomed it.
After all, this was only the beginning of his journey. Naruto wanted to make Sauske a big joke and mock him thoroughly....
Just thinking about it, Naruto is smiling with his eyes closed.
(To Be Continued...)
Author's Note:
Usually in cultivation stories and manhua, the term "wall" refers to a cultivation bottleneck that must be overcome before advancing to a higher level.
(you will see 3rd hokage using magi orb in Naruto anime, if you watch 1,2 and 3 episodes, you will see. i used it here)