After finishing her training for the day, Tenten watched as Makoto stepped out of the courtyard at just the right moment.
He had taken a full tour inside and was quite satisfied with his own work.
As expected of me!
"Tenten, let's go. Time to head back."
"Okay, Sensei. Are you going to use that sudden movement technique again?"
"No. We'll walk."
Makoto led Tenten out of the dojo at a leisurely pace. But just like when he had arrived, he seemed to drift along with the wind.
Tenten kept feeling as if something was pushing her from behind. Curious, she kept glancing around, but couldn't find anything.
"Sensei, it really feels like the wind is pushing me… but why can't I see any movement in the grass or flowers nearby?"
"You can study that later. For now, focus on remembering the way. From now on, you'll be coming here on your own every day."
"Oh, got it."
The dojo's Eight Trigrams barrier was perception-based. It only activated when unfamiliar chakra signatures entered, and only those granted permission by Makoto could pass freely.
After descending the stairs near the Hokage Rock and entering the central area of Konoha, the two of them transitioned from quiet wilderness into a lively town. The bustling atmosphere returned instantly.
The villagers had already begun a new day of life.
Along the road, parents could occasionally be seen taking their children toward the ninja academy. Some children walked alone, isolated and quiet.
April was the start of the school term. A new batch of children of the right age would soon enroll in the academy and begin learning how to become proper ninja.
This was the strongest village in the ninja world—Konohagakure. Becoming a ninja was every child's dream.
At an intersection, Makoto suddenly slowed down. A blond kid came running full speed, panic written all over his face. Unable to stop in time, he crashed straight into Makoto.
Makoto didn't budge at all. The blond kid bounced off and fell onto the ground.
"Ah—ow, ow, ow! Why did two people suddenly appear here, dattebayo?!"
Following behind him was a red-haired girl—Karin.
"Makoto-nii, hello," Karin greeted obediently, then immediately started scolding the boy on the ground. "Idiot Naruto, who told you to run that fast?"
Yes—the blond kid was Naruto. At three or four years old, he was already a walking disaster. Naruto especially—like an unleashed husky, the kind that vanishes the moment you let go.
Because of that, Kushina practically wished she could tie a chain around him.
Right now, Naruto still had both parents alive—he wasn't some abandoned street kid. Aside from being mischievous, he hadn't picked up any bad habits.
And if he had, his mom had already beaten them out of him.
Naruto rubbed his butt and stood up. "Oh, it's Makoto-nii. But why did you suddenly show up here?"
Makoto flicked his forehead with a finger. "You should be asking why you're running around without looking. What are you rushing for this early in the morning?"
Naruto clutched his head defensively. "I wanna go watch the entrance ceremony at the academy! It's gotta be super lively, dattebayo!"
"What's there to see? You're still years away from enrolling."
"I still wanna go!"
The blond kid turned and bolted again.
"Kushina-obasan told me to keep an eye on him. See you later, Makoto-nii," Karin said before chasing after him.
The two streaks of red and yellow wove through the street, forming a unique scene.
Tenten asked, "Sensei, who are they?"
"Uzumaki Naruto and Karin. You'll get to know them later."
"Oh! I want to enroll soon too."
"In a couple of years. What's the rush? Growing up isn't all that fun."
It was the same everywhere—children wanted to grow up quickly, while adults always missed the happiness they hadn't cherished in childhood.
...
Inside the newly completed dojo, Makoto sat cross-legged atop a large tree in the courtyard, eyes closed, immersed in thought about his training.
Based on his understanding of the ninja world's power scale, he believed he was currently on the same level as Senju Hashirama at his peak and Uchiha Madara with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
However, thanks to his unique constant Sage Mode, his overall strength and combat endurance were even greater.
Beyond that point, if he could fully perfect Yin and Yang attributes, he would reach the absolute limit below the Six Paths level.
Cross that boundary—enter the domain of Yin-Yang Release—and he would step into what was known as the Six Paths level.
Of course, even within the Six Paths level, there were differences in strength.
Didn't the incomplete Ten-Tails Jinchūriki Obito get mocked as the "gatekeeper of Six Paths"?
The true representative of Six Paths power was Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo himself.
But none of those people reached that level through their own step-by-step training. They all relied on the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Especially the later pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki like Isshiki, Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Urashiki—they were absurd.
Training? What even was training?
Their ancestor had already endured all the hardship of becoming a god. The descendants just relied on the miraculous abilities embedded in their bloodline to bully lower lifeforms.
If they couldn't win, they ate chakra fruits. Still couldn't win? Eat their teammates. Still couldn't win? Eat parts of themselves.
They would keep eating until there was nothing left to eat.
No shame whatsoever.
But Makoto was different. He had no direct Ōtsutsuki bloodline. Everything had to be explored through his own efforts.
At first, he believed that if he pushed the Yin and Yang attributes within chakra to a perfect 100%, he would achieve completion.
Then he realized that path was impossible.
When refining chakra, the trace amounts of mental and physical energy—those tiny fractions of Yin and Yang—could never be completely removed.
No matter what he tried, they remained absolutely immovable.
This wasn't a matter of insufficient time. His intuition told him so.
Makoto trusted his instincts. Even if he trained for another ten or twenty years, it would be pointless.
Fortunately, his soul didn't belong to this world. He had another theoretical framework for Yin and Yang.
He changed his approach.
Pure Yin or pure Yang probably didn't exist at all—this was the principle of 'isolated Yin cannot give birth, and lone Yang cannot grow.'
Yin and Yang were fundamentally one.
They couldn't be separated.
So he decided to try balancing them.
Now, when training Yang-attributed chakra, he no longer tried to remove that small portion of mental energy. Instead, he allowed them to merge—but with Yin as the dominant aspect.
Weak Yin controlling strong Yang.
Conversely, when training Yin-attributed chakra, that small portion of physical energy had to take the lead.
Weak Yang controlling strong Yin.
It was similar to how he had once trained medical chakra.
To make chakra full of vitality, one had to reduce the proportion of mental energy.
But reducing mental energy weakened control over chakra—and medical chakra required extremely precise control.
A classic contradiction—you wanted both.
Now, that contradiction had intensified even further.
The difficulty had reached its absolute peak.
At that moment, Makoto couldn't help but feel a bit envious of those who could step onto the Six Paths path through bloodline and built-in advantages.
...
In the afternoon, while training, Makoto sensed someone entering.
It was Minato Namikaze, followed by his team.
Minato had heard that a massive disturbance had occurred in the back mountain that morning, and that a set of buildings had appeared out of nowhere. He immediately knew Makoto's dojo was complete.
After handling academy matters, he finally had time to come take a look.
Everyone was shocked by the sudden transformation—except for Yamato.
Makoto had consulted him during the design phase about using Wood Release to construct buildings.
If Yamato wanted to, he could do it too.
The only downside was that he'd end up bedridden for a week afterward.
Yūgao jumped lightly onto the rooftop. "Makoto, this place has a great view. If we could open up some flower fields nearby and plant all kinds of flowers, it would completely fulfill my childhood dream."
Makoto smiled. "If you don't mind the effort, go ahead."
"Hey, hey, you said it yourself."
"Of course. Treat this place like your own home."
The girl, whose figure was just beginning to mature, flushed slightly. "W-what do you mean 'my own home'…"
Minato watched with a faint smile. "It really does look good. But didn't you set up a barrier to prevent interruptions during training?"
Makoto pointed outward. "I did. Look."
Following his gesture, they saw a deer step into the Eight Trigrams barrier's range—only to suddenly turn around and leave, as if nothing had happened.
Yūgao tilted her head. "What happened to it?"
"Genjutsu. I added directional interference inside the barrier. It can't get in."
"Then how did we get in?"
Minato explained, "You must have embedded a recognition formula in the barrier. It identified us, so the genjutsu didn't activate. Right, Makoto?"
"Exactly."
Minato, having mastered Sage Mode at Mount Myōboku, could vaguely sense the difference here. "This is strange… it feels different inside."
"Try entering Sage Mode and you'll understand."
Minato immediately sat down to meditate—but after a long effort, nothing happened.
Being the one who understood Makoto best, he quickly realized the issue. "There's no natural energy here? Or… is all of it your natural energy?"
"That's right. Other Sage Modes don't work here."
Minato's eyes lit up.
Didn't that make this a kind of exclusive sage ground?
"If I try to use your natural energy to train Sage Mode, then?"
"You can try. That's exactly why I built this place."
Minato didn't hesitate and immediately began sensing again.
Yamato said eagerly, "I want to try too."
Makoto nodded. "All of you can. It'll be useful for my observations."
But after all their efforts—
None of them could sense anything.
Not even Minato.
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