Chapter 581: Naruto, You Can’t Outrun Me

"Then I'll choose this one."

After thinking it over carefully, Naruto chose Namikaze Yukishō.

Truthfully, he really wanted to pick Kaobi.

Compared with simply running fast, Naruto would much rather learn how to fly—

And this time, he meant literally flying, not the extremely questionable kind of "takeoff" involved in Sage Mode training.

Unfortunately, what Naruto cared about most right now wasn't what he wanted to learn.

It was his future freedom.

And survival.

If he picked a distant relative from his father's side, surely the man would be a little more relaxed with him, right?

"Fine, Naruto. Starting tomorrow, you'll train under him."

Kushina narrowed her eyes.

"And if I hear you've been slacking off, you'd better watch yourself…"

Naruto swallowed.

…

The next morning, Naruto woke up unusually early and hurried outside.

But instead of heading toward the training ground where he was supposed to meet Yukishō, he created several shadow clones and sent them off to train in his place.

Why several?

That would become clear soon enough.

Naruto's real body headed straight for the library.

He needed to understand the basic situation in this illusionary world first.

While passing the little shop where he used to buy adult books, Naruto couldn't resist wandering over to see whether anything had changed.

To his surprise, the owner had apparently expanded into newspapers too.

Naruto picked one up.

Then froze.

The headline on the front page read:

[BROTHER OF THE EIGHT-TAILS' JINCHŪRIKI AND STAR PUPIL OF TSUCHIKAGE ŌNOKI DIES TRAGICALLY! USE CHAKRA RESPONSIBLY—DON'T LEAVE YOUR FAMILY IN TEARS!]

Naruto stared at the black-and-white photograph beneath the headline.

The man in it was smiling brightly.

Wasn't that Kaobi?!

The same Kaobi who had been standing inside Naruto's house yesterday?

Naruto hurriedly read the article.

Apparently, after Naruto failed to choose him, Kaobi had decided to use the Light-Weight Rock Technique and fly back to Kumogakure.

Unfortunately, he had been "flying while flying" late that night, assuming nobody could see what he was doing up in the sky.

Halfway through the journey, he somehow pulled his back.

His chakra circulation jammed.

And he crashed.

From ten thousand meters in the air.

Straight into the ground.

Dead on impact.

"Gulp."

Naruto stared at the smiling photograph.

Yesterday, this man had been alive and well.

Today, he was an obituary.

That was terrifying.

Then Naruto turned to the second page.

His fear immediately intensified.

[SUCCESSOR TO THE SECOND HOKAGE'S WATER RELEASE DIES DURING SEASIDE TRAINING—BODY NEVER RECOVERED]

Akimichi Pangmao, the other instructor Naruto had rejected, had apparently decided to practice Water Release by the ocean while enjoying a short vacation.

And as the old saying went—

The people most likely to drown were often the ones who knew how to swim.

While practicing his signature diving attack, Pangmao had failed to realize that Isobu was rolling around beneath the seabed nearby, digging a pit.

And since Pangmao had not activated the Expansion Jutsu before diving…

He became a speed bump for the Three-Tails.

After being flattened, what remained of him was eaten by sharks.

Naruto slowly lowered the newspaper.

A conspiracy theory began forming in his head.

Were these really accidents?

Or had his terrifyingly authoritarian Hokage mother decided that the two instructors no longer had any value after Naruto rejected them and quietly had them eliminated?

One really couldn't blame Naruto for thinking that way.

Kushina's behavior yesterday had been so domineering that even the Sage of Six Paths would probably have looked at her and thought:

Yeah. That's pretty much how I remember Mom.

Naruto forced the thought aside.

First, he needed information.

So he continued toward the library.

…

At the library, Naruto borrowed the modern-history section covering Konoha's recent past.

Then, borrowing his mother's authority like a proper little tyrant, he intimidated the librarian into letting him read classified documents too.

At last—

Naruto discovered the truth.

In this world, his father, Namikaze Minato, had never been the Fourth Hokage.

Instead, he was apparently the victim of an entirely different kind of "Fourth."

His mother, Kushina, possessed terrifying strength and had mastered the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques to an extraordinary degree.

She had divided the Nine-Tails' chakra into Yin and Yang halves.

The Yin half was sealed inside Minato.

The Yang half remained inside Kushina.

"Huh?"

Naruto scratched his head.

"Then what about me?"

He had already checked.

There was definitely Nine-Tails chakra inside his body too.

After reading the first section, Naruto had assumed one half would turn out to have been sealed inside him.

He continued reading.

Kushina had eventually discovered how malleable Tailed Beast chakra could be.

So she had Minato shape Nine-Tails chakra into a strange purple bow-like construct, while Kushina created a matching chakra construct of her own.

And from their combined Nine-Tails chakra—

Naruto was born.

Strictly speaking, that meant Naruto wasn't exactly their biological child.

He was a child produced by the Nine-Tails itself.

And the Nine-Tails chakra inside Naruto wasn't a separate Tailed Beast sealed into him at all.

It was simply his own natural power.

Because Naruto himself was effectively a Nine-Tails-derived life-form.

"HUH?!"

Naruto's brain stopped working.

He had spent his entire childhood being called a demon fox.

And in this world—He really was one?!

No wonder his mother beat him whenever she felt like it!

He wasn't even biologically theirs!

Kurama was basically both his father and his mother!

…

Meanwhile, Namikaze Yukishō was preparing to draw up Naruto's training schedule when one of Naruto's shadow clones suggested a competition.

"Yukishō-sensei, let's race from here to the border of the Land of Water."

"Fine!"

Yukishō grinned confidently.

"I told you yesterday—you can't outrun me!"

And so the race began.

However…

Naruto's shadow clone ran only a short distance.

The moment Yukishō disappeared from sight—

The clone stopped.

Because another Naruto shadow clone had already traveled to Kirigakure in advance and was waiting there.

That was why Naruto had created multiple clones first thing in the morning.

He intended to keep his new teacher occupied long enough for his real body to investigate the world properly.

"What?!"

When Yukishō finally reached the Land of Water and saw Naruto already waiting for him, his eyes nearly popped out.

"How are you here before me?!"

His entire worldview took a direct hit.

"No."

Yukishō clenched his fists.

"We race again!"

Naruto didn't even need to provoke him this time.

Yukishō's competitive spirit demanded a rematch.

"Sure, Yukishō-sensei."

Naruto nodded.

"Let's make this one longer.

"From here all the way to Sunagakure."

The second race began.

This time Yukishō did not hold back.

He immediately activated his unique Wind Release acceleration technique and opened the Eight Gates all the way to the Gate of Limit.

His body turned into a blur.

The Eight Gates were fundamentally a burst technique.

Maintaining one of the higher Gates for long-distance travel placed an enormous strain on the body.

And yet Yukishō forced himself onward.

Still—

When he finally reached Sunagakure…

Naruto was already there.

Waiting.

"Impossible…"

Yukishō stared at him.

"Absolutely impossible!"

Something inside him snapped.

Yukishō was a pure believer in strength.

That was exactly why he had willingly submitted to the overwhelmingly powerful Kushina and agreed to become Naruto's instructor.

But today—

He had lost at the one thing he prided himself on above everything else.

Speed.

And not even to his distant cousin Namikaze Minato.

To Naruto!

Naruto couldn't possibly know Flying Raijin.

And even if he did, Flying Raijin required a mark placed at the destination beforehand.

"There's no way…"

Yukishō's eyes turned bloodshot.

"We race again!"

He pointed toward the horizon.

"This time—

"KUMOGAKURE!"

Naruto's clone nodded.

The instant the race began, Yukishō pressed two fingers against his chest, directly over his heart.

"Eighth Gate…"

His chakra exploded.

"Gate of Death—OPEN!"

Yukishō roared as crimson energy erupted around him.

"NARUTO!"

His voice echoed across the land.

"YOU CAN'T OUTRUN ME!

"DO YOU BELIEVE ME NOW?!"