Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

After attacking the Five Great Ninja Villages once a week for over two months—a total of eleven assaults—the puppet army had earned Izayoi a full 500,000 points.

Moreover, those 500,000 points hadn't all come from the Five Great Nations' high-level combatants or Bloodline Limit users. Over seventy thousand of them were contributed by Uchiha Sasuke alone.

It was just as Izayoi had predicted: the stronger the target and the fairer the duel, the higher the chance of obtaining a "drop" upon defeating them. If you kill them, there's a 50% probability of a reward drop—a real gamble.

When the puppet army raided the Five Great Villages, it was almost always in large group battles. Only in fights against the Five Kage, the Jinchūriki, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto did the puppet engage in genuine one-on-one showdowns.

In those duels, each puppet would either match its chakra level to the opponent or deliberately lower its own chakra to fight "uphill," improving the drop rate. Even if the puppet's chakra was depleted, Izayoi's Wood Clone would not provide a recharge; if the puppet lost, the foe could keep it.

Over these eleven battles, Izayoi's puppet only lost to Sasuke once—when Sasuke, at a critical moment, used a "Sage Technique: Inorganic Reincarnation," then paired it with Mokuton to catch the puppet off guard. Once Sasuke revealed that card, he never won again.

Out of ten losses, Sasuke produced three "entry" drops: one gold, one purple, and one blue.

Gold: "Super-Kage Aptitude"

Purple: "Wood Release"

Blue: "Ōtsutsuki Bloodline"

Naruto, meanwhile, lost all eleven fights yet dropped only a single purple entry—the same "Uzumaki Bloodline" that Izayoi had originally extracted from him back in the day.

Izayoi couldn't help feeling exasperated by this. Unlike the geniuses Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto had drifted aimlessly through the Academy for six years, and his ninjutsu talent was…lackluster.

With no strong control skills, he couldn't train in the Senju's "Monster Strength" fighting style or get into genjutsu at all. Even if he were willing to buckle down, it might take years to see much improvement.

That was why Izayoi had essentially given up on training Naruto and invested instead in Sasuke. The "true Child of the Prophecy" would eventually come into his own and awaken power naturally, but Izayoi didn't have the patience to nurture that.

Naruto's leaps in strength always happened in absurd "plug-and-play" style events—like instantly jumping to the super-Kage tier once he mastered Sage Mode or became a perfect Jinchūriki.

Even without the tens of thousands of points Sasuke brought in, Izayoi had netted only about 400,000 points in two months. Since gambling on killing the opponent yields a 50% chance, while defeating them without killing only yields a drop rate lower than that, scoring a big drop from a strong target was basically "God's favor."

Izayoi didn't dare imagine how long it might have taken to amass so many points had he not discovered the puppet mechanism. And if he hadn't spent points upgrading "Chakra Control" and "Sage Physique," he could have already pushed one Red-grade entry to the unknown next level.

Still, he didn't regret boosting his Sage Physique to Red. While he wasn't sure if his Sage Physique (Red) and Sasuke's Sage Eye (Red) could fuse into something on par with the Tenseigan or produce a Rinnegan, he already had the Tenseigan, and his goal wasn't to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki anyway.

The main reason he upgraded the Sage Physique wasn't just to enhance Wood Release and overall strength; he wanted—more than anything—to forge Truth-Seeking Orbs. Anyone who wasn't a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki needed to access Six Paths Sage Mode to combine Yin–Yang Release with the Six Paths Senjutsu to create them.

So far, Izayoi had already met the second condition—he possessed Yin–Yang Release. If his Tenseigan completed its final evolution, that would satisfy the third condition of controlling the pinnacle of all seven nature transformations.

Only the first condition—awakening Six Paths Sage Mode and attaining Six Paths–level power—remained. At that point, Izayoi could wield the ultimate technique of "dimensional suppression."

If he mastered Six Paths Sage Mode and Truth-Seeking Orbs while combining it with Tenseigan Chakra Mode, he could compete even against a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.

…

"Izayoi-kun, are you about to achieve your goal?"

Lost in thought about the future, Izayoi heard a gentle voice overhead. He looked up. Hinata had her arms around his neck from behind, offering her bosom as a pillow in the hot spring. "Yes," he replied quietly, "Hinata, do you want to know why I'm doing all this?"

"If it's something you can share," Hinata said softly, tilting her head adorably as she dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a cloth. "If not, there's no need to tell me—I trust you."

Hearing this, Izayoi gazed at her tenderly. This was "trust"—not just words. For two months, Hinata had stood by him exactly like that.

If he didn't explain, she wouldn't ask. Only after Izayoi had gone two weeks without attacking Konoha—and after hearing him sigh—did she finally ask a question.

Unlike Jiraiya, who once told Tsunade "if you betray the village, I will kill you," or the countless zealots enthralled by the Will of Fire, Hinata never wavered.

She stood unhesitatingly on Izayoi's side. Not even with her father, her best friends, or her sister did she share the slightest hint of what Izayoi was truly up to.

She didn't ask, she didn't tell; she simply acted. This was how deeply she loved him—and Izayoi felt it. Only with Hinata could he let his guard down, even during the "awakening period" of the Tenseigan.

"Thank you for trusting me, Hinata."

He didn't explain further. Instead, Izayoi turned around in the water, pulled Hinata—wearing only a single towel—into his arms, cupped the back of her head, leaned in for a kiss, and toppled backward in a splash of water. Their bodies sank beneath the greenish surface, leaving only an abandoned towel floating…

…

October 25th, Konoha Year 61. In the newly built Hokage Building:

"This is your assignment for the Jōnin Exam."

In the Hokage's office, only Izayoi and Tsunade were present. Tsunade tossed him a scroll labeled "Top Secret." Izayoi, wearing a green flak jacket and forehead protector for the occasion, caught it.

"In ten days," Tsunade said, "you must complete the mission inside that scroll without revealing your identity."

Izayoi frowned. "A Jōnin Exam? Isn't that normally held like the Chūnin Exams?"

"There is an exam, but only for Special Jōnin," Tsunade explained. "While you often hear three terms—'Special Jōnin,' 'Jōnin,' and 'Elite Jōnin'—in reality there are only two ranks.

'Special Jōnin' is a specialized appointment for those with particular talents, and 'full Jōnin' is for those who are all-rounders—proficient in intelligence, resourcefulness, and courage—capable of leading the ninja forces in the Five Great Nations.

"As for 'Elite Jōnin,' there is no actual official rank. It's just a title or measure of prestige. Any Elite Jōnin stands out among regular Jōnin in overall strength, mission record, or number of enemies slain—and is considered a top candidate for the Kage position. In other words, the Kage are essentially the best of the Elite Jōnin."

"For Special Jōnin, there's a specialized exam to see who is best in a given skill category. For standard Jōnin, there's no such exam. You simply have to prove you're an all-rounder."

"A Jōnin must at least master two or more nature transformations in order to handle high-level and compound ninjutsu. A Jōnin must also exhibit calm judgment, knowledge, and mental discipline to complete tasks without complicating matters for the village, the client, or the nation. No reckless, destructive actions. Only such top-level ninjas can lead the shinobi army."

"You've already proven your combat prowess to the village and the world, so this mission is to test your skill as a ninja."

"Oh, I see."

Izayoi glanced at the "Top Secret" label on the scroll, realizing why Tsunade said he mustn't blow his cover. A super-powerful ninja can tear through everything, ignoring the usual rules. But in a thousand years, only four or so such individuals had emerged. Even a top-tier Kage-level fighter couldn't defeat an entire major village alone, never mind a normal Jōnin.

In short, to test a candidate for Jōnin, one couldn't just pit them against allies in a controlled environment as with the Chūnin Exams or a Special Jōnin tryout. The "testing ground" had to be an enemy territory with real stakes.

Having figured that out, Izayoi nodded. "Got it, Hokage-sama."

"Alright. Go and apply for your travel permit," Tsunade said. Then, as though recalling something, she cautioned, "Oh, keep that scroll close. Don't mention it to anyone, including Hinata. That's the rule."

"Yes," Izayoi answered, leaving the office.

He got his permit and went home to pack. Leaving a note for Hinata, he set out the standard way. The so-called "secret mission," as long as it wasn't something like "destroy the moon" or "single-handedly crush the Akatsuki without revealing the Tenseigan," would be no problem for him.

Traveling outside the village alone also gave him a perfect alibi—he could ignore Tsunade's potential recall orders and act freely, letting his real body make a move and wait for the right time to trigger the final battle.

So Izayoi prepared to teleport away and handle his final war preparations. Just then, something flashed through his mind—information from one of his Wood Clones.

"The message isn't coded; it's telling me to go to the Kamui dimension. Another meeting? What are they plotting?"

Little did he know the meeting's primary agenda was…Izayoi himself.

"The Konoha's Wood Release user left the village. Judging by his behavior, it seems he's on some solo mission," said White Zetsu.

"So he's finally out. Looks like the Five Great Nations are back to normal," someone remarked.

"Leader, will you act right away?"

"No need to rush. We should get defensive arrangements in place first," Nagato said calmly. "We still don't know how far Toneri's Tenseigan can see. My chakra is too obvious. If his eye can detect chakra, he might find me immediately. Once my real body is exposed, he'll definitely try to seize the Gedo Statue. The way he attacked the Five Great Nations with that puppet army, he might just drop them right into Amegakure. We have to evacuate the villagers to somewhere safe first."

Turning to Black Zetsu, Nagato continued, "I'll send out a Wood Clone to mislead him. However long it fools him is enough. Use a coded scroll to inform Konan so she can cooperate secretly with my Wood Clone."

Then he glanced at Obito. "Can your Wood Clone use Kamui?"

"Yes," Obito nodded.

"Good. Then keep your real body here in Amegakure. Send your Wood Clone to gather everyone. If anything happens, warp them to the Kamui dimension and use your real body as the teleport anchor," Nagato declared, fully demonstrating his strategic genius. Even Obito, behind his mask, looked stunned—he'd never realized Kamui could be used in a manner similar to Flying Thunder God.

"Alright," Obito said.

"Then let's start," Nagato said. He created a Wood Clone infused with massive chakra, then used Wood Transformation on his real self.

Watching Nagato morph, White Zetsu gave a mischievous grin. "Now that's what I call letting him taste his own medicine."

Nagato's new appearance was…Ōtsutsuki Toneri!

…

"Something's off."

When Nagato's Wood Clone returned from the Kamui dimension to Amegakure, the Izayoi Wood Clone watching him immediately sensed something amiss and relayed it to the real Izayoi.

"That's not his real body. So where is it?"

Gliding through a forest, Izayoi mused silently. He even considered ambushing Amegakure right away. But just as he prepared to pass that order to his clones, he sensed something else. Stopping atop a tree branch, he peered at the clear golden sky. There, drifting down, was a lone black-cloaked figure. Izayoi twitched his mouth slightly.

So they planned to "turn the tables" on him, did they?

~~~

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