Today, the Ninja Academy opened its doors to new students.
Noah and Kushina enrolled together, marking the beginning of their first year as shinobi students.
Noah, who had already learned too much under Orochimaru's tutelage, soon discovered that the Academy had little to offer him. Because of this, he decided to send a shadow clone to class while he dedicated his time to training with his master. Thanks to the jutsu, he absorbed all the knowledge without needing to be physically present.
Kushina, on the other hand, found a new purpose in the Academy. Her vibrant personality slowly resurfaced. In no time, she earned the friendship of many of her classmates.
Meanwhile, tension in the shinobi world increased day by day.
The Second Great Ninja War had not yet fully erupted, but border conflicts between the great villages were intensifying.
The names of Hanzo the Salamander, the Sannin of Konoha, and the Third Kazekage would soon begin to resonate in history.
Noah spent the next two years of his life quite peacefully, unaware of the chaos outside the village.
While his clone attended class, he studied with his master, and in the afternoons, he enjoyed spending time with his family.
Unfortunately, that night, his peaceful life was disrupted when Uzumaki Mito, now old and with little time left to live, decided to transfer the Kyūbi to Kushina.
In the vast courtyard of the Senju clan residence, an elderly woman and a young girl sat in the middle of a circle of seals, their bodies illuminated by the dim light of the fuinjutsu inscriptions.
Mito's seal weakened, and the Kyūbi's cage opened for an instant.
A roar shattered the silence of the night.
The ground cracked. The air grew dense. And the spectral silhouette of the Nine-Tailed Beast materialized in the courtyard, its red eyes burning with fury.
For a brief second, the Kyūbi was free.
But its freedom lasted only a blink.
Before the beast could do anything, Mito activated a special seal.
The Kyūbi's chakra was violently sucked away, and its tails, which had barely begun to move, disappeared into a vortex of crimson light.
Kushina screamed as she felt the beast's chakra invade her body.
Her mind was dragged into a dark abyss where the Kyūbi's eyes stared at her with infinite hatred.
"INSOLENT LITTLE BRAT! THIS ISN'T OVER!" the beast's voice roared in her head.
But Kushina's will did not break.
She clenched her teeth and faced the creature fiercely.
"You will be my power, whether you like it or not!" she shouted, her heart racing but with no fear in her gaze.
With one last roar, the Kyūbi disappeared into its new vessel.
When it was all over, Mito fell to her knees, gasping.
Noah and Tsunade rushed to hold her, but she shook her head.
"No… my time… has come."
The wrinkles on her face seemed deeper. Her hands, once firm and steady, now trembled.
With her last strength, she took the hands of her youngest grandchildren, Noah and Kushina.
"Be strong…" she whispered. "Protect each other… Kushina… a Jinchuriki is not defined by the beast inside them… but by the heart that contains it."
And with those words, Uzumaki Mito closed her eyes for the last time.
That same night, Noah raided all the Jutsu scrolls stored in the Senju residence's library.
Since Mito was still alive, he couldn't access the library before, but now, he could enter without worry.
By the time Tsunade realized that all the Jutsu from the secret library had been stolen, it would already be too late.
---
Mito's funeral was a solemn event.
The world had lost one of its greatest kunoichi, and Konoha immediately felt her absence.
Tsunade, devastated by the loss of her grandmother, began taking on missions more frequently to distract herself from the pain of losing a loved one. It was only thanks to the support of her boyfriend, Dan, that she was able to stay strong.
Meanwhile, the Second Great Shinobi War fully erupted.
Skirmishes between villages turned into bloody battles.
Iwa against Kumo.
Kiri against Suna.
Konoha against everyone.
Sitting in his room, Noah began to reflect.
Since he last traveled to the world of Chronicle, he hadn't traveled to any other world.
This was because he wanted to store as much magical energy as possible over the years.
Since he couldn't absorb mana from the environment—because it didn't exist in this world—he could only rely on the mana produced by his magical core to accumulate enough energy to travel to other worlds.
From his observations, he realized he didn't need any coordinates to appear in the world he desired. All he had to do was think about the world he wanted to travel to and then focus on a person or a unique location from that world, which would define where he would appear.
He also realized during this time that his telekinetic abilities could harm him, as they exerted pressure on his brain, and if he overused them, he would start bleeding from his nose.
Taking out a book along with some fuinjutsu scrolls, Noah began working on a new project.
"Three years..."
Noah murmured to himself as he put away the book and scrolls.
In three years, he would turn twelve, and he would finally step into a new stage of his life.
Six months later, both Noah and Kushina officially graduated, becoming Genin.
Just like in the canon, their Jonin instructor was none other than their mentor, Orochimaru.
As for their two Genin teammates? They were just two random, fairly ordinary guys.
Due to the war, even Genin had to participate.
Over the next two years, Orochimaru and his Genin squad completed many minor missions in the Land of Rain.
Today, Noah celebrated his twelfth birthday.
"Tell me, Nawaki, what do you want to become when you grow up?" Tsunade asked, placing her hands on Noah's shoulders with a warm smile.
"Isn't it obvious? I want to be Hokage!" Noah exclaimed enthusiastically.
It was the same line he had repeated countless times over the years. In reality, he despised that position. Ruling a village wasn't his ambition, but he had to keep up the act.
Tsunade smiled tenderly and took out a necklace, placing it around her brother's neck.
"This necklace belonged to Grandpa. I hope it brings you luck on your journey."
Noah widened his eyes in feigned amazement, playing the role everyone expected of him.
"Really? Thank you, sister!"
Tsunade chuckled softly and nodded, unaware of the shadow of determination in Noah's eyes.
"It's a shame that today is the last day we can interact like this.
Sigh... I'll miss this atmosphere."
Noah sighed, but his eyes grew firm.
That night, Noah descended through the secret tunnel beneath his room until he reached an underground chamber. In the center, a tank contained a body floating in a thick liquid.
This was his clone.
Noah activated the controls, draining the fluid from the tank before extracting the body. It had none of his Kekkei Genkai or exceptional vitality—not even life itself—it was merely a basic replica of his most fundamental genetic structure.
He dressed it in Shinobi clothes before storing it in his 4D pocket and finally used an Earth-style jutsu to seal the tunnel.
The next day, Noah embarked on a mission with his squad.
"I'll go ahead to scout the terrain."
Noah told his two teammates, and without waiting for a response, he rushed forward.
He leaped between the trees with agile movements. Behind him, Orochimaru watched with a faint smile.
"Nawaki… you've really grown."
But his train of thought was derailed when Noah passed behind a massive rock.
A sudden explosion echoed through the air.
A necklace went flying and crashed at Orochimaru's feet.
His mind went blank. He ran toward the source of the explosion. What he found made his blood run cold.
Noah's body was unrecognizable.
Orochimaru stood still, his face expressionless as his thoughts crumbled. After seven years of raising his student… only ashes remained.
Finally, without saying a word, he took out a sealing scroll and stored the body. Then, with trembling hands, he picked up the necklace.
"We're leaving. The mission is over," he said firmly.
Without waiting for a response, he turned around and started running back to the village.