Abs
Chapter 3: The First Fang Opens
Another week had passed.
The boy who once tripped over his own feet now moved like a phantom in the woods. Shadows feared him. Beasts ran from his scent.
Naruto Uzumaki was no longer training to pass the Chūnin Exams.
He was evolving.
His body was littered with scars now—badges from battles against monsters he once would've run screaming from. Giant spiders with venomous barbs. Oversized bears that shattered trees with a swipe. Wolves that stalked in silence. He'd killed them all. Not just to survive…
But to hunt.
Every time he pushed his body to the edge and tasted the thrill of combat, something inside him shifted—some hidden piece of him woke up. He no longer feared the blood. He welcomed it.
And now… he was learning to control it.
Sitting on a rocky ledge overlooking a dense, fog-soaked valley, Naruto stared down at the old scroll he'd nearly bled over to find. The edges were torn. Dirt and blood smudged the ink. But the words were burned into his memory:
"Predator's Gate: First Fang
To awaken the instinct of a killer, one must first unshackle it. The user must summon true bloodlust—not anger, not fear, not hate—hunger.
Then, let chakra flood every muscle, every nerve, every joint… and push past the body's natural limit. Tear down hesitation. Embrace the wild. Become the apex. Open the Gate."
Naruto exhaled slowly, his breath steaming in the cold forest air. He could already enter a bloodlust state on command—he had practiced that relentlessly.
It started as a hum in his stomach. A coiled heat, sharp and hungry. Then came the focus. The narrowing of the world. Heartbeat slowing… but senses sharpening.
And finally, the chakra came.
He stood, slowly. Cracks echoed under his bare feet as he stepped onto the training stone—a makeshift battleground he'd cleared earlier.
"Alright…" he muttered, flexing his fingers. "Time to open the damn gate."
He focused—first on the feeling of every fight. The thrill of prey squirming. The moment the predator pounced. The smell of fear. The adrenaline-laced rush of the kill.
His aura shifted.
The trees quieted.
Small animals fled.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as Naruto's eyes sharpened—his pupils narrowing like a fox's, body tensing like a bowstring.
A thin smile stretched across his face.
Bloodlust activated.
Then came the chakra.
He forced it through his core, pushing it into every inch of his body—not just hands or feet, but bones, ligaments, muscles, skin. It burned. It hurt. But he didn't stop.
His heart pounded like a war drum. Veins bulged across his arms. The air around him rippled, chakra sizzling off his skin in flickering waves of blue.
And then—
BOOM.
A small crater cracked beneath his feet as the first surge erupted. He stumbled back, chest heaving, but grinned through clenched teeth.
He was getting it.
Not perfect. Not stable. But real.
Predator's Gate: First Fang was more than a move—it was a transformation. Controlled savagery. A state where instinct and technique fused. And Naruto was mastering it.
He opened his eyes—bright green, glowing with raw energy. Unnatural. Animalistic.
Every time he activated First Fang, his body shifted slightly. Chakra control heightened, killing intent sharpened, and his physical power surged. In this state, Naruto could tear through trees, outrun wild beasts, and take on enemies most Genin couldn't even touch.
In this state… he was stronger than an average Chūnin.
A branch snapped nearby.
Without thinking, he vanished. One moment still, the next—gone.
He reappeared above the intruder—a large boar, tusks ready to charge. Before it even registered the threat, Naruto dropped, slamming both feet into its skull. Bone crunched. The beast collapsed instantly.
Naruto landed in a roll, spun up to his feet, and turned to face the corpse.
He didn't smile.
He didn't celebrate.
He just breathed.
Heavy. Calm. Ready.
This was who he was now. Not a loudmouth dropout.
A predator.
But the more he used the technique, the more he noticed something unsettling.
It wasn't just strength.
It was hunger.
The more he let bloodlust take over, the easier it became to stay there.
And he liked it. Too much.
That scared him—just a little. But fear wasn't allowed anymore.
He looked down at his shaking hands, then clenched them into fists. The faint green glow faded from his eyes as he let the bloodlust simmer down, bit by bit.
"One gate down," he whispered, glancing at the scroll again. "Four more to go."
Because First Fang... was just the beginning.