Naruto: Boundless Potential

The Fourth Hokage — Namikaze Minato

Known across the shinobi world as the Yellow Flash of the Leaf,

Minato was renowned for his unmatched speed and mastery of space-time ninjutsu, especially the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Despite being a civilian-born ninja, Minato gained fame for his genius-level intellect, tactical brilliance, and immense combat ability.

He played a pivotal role in the Third Great Ninja War, earning widespread respect—and fear from all five great nations.

Despite his young age, his achievements and unwavering loyalty to Konoha earned him the prestigious title of Hokage.

Sadly, the Fourth Hokage died during the Nine-Tails' rampage, alongside his wife, Kushina Uzumaki.

He is remembered as a hero and a symbol of Konoha's strength and sacrifice.

Reading all of this, Naruto fell silent for a while. The Fourth Hokage was truly a genius.

"Wait… so the Flying Thunder God Technique is that powerful?! It was the signature technique of the Fourth Hokage… and Grandpa Third gave it to me?!" Naruto was stunned, finally realizing the true value of what he had.

"Grandpa Third is really too kind…" he thought gratefully, remembering how the Third Hokage had handed him the Flying Thunder God scroll after graduation.

From this book, Naruto learned a lot, but what caught his attention the most was a name Kushina Uzumaki.

For the first time, Naruto had found someone else from the Uzumaki Clan.

His curiosity piqued instantly. Unfortunately, even after searching through multiple books and records,

he couldn't find anything more detailed info about the Nine-Tails attack or Kushina herself.

That absence of information left him frustrated.

Still, he didn't stop. He continued studying other topics in preparation for the Chūnin Exams subjects like:

Ninja History

Basic & Advanced Chakra Theory

Tactical Formations and Squad Dynamics

Genjutsu Resistance Techniques

Konoha Legal System and Ninja Code of Conduct

This was the first time Naruto had ever spent so many hours inside the library studying seriously.

Eventually, his brain started to fog up, and he decided to take a break.

Lunchtime had arrived, and that meant one thing...Ichiraku Ramen.

Besides, he was curious to see if any changes had been made to the store after his large donation.

Naruto wasn't interested in getting his money back he didn't need it anyway.

What he was interested in was how that money might improve the store.

He exited the library to clear his mind while also mentally sorting through all the information he had absorbed.

As he walked, thoughts about Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki kept coming back.

He couldn't explain it, but when he saw their pictures in the book… something stirred inside him.

There was some kind of connection although faint but it felt real.

"…Why do I feel so… connected to them?" Naruto wondered, puzzled

He had never even met them in his life, yet he still felt something something strange and familiar that he couldn't explain.

As Naruto walked down the streets, lost in thought about Minato and Kushina,

he suddenly stopped midway his eyes landing on a familiar figure.

Sasuke.

At that moment, Sasuke was sitting on one of the benches, deep in thought.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had never seen Sasuke this absorbed before.

He was very curious about this and decided to observe him from a distance for a while.

"What is he thinking about…?"

Seeing the grim expressions he was making Naruto assumed Sasuke was mentally preparing for the upcoming Chūnin Exams,

probably thinking about strategies and how to overcome his future opponents.

On the other side Sasuke sat with a serious face, fingers interlocked, a grim expression on his face. Looking like an philosopher.

'What should I eat today… Onigiri or tomatoes?'

He was in fact deep in thought just not in the way Naruto imagined.

The real reason he was sitting there for so long… was because he couldn't pick one from these two.

Meanwhile, Sakura was wandering around the village, looking for Ino since they both had the day off.

But the moment she spotted Sasuke sitting alone on a bench, Sakura quickly walked in his direction, forgetting everything else.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura's voice rang out like a bell in Sasuke's ears.

She ran up to him, slightly out of breath but smiling brightly, her hands clasped behind her back.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" she asked sweetly, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear.

Sasuke didn't even lift his eyes."Sitting."

Sakura giggled."I can see that, silly. I meant aren't you training? You usually train around this time."

"I didn't feel like it," Sasuke muttered, clearly uninterested in talking to Sakura.

Sakura stepped closer and sat beside him.

"Well, I could help you train, you know. Maybe we could spar, or—"

"Sakura, I don't need your help," Sasuke cut in flatly. He really didn't want to be bothered—especially not while he was facing a serious dilemma.

Sakura went quiet, feeling the weight of his words. Still, she smiled faintly. "Okay… I'll just sit here then."

Seeing the two of them now sitting on the bench, Naruto who had been watching from nearby felt confused. Curious to see what was going on, he finally walked over.

"Yoo! What are you two doing here?" Naruto asked casually, standing in front of them.

Unfortunately for him, Sakura was already in a foul mood as her fragile heart had just been bruised by Sasuke-kun's coldness.

And the moment Naruto stepped in, she vented all her frustration on him.

"Naruto, that's none of your business! Why are you even here?!" she snapped.

Naruto scratched his head.

"Geez, I just saw you two sitting here and thought I'd say hi. Am I not allowed to talk to my teammates?"

"You have the worst timing," Sakura muttered, clearly annoyed by Naruto's arrival.

"I'm your teammate too, y'know," Naruto said a bit more quietly.

He looked at her for a moment.

"So… what were you two talking about?"

"Nothing that concerns you!" Sakura snapped again. "Just go do whatever it is you usually do pull pranks, annoy people just leave us alone!"

Sasuke shot her a glare, clearly irritated.

He didn't like the way she was speaking to Naruto. There was no reason to be that harsh.

Naruto hadn't done anything wrong.

If anything, the one being annoying was her.

Naruto let out a fake, shaky laugh.

"Yeah… right..."

Sakura turned back to Sasuke, already acting as if Naruto wasn't even there.

Before, Naruto might've shrugged it off, thinking she was just angry.

But his mind was unusually clear at that moment clear enough to notice the expression on her face when she'd looked at him.

It wasn't just annoyance.

It was disgust.

The same look he'd seen far too many times from the villagers who hated him.

Seeing it, Naruto smiled wryly.

'She's the same… just like them…'

He stood there in silence, watching as Sakura gazed at Sasuke with eyes full of adoration.

And in that moment… Naruto felt truly invisible like he didn't exist in her world at all.

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[ A/N : Starting from Chapter 68, all chapters will now have a word count of around 2,000 words!

The previous chapters were written earlier, so they're shorter ]