Naruto: Limitless Sage

On the wall inside the examination hall, just below the name of the Third Hokage,

countless names were inscribed—those of the Konoha jonin who had publicly declared their support for Hiruzen Sarutobi to remain as Hokage.

In contrast, the only name listed in support of Uzumaki Naruto was that of Hatake Kakashi.

The Third Hokage had won—won overwhelmingly.

At that moment, the watching villagers couldn't hold back their derision toward Naruto.

"Go home already, brat! You think you can become Hokage?"

"Hah! You're a hundred years too early for that!"

"Without the support of the people, what kind of Hokage could you ever be?"

"Look at his side—Kakashi's the only jonin who stood by him!"

"What a joke!"

"Where does a kid like that get the confidence to challenge the Third Hokage?"

The entire examination hall erupted in laughter and mocking voices aimed at Naruto.

Hearing all this, Naruto's friends—Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, and the others—felt a mix of confusion and anger.

Naruto had never wronged these villagers. Even though he had endured years of discrimination and bullying…

Why was it that now, when he stood up for himself, so many were this hostile toward him?

This wave of animosity shocked and disgusted Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, and the other genin.

At the same time…

Even Iruka and several other Konoha shinobi had thrown their support behind the Third Hokage.

Iruka—Naruto's teacher from the Academy—stepped forward with a conflicted look and said:

"Naruto… just give up. You're not a match for the Third Hokage."

"If you back down now, it's not too late. Lord Hiruzen will forgive you."

For years, Iruka had carried resentment, viewing Naruto as the Nine-Tails that killed his parents.

Only recently had he learned the truth—that Naruto was the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki.

That knowledge filled Iruka with guilt. He didn't want Naruto to go down a path of self-destruction.

If Naruto could just give in now, surely Hiruzen would be merciful.

Standing beside the Third Hokage were the elder advisors—Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu.

Seeing their overwhelming advantage, they couldn't help but sneer.

With their power and influence seemingly restored, they acted with the arrogance of those long used to authority—

as if they had forgotten the fear they felt earlier when Naruto had briefly revealed the true power within him.

Danzo stepped forward, adopting a faux-benevolent tone:

"Naruto… that's enough. Let it go. This is the end of the line."

Homura added with feigned patience:

"Come back when you're older. A child shouldn't be competing for Hokage."

Koharu, meanwhile, sneered openly

"A ninja who isn't acknowledged by the people can never become Hokage."

At that moment, Naruto stood alone, encircled by scorn.

His friends—Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, and others—watched anxiously.

The wall of jonin names behind the Third Hokage was overwhelming.

What could Naruto possibly do to overcome this? How could he reverse such a hopeless situation?

"Naruto…" Hinata murmured, her large eyes full of worry.

Shikamaru and Ino remained tense, unsure of what their friend would do next.

Meanwhile, in the crowd, a figure watched with unsettling interest—Orochimaru.

Seeing Naruto backed into a corner, with no path forward, the Sannin narrowed his eyes.

"Now, show me… show me your true strength, Uzumaki Naruto," Orochimaru thought.

He knew. Something was coming.

Uzumaki Naruto had the courage to convene a public impeachment against the Hokage.

He should've known—mere truths, even if spoken aloud, would never be enough.

In the political stronghold that was Konoha, with the overwhelming prestige Lord Third (Hiruzen Sarutobi) had built over decades, it was naive to believe that a handful of revelations would sway the jonin.

That reputation…

Couldn't be toppled by vague accusations or whispers of corruption alone.

The clan heads of the major families—the Hyuga, the Yamanaka, the Nara—watched in silence.

None of them could figure out how Naruto intended to turn the situation around.

From afar, others were watching too.

The Shinobi of Sunagakure, the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, the Daimyō of the Wind Country, and even the envoys from several smaller nations…

All of them waited.

Waited for Uzumaki Naruto's next move.

But curiously…

On Naruto's side stood Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and others.

Despite how dire the situation looked…

They were calm.

Unshaken. Confident.

As if this seemingly overwhelming difference in jonin support was nothing to them—

as if, at any moment, they could level the board completely.

And they could.

Naruto faced Iruka, Danzo, and the Third Hokage himself. He laughed softly and said:

"You didn't actually think I was stupid enough to rely on those Konoha jonin, did you?"

Then he nodded to each of the elders in turn.

"Lord Third."

"Lord Danzo."

"Honored elders."

A playful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Think back carefully. Where are all those jonin who popped up out of nowhere in the village not long ago?"

His words dropped into the crowd like a bomb.

Silence.

Then—confusion and unease.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu exchanged alarmed glances.

They had all thought the same thing.

Yes—some time ago, there had been a strange spike in jonin applications.

More and more ordinary shinobi suddenly acquired chakra reserves that should've been beyond their capabilities.

They looked into it. Of course they did.

Those "new jonin" claimed to have gained massive chakra enhancements from deals made with a mysterious figure—

a man in a scarlet cloak.

Thanks to the chakra he provided, countless mediocre shinobi suddenly had the strength and qualifications to apply for jonin status.

And yet…

Despite dispatching the Anbu and even Root's elite under Danzo's direct control, they had turned up nothing.

No traces of this cloaked figure.

No identity. No paper trail.

Just a ghost in crimson—haunting their sleepless nights.

That level of uncertainty…

Terrified the Third Hokage and his advisors.

So many new jonin—scattered, yes—but if organized?

They'd be a threat. A real threat.

The Hokage's faction never stopped investigating. They just couldn't let it go.

And now…

The truth was revealing itself before their eyes.

In a way none of them had wanted to see.

Right then.

As Naruto's voice faded, a blur of red streaked across the hall.

Gasps echoed.

And before the entire room…

He appeared.

A mysterious figure, clad in a deep scarlet cloak. His face completely concealed beneath the fabric.

"It's him!!!"

Hiruzen's pupils dilated. The very man who'd robbed him of peace in recent weeks now stood before him—real.

Danzo took an involuntary step back, muttering in disbelief:

"No… no… it can't be…"

Homura and Koharu stared with wide eyes, unable to deny what they were seeing.

The man in the red cloak was real.

And he had arrived.

Aside from the Third Hokage and his close advisors, most of the people in the examination hall had neither seen nor heard of this mysterious figure in the scarlet robe.

They stared in confusion, unsure why Lord Third, Danzo, and the others looked so visibly shaken.

And then…

The mysterious man slowly raised his hand.

In a single sweeping motion—he threw off the scarlet cloak.

His true appearance was revealed.

Gasps echoed throughout the hall.

His face… bore a striking resemblance to Uzumaki Naruto—but it was more feral, sharper…adorned with fox-like features. His eyes burned with slit pupils, and the air around him grew heavy and wild.

But what truly shocked everyone wasn't his appearance.

It was the chakra.

That terrifying, violent, yet deeply familiar chakra that radiated from him.

The moment he dropped his cloak, it surged across the room—massive, suffocating, like a wave of pure killing intent.

The chakra of the Nine-Tails.

"Hahahaha!"

"You pathetic humans!"

"You're all fools!"

"The great Kurama has arrived!!!"

The crowd stared, stunned, as the being who had just revealed himself let loose an overwhelming tide of chakra.

This was no mere transformation.

This was the Nine-Tails himself—Kurama, standing in human form, laughing with unrestrained glee as his monstrous power rippled through the hall.

People collapsed to their knees, sweating, trembling. The sheer pressure was unbearable.

Whether it was the ordinary villagers of Konoha…

The hardened shinobi…

Or the envoys from the surrounding nations…

They all felt it.

A presence so suffocating, so violent, that it felt as though death itself loomed over them.

"Who is that?! D-Did he say he's the Nine-Tailed Fox from back then?"

"No way! The Nine-Tails… in human form? That's impossible!"

"Is it, though? If a beast like that can be sealed, why couldn't it take a human shape?"

"Wait—does that mean Uzumaki Naruto is working with the Nine-Tails?!"

"D-Don't tell me… he let the Nine-Tails out because he's losing? Is this going to be another Nine-Tails Rebellion?!"

"Is history about to repeat itself!?"

Panic rippled through the audience like wildfire.

The figure once responsible for the destruction of Konoha, the death of the Fourth Hokage, and the fear that gripped an entire generation…

was now standing before them. Not sealed. Not suppressed. But free—and wearing a smirk.

And worse yet…

He was standing with Naruto.

He was one of them.

Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, and the rest of Naruto's friends looked on in utter disbelief.

Their jaws hung open as they tried to process the impossible.

The Nine-Tailed Fox…

Kurama…

Had taken human form—and sided with Naruto.

Even Orochimaru, watching from the shadows, was stunned when he saw Kurama appear in human form.

"That's... the Nine-Tails... walking freely?"

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who was once shunned and scorned, was now not only in complete sync with the Nine-Tailed Fox, but had somehow earned his respect—and allegiance.

Kurama had come out to help him.

Orochimaru, a Sannin who had lived through wars and witnessed horrors,

had never seen such a bond between a human and a tailed beast.

It was unnatural.

It was unprecedented.

The clan leaders—Hiashi Hyuga, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and others—watched in stunned silence.

They could feel it.

That overwhelming chakra.

They had felt it once before, on the night the Nine-Tails ravaged Konoha.

There was no doubt.

This man—this smirking figure cloaked in chakra—was Kurama.

The very Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside Naruto.

And yet… Naruto stood tall beside him, untouched by the beast's malice.

He had mastered the very entity that once destroyed the village.

The strongest of the tailed beasts.

From the stands, even the delegation from Sunagakure was shaken.

Gaara, himself a former jinchūriki, stared at Kurama wide-eyed.

"He... brought the Nine-Tails out?"

He couldn't believe it. He, too, had carried a tailed beast within him—Shukaku.

But their relationship had never been like this.

This went beyond control.

It was trust.

Maki, a jonin of the Sand Village, could only gulp.

She had heard of Naruto's strength—but not this.

Even the First and Second Hokage, summoned spirits standing nearby, exchanged astonished glances.

Hashirama, the only one to have ever tamed all the tailed beasts, remained calm.

But Tobirama, ever analytical, narrowed his eyes and muttered:

"Besides my brother... and Uchiha Madara... I never thought anyone else could command the Nine-Tails like this."

"And yet, Naruto... he's not commanding it—he's cooperating."

The shock in the room was palpable.

But even through the awe, questions remained.

Many spectators whispered to each other, confused:

"So what? Even if he's teamed up with the Nine-Tails… he's still losing the vote."

"Kurama can't vote, can he?"

The truth was undeniable:

Uzumaki Naruto still had fewer jonin votes than the Third Hokage.

That's when everything changed.

Kurama turned toward the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

"Yondaime," he grinned, "let's begin."

Excitement gleamed in his eyes.

He was clearly looking forward to seeing the expressions of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, and the other elders.

Minato smiled faintly.

"Flying Thunder God."

In the blink of an eye, Minato vanished—teleporting across the hall.

And then—

The air rippled.

Figures began to appear—one after another—surrounding the hall.

Konoha shinobi.

Dozens. No—hundreds.

All appearing through Minato's Flying Thunder God markers.

Each one radiated a familiar energy...

The chakra of the Nine-Tails.

Gasps filled the chamber.

The entire audience turned toward the new arrivals.

Jonin. Elite shinobi.

So many that it seemed like the hall would overflow.

And the ones most shocked?

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, Homura, and Koharu.

They recognized those faces.

Each and every one of them had recently applied—and passed—the jonin exams.

These are the ones we investigated...

They had all been granted immense chakra. Chakra they had claimed came from a mysterious red-cloaked man.

The very man now revealed as Kurama.

And these shinobi—each and every one—held the right to vote in the Hokage election.

It finally hit them.

It was Naruto.

Naruto orchestrated everything.

He was the mastermind behind the mass jonin promotions. The chakra deals. The red-cloaked figure. The buildup to this very meeting.

He had been preparing his counterattack from the shadows.

Since the very beginning.

The mighty elders—once so confident—now stood still, cold sweat dripping down their backs.

Naruto had outplayed them all.

The "naive" genin…

Had just flipped the entire political foundation of Konoha on its head.

"This… this is impossible…" Danzo whispered.

"He was supposed to be just a boy…" Koharu muttered.

But there was no denying it now.

They had been deceived.

And the one they looked down upon…

Was the one now holding all the cards.

Ridiculous.

Pathetic.

That was all the elders could think.

They—Konoha's so-called leaders—had failed to see it.

The boy they thought they understood…

The one they dismissed as loud, reckless, and naive…

Uzumaki Naruto had been wearing a mask all along.

He had deceived them—completely.

They never once saw through to the true face beneath the surface.

And now, it was too late.

The tide had already turned.

Earlier, the jonin who had just arrived in a wave of Flying Thunder God teleportation had each received a discreet message—instructions sent in advance by the same mysterious figure who granted them power.

So when they appeared here in the exam hall, surrounded by gasps and confusion, they weren't shocked.

They had been waiting for this moment.

They were prepared.

However, even they had not been told everything.

Kurama—the Nine-Tailed Fox—had kept many details to himself.

The chakra he gave them was real.

But his ultimate plan?

Only he and Naruto knew.

Now, in front of the stunned audience, Kurama stood with arms folded and a sharp grin on his face.

He turned to the crowd and spoke proudly:

"Let me introduce them to you."

He gestured to the mass of new arrivals, all radiating powerful chakra.

"These shinobi you see… every single one of them… is a jonin of Konohagakure!"

Gasps erupted throughout the hall.

People looked around, disbelief etched across their faces.

They recognized the symbols. The flak jackets. The confident, unwavering posture.

These weren't genin or even chunin.

These were full-fledged jonin.

And not just any jonin—they were the same shinobi who had quietly passed the jonin examinations over the past few weeks,

each granted newfound power from a mysterious red-cloaked benefactor.

That benefactor, now unmasked, stood before them in human form as Kurama, the Nine-Tails.

Everything added up.

These jonin… had the right to vote.

And now, they were present at Naruto's impeachment hearing against the Third Hokage.

The once-lopsided vote count?

About to change.

...

TN:

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