Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

"Um, Izayoi-kun, what's going on…?"

Today was a holiday, and the Hyūga sisters, who had grown accustomed to coming over to Izayoi's place whenever they were free, were in the tailoring room working on something.

Izayoi didn't need to go looking for them; the moment they sensed his chakra, the two sisters appeared before him.

However, when they saw Izayoi's current appearance, they were momentarily stunned.

Hinata felt that Izayoi's current look was strangely familiar, as though she'd seen it somewhere before.

Hanabi, on the other hand, came closer and asked curiously, "Onii-chan, did you put on makeup? Why are you wearing colored contacts today?"

At this moment, Izayoi had already deactivated the Tenseigan. Red markings extended around the corners of his eyes, and his originally blue pupils had turned golden. Though his aura felt more subdued and close to nature, the calm look in his eyes now carried an even greater sense of majesty.

From the sisters' perspective, he was still as handsome as ever—just in a different style than usual.

"What do you think?" Izayoi said with a smile, patting Hanabi on the head.

"Hee hee, I'll find out soon enough!"

Hanabi nimbly jumped onto Izayoi, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, drawing her face close to his for a good look.

A second later, Hanabi wore a look of surprise. "Huh? These aren't colored contacts…and that eye shadow isn't makeup. Onii-chan, how did you do this?"

"Hanabi, don't be a brat."

Hinata reached over and lifted her younger sister off her boyfriend. Then she looked at Izayoi and said, "Izayoi-kun, is this your Sage Mode? Did you sign a contract with Shikkotsu Forest too?"

"Smart guess—but no, this isn't Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode."

Izayoi reached out and pulled Hinata into his arms with one hand while taking hold of his little sister-in-law's hand with the other. He teleported them into the villa's living room, sat them down on the long sofa, and said with a grin, "I have a surprise for both of you."

"What kind of surprise?"

Just like always, the two sisters took their spots on Izayoi's left and right—one clinging to his arm, the other lying across his lap. Their Byakugan, faintly tinged with a hint of pale purple, gleamed with curiosity and a little anticipation.

Looking at those two lovely, delicately pretty faces, no matter how bad Izayoi's mood might be or how tired his body felt, he would immediately feel relaxed and healed.

Izayoi used one hand to cup the cheek of his little sister-in-law, who was lying on his lap, pouting her lips under his gentle pinch. With his other hand, he pulled Hinata closer, lifted her chin gently with a finger, and offered her his forearm. Then he smiled and said, "Hinata! Give it a little bite."

"Sure~"

Hinata nodded. She was already used to Izayoi's "daily feeding."

"Onii-chan, me too!"

But before she could lean in and bite gently, Hanabi—who had been lying on Izayoi's lap—sat up, grabbed Izayoi's other arm, and sank her teeth into his shoulder. If she slid just a bit further, she'd practically be a little vampire.

"Mmm…"

As they applied a bit of pressure with their teeth, a familiar blue chakra manifested at the bite marks and, like liquid, flowed into the sisters' bodies.

Usually, whenever they absorbed Izayoi's chakra, Hinata and Hanabi would feel a cozy warmth coursing through them, like drinking hot water on a winter's day.

But today was different. This time, it felt…way too hot.

Their fair skin flushed a warm shade of pink. Their pores opened up, and to Izayoi's surprise, white steam began to emanate from the sisters' bodies.

Their eyes grew wide in astonishment, yet they gradually took on an intoxicated look, as if they were tipsy.

Someone who didn't know better might have thought they weren't in the villa's living room but soaking in a hot spring somewhere.

"Wake up—are you two okay?"

Even Izayoi's loud calls couldn't snap them out of it. They continued to look dazed and flushed.

"Hey, hey… You've wandered onto the wrong set, girls. This is Naruto, not some risqué drug-fueled fever dream," Izayoi griped to himself.

He had expected that the Gelel Stone's life force—transmitted through his physical energies—could also be shared with others, especially the sisters, who could raise their chakra limits by drawing on his.

But he had never imagined the effect would be this extreme.

Hinata and Hanabi's condition was like mixing up your scenes in an entirely different genre—they were just one step away from their clothes bursting at the seams.

It took a good few minutes before the steam dissipated and their flushed red temperatures finally calmed down.

Once they returned to their senses, both sisters blinked and gave Izayoi the same wide-eyed look. Their gazes were remarkably clear.

Right after that, however, Hinata blushed a deep red again. She pulled free from Izayoi's arms and stared at him, her voice trembling: "I–I–Izayoi-kun, you, you…"

Her words came out in fits and starts. She had no idea how to express her emotions.

Hanabi, drenched in sweat and wearing a similarly complicated expression, still found her curiosity outweighing her doubts. "Onii-chan, how come your chakra is different today? Why…does it taste so good?"

She didn't say that last part out loud, but that was what she truly thought.

And Hinata shared her sentiments.

If Izayoi's usual chakra was like a beneficial tonic that warmed them inside and relieved fatigue and injuries, then this new chakra was as if they were just chomping down on raw medicinal herbs.

And these herbs were way too potent: just one bite made them overheat and break into a sweat, as though a surge of spicy heat had rocketed up into their brains. If they hadn't still been biting him, they might have ended up drooling silly grins.

In short, they had gotten high off it.

"Why don't you check your bodies or activate your Byakugan to see if anything's changed?" Izayoi said, instead of explaining further.

At the same time, Izayoi carefully watched the entries that only he could see hovering around the two women.

Ever since Hinata's red-grade entry had finished its cooldown, Izayoi hadn't taken a close look at their entries. Now that he did, he saw that both sisters had made tremendous progress.

Hanabi had gained a new entry:

• Taijutsu Genius (Blue)

Hinata had gained three new entries:

• Medical Genius (Blue)

• Taijutsu Genius (Blue)

• Sealing Genius (Blue)

In addition, her Chakra Control (which had been blue) had advanced to purple.

Her Jonin Aptitude (Blue) had become Kage-Level Aptitude (Purple).

But amid these red, purple, and blue "bubbles," a dazzling golden bubble now appeared for some reason.

Spotting that golden bubble, Izayoi paused and asked, "Hinata, what's your Byakugan's maximum viewing range right now?"

Hinata, who had just activated her Byakugan, did some mental math and replied, "It's about…thirty-five kilometers."

"That's amazing, Sis! Mine doesn't even reach ten kilometers!" Hanabi gaped in astonishment.

Izayoi followed up: "Aside from your increased range, is there anything else different?"

"My x-ray perception is stronger too. Not only can I see more tenketsu points on a target, but I can also determine which meridians are stronger, weaker, or especially crucial based on chakra flow. My Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists have gotten noticeably more powerful. In addition, this applies to myself as well—now I can release chakra through more of my own tenketsu points, which has greatly boosted both my Gentle Fist techniques and my monster-strength punches.

"Once I learn the Yin Seal, I'll be ready for the next stage of combining gentleness and force in perfect harmony."

When she finished, Izayoi abruptly asked, "Have you tried releasing your chakra through the Byakugan itself?"

"Eh? The Byakugan can do that?" Hinata and Hanabi exclaimed, startled.

"It's something to experiment with in the future," Izayoi answered with a smile, though inwardly he was astonished.

A viewing range of thirty-five kilometers was enough to upgrade her Byakugan entry to gold—completely different from what had happened in his own case.

When Izayoi's Byakugan had first climbed to gold grade, he could see fifty kilometers away. Plus, besides having a 'Prince of the Byakugan (Red)' entry, he also possessed an 'Ōtsutsuki Bloodline (Red).'

Hinata was only a 'Princess of the Byakugan (Red)' and, by combining with Izayoi's chakra, she had advanced her Byakugan to gold in just three years. Yet the range was still at thirty-five kilometers.

Clearly, her eyes were undergoing some unknown transformation.

Izayoi became more and more certain that unlike him, Hinata (and likely Hanabi) wouldn't awaken the Tenseigan. Their Ōtsutsuki bloodline was still at a mere blue grade.

Of all the red entries Izayoi had seen, nothing had outclassed the Ōtsutsuki Bloodline yet.

If Hinata's Byakugan were evolving into the Tenseigan, it would probably take her at least a decade—maybe two or three—just to reach gold grade. She might even be on her deathbed by the time she awakened the Tenseigan.

That's how hard it is to evolve without a high-grade Ōtsutsuki bloodline.

But in contrast, Hinata had only absorbed Izayoi's chakra for three years, and her Byakugan was already at gold grade. It was almost certain her evolution wasn't toward the Rinnegan or the Tenseigan, but rather some unknown "third path."

Izayoi suspected she could follow the path of the Ōtsutsuki from another planet—like Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki—awakening a unique dōjutsu derived from the Byakugan.

If Izayoi didn't have such a wide variety of advanced entries himself, he might never have guessed that. But since he had so many, plus the Gelel Stone as a power source, it seemed possible Hinata might truly become his "retainer."

With that in mind, Izayoi decided to double down and share more of the Gelel Stone's life force with Hinata and Hanabi, curious to see just how powerful they could become.

"Mmm…"

Hinata, unaware of Izayoi's train of thought, simply gave a gentle nod at his suggestion.

"You two are all sweaty. Let's go for a swim."

"Sure!"

Afterward, as usual, the trio indulged in various forms of recreation. Once they got bored, at Hanabi's request, Izayoi used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take them traveling outside Konoha.

They spent two days relaxing. Then Izayoi began his training.

The Gelel Stone was an unexpected windfall that might become the key to breaking the current stalemate.

Its appearance gave Izayoi hope that before he fully unlocked his Sage Physique or finished evolving the Tenseigan, he could become strong enough to defeat Nagato.

He had to prepare for Round Two.

Before the Shippūden era began, Izayoi needed to accumulate 990,000 points—enough to upgrade a single red entry to a new, unknown rank.

If that proved impossible, then he had to get very close to that threshold.

Otherwise, once Shippūden started, Toneri Ōtsutsuki could mobilize the power of the giant Tenseigan to monitor the ninja world, putting Izayoi at a disadvantage.

Because the seal on the moon still wasn't broken, and Izayoi had no way to locate the spatial passage to get there.

His ability to manipulate gravity wasn't true flight—not at the level of traveling through space the way extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki do.

This was exactly why Izayoi longed to raise his Ōtsutsuki Bloodline to an even higher level.

He had a strong hunch that if he upgraded it to that new rank, he'd undergo yet another transformative leap—maybe rewriting fate all over again.

The following day, Izayoi left a Wood Clone at home to guard the place while the real body teleported off the Ninja Continent to the island where Jūgo resided.

He injected Mokuton chakra into the ground from a distance, remotely growing a small tree branch engraved with the Flying Thunder God seal. Izayoi teleported to Jūgo and struck him with a mental sphere, reading his memories instantly before Jūgo could even see him clearly.

From Jūgo's memories, Izayoi discovered what he needed. Jūgo's Sage Transformation caused him to go berserk whenever he entered an area dense with natural energy.

By recalling Jūgo's episodes of loss of control, Izayoi could identify which places had particularly high concentrations of natural energy.

In fact, outside of the Three Great Sage Regions, nowhere could top that underground ruin in the Land of Rivers for cultivating a true Sage Mode.

After all, wherever there were veins of Gelel Stone, the ambient natural energy had to be extraordinary.

But training there was too risky. If Nagato or Black Zetsu discovered him by chance, he'd be forced into a fierce battle and might even lose large quantities of Gelel Stones.

Izayoi decided to be cautious.

He found an area abundant in natural energy and sent several Wood Clones to patrol with Mokuton chakra, keeping watch for stray White Zetsu clones. Meanwhile, the real Izayoi had the Wood Clone back home send him a batch of Gelel Stones via teleportation.

Sitting cross-legged, Izayoi began absorbing the Gelel Stone's energy. Whenever he sensed an imbalance, he switched into Sage Mode.

Eventually, the ground beneath him produced a wooden platform, which rose on top of a slim stone pillar that seemed far too narrow to hold his weight. Yet Izayoi remained perfectly steady, his body and mind tranquil, as though melding into nature.

Moreover, thanks to the strong local natural energy, Izayoi only needed two and a half days to sense nature's energy. Then, in another half-day, he managed to draw it into his base state and refine genuine Senjutsu chakra.

In just three days, he had mastered a true Sage Mode.

But that was only the beginning.

His next challenge was to absorb huge amounts of natural energy so that his vast ocean of chakra could be converted into Senjutsu chakra—letting Sage Mode become his normal state, so he would essentially "eat and sleep" in Sage Mode, keeping natural energy within him at all times. Through that process, his chakra would influence his physical and spiritual energy, and those energies would in turn affect each and every one of his 130 trillion cells.

Eventually, his body would be "marinated" enough to exhibit Sage-like traits. At that point, the system should judge him to have a Sage Physique and unlock that corresponding entry.

~~~

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