Chapter 113 (Patreon)

Throughout Konoha, the entire village had been placed on high alert.

Anbu operatives patrolled the streets and rooftops, watching for even the slightest sign of danger.

That was only natural.

The terrifying pressure that had swept across the village was even more overwhelming than the aura released by the Nine-Tails.

Deep within the mountains behind Konoha, Yujiro lay quietly on the grass.

A violent killing instinct continued to claw at his consciousness.

It felt as though some sinister presence had slipped into the depths of his mind and was whispering directly into his ear.

“Kill…”

“You were born to kill.”

“Kill everything in this world.”

“Destroy it all!”

The voice echoed again and again, attempting to overwhelm Yujiro’s reason and drag him into a mindless frenzy.

Then, an utterly indifferent voice rang out from within his consciousness.

“You think you get to tell me what to do?”

In that instant, the black mist surrounding Yujiro vanished without a trace.

The violent instinct inside him immediately recoiled into the deepest corner of his mind, falling completely silent.

It almost seemed confused.

You think you get to tell me what to do?

It was only a simple sentence.

And yet, the sheer force of Yujiro’s will had crushed the murderous impulse in an instant.

The violent instinct could not understand how it had been suppressed so easily.

Yujiro, however, found nothing strange about it.

That impulse was merely a part of him.

How could a fragment of his own mind ever hope to control the whole?

“You think you get to tell me what to do?”

With that single thought, Yujiro completely subdued the murderous urges triggered by entering the Fourth Stage of the Limiter.

The last traces of black energy disappeared from his body.

Yujiro slowly rose to his feet, a calm smile appearing on his face.

“Yujiro, are you all right?”

Kurenai Yuhi hurried toward him.

Her anxious gaze moved across his body, as though she were afraid she might discover some hidden injury.

“I’m fine, Kurenai,” Yujiro replied with a smile.

He had succeeded.

He had finally unlocked the Fourth Stage of the Limiter.

Not only had he reached the initial phase of the Fourth Stage, but he had also completely brought the violent instincts caused by his evolution under control.

The Fourth Stage of the Limiter belonged to an entirely different level.

Yujiro’s overall strength had more than doubled.

More importantly, he had awakened the ability to manipulate gravity.

Gravity was one of the four fundamental forces of nature.

There were also shinobi in this world who possessed abilities involving attractive and repulsive forces.

One of the Rinnegan’s powers, for example, allowed its wielder to manipulate those forces through techniques such as Almighty Push and Universal Pull.

However, in Yujiro’s opinion, even that level of gravity manipulation was still limited.

Even Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei, performed with Six Paths power, failed to display the true potential of gravity.

Yujiro had not yet tested the full extent of his new ability.

Even so, he was certain it would not be weak.

He had only just awakened it.

As his control improved, the ability would continue to grow stronger.

His energy now circulated endlessly throughout his body, creating a self-sustaining cycle that provided him with what was essentially an inexhaustible supply of chakra.

Combined with the complete physical enhancement granted by the Fourth Stage of the Limiter, Yujiro’s body had reached an absurd level of durability.

Even if he stood perfectly still and allowed his enemies to attack him, there were probably very few people in the entire shinobi world capable of killing him.

“Thank goodness.”

Relief appeared on Kurenai’s face as she looked up at Yujiro, who was already a full head taller than her.

However, as she continued staring at him, another thought quietly surfaced in her mind.

Kurenai was not the only one.

Nearby, Yugao Uzuki and Izumi Uchiha were also watching Yujiro with undisguised affection in their eyes.

Yujiro had already taken an irreplaceable place in their hearts.

Especially after spending so many years by his side.

Their feelings had long since grown too deep to ignore.

They had already entrusted their hearts to him.

Yujiro was naturally aware of how they felt.

In fact, they were also one of the reasons he had pushed himself so relentlessly over the past several years.

Without overwhelming strength, how could he protect the people beside him when a truly powerful enemy appeared?

Driven by that conviction, Yujiro had finally unlocked the Fourth Stage of the Limiter.

His strength had risen to a completely new level.

Now, there was very little left in this world that could make him feel uneasy.

“You can have Konoha stand down from high alert,” Yujiro said as he walked over to Minato with a smile.

“All right.”

Minato looked at Yujiro in amazement.

Who could have imagined that the pressure powerful enough to force the entirety of Konoha into its highest state of emergency had come from Yujiro alone?

“It’s already getting late.”

Yujiro turned toward Kurenai and the others behind him.

“Come on. I’ll treat everyone to a trip to the hot springs.”

“All right!”

A week later, an important day arrived for the twelve young shinobi who would soon represent Konoha’s new generation.

It was the day of their graduation examination.

Once the examination was complete, those who passed would officially graduate from the Academy and be assigned to three-person genin teams.

Just as expected, Iruka Umino had become the instructor responsible for Naruto’s class.

Unlike the original course of events, Iruka’s parents had survived the Nine-Tails’ attack.

Even so, he had still grown into a kind and dependable teacher who genuinely cared about every one of his students.

Unfortunately for him, his class contained more than a few troublemakers.

Naruto Uzumaki was naturally the most obvious one.

Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Inuzuka Kiba were rarely far behind.

Even Tenten and Rock Lee would occasionally get swept up in the trouble caused by the others.

“Today’s examination will test your Transformation Jutsu…”

Standing at the front of the classroom, Iruka raised his voice and began explaining the rules.

With that, the graduation examination officially began.

At the same time, inside Yujiro’s residence, Kurenai was dealing with a different problem.

Over the past five years, she had grown into an exceptional jōnin.

Her current strength was naturally far greater than it had been in the original course of events.

After all, Yujiro had personally overseen much of her training throughout those five years.

Today was also the day the assigned jōnin instructors were expected to visit the Academy and meet their new teams.

Because of that, Kurenai had woken up early.

She had originally intended to ask Yugao to accompany her to the Academy.

However, when she went to Yugao’s room, there had been no sign of her.

Left with no other choice, Kurenai headed toward Yujiro’s bedroom.

She quietly opened the door and walked over to the bed.

“Yujiro, today is the day your two young disciples graduate. Why are you still sleeping?”

Kurenai looked helplessly at the figure beneath the blankets.

Then she suddenly paused.

Something about the shape of the quilt did not seem right.

At that moment, Yujiro slowly opened his eyes and grinned.

“Kurenai, could you step outside for a moment? I’ll be ready soon.”

“Oh…”

Kurenai’s heartbeat suddenly quickened.

No. There’s no way…

“Then… hurry up.”

Refusing to let her thoughts wander any further, she quickly turned around and left Yujiro’s bedroom.

Once the door closed, Yujiro grinned beneath the blankets.

“Yugao, she’s gone.”

A long silence followed.

Then a faint, embarrassed sound emerged from beneath the quilt.

Half an hour later, Yujiro finished dressing, gathered his belongings, and stepped out of the bedroom.

Kurenai was sitting stiffly on the sofa in the living room, quietly waiting for him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed a purple-haired figure slip out of Yujiro’s bedroom, rush down the hallway, and disappear around the corner.

“Kurenai, let’s go.”

Yujiro picked up his black blade and gave her a calm smile.

Kurenai pursed her lips, rose from the sofa, and shot him a fierce glare.

Yujiro merely laughed before walking out of the house.

Left with no other choice, Kurenai followed him outside.

Neither of them noticed the small head peeking furtively from behind another corner, secretly watching everything that had just happened.