Three years passed in the blink of an eye. Yoruzu clan territory. In a small building in the backyard, Arashi was reading.
This small building served as the Yoruzu clan's library, containing hundreds of books of various types. Ninjutsu-related materials and classified documents weren't kept here; instead, it mostly held accounts of ninja world events, various novels, and local customs. The busy ninjas didn't place much importance on this place, so few people came. Arashi had frequented it for years.
The reason? He couldn't go out.
Too young, too weak, and too important—these were the three reasons Arashi was a homebody.
He had never left Kumogakure since birth. Even worse, once he left the Yoruzu clan's territory, four servants and four ninjas would follow him, making him look like a spoiled young master out to steal the village belle, which was utterly boring.
Within the Yoruzu clan, his importance was second only to the Third Raikage, Ai, but he was far weaker than his father, thus far more restricted.
If anything happened to him, the clan elders' hearts would skip a beat.
After a few uninteresting outings, he stopped wanting to leave the Yoruzu clan territory and spent his time in the library, reading and refining chakra.
Yes, the six-year-old Arashi was still refining chakra, or rather, only refining chakra.
He had persevered for three years, still failing to fill the football field with footballs. He felt about a third full? Or maybe less.
And every time he refined chakra, he'd be electrocuted, his spine glowing, but nothing else happened. Whatever he refined was immediately absorbed. His refinement speed was increasing; in terms of pure speed, he was already much stronger than Yoruzu Ki at the same age, but the problem was that there was no result.
Yoruzu Ki had become a genin at six, while Arashi couldn't even perform a single jutsu.
The Yoruzu clan had even considered having Arashi give up training and live safely to adulthood (their definition of adulthood being reproductive age).
Then, he would simply leave behind many offspring. They still didn't understand Arashi's condition; what if he was a ticking time bomb that became more dangerous the more he trained?
From the clan's perspective, surviving to adulthood safely and leaving behind numerous offspring was paramount.
After deliberation, the clan elders decided that 14 was a good age—old enough to have children and they had already begun enthusiastically selecting suitable wives and concubines for Arashi.
When Arashi heard this news, he was half happy, half exasperated.
Yes, concubines. They wished Arashi would have ten wives and ten children a year, becoming the protagonist of a polygamous harem story, creating a powerful Kekkei Genkai clan in ten years, unifying the ninja world in thirty, and having everyone in the ninja world with Yoruzu blood in a hundred years.
Because they had confirmed that Arashi indeed possessed a new Kekkei Genkai, it was just unstable and had some minor problems.
This aside for now.
In short, Arashi was treated like a precious child within the Yoruzu clan and Kumogakure. For a child, this might be heaven, but for an adult soul, it only made Arashi feel constrained and inconvenient.
Therefore, he developed the habit of reading silently.
Arashi was engrossed in his "Land of Hot Springs Travelogue."
The ninja world is developing too fast, the technology tree is skewed, the humanities tree even more so, it's simply unbelievable."
"Just a few decades ago, it was a low-productivity Warring States period, and now there are hints of modernity, various electrical appliances are appearing one after another, the technology tree is climbing like a rocket, the social atmosphere is a bit like the Taisho era of the original world, backwardness and modernity coexist."
"The most crucial point is that the Daimyo-ninja village system is bizarre! The national military force being a social group means Kishimoto doesn't understand a thing about Naruto, it's all up to the fans to fill in the gaps."
Meiko, the maid serving him, saw the young master muttering to himself again, and didn't pay much attention. She had long understood that the young master was different, both physically and mentally.
"I'm bored, Sister Meiko. Has anything interesting happened in the village recently?"
Meiko remained seated, pondering for a moment before saying, "Nothing major. The orphanage was recently completed, everyone is praising Lord Ai's good deeds. Also, Master Ki recently became a chunin, completing several difficult missions and earning everyone's praise."
"Damn it, Ki is already a chunin? No wonder I haven't seen him lately. Chunin can lead teams independently."
Arashi clenched his fists angrily. Yoruzu Ki had exceptional talent, already possessing chunin-level strength at thirteen, but in times of peace, advancement didn't need to be rushed. As the Raikage's son, he didn't need to worry about these rankings.
But Arashi felt he was far behind.
"Damn it, I've already mastered chakra, yet I can't even perform the three basic jutsu. I haven't felt any extraordinary power at all, making me feel like a brute," Arashi muttered again, Meiko unfazed.
Arashi then recorded his thoughts in a small notebook, concluding his reading for the day.
It wasn't that Arashi wanted to be a scholar in the ninja world, but the ninja world was like a hodgepodge. The more he understood, the more he encountered things he couldn't comprehend, making him feel like solving math problems, trying to figure things out, so he would take notes.
"Sister Meiko, I want to go out for a walk."
Meiko nodded. "I'll arrange it."
Going out without permission was impossible; it required reporting and bringing a large entourage, which Arashi disliked but couldn't help.
Half an hour later, Arashi, surrounded by people, left the Yoruzu clan's mansion.
Having so many people following him even affected his gait; it was truly amazing.
He first went to a famous pastry shop in Kumogakure and bought several boxes of pastries. Arashi always loved the daifuku from this shop, giving it the highest praise: "Surprisingly not too sweet." Usually, the servants bought them, but today he bought them himself, keeping some for himself and giving a box to his mother.
Of course, the servants paid. It wasn't that Arashi was too pampered to handle money, but he was afraid of shocking others.
However, most people didn't know Arashi's situation. From an outsider's perspective, this behavior wasn't pleasing, merely seeming arrogant.
As he handed the pastry boxes to Meiko, Arashi suddenly saw a flash of crimson hair on the street.
"Red hair? No way."
Arashi quickly ran over and found a slightly older boy staring longingly at the snacks in a shop.
His fiery red hair was extremely noticeable.
The boy hadn't noticed anyone approaching, his expression blank as he looked at the various snacks and candies in the window.
"Um, hello," Arashi tried to sound friendly.
"Ah, hello! Whoa, what's going on!" The boy turned around, startled by the large group of people. Seeing so many people following the slightly younger boy, he knew he was someone important.
Being poor and a newcomer, he suddenly felt less confident.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just curious about your hair. What's your name?" Arashi asked.
The boy nervously touched his hair, feeling shy and awkward. Being directly asked about his hair was strange, but he still answered honestly: "Um... I'm Uzumaki Hiroki. About my hair, it's from my parents. We all have red hair in my family."
Wow, it's really an Uzumaki... Arashi was shocked. In the original timeline, Kumogakure hadn't even encountered an Uzumaki. Meeting one in Kumogakure now...
Regarding the Uzumaki clan's extermination:
First, the original story doesn't state when or by whom Uzushiogakure was destroyed. Everyone's conclusions, except Kishimoto himself, are merely speculation, whether using Kushina, Nagato, or Mito to speculate.
In an ultra-long manga with years of accumulated plot, this level of confusion is normal.
A few data points: Kushina arrived in Konoha before the Second Great Ninja War, around five or six years old. Several years passed after arriving in Konoha, and she became the new jinchuriki after Mito's death. By then, she had graduated from the ninja academy for a while, appearing around fifteen.
Second: Some say Uzushiogakure was destroyed after Mito's death, because no one dared to destroy it while Mito was alive. This is clearly a fan creation. The original story has no record of Mito taking action. It's only known that as a jinchuriki, she could easily suppress Kurama, but that doesn't mean she could fight, let alone that she was Uzushiogakure's "Empress Dowager." After becoming a jinchuriki, she never left Konoha until her death, and even during Konoha's most difficult times during the First Great Ninja War, she never took action.
Third: Some infer from Nagato's age that his family migrated to Amegakure after Uzushiogakure's destruction. This is also problematic. Nagato's Uzumaki bloodline comes from his mother; his father was not an Uzumaki and had black hair. He was known to be a doctor. Who says Uzumaki women can't marry outside their clan? Nagato's flashbacks and painful memories never include Uzushiogakure. His suffering comes from Amegakure.
Finally, don't argue about things Kishimoto hasn't clarified.
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