Chapter 10

Naruto and Kara stood in the massive testing chamber, the results of his speed trial flashing across the high-tech screens. The data was staggering—100,000 kilometers per second, nearly one-third the speed of light. Kara smiled at Naruto's stunned expression, knowing this was just the beginning of his evolution.

"Naruto, we are entering a powerful realm," Kurama's voice resonated within his mind. "This is so much faster than lightning that all of them are statues to you now. Aim for the speed of light and higher, then all enemies are beatable. Speed is king, along with firepower and intelligence."

Naruto clenched his fists, his mind drifting back to his first battle with Sasuke after their long separation. He had always been strong, but Sasuke's speed had outclassed him. His old friend had moved like a phantom, striking and evading with ease, making Naruto look like a child in comparison. He had focused on firepower and physical strength, but without the speed to perceive his opponent, none of it had mattered.

"I understand that now," Naruto admitted. "Back then, I lost to Sasuke because of the speed difference between us. He focused entirely on speed, while I relied on my strength. Since I couldn't even perceive his movements, he could move around me like I was nothing."

Kara, watching his reaction, chuckled softly. "Congratulations, Naruto. You're now one of the fastest beings on the planet."

Naruto blinked, processing her words. "How fast is the fastest?"

"That would be the Flash," she replied. "His speed comes from the Speed Force, which exists everywhere and defines speed itself. To put it simply, he can travel from Earth to the edge of the solar system in a second. Normally, he moves at light speed."

Naruto's brain practically short-circuited. "What?" He barely understood anything except that it sounded absurd—far beyond even the concept of planet destruction.

"Don't think too much about it," Kara reassured him. "The Speed Force allows the Flash to surpass all known speed limits. Only beings with similar abilities can outpace him. But while he's fast, Flash isn't very strong. His body moves at those speeds because of the Speed Force, not because of his own physical stats like us. That's why he has to be careful—if he gets hit, he's in trouble."

Naruto nodded slowly, still struggling to wrap his mind around it. If what she said was true, the Flash could move so fast that time itself might become meaningless. If he were a shinobi, he'd be practically untouchable.

'How does something like this even exist? If the Speed Force is everywhere, did the Sage of Six Paths know about it?' Naruto wondered.

'I don't think he did,' Kurama replied thoughtfully. 'Maybe this Flash guy was just ridiculously lucky to gain access to such power. But now that we know about it, we should learn more. If the Speed Force exists everywhere, there might be ways to harness it—or at least counter it.'

Naruto smirked. The idea of pushing his speed even further, maybe even reaching the speed of light itself, sent a thrill through his veins. He had always been the unpredictable ninja, the one who shattered expectations. If there was a limit, he would break it. If there was a wall, he would smash through it.

Speed was king, huh? Then it was time to take the throne.

Veritas clapped her hands together. "Okay, moving on to the next test—reaction speed. This one is going to hurt, just so you know. You'll be dodging lasers moving at different speeds."

Naruto rolled his shoulders. "It won't kill me."

Veritas smirked. "No, we'll aim for non-lethal areas."

"You don't have to do this part," Kara said, crossing her arms as she glared at Veritas, who simply smiled.

"I don't have a problem with it," Naruto replied, walking toward the testing area. "My body can heal from most damage. Even I don't know how strong my regeneration is now."

Following the markings on the floor, he reached the center of the testing zone. He closed his eyes briefly and extended his senses, letting his instincts sharpen.

"This first laser moves at your top speed," Veritas announced.

Naruto heard the hum of energy before his danger sense flared—right shoulder. He shifted slightly, and the laser beam missed by an inch.

"Double."

The laser's speed doubled, but Naruto dodged again, moving just before the beam could reach him. His danger sense acted like a premonition, guiding his body before his eyes could even register the attack.

"Let's increase the number before we push the speed."

This time, three lasers fired—two at his shoulders, one at his right leg. Naruto twisted just enough to let them pass harmlessly by.

"Light speed."

Naruto tensed. His focus deepened as the next beam fired toward his leg. He moved it aside in time, but his breathing grew heavier.

More beams followed, increasing in both number and frequency. Each one was a test of precision—too little movement, and he'd get hit, too much, and he'd waste valuable reaction time. The pressure mounted. One mistake, and he was done.

Then—

"Ten percent increase."

The next beam fired. Naruto sensed it, but his body wasn't fast enough this time.

A searing pain shot through his leg as the laser burned through his chakra cloak and drilled a hole through his flesh. His knee buckled slightly, but before he could even grimace, his body was already healing. Kurama's chakra, Senjutsu, and his bloodline worked in unison, sealing the wound in seconds.

Veritas nodded. "From the looks of it, you can still react at this speed, but your body can't keep up anymore. Want to push further?"

Naruto rolled his shoulders. "This is nothing. Keep going."

The test continued, and Naruto kept dodging—barely. His danger sense warned him of every attack, but his physical limits were becoming evident. At twice the speed of light, he could still perceive the attack, but moving his body in time was impossible. At that point, he wasn't dodging anymore—he was just a target.

Veritas called a stop to the test, looking intrigued. "Your reaction speed caps out at light speed, but your senses are still effective far beyond that. The only thing holding you back is your body's ability to follow through. Honestly, I can't even measure the upper limit of your perception—my devices don't go beyond this."

Kara turned to Naruto. "Do you feel any strain from sensing attacks that fast?"

Naruto exhaled and shook his head. "No strain at all. My danger sense comes from my connection to nature. Anything that touches it, I can feel. It's not my body that has a limit—it's my mind. I wouldn't be able to issue commands fast enough to react."

Veritas grinned, eyes glinting with fascination. "If we could connect that sense directly to your chakra cloak—have it react automatically—you could theoretically dodge anything."

Naruto tensed. He didn't like the way she was looking at him. "I'm not letting you experiment on me."

"Not even for this wonderful ability?"

"I'll learn to control it properly and naturally. That's good enough for me."

Veritas sighed dramatically. "Your loss. Alright, let's move on to the next test. Durability." She smirked. "And this one's really going to hurt."

Naruto let out a deep breath. "Didn't you already turn me into Swiss cheese?"

"That was just a focused beam. Those lasers could've easily gone straight through the planet like nothing."

Naruto blinked. "Okay, okay, okay, okay… damn." He shook his head and straightened. "Fine. I'm ready."

He wasn't sure how much more of this reality-breaking insanity he could take, but there was no turning back now.

Veritas smirked as she prepared the next phase of the test. "Alright, my adorable lab rat, let's see what that lovely body of yours can handle."

Naruto sighed. "You really don't need to say it like that."

"But it's true," she teased, winking. "Now, listen up, golden boy. This beam packs enough firepower to vaporize an entire city the size of Las Vegas if it were condensed into a perfect sphere. Since I know you wouldn't care about the materials or science behind it, I'll just say this—it's gonna hurt."

Naruto barely reacted. He just stood his ground, body relaxed, his usual defenses in place.

The first beam fired. A concentrated blast of energy slammed into his palm.

He didn't even blink.

"Too weak," he said flatly.

Veritas pouted. "Awww, and here I thought I'd get to see you wince a little. Well, let's crank it up."

The tests continued, the beams increasing in intensity. Naruto took them all head-on, barely registering the damage. The power climbed from city-level destruction to attacks that could wipe out entire regions. Yet, he stood firm, his body regenerating before the pain could fully settle in.

Then—

The beam intensified to a level that could annihilate the entirety of America if fired upon the planet.

Naruto braced himself.

The moment the energy struck, his body felt it.

For the first time in the test, his skin was torn open, burned away almost instantly. His blood boiled to extreme temperatures, vaporizing from his body as it struggled to keep up with the sheer destructive force. His regeneration kicked in, battling the damage at an insane rate. Flesh regrew as fast as it was stripped away.

The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Yet—he endured.

Veritas let out a low whistle. "Damn, you're actually insane. That should have atomized you. But nope, here you are, still standing like some indestructible war god. You sure you weren't made in a lab?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, breathing heavily. "No, but if you keep looking at me like that, I might start feeling like one."

Veritas grinned, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Oh? Don't tempt me, sunshine. You know how much I love experimenting~."

Kara sighed, rubbing her temples. "Can you not flirt with someone while his body is literally regenerating from being melted alive?"

Veritas gasped in mock offense. "Excuse you, flirting is a part of my process. Besides, our little test subject is taking it like a champ!" She then turned back to Naruto. "Seriously though, you can take attacks that would destroy a country comfortably, but anything planetary-scale might just put you down for the count."

Naruto stood there, still processing. He had come so far in just two days. Even Kurama was speechless.

This confirms it, Kurama muttered. By concentrating chakra in specific ways, we can push durability beyond anything we imagined. Normally, you'd struggle with city-level attacks. A country-level strike would have erased you outright. But now? You just took that head-on and survived.

Naruto flexed his fingers, feeling his body regenerate completely, his energy surging like a never-ending ocean.

Kara stepped forward, concerned. "Are you okay, Naruto? We can take a break before continuing." She motioned for someone to bring water and a healing serum.

Naruto exhaled and shook his head. "I'm good. My body feels like it's bursting with endless energy."

Veritas clapped her hands together, grinning ear to ear. "Then let's move on to the next step! Durability test, round two—who's ready to get smashed?"

Naruto gave her a deadpan look. "Could you not phrase it like that?"

Veritas winked. "No promises~."

Naruto moved from one test to the next without stopping, continuously pushing himself, continuously shocking himself with the sheer magnitude of his power.

When it came to the lifting test, he started with his normal human size, stepping up to the enormous weight blocks meant for testing raw strength.

"Alright, golden boy, let's see what those arms can do," Veritas teased, her grin playful as she leaned against the console, twirling a pen between her fingers. "And hey, if you ever need a warm-up, I don't mind being carried around~"

Naruto gave her a flat look. "You're way too comfortable saying things like that."

"Why hold back?" she shot back with a smirk. "I say what's on my mind. Besides, you are kind of impressive."

He shook his head and turned his focus back to the weights.

Starting with 1,000 tons, he barely felt anything as he lifted the block overhead. Then 10,000 tons. 50,000. 100,000. At that point, he realized something odd—his chakra arms handled the weight easily, but his actual body wasn't strong enough to match.

"Huh," Naruto muttered, flexing his fingers as the last weight landed with a heavy thud. So my chakra arms are way stronger than my body. That makes sense… but it still feels weird knowing my own hands can't keep up.

Kara, watching from the side, knew this wasn't that impressive by cosmic standards. She could move planets, after all. But she understood that for Naruto, this was a huge leap in power. And friends were supposed to encourage each other, right?

So she nodded and said, "That's… really good, Naruto! I mean, that's insanely strong for someone who's only recently started testing their limits. Most people could never even dream of lifting that much."

"Thanks," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. He could tell she wasn't actually impressed, but the effort to praise him wasn't lost on him. He appreciated it.

"Now let's go bigger," Veritas cut in, rubbing her hands together. "Let's see what happens when you really push that big, foxy form of yours."

Naruto nodded and transformed, his body merging with Kurama's full form. The result? A towering 500-meter-tall fox, leaner than before, more streamlined, but undeniably massive. Each tail stretched over 100 meters long, able to extend even further if needed.

He reached down, wrapped his claws around the weight block, and lifted.

1.2 million tons.

Naruto paused, staring at the effortlessly raised mass. That's…

"...That's a mountain," he muttered to himself.

I just lifted a mountain.

He expected to feel something—strain, effort, something. But in this form, it was easy.

Kurama hummed in satisfaction. We could go even bigger. Imagine throwing these as weapons.

Naruto thought about it for a second. Giant mountain-sized projectiles? Yeah… that sounds kinda awesome.

Kara crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly. "I mean… not bad. You could definitely throw a few skyscrapers around."

Veritas, on the other hand, let out a low whistle. "Now that is sexy."

Naruto blinked. "What—?"

"You. You lifting ridiculous amounts of weight. Don't look at me like that, it's hot." She shot him a grin. "If you ever need a spotter, I volunteer."

Naruto sighed. "Why am I even surprised at this point?"

"Because deep down, you love the attention," Veritas teased.

Kara just shook her head, chuckling. "Alright, alright, let's move on before she starts asking for a private demonstration."

Veritas gasped dramatically. "Kara, how could you expose my master plan like that?"

Naruto groaned. This was going to be a long day.