First Steps into Power

The sun hung high over Konoha, its golden rays washing over the village as if trying to melt away the tension left in Naruto's wake.Whispers spread like wildfire.His sudden transformation, his striking resemblance to the Fourth Hokage, and the sheer power radiating off him—it was impossible for people not to notice. Some murmured with admiration, others with suspicion, but one thing was certain: Naruto's return had not gone unnoticed.But Naruto himself barely paid attention to any of that.Because right now, he had one thing on his mind.Testing his power in real combat.⸻Naruto's footsteps echoed through the underground training facility beneath the Hokage's office. It was a large, reinforced chamber designed to withstand high-level jutsu, used for ANBU drills and elite shinobi combat training.Tsunade had given him permission to train here in secret—his new abilities were too dangerous to practice in an open field. She had been clear: If you level half the village, I'll personally beat the rest of the chakra out of you.Naruto had no doubts she meant it.Sakura stood beside him, arms crossed, still casting sidelong glances at his face every few minutes. He wasn't sure if she was still trying to process his transformation or just staring at him.He chose to ignore it.Yamato and Kakashi were also present, along with Shikamaru, who had come to observe. The lazy strategist had taken one look at Naruto upon his return, muttered "troublesome" under his breath, and promptly started reevaluating his entire understanding of reality."You sure this place can handle it?" Naruto asked, cracking his knuckles.Yamato gave a stiff nod. "The walls are reinforced with multiple layers of earth-release barriers. Even Tsunade-sama trained here when she was younger. It should be fine."Naruto grinned. "Great. Let's see what I can do."Kakashi gave a lazy eye-smile. "Just don't destroy the entire facility, okay?"Sakura exhaled, tying her hair back. "Alright, let's start with something simple. Physical strength test first."Naruto turned toward the massive boulder in the center of the chamber—a thirty-ton slab of solid stone, used to test raw impact force. It had taken three jonin working together to move it into place.Naruto cracked his neck. "Easy."He stepped forward, rolling his shoulders, before clenching his fist.And then, the air cracked.Thin fractures splintered across empty space, forming an eerie, almost glass-like pattern around his clenched fist. The very air vibrated with unseen force.And then, he punched.The moment his fist connected with the boulder, the chamber shook violently. A deep shockwave erupted outward, causing Kakashi and Yamato to immediately brace themselves. The cracks in the air expanded, and before anyone could react—The boulder exploded.Not cracked. Not broken into large chunks. It disintegrated.Stone shards shot through the air like tiny bullets, embedding themselves into the reinforced walls. Even Yamato, who was trained in structural reinforcement, felt the vibrations in his bones.Sakura's mouth dropped open. "…What the hell?"Shikamaru, standing off to the side, slowly exhaled. "Troublesome…"Naruto blinked at the powdered remains of the boulder. He hadn't even put that much force into it."…Well," Kakashi mused, rubbing his chin, "we won't have to move that back."⸻The next test was speed.Naruto had never been slow, but after his transformation, his body felt lighter yet stronger—like he could cover ground at speeds he never could before.Yamato marked a 100-meter course inside the chamber. "Alright, Naruto, run to the other end and back. No chakra enhancement. Just raw speed."Naruto nodded.He took a breath.And then—The air fractured.Small, barely visible cracks appeared around his legs as he crouched slightly. Then—BOOM.Sakura barely saw it. One second he was there, the next he was gone.A loud sonic boom erupted through the chamber as the sheer force of his takeoff cracked the ground beneath his feet. Within an instant, he was at the other end of the room.He had crossed 100 meters in less than a second.Everyone stared.Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. I need to lie down.Naruto frowned, unimpressed. "That was fast, but not as fast as the Raikage. I can do better."Not as fast as the Raikage.Sakura's brain short-circuited."YOU THINK THAT WASN'T FAST ENOUGH?!"Naruto shrugged. "I felt like I could move faster. Just need practice."Kakashi clapped his hands together. "Alright, before we start questioning reality further, let's test your tremor abilities."Naruto's grin turned sharp."Now we're talking."⸻Naruto stood at the center of the chamber, feet planted firmly on the ground.This was different from his raw physical abilities. The tremor-based power wasn't something he could channel like chakra—it required focus, but it also felt instinctual. Like he was simply aligning himself with something already there.He raised his hand, slowly curling his fingers.The air around him shimmered—and cracked.Then, he clenched his fist—and the entire chamber trembled.A deep, resonant vibration pulsed through the walls, causing fine cracks to form. The very earth itself responded to him.Yamato's eyes widened. "Incredible. He's not using chakra at all. The tremors are purely external."Sakura had seen powerful jutsu before, but this… this wasn't chakra-based destruction. This was something different.Naruto stomped his foot lightly—and the effect was instant.The ground beneath him split open, a crack racing across the floor until it reached the farthest wall. But what was even more stunning was the air itself.Lines of fractured space rippled outward, as if reality itself was struggling to contain the force he had just released."…He's controlling it," Shikamaru muttered. "It's not wild destruction—it's directional force."Naruto exhaled, lowering his fist. The cracks in the air slowly faded.He turned back to the group, grinning. "Alright. What's next?"Kakashi hummed. "Well, you seem to have raw power under control… but how do you fight with it?"Naruto raised a brow. "What are you suggesting?"A sharp clang echoed through the chamber as Kakashi drew a kunai."Let's find out."

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End of Chapter 4