Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

"You have a scroll for the Edo Tensei technique?"

Nagato and Uchiha Obito both stared at Black and White Zetsu in surprise. Obito asked, "Where'd you get it—from Orochimaru, or Konoha's forbidden archives?"

"Konoha's forbidden archives," White Zetsu lied with a straight face, grinning. "We snuck a White Zetsu clone in while Izayoi was out on a mission and stole it."

In reality, this scroll was part of Uchiha Madara's legacy.

Although Madara had passed on most of his life's knowledge—including the Six Paths Techniques, Yin–Yang Release, and the Uchiha Gunbai fan—to Obito, he'd never fully trusted this pawn. Some forbidden jutsu Madara had stolen from Konoha he kept hidden.

The Edo Tensei technique was one of them.

"Edo Tensei, huh? It's worth a try," Nagato thought, recalling how Orochimaru had used it to kill the Third Hokage. It seemed feasible, so he issued orders: "I'll train in Edo Tensei. Zetsu, dispatch your clones to graveyards in every country and steal the remains of any legendary or renowned shinobi. We need to prepare for that army of human puppets under Ōtsutsuki Toneri."

"Yes," Black Zetsu responded with a nod.

Nagato added, "And have your clones or undercover operatives gather intel on Izayoi. I want an opening to test Konoha's future Sixth Hokage."

"Let Obito handle that," White Zetsu teased. "His eye technique is best suited for the job."

Before Obito could get angry, Black Zetsu explained: "That kid's Wood Release, or maybe his Mind's Eye of the Kagura, can break through Mayfly Jutsu. We've planted White Zetsu clones all over the ninja world, but we still can't manage to keep an eye on Konoha."

"We need Obito's help with his dōjutsu. Ideally, he can help us locate some lonely older folks or orphans who don't have any close contacts, then let a White Zetsu clone replace them."

"Although this surveillance plan won't be as comprehensive as the Mayfly Jutsu's eavesdropping, we'll still be able to get early notice if Konoha makes a big move."

Hearing that, Nagato turned to Obito. "Obito, assist Zetsu in completing this mission."

"I understand," Obito replied calmly, keeping his discontent to himself.

…

Meanwhile, as Nagato and Black Zetsu were having their meeting in the Kamui dimension, a Wood Clone of Izayoi secretly observed them and transmitted everything in real time to Izayoi's main body.

Back in the villa's gym, Izayoi was ostensibly in the middle of massaging Hinata's shoulder and neck while she lay on a yoga ball to relax her back. He's doing this to train his fingers and Hinata's concentration, causing the room's atmosphere to keep shifting with each move they make.

Just a few motions in and, even though Hinata regularly sparred against boulders and Mokuton trees for an hour at a time without breaking a sweat, she was already drenched, gasping for breath.

Fortunately for her, the Wood Clone's news arrived right on time, saving Hinata from further exertion.

With this intelligence in hand, Izayoi finally assisted Hinata in properly finishing her yoga routine. Still in Sage Mode, and able to multitask calmly, he began thinking things over.

"I almost forgot," Izayoi mused. "The last time Uchiha Obito tried sneaking around, he failed. Now they're all off to the Kamui dimension for a meeting, which is a perfect opportunity."

He gave an order to one of his Wood Clones. The clone activated the Tenseigan and searched for Uchiha Sasuke's chakra in Konoha. Finding that Sasuke wasn't in the village, it shifted to an aerial perspective to locate a huge chakra, but soon found Uzumaki Naruto training at a Waterfall with Jiraiya.

By now, Izayoi's presence had caused numerous "butterfly effects" across the story. One of them was Nagato's epic power-up. Another was that Uchiha Sasuke never defected from the village, leading to huge changes for Team 7.

For starters, Haruno Sakura had not become Tsunade's student. Instead, she was learning mainstream genjutsu from Kakashi, and working as an intern at Konoha Hospital.

With Sasuke still in the village and Naruto not leaving, Kakashi felt awkward asking Tsunade to take on Sakura as a student. After all, the Creation Rebirth technique was a Senju clan secret. And Tsunade already had a student—Karin, who by this year had awakened the Adamantine Sealing Chains and mastered three unique Uzumaki abilities.

In the Chūnin Exams six months prior, only five rookies had successfully earned the rank of Chūnin: Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Hyūga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, and…Karin.

Although Naruto and Rock Lee were very strong, they still hadn't shown the qualities of a squad leader. On the other hand, Karin, despite having joined Konoha less than a year ago, demonstrated sufficient knowledge of culture, combat, and ninja professionalism to rank up. At this rate, she might become a Special Jōnin by the end of the year.

So, with Karin and Shizune at Tsunade's side, there simply wasn't room for another one. Furthermore, in this timeline, Sakura never encountered the Oto trio, so she never cut her hair short. In other words, the famed "Sakura-chan" as we know her might not exist here.

If Sakura seriously trained, she might grow into a mix of Kurenai (in terms of genjutsu) and Kabuto (in medical skills). After all, her chakra control was at purple level. But without Kakashi's training, that potential would have been difficult to tap fully. With them, she might yet defy the odds and become a heavy hitter proficient in both genjutsu and medical jutsu.

Meanwhile, Naruto's progress had changed drastically. His power level was highly unstable. In pure taijutsu, he was barely above average Genin. Anyone could "handicap" him a few moves. But once he got serious—using Shadow Clone combos with Rasengan or Wind Release (Great Breakthrough/Vacuum Sphere)—most mid- or even high-level ninjas would get flattened unless they had a means of escape.

Because Jiraiya had mistakenly concluded Nagato was the Child of the Prophecy, he was no longer wandering the ninja world but had returned to Konoha to train Naruto and help him manage the Nine-Tails' power. Thus, Jiraiya didn't whisk Naruto away for three years like in the original tale.

After all, with Izayoi in Konoha, he could suppress any of Naruto's rampages via Wood Release.

As for Team 7, they hadn't disbanded. They each did their own thing and only regrouped for missions. Had Naruto not been the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Kakashi might've happily turned leadership over to Sasuke while he lazed at home—and only went on missions when strapped for cash.

Currently, Kakashi was at home reading Icha Icha Paradise. With no missions and no Might Guy dropping by for challenges, he spent time either zoning out in the cemetery or reading in bed.

He hadn't resolved his personal issues yet, so his day-to-day was that empty. Night fell on another boring day, and Kakashi—having cooked, eaten, and bathed—prepared to go to sleep. After all, staying up too late could damage his health, and the Sharingan was already sapping his stamina.

Once Kakashi slipped into dreamland, a burst of red powder materialized in midair. A green hand emerged and moved so quickly it placed a glowing green orb on Kakashi's head. The orb sank into him.

Kakashi opened his unguarded pair of eyes—no longer shielded by his headband—and stared blankly, expression dull, pupils lifeless.

Standing by his bedside was Izayoi's Wood Clone, disguised as Ōtsutsuki Toneri. Using the power of Ranmaru's red-eyed invisibility, he had sneaked in when Kakashi went grocery shopping and waited for hours.

Izayoi removed a scroll from his person and extracted medical tools and a container filled with green fluid. Inside floated a single Sharingan, its iris marked with three tomoe.

Channeling chakra through his surgical instruments, and having already memorized a medical ninja's knowledge, Izayoi swiftly completed an eye-replacement operation. He removed Kakashi's "Kamui" eye and sealed it in the container, then looked at the puppet-like Kakashi, who was under mental control and made no sound throughout the procedure.

Seemingly on a whim, Izayoi relayed a message to his real body. A few seconds later, a stone appeared out of nowhere. He used gravitational pull to pick up the Gelel Stone and drained its energy, instantly entering Sage Mode. Then, channeling the Yang side of Yin–Yang Release—the portion containing life force—he fed this potent chakra into Kakashi's body.

So when Kakashi awoke, he wouldn't feel any surgical aftereffects; he'd think he'd simply enjoyed the most restful sleep of his life. His vitality and mental state would feel stronger than ever. This was Izayoi's form of compensation.

Though Kakashi hadn't harbored any drive to improve himself before sorting out his personal regrets, Izayoi still saw him as one of Konoha's trump cards—a future general under Izayoi's command if he became the Sixth Hokage. Thus, Izayoi decided to heal Kakashi's body, which had been suffering from the Sharingan's drain for more than a decade.

Had Izayoi not worried it might be too obvious, he would have used an even bigger dose of healing energy.

Once he'd finished, Izayoi erased every trace of his presence, took the extracted eye, and vanished in a flash.

He reappeared in an underground room beneath Cherry Blossom Street. The place had been converted into a sterile surgery area, bright white and well-lit. On the operating table lay the puppet corpse of "Lord Danzo."

After the Tenseigan's "second gestation" phase, Izayoi had further upgraded Danzo. His body was now riddled with Yin–Yang Release black rods, allowing it to share Izayoi's chakra directly, greatly enhancing its Wood Release power.

The only drawback was that the Tenseigan didn't come with the Six Paths Technique. Shimura Danzo could draw on Izayoi's chakra and Yin Release energy to boost Wood Release, but he couldn't wield the Tenseigan's abilities the way Pain's Six Paths could.

Even so, this trump card was now on par with the peak of the Five Kage. Apart from Ōnoki, nobody else among the Five Kage could give Danzo much trouble.

Next, Izayoi aimed to strengthen Danzo's puppet body even further.

On close inspection, you'd notice the Mangekyō Sharingan in Danzo's right eye socket was gone, leaving a black hole behind. Indeed, that eye—the one containing the Kotoamatsukami genjutsu—had been transplanted into Kakashi.

From Izayoi's perspective, Kotoamatsukami's ability to tamper with minds was practically useless compared to his Mind Sphere Rather than leave it unused in Danzo's body, he decided to let Kakashi borrow it temporarily to boost Kakashi's genjutsu skill. Whenever Izayoi needed it back, he could simply retrieve it.

Izayoi also wondered how Obito might react to seeing Kakashi's new eye, discovering that Kamui had suddenly become Kotoamatsukami.

Approaching the operating table, Izayoi continued his surgical work. First, he removed Danzo's other eye, replacing it in his right socket with a standard three-tomoe Sharingan. Then he implanted the newly extracted "Kamui" eye into Danzo's left socket.

At that moment, "Uchiha Danzo" was born.

After completing the procedure, Izayoi commanded Danzo's body to rise. Through the black rods of Yin–Yang Release, he transmitted chakra from afar into Danzo's chakra core. A huge torrent of chakra coursed through Danzo's body, converging in his left eye.

With a flash of crimson, the Mangekyō Sharingan's tomoe fused into a scythe-like shuriken pattern.

In Izayoi's former world, countless fans had dubbed this Mangekyō Sharingan design the "strongest," capable of harming even Six Paths–level opponents. If its pair were reunited, it would be nigh unstoppable, with a massive pocket dimension. Even after death, its wielder's spirit could return to grant that power to another.

And that was still just a Mangekyō Sharingan without the Eternal Mangekyō upgrade.

In Danzo's body—enhanced by Hashirama cells, Yin–Yang Release, Gelel Stone energy, and Izayoi's ocean-like chakra—this eye was even more potent than Obito's. "Uchiha Danzo" could wield it with as much ease as Obito uses Kamui.

Originally a Five Kage–tier powerhouse, Danzo had now ascended beyond normal ranks, capable of threatening even "super-tier" fighters—or damaging someone at the Six Paths level.

After all, a skilled Jōnin who masters an S-rank jutsu can become a threat to the Five Kage. In a similar vein, having a Six Paths–level technique in your kit allows you to challenge foes beyond mortal comprehension.

Izayoi grinned at the figure before him. "The initiative is back in my hands. Time to prepare for Round Two."

"The next encounter…will be the final battle!"

~~~

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