In a secret underground hideout,

Puff… ​​

A man with shaggy brown hair sporting a pair of small, circular black glasses takes a deep puff from his cigar. He wears a black suit with a purple tie, a yellow shirt underneath his black coat.

Puff…

He takes another puff from his cigar before extinguishing it by rubbing it on the tabletop.

Another man in a hooded cloak with a colored lining, fastened at the right shoulder is sitting in front of him.

"So, you want to offer protection to me?"

The spectacled man takes out another cigar from his pocket.

Clack… clack…

A nearby goon lights up his cigar with a lighter as he takes another puff of smoke.

"Matter of life and death are whimsical in your line of business. Having a strong bodyguard adds an extra layer of protection and can be death-defying when things go south." The hooded man remarks.

"Well… well… that's indeed the truth. But we are a legal shipping company which provides transportation facilities to fisherman and we need no such protection." The man in glasses remarks.

"Gato Company! I know how much of a legal company you are, but the choice is yours."

The hooded man stands up and strolls out of the room.

"Boss, who was he?"

A light-skinned man with bluish-white hair and black eyes walks out from another room. A long Katana with a blue handle is strapped to his waist.

"Oh! He… He is just another random penniless guy seeking to earn some quick bucks by offering protection to my business." Gato takes another puff from his cigar.

"So, he is another guy with all talk and no weight."

Another man of tall stature walks out of the room. He wears a black eye-patch over his right eye and has brown hairs parted in three, finishing in an elaborate topknot. There are various intricate tattoo marks stretched across all over his body.

"Ignore him, Zori! Waraji! You two are more than enough to take care of these minor matters."

"Yes, boss." Zori and Waraji nod their head.

Gato extinguishes his cigar as he turns to them.

"So, how is the matter with the Land of Waves? I want to establish headquarter for our company.

You two are mercenaries from that place, right? So, you must have some idea about the place." Gato questions them.

"Lord Gato! As you know, it is just a small island nation with no hidden village of its own. They don't have any shinobis to rely upon for protecting the land." Zori answers him.

"I see." Gato nods his head as he plans another evil scheme.

---------------

Outside the secret underground,

The hooded figure takes out a strange device from his pocket. He presses some buttons on the device as it lights up.

"How was it?"

A deep voice questions from the other end of the communication device.

"He refused." The hooded man answers.

"I see. There is no need to waste any more of your time. Just visit another person. We require some funds to continue my research. Just approach someone else. Beep…"

The voice cuts off as the hooded figure curiously stares at the small strange device in his hand.

"Is he monitoring me using this device?"

The hooded man pockets the device and flickers away.

-----------

Inside an underground research lab in Land of Ancestors,

Beep…

Amado places down his communication device.

"The research requires an extensive amount of funding, and our only source of money is now out of commission. We have to look for somebody else to fund the organization."

Amado adjusts his spectacles as he stares at the test subjects.

'I am ready to sacrifice my morality as long as I can achieve my goal.'

Swish…

He tears off a small sample of flesh from one of the test subjects and experiments on it as he continues to ponder on recent events.

'The Otsutsuki clan members have God-like powers, and they shaped the shinobi world to its current form. But it's all a facade, in the eyes of Otsutsuki clan; the natives of this world are nothing more than livestock.'

Amado shakes his head.

'But still… Izuna Uchiha! Looks like I need to pay a visit to him. He is a man who bears a mighty fate.'

Amado continues his research.

---------------

Achoo…

Izuna sneezes as he slowly opens his eyes. Various small purple orbs are floating around him.

'I have finally gained a basic understanding of Electromagnet Release Kekkei Shi. That previous explosion in my fight against Jigen opened a new possibility to use Electromagnet Releases.'

'Electromagnet Release: Shinra Banshō'

Whoosh…

Izuna wills one of the floating purple orbs to appear in his hand.

He stretches his right palm as the purple orb floats in front of him.

'They are still short of being a true truth-seeking orb, but we can consider them as fake truth-seeking orbs.

Their powers are severally lacking compared to the real deal and I can't shape-shift them freely, but I can replenish them however I want; though the amount of chakra they take is phenomenal.'

Whoosh…

The orbs return behind his back.

'Light Release: Camouflage Cloak'

He cloaks the orbs to hide their presence.

'The amount of concentration they require is quite high and I can only control a maximum of five of these orbs at a time; any more than this and I will lose control over them and they will explode violently.'

Izuna stands up and stretches his body.

"It has been a month since the Konoha Crush incident. Mei has somewhat recovered from the incident, but the trauma is still present.

Besides, she is also burdened by her Mizukage duties and she won't allow me to help with her matters.

I will pay a visit to her after her Mizukage duties are over. Maybe the fresh air of Shikkotsu forest will ease the burden from her shoulders."

Izuna jumps from the top of the giant tree of Shikkotsu Forest and lands on the ground.

"As for our marriage, it is a major political issue and will have serious implications. I don't give a crap about that, but I cannot convince the council members of Konoha and Kiri.

After the dust from this previous incident settles, nobody will be able to stop us from getting married."

He wipes the dust from his clothes and walks towards a nearby waterfall to clean himself.

"Izuna-kun! I heard about the details from Tsunade-sama and I am very sorry for your loss."

The tentacles of giant Katsuyu shake frantically.

"It's fine, Lady Katsuyu."

Izuna shakes his head.

"Time is a great healer."

'It can take the edge off the pain in my heart, but will it be able to fill the void left by the loss? Only time will tell.'

He turns towards Katsuyu.

"Lady Katsuyu! I will return for now. Maybe I will pay you a visit in the evening."

Whoosh…

Izuna teleports from Shikkotsu Forest. He reappears on top of the Hokage Monument in Konoha.

"Power doesn't forge a person; pain and suffering do. Maybe it is a lesson for me to never lose sight of my goals.

Every person suffers from pain. Either it is the pain of discipline… Or it is the pain of regret. I would rather suffer the pain of discipline for my entire life than suffer the pain of regret even once."

Izuna closes his eyes as he self-reflects.

Whoosh…

He jumps from the Hokage Monument and walks towards the Uchiha clan.

"Nii-san… Nii-san! train me."

He spots Naruto, who is running towards him.

Swoosh…

Naruto stops in front of him.

"Naruto! Ask your Kakashi-sensei for more training! I am sure that lazy ass must be goofing somewhere reading that holy scripture of his."

Izuna shakes his head as Naruto continues to pester him for training.

"But… but… Nii-san! I feel like I am not improving with Kakashi Sensei's training." He complains.

Hmm…

'Maybe I was too harsh with my training leading to their quick improvement. Their abilities as shinobi might have improved vastly, but as such, I failed to incorporate the values of a shinobi.'

"Naruto! I think you are quite strong as you are. Why don't you request some high-rank missions? I think it will provide you with more experience and you will see your improvement."

Izuna suggests.

"Mm… That makes sense. I will immediately ask Granny for a B-rank mission."

Whoosh…

Naruto flickers away.

"Well! Good luck with that." Izuna shakes his head.