With the battle done, everyone was back in the auditorium and when they looked at the time only a second had passed. The Tower was big and it was a dangerous place where everything was strategically placed to challenge the player to the extremes as people grew through adversity.
The timing difference was present so that the challenger could at least finish one level in a single try. The kids now had only seen a part of the Tower, a one on one battle with the fighter that was on their level.
In a normal play through, the level won't be so open and there would be monsters along with other threats of the modern world. There will be missions given by the system and the boss monsters, and fighters can attack any time as the level was their home.
"Sorry about that….you know…how I can be sometimes." Boruto said in a quite tone as he felt embarrassed when apologizing, he really didn't like being in such a situation but it was the right thing to do. They were his friends and family.
Himawari smiled brightly at seeing his expression and hearing his words, inside the Tower she had fought Sasuke with his Mangekyo Sharingan. It was the version that fought Danzo and she broke through him without much resistance.
Sasuke wasn't skilled enough to fight her in close combat, as she was beyond most people's level. Her mother was the second best taijutsu fighter and her father was the first.
Among the siblings, only Shuten could rival her in close combat skills. She engaged the foe in long range combat since her other fort was archery and gun fighting.
The Hyuga can had also moved with the time and realized how they had been limiting themselves, so they picked up archery and guns for long range fighting after seeing Hinata.
The Hyuga used gentle fist and archery along with some of the ninja arts but these were their primary elements.
The Hyuga were well known for shooting down thousands of enemies from 100 km away.
This was possible because of the evolution of the ninja arts focused around the Byakugan. Just like all clans they focused on their own thing.
Normally Byakugan awakens at the age of five with a minimum range of 100 meters around the user and special case of 1 km around the user.
This is only an initial point and the user can train it to become better. Hyuga clan trains, uses potions, specialized diet and seals to improve this power.
They also have specialized jutsu for the byakugan that allow them better focus. One such is the sniper view that allows them to zoom in and extend their eyes further than normally possibly for the cost of losing the 360 view.
This was Hiashi whose limit was 20 km with full focus was able to see 100 km but it was just a tunnel vision leaving him open to other sides since he won't be able see them.
The other one was auto locking, the eyes locked onto the targets within range so the user wouldn't get distracted and allowed for feats not normally possible.
The clan formed various jutsu related to archery and gun fighting, and were in the lead in this field along with medical field and teaching field.
With her archery skills, Sasuke was unable to survive a single hit as he took her lightly because of her harmless looks.
The battle was very underwhelming and she didn't need the lesson like Boruto, as she had believed every word of her father.
But she didn't complain and praised her father who brought them to this level where the past seemed so insignificant.
She understood that it was a step to solidify the changes brought, in the minds of the people. People can sometimes forget what it used to be like, after living in a different setting for too long. And these kids had never seen the old world properly since they had been just born or weren't even born yet.
It was step to boost the confidence level of kids with anxiety and low self esteem.
It was a step to solve the problem with her brother. Her older brother was a nice person and she loved him dearly. It was painful to watch him drown himself in anxiety and stress.
He didn't have to, but he chose to think like that. She couldn't really understand his thought process. She didn't care if Erza surpassed her at a later date. They were family and power wasn't everything.
Father never told them to focus on to power. He told them to enjoy life and walk forward at a comfortable pace, and just don't stop going forward.
He had warned them about losing sight and narrowing on to becoming more powerful.
"Walk that path and you will become emotionally stunted like your Uncle Sasuke. Do you really want to become like him? Having no fun memories except a rare few and seeing the world through a grey lens, and having someone else force you to act like a normal person, do you want that kind of future?"
Seeing her father describe Sasuke was painful to hear as she could feel the sadness from his words. Sasuke was a brother to Naruto and his pain was Naruto's pain.
Sasuke wouldn't visit the Yamanaka for an appointment to get therapy or listen to anyone else. The only person that could move him was Naruto, so he had to be the one directly responsible for curing his problem.
Mental problems were not easy to cure, especially if it was the outlook of the person. Sasuke had a dark outlook on life and only after much work did he start showing some emotion again, and express positivity.
Regardless, Sasuke still had a grey outlook on life and he wasn't a very fun guy most of the time. That was a tragic life style in Hima's eyes, not cool.
Boruto had found that cool and gotten dunked into the pool for it while Asura and Benimaru had gotten dunked for calling it so uncool and weak.
"That's wonderful. I knew you could do it." Hima exclaimed as she hugged him while the others also lightened up after hearing his words. It seems they didn't have to take extreme steps.
Lord Seventh really knows how to manipulate people, was one everyone's mind. But it wasn't creepy since they had full trust in him. He was the person that cared for you, more than your family and more than anyone else. He went out of his way to help when people didn't ask for it, when people were suffering silently.
He designed everything to solve those problems and he wasn't someone that didn't change when a fault was identified.
In the early days, the system had been too harsh on the children because of urgency and the mental field had been getting low attention since Naruto was mentally strong and everyone around him also didn't see the problem.
To protest against this problem, one teenager rose up and sang about it in Konoha as Naruto was the only one who could change the system.
It was a girl with talent in the culture type and she used her powers to convey the pain of the children to everyone. It was the pain and anxiety that the children were unwilling to share because they didn't want to look weak.
Hearing her words, Naruto had made a visit personally like usual and analyzed the children with his powers. Seeing the problem, he had apologized and fixed the issue.
More investment was brought into the psychological department and extreme care was taken about people's health. No one blamed Naruto except a few since he was very busy person and this was not a open problem.
In the old days, it could be ignored and the child would be identified as a weakling that couldn't handle pressure.
The protest was a sign that the leader will actually listen and encouraged others as well to open up about their issues, which helped the world become a better place. In the old days, saying negative things could get you killed if the leader wasn't feeling good about it while the Hokage didn't have much power in the old days as well.
"That's my Boruto." Juri muttered as she lightly punched his arm.
"What?" Boruto was definitely lost in his thoughts but he didn't miss that.
"What do you think?" Juri smirked as she looked at him.
"Nothing, I must have been hearing things." Boruto ignored it as he didn't know how to handle it. He didn't have experience and he didn't know if he liked Juri more than a friend. It also felt like a slip up, instead of an actual confession.
"Don't forget about it, give it a thought sometimes. I don't want you to look at other girls." Juri's Sharingan spun as she stared at him and it was intimidating stare that caused him to nod unconsciously.
"Are you going to go out with Juri, big brother?" Hima asked as she stood beside him after the hug.
"We will talk about it later. Hey guys, how was the battle?" Boruto jumped into the guy side to avoid such questions.
"Do you think he will come around?" Juri asked Hima while looking at Boruto talking to the guys. They had been childhood friends from a young age. She knew him since they were babies. She was attracted to his adventurous spirit. She was attracted to his confidence.
She liked his kindness. She was attracted to his power and looks. She loved everything about him except for the new weakness that he had adopted, as it was not part of him.
Juri was a tomboyish girl and she had been part of the boys group from the beginning unlike her sister who separated once they got older.
She was a person that loved fighting. She loved strong people and it was pretty much related to Naruto and her father.
She loved spooky things and she loved to scare people. She had sadistic tendencies but kept them under control, to only utilize them for enemies.
She liked horror but sometimes, she also watched romantic shows that she didn't let anyone know. It was a secret that only Hima knew.
It made her look weak, so no one should know.
Watching the shows, she had more understanding on the subject of love and she had even read the book by Naruto about it.
I remember in the academy being infatuated with a girl that sat near me in class. When I saw her, my mouth filled with cotton, my heart raced, and butterflies flew fast circles in my stomach. I saw her everywhere. I noticed her in the hallway walking to class, in the cafeteria chatting with her friends, and outside of school at places I least expected, like the grocery store.
For three weeks, I couldn't get her out of my mind; but as quickly as it had come, the infatuation faded through the experiences we went through.
This form of romance is like a match. When struck, it ignites and burns bright, but it is exhausted just as fast.
It was never true love, a fact that I realized only later in my life because I never understood what love meant.
The most popular poster in Konoha was a provocative picture of a woman that looked like Tsunade. None of us knew her, nor did we care to have a conversation with her. The image represented something we longed for. The talented actress was just an object we thought would fulfill our desire.
Lust is not about the object of our desire; it is about fulfilling our desire. The object is simply a vehicle.
While it is most often associated with sex, we can lust after anything: fame, money, glory, power. Anything we can want can be made into an object of lust.
From personal experience I have always lusted for attention and love. Most people consider me selfless but I am a selfish person deep down as I cannot see my people suffer and can never consider losing them.
Unfortunately, lust rarely pays off like we hope. If we obtain the object of our desire, we are left still unsatisfied because the reality of the experience will never match our fantasy. In this way, lust is like a wildfire. It burns with reckless abandon until everything is consumed and the ground is left scared.
As I travelled around the world I had taken many jobs to understand the world around me while also gathering information. I worked as a pastor for a month. During that time, I performed a lot of weddings and almost all of them contained a reading of the love passage. If you've attended a wedding in the Land of Lightning, you've probably heard of it:
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude or self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
What I love about the passage's description of love is that in it, love is all about how you should treat another person.
While lust is about getting what we want, love is about seeing another person become the best they can be. While lust is about finding satisfaction, love is about bringing satisfaction to another.
If infatuation is a match and lust is a wildfire, then love is the steady burn of an oil lamp. It has the same spark, heat, and light of the other two, but it is not quick. It endures.
Juri was touched by his words and the experience was increased as there was option of hearing Naruto speak those words.
His voice was always soothing when he spoke of such subjects.
It was a book on love that everyone was required to read and was just one of many. Naruto's goals were difficult and mostly stayed in the realm of dreams.
He had the power to easily control the world, but what he really wanted was to transform the people. That was an impossible for most people, as being good and selfless wasn't easy. The bad choice was always the easy choice while the good choice required work and sacrifices.
For most good choices, there was no reward either. The world made it too easy to sin. As such, everything was taken into account and everyone went through moral studies.
There were books on love, hate, envy, sinless life and a sinful life. It covered everything related to the subjects so that the students will understand them.
Naruto understand how it felt like not knowing anything, so he made sure people knew everything around them that was necessary for their lives.
Juri loved those books and Boruto also read them as well since it was essential for their future choices. She could tell he never fell in true love with Sarada as he gave up to focus on his personal problems but there was some worry inside of Juri that he might pursue Sarada as a challenge to win against his father.
She was strong girl but emotions made her weak and she really didn't want to see Boruto choose anyone else. Sarada wasn't the only problem since there other good looking girls that also liked him. He was an ideal partner, the prince of Konoha.
"Just take it slow, Juri. Brother likes mother a lot, so you should understand his taste."
"Damn it, why did he have to be like that." Juri slapped her thigh as she heard that confirmation. Hinata was a gentle and noble person, literally the opposite of Juri.
"How did he end up liking Sarada?"
"Big sis Sarada, acts gentle and of noble birth most of the time. Have you not noticed?"
"Nah, I think she acts like a gorilla most of the time."
"That's so mean. You shouldn't speak like that about anyone. It is rude." Hima pouted as she heard those words. Sarada did have moments where she acted violent but that was rare. She was mostly gentle and acted like a scholar.
She looked up to her mother and Naruto, so she had picked up their qualities. She also didn't have a strong connection to her father unlike Byakuya, so Sasuke was trying to mend the relationship with them for some time now.
"Say it, how it should be. It is unbecoming of people of our standing, Juri. Don't let your jealousy control your tongue." Interrupting the conversation was Shuten who was followed by Wendy, Sumire and Cammy.
Looking at Shuten, Hima smiled and hugged her older sister while Juri also smiled. She was scared of Shuten as the oni- girl could be very cruel when pushed.
She specialized on dangerous attacks that were absolutely cruel and maddening.
She was the big sister of the Uzumaki House-hold and people thought she was older than Boruto because of their maturity levels.
She was stylish girl with class and pose. Her words carried her stature and she refrained from vulgarities unlike some people.
She was a daddy's girl and always tried to copy him, meaning she also helped out people and grew in power to reach levels where others couldn't compete.
Though, she had to work to give such an image unlike Hima who was naturally a kind person. It was something Shuten didn't like and considered Hima a rival of sorts, not that she was going to open up about it.
She reciprocated the hug and kissed Hima on the cheeks, "Good afternoon little sister, how was the trial?"
"It was beautiful just like what I expected from Daddy and it made me appreciate his efforts more."
"We seem to have reached similar conclusion, I suppose. Do you wish to participate in giving a surprise to our dear father?"
"Surprise, I would love to." Hima had a wide smile hearing those words. She really liked Shuten as she was perfect older sister that took care of everything and helped the siblings stay together.
Among the siblings, she liked Shuten the most.
"We will talk later….Juri, what do you to say?"
Juri gulped as she looked down, "Sorry big sis, I won't talk like that again."
"Good girl, act without vulgarity and brother might consider you as a partner. Push forward and build a stronger bond beyond friendship before someone else does it, or you will regret it." Shuten advised in a calm tone and gave the image that she regretted something, like she had lost in love to someone else.
"I will take the words to heart." Juri had already heard those words from the books so it wasn't new, but she was scared of making the relationship awkward.
"Hnhn, remember to act normal and you don't to copy someone else if it is not compatible for you. Father always says that you to be true to yourself so that you can love yourself and for others to love you." Hima added, making Shuten smile and pat her head.
"Hey, did anyone fight that orange clothed shrimp that fought like Wasabi?"
"Yeah, that guy was so pathetic. I can't believe he wasted so much power on worthless movements."
"No kidding, I literally one shot the bastard. Man, I wish I had that much chakra to waste like him."
Before they could continue the talk, the girls heard the talk from some of the students and it was about Naruto.
From their words, it seemed to be Naruto in his one tail form that fought Sasuke at the Valley of the end.
That form was fodder to most academy students but hearing such words caused Juri to get angry and Shuten held back her anger to act calm.
She was just about to stop the talk from continuing when Boruto and Natsu attacked.
"Shut the fuck, you ignorant bastards. That's lord seventh, you are talking about." Natsu roared spreading heat into the atmosphere as his emotions were lit, causing everyone to back away.
"Is that a joke?"
"Stop disrespecting Lord Seventh!"
"Shut up, that is my father you are talking about." Boruto shouted as he picked up the guy by the throat and stared at him with an angry gaze.
"Master Boruto, why are taking part in this joke?" The kid asked incredulously
"That was my father. Do you want to fail your class for such poor comprehension and analytical skills? This was to show you, how far you have come. The fact you fought such a young version, means you are that weak.
My father had only one month of formal training at that point of time. Do you think he was a joke now? Do you remember the comparison between the old and new systems of education?" Boruto calmed down and put the boy down while looking at the kids around him.
Hearing his words, the people that agreed with the assessment of the boy were ashamed while those who didn't agree were also ashamed somewhat since it was their Hokage that was being abused.
"I am sorry."
"I am sorry for my words."
Boruto nodded, "Think before you speak next time and remember your lessons or you will fail the final test."
"Exactly my words, you kids will need extra lesson to reinforce your analytical skills and good work Boruto." Iruka patted his head and smiled at him. Boruto had acted maturely and he had been one step away from getting punished but calmed himself down. His intervention also stopped Natsu's rampage from starting and the other kids acting up once they realized that it was their idol who had been abused with vulgarities in their presence.
"It was nothing grandpa. Thanks for not punishing me."
"Hehe, you really are different from your father. He would have acted proudly hearing compliments. Take care and don't let the stress get to you." Iruka spoke gently and encouraged Boruto, as he knew the boys problem.
Boruto looked at him and nodded while a smile was put on his face.
Walking away, Natsu bumped into him.
"Please act civil my friend."
"Stop acting like a retard. Why the fuck did you stop me?" Natsu held his collar and glared into his blue eyes.
Staring back into his Sharingan eyes, Boruto looked calm, "Why are you getting so pissed for, that's my father they were talking about. You would have made things worse and ended up in the Valley of Silence again and dragged others with you."
"You have no right to speak like that. You are worse than them. They don't dare think anything wrong about Lord Seventh while you openly mock master. Don't try to act like a sage, you filthy scum. I will burn you to a crisp soon, so just you wait for the Mount Kunlun Visit." Natsu pushed him and walked away leaving a challenge.
It was quite normal for the duo to butt heads and for Natsu to challenge him. Boruto was Naruto's son while Natsu was Sasuke's son.
Natsu took Boruto as a rival as he didn't want to fight Hima, she was too adorable, and he was scared of Asura and Shuten.
He cut the duo out for now since they were born with superior genetics and he would aim for them once Boruto was taken care off.
Naruto surpassed Sasuke and forced to him to run behind him since the forth war, it had been almost two decades now and the distance wasn't closing up.
To prove himself, Natsu decided that he would surpass Boruto. Among the siblings, Natsu was third place, below Byakuya and above Juri. The difference wasn't big but Sarada passed them consistently.
It went the same for Boruto. The rival was stronger than him and he had never lost, even Sarada lost to Boruto consistently.
Natsu was a simple person and he specialized in battle and beast type. He was blessed by the flames and had high affinity to them.
His aim was to make his flames stronger than the stars and make his father proud. He was not talented at blade work so it made him feel down, and forced to work extra hard on his close combat skills to make up for it.
He fought with Boruto a lot but Natsu treated everyone in a friendly manner, unless they pissed him off. He had a bad temper.
His annoyance was Boruto started with his sword talent and Lightning affinity, and then his nonsense about Naruto.
Naruto was someone he cared for deeply. He was like a father to him when his own father roamed without looking back.
Without Naruto, their family would have been torn apart. He owed the man a great deal for the blessing of a large and beautiful family.
Boruto wouldn't understand how bad their life had been, but Natsu and his siblings knew how close they had been to seeing a divorce.
Their mothers had started ignoring them and working longer to ignore the house. They started drinking heavily and even lashing out.
Juri had almost lost her leg once when Sakura's anger flared up and it was lucky that Naruto had a system to watch the safety of the people that he arrived on time to stop the tragedy.
Natsu didn't hate his mothers because he could understand what stress and blinding rage does to people. He knew their love for him and his siblings. It was just a mistake that was because of how broken their family was.
It was because of comparisons with others and their father's lack of emotions.
He had changed greatly and even took them out for simple trips like a real family does. Natsu had been rebellious so that his father would come back and give them attention, but now it had become a habit and he liked challenging people to a fight.
"Natsu, I am sorry about saying those words. I won't repeat them." Boruto didn't know the importance of Naruto to Natsu but Naruto was his master so that was a strong relation.
"I won't take back my challenge and I will be watching. Your words aren't trust worthy enough, you know." Natsu gave him the flaming middle finger while walking towards his best friend, Benimaru who was surrounded by beautiful girls admiring his style and looks.
Boruto looked towards his younger brother who smirked at him and gave him a wink, 'Ughh, how can he spend time on just taking pictures and dressing up.'
Boruto could never understand the guy as he was just too strange and walked back to his friends while thinking about the Mount Kunlun Visit.
It was a national holiday in the Land of Fire, where people visited Mount Kunlun to see the immortal flames. There was food and much festivity along with an annual tournament to select the Fire King of the Year.
Right now it was October and they had just celebrated the Fourth War along with the birthday of his father. The Mountain visit was in November, just 3 weeks from now.
'Do I really take his challenge?' Boruto wondered, for the tourney you needed to have heat based powers. Lightning, fire, explosion, lava, steam, scorch or anything else with heat property was allowed.
Boruto could use fire and lightning so there was no problem of participation but the fact was that his weapons and such were not allowed in the tourney. Wasabi was the current champion as she was the daughter of Yugito Ni, who was the jinchuuriki of the two tail beast.
'Don't be a coward! These events are a way to put my name into history.' Boruto hyped himself and decided to go with it since he had been ignoring the events for too long.
"Good work, brother." Shuten smiled at him and left with her group.
Boruto felt happy at her words, somehow he had ended up treating her like the big sister as well.
Juri felt threatened by that expression as she was afraid that Boruto might fall for Shuten, so she decided to stop dawdling and start working.
A.N This is an extremely long story and will cover many characters. aiming for 1M
