Naruto's apartment was precisely as one would imagine from the original story: a simple, sparsely furnished space that was both messy and carried a subtle chill of neglect.
The jonin Iruka would visit the young boy when he could, but the current Iruka was still just a regular chunin, often away on missions.
For the most part, young Naruto lived there entirely alone. Any notion of a caretaker or guardian had vanished years ago, once Naruto had grown old enough to be deemed self-sufficient.
That someone raised in such an environment from infancy could grow up not embittered, but with a heart so resilient and bright, bordered on the miraculous.
The moment Son Goku arrived at Naruto's home, he released all the women from his World Ring. Seeing the boy's circumstances, they were immediately overcome with compassion.
Without a word, they sprang into action—some heading to the small kitchen to cook, others beginning to tidy the disorganized living space.
In no time at all, the apartment was transformed, filled with the inviting smells of food and a newfound sense of order.
The happiest of all was Naruto himself. For the first time in his memory, he felt the tangible, bustling warmth of a home.
Overwhelmed, he cried tears of pure, unadulterated joy. It was also here that he made his first real friend: Alice. Both orphans and close in age, they bonded instantly, their shared loneliness melting away in each other's company.
After a lively, shared meal, the group turned their attention to ninjutsu study. The women were all quick learners. Though completely new to the concepts of chakra, under Goku's patient guidance, they all grasped the basics of chakra refinement.
They settled into quiet meditation, focusing inward to cultivate their energy. Even Arisu and the ever-composed Shizuka joined in, their expressions serious with concentration.
Seeing everyone practice, the ever-diligent Naruto naturally refused to be left behind, sitting with them, his face a mask of fierce determination.
Meanwhile, Son Goku began his own practice with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. While he wasn't an expert on chakra networks or precise tenketsu points, his mastery over life energy—ki—was profound, and his memory was near-perfect.
Learning the technique came to him with startling speed. After familiarizing himself with the necessary hand seals and the flow of chakra, he successfully created his first shadow clone, though its form wavered slightly.
After several more attempts, he finally perfected it. Looking at the three identical copies standing beside him, Goku felt a surge of excitement. He pointed to one. "You, try to injure yourself. Let's see if you dispel."
"Understood," the clone replied, its voice a perfect match for Goku's own. It formed a knife-hand and, without hesitation, drove it into its own chest.
No blood spilled. The clone didn't vanish. It withdrew its hand, and the gaping hole in its chest closed over completely at a visible rate, leaving not even a scar.
Goku's excitement boiled over. "Just as I theorized! My own regenerative, near-immortal constitution is replicated in my clones!
This means... in the future, I could command an entire army of immortal duplicates! Wahaha! Evil dragons, gods of destruction... even if one of me can't beat you, a thousand of me will bury you!"
Calming himself with effort, Goku looked around the now-crowded apartment. After a moment's thought, he informed the others he was stepping out, leaving a single shadow clone behind for their protection.
He then used Instant Transmission to vanish. The next technique he wanted to test might cause quite a disturbance, and the small apartment was no place for it.
---
He reappeared on a windswept, deserted island. Surveying the barren landscape with satisfaction, he got to work. He created two shadow clones, his heart pounding with anticipation. "You two," he instructed. "Attempt the Fusion Technique."
The clones nodded in unison and moved to stand side-by-side. There was no need to meticulously balance their power levels—each possessed exactly one-tenth of Goku's full strength.
They assumed the distinctive, slightly absurd pose: bending at the waist, leaning to the side, and extending the index fingers of both hands until they touched.
"Fusion!" they shouted together.
A brilliant, blinding light erupted from the two clones. Under Goku's wide, expectant gaze, their forms dissolved into pure energy and slowly merged. A shockwave of startling, formidable power pulsed from the core of the light...
When the radiance faded, a single, powerfully built figure stood where the two clones had been. He looked exactly like Son Goku, only his aura was significantly denser, more potent.
Goku was so elated he nearly leaped into the air. "It worked! It actually worked! Haha! Shadow clones can use the Fusion technique! And this power... it feels nearly equal to my full base strength! Two clones, each at one-tenth, fuse to create a being with one hundred percent? This is... incredible! With this, who in any world could possibly stand against me?!"
A wild, new thought struck him. "Then... can I fuse with a clone that has already undergone fusion?"
His heart racing, Goku himself stepped forward to stand beside the newly fused clone.
"Fusion!"
Light bloomed once more, engulfing the two identical figures as they merged into one. When it receded, the being that stood there was even more imposing. His features were sharper, more defined, his musculature more pronounced and dense, radiating an almost palpable aura of power.
"YES! It worked again! Hahaha!" Goku's triumphant laughter echoed across the empty island. "Just as I calculated! A shadow clone is simply a stream of my own energy, given solid form through a special method. Since it's a materialized form of my power, of course it can fuse. And because the clone is fundamentally me, there's no limit to the number of participants! In theory... I could fuse indefinitely, stacking power upon power... So, just how many times can I do this?"
Driven by insatiable curiosity, Goku created several dozen more shadow clones. He orchestrated a first round of fusions, then had those fused entities undergo a second fusion. Finally, he stepped forward to fuse with a clone that had undergone this double fusion.
His power skyrocketed yet again. Now, even in his base form, without a hint of Super Saiyan transformation, his strength approached a level comparable to a Super Saiyan 2. The potential was staggering. If he were to transform on top of this fused state... what unimaginable heights could he reach?
Furthermore, this self-fusion had no time limit. When two distinct individuals fuse, they cannot maintain the combined form permanently due to their separate consciousnesses and energies. But for Goku, a shadow clone was not a separate person; it was a partitioned piece of his own being, his own energy.
He was essentially using the Fusion method to reabsorb and amplify that partitioned power back into his main body. Therefore, the only limit was his own stamina. As long as he could sustain it, the fusion would hold.