Uzumaki Naruto -v.2- Nzc Online

"Shut up. Kurama—!"

"I am V-2," they said. "I was grown from your genetic material recovered after the Fourth War. Enhanced with Uchiha tissue, synthetic chakra, and a failsafe: I cannot feel hatred. Only purpose. And my purpose was to surpass you."

"Why V-2?"

V-2 was waiting atop a broken tower.

Not as a copy. Not as a weapon. But as someone who had finally found their own name. END OF PROLOGUE

Shikamaru, watching from a distance, shook his head. "Now there are two of them."

"Then stop trying to replace me," Naruto said. "And start being you ." They fought side by side that night—not against each other, but against the remnants of the NZC program: autonomous drones, rogue ANBU, and a corrupted AI that saw both Naruto and V-2 as errors to delete.