4/16 c24 Ashton
I just re found this after forgetting about it for like forever ago and I’m so happy to see it’s been continued . Also the IMPOSSIBLE….AHHHGH. I could only read with seto kibas voice from Yu-Gi-Oh season one episode one.

4/11 c129 1Ilireanwri
I really hope you'll add Jiraiya learning about tengokus newest addition (maybe in an omake), even if it's because Roshi sends the artwork and script to him to fuck with him. And then have a scene with Jiraiya chasing Naruto a bit for causingbit XD

3/30 c143 4Essteka
Hi there. I've been meaning to leave a review to this fanfic for a really long while, but I've always lacked the proper amount of time and motivation to do so. Well, I finally had both to make the review, so here I go.

First of all, I wanted to say that I discovered your fanfic through TV Tropes during Fall 2022. I came across the page for "Team Member in the Adaptation", which indicated that this fanfic was about Naruto being put on the same team as Hinata and Shikamaru, with Anko as their sensei. This combination of characters for a ninja team in the world of Naruto was incredibly appealing to me. Naruto and Hinata have always been my top two favorite characters in that franchise, with Shikamaru being my number three and Anko being somewhere in my top ten. As such, having a team with these four characters seemed like a pretty good idea. So I read the first chapter and I really enjoyed how you portrayed the way Naruto became friends with Hinata and Shikamaru as a result of the latter arguing in favor of him becoming Hokage. The next few chapters were pretty good too. But then came the chapter with Mizuki revealing Naruto's secret to him and his friends and, quite frankly, I thought it was better than how it was done in canon with Iruka (which is really saying something considering how good the first chapter/episode of Naruto was to begin with). Hinata and Shikamaru being shocked over that revelation and then making it clear to Naruto that they don't see him as a monster was fantastic. Honestly, I'm glad you didn't wait until the Han arc before allowing them to learn that secret like you originally planned. Of course, things got better with Anko's proper introduction in the following chapter and, for a while, I was reading at least one new chapter per day until I reached a point where I would instead be reading them once or twice per week. I eventually managed to reach the most recent chapter in June 2024.

For the most part, this fanfic has been a delight to read. There are a lot of plot points and characterizations in this fanfic that would not feel out of place at all in Kishimoto's work. The chemistry between most of the characters, particularly between the members of Team 3, has been extremely wonderful. I love Team 7 in canon, but there's a part of me that would absolutely love it if Naruto's canonical main co-stars were Hinata, Shikamaru, and Anko instead of Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi. I also quite enjoyed some of the liberties you took with the characters' personalities, such as Hiashi and Sasuke being much kinder (particularly the latter) than they were in canon. Plus, I found it amazing how you were able to make really good use of characters who were sadly underused in canon. There's Anko, of course, as well as most of the jinchūriki, but I did not expect to really enjoy your take on Kurotsuchi. In canon, she was a character I was kinda-sorta indifferent towards given that she wasn't given that much characterization (although I did enjoy her to a certain extent in a few Shippuden filler episodes and the Boruto movie). But here, she's been a really great character so far. What you've done with many of these underused characters really makes this fanfic's title incredibly appropriate. On top of that, I surprisingly enjoyed her romance with Shikamaru. I'm usually not the biggest fan of non-canonical pairings (with several exceptions here and there). And in this case, well, ShikaTema is my third favorite Naruto pairing after NaruHina and SasuSaku. And yet, for the first time ever, seeing Shikamaru falling in love with someone other than Temari was actually quite great. Some of the OCs you created were also pretty good, particularly Risho and Roto.

For that matter, there have been some ideas that are so good in this fanfic that they made me wonder "Wait a minute... How come Kishimoto never thought of using this idea as well?" For example, Hinata becoming an archer because of her Byakugan. It never occurred to me that members of the Hyuga clan would be perfect as archers until I've read your fanfic. Speaking of, I enjoyed the way you handled the plot point that is the infamous Hyuga Affair. In canon, this was a plot point that Kishimoto included just to give a reason for Neji to hate the main branch of the clan, with said plot point pretty much vanishing after Hiashi explained to his nephew what happened to Hizashi (aside from Yamato mentioning it during the Five Kage Summit arc, plus a few filler episodes and even the Rock Lee anime bringing it up). But here, it's much more interesting given that you showed the Hyuga Clan still having a grudge against Kumo for what happened, the dead Kumo ninja having a son who also hates the Hyuga for that event, and Hinata having so much hatred towards the Raikage. I have to say I really enjoyed her fight against the Raikage and seeing the latter not being invited to her wedding. Given that the Raikage is my number 1 least favorite Naruto character, both the fight and his lack of invitation were quite satisfying to witness. And then there's Sai. I have to admit I found it surprising to see him being portrayed as one of the bad guys and remaining as such by the time of his final appearance. He's not in my top 5 favorite Naruto characters (although I do like him, just not as much as other characters), but even I don't think I would have given him this treatment if I were to make a Naruto AU fanfic myself. But then I've read your arguments as to why you decided to portray him as such and I thought "On second thought, that makes a lot of sense. I'm not bothered by that anymore." In addition, I enjoyed the inclusion of elements from the filler episodes. I know there are plenty of fans who really don't like filler episodes (for understandable reasons), but I personally love the filler episodes in Naruto (well, most of them at the very least), to the point there are plenty of filler episodes I ended up enjoying just as much as, if not even more so than, the canonical episodes. As such, I really appreciated the fact you included stuff from the filler episodes and you did a great job with them.

With that said, the biggest major problem I have with the fanfic is the lack of focus on some of the Konoha 12. I LOVE the Konoha 12. I love seeing them interact with each other either during a mission or even outside of it. But some of them have unfortunately been underused in this fanfic. For example, there's Rock Lee and Tenten. Aside from the Konoha Chunin Exam arc and the Sunagakure arc, they haven't appeared that much over the course of this fanfic. And in the case of the Suna arc, they barely contributed to the fight against Kabuto. I was so looking forward to seeing them teaming up with Naruto against any bad guy in this fanfic, only to be disappointed when Kabuto left almost immediately after they arrived. I do recall that one of your author's notes at the end of a chapter indicated that you were yourself disappointed that you did not use the rest of the Konoha 12 as often as you wanted to (or something along those lines), so I'm at least glad to see you acknowledged this problem. I've also seen some readers complaining about Naruto's students being given too much focus at the expense of other characters, particularly the rest of Team 3. I have mixed feelings over this. In some chapters, their presence was perfectly fine. But I have to admit there were times when the story did put perhaps too much focus on them and I would be like "Okay, now would be a good time to focus on other characters, please." And then there's the Kumo Exams arc. That story arc featured a lot of great moments, such as the stuff involving Sasuke. But not only was it a VERY long arc to go through given that it lasted about thirty chapters, but it took place entirely in Kumo, which is my least favorite country among the five main ones in Naruto. If it lasted only a dozen chapters OR if it took place somewhere other than Kumo, I think I would have appreciated it a lot more. But both of them at the same time made it hard to go through.

But despite my problems, "True Potential" is without question one of the best fanfics I've ever read and perhaps even THE best Naruto fanfic I've ever read. In addition to everything else I said, it's a fanfic filled with so many great funny moments (such as the running gag of Anko constantly annoying Ibiki by loudly cheering for her students during the final part of the Chunin Exams), heartwarming moments (such as Naruto and Hinata confessing their feelings to each other during the civil war arc), and dramatic moments (such as everything that happened to Kurotsuchi's family during the Iwa arc). I could spend several more hours sharing my thoughts concerning this fanfic, so I'll instead stop for now. If you ever manage to finish the next chapter, I would gladly love to read it. Overall, congratulations on what you've done with "True Potential" so far. You deserve so many congratulations for it.

3/9 c24 Dragon213
“You think he resembles my deceased successor? Strange…I don’t see it. No. Naruto-kun has the blonde hair, but nothing else reminds me of Minato.”

Gaslight, gate keep, girl boss, Hiruzen. Keep it up.

2/8 c10 Spanner96
Okay, that settles it... you are horrible at writing combat scenes. The pacing is way off, the choreography of the fight itself is all over the place and wrought with inconsistencies in both placement and ability, and there is way too much talking. There is even more talking and complacency than there is in canon, and canon was bad enough even with the excuse of it being a manga/anime… in written form? It’s a chore to follow.

2/8 c3 Spanner96
I never liked the claim that Naruto has poor chakra control. His struggles stemmed almost entirely from his very active lack of care and understanding. Whenever chakra came up he ignored it and thus had no idea what his problem was so had no way to fix it… but whenever he bothered to care and actually got help he seemed to have no issues. With some actual help and him actually trying he nearly managed the rasengan when he was 12 years old, and that technique is considered the pinnacle of control. He’s not some phenom at chakra control else he would have managed without a clone, but he was good enough to get it to that point.

If someone just instructed him on how little chakra the clone technique needs he would easily master it. The claims that having so much chakra makes certain techniques impossible is mind numbingly stupid… you think current Naruto has more chakra than Madara? Because I highly doubt you think Madara would struggle to use the clone technique, he regularly uses genjutsu too. Tsunade has more chakra at this point too and she’s quite literally considered the BEST at chakra control.

1/29 c1 Ed17
incredible story and take on the naruto world. I don't think the author will ever finish it. But it was a fantastic read.

1/1 c34 arun.rao.bl
Bruh you made kabuto op here, that lr you nerfed konohagakure's security forces