The Land of Waves Mission Is About to Begin

Noon.

Naruto was busy in the kitchen.

A red figure appeared.

Naruto naturally noticed it immediately.

He turned and watched it scoop a spoonful of every dish.

"Kurama, if you want to leave Konoha, I can still get you out without anyone noticing."

"Mm-hm."

Kurama had no time to talk.

Seeing Naruto staring straight at him, he felt a little embarrassed.

These past few days, he had kept mocking those little brats for being utterly bewitched by humans.

But in truth, he himself was also very curious.

So, he had come back right at mealtime.

This fox won't eat for free. Once I'm done eating, I'll naturally do some work.

Sensing that the brats had arrived, Kurama grabbed another steak before making his escape.

"Actually, you don't need to hide. I can just say you're my distant relative."

"Pah! Why would this fox deal with a bunch of little brats?"

"I'm leaving."

Seeing his embarrassment, Naruto did not press the matter.

What surprised him a little was that Kurenai Yuhi had come as well.

However, after sensing Mitarashi Anko's Chakra, he roughly understood why.

Afternoon.

Kakashi rarely came to visit.

The lingering aroma made his dead-fish eyes vanish completely.

Unfortunately, he had no chance to taste it.

"Everyone's here. No wonder you've all been arriving together lately."

Kakashi scratched his head before looking at Sasuke.

"Although it's still a little early, that ninjutsu isn't so easy to learn. We'll start today."

"If you want to learn too, Naruto, you can come along."

"Sakura..."

Before he could finish, Sakura poked her head out. "Kakashi-sensei, you don't need to worry about me. Naruto has already arranged a special training program for me."

"In that case, let's go first, Sasuke."

After saying goodbye to Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke left with Kakashi.

It was normal for Kakashi to say it was early.

After all, even in the original story, Uchiha Sasuke could only use it around twice in one go after learning it.

And at this age... not to mention that Uchiha Sasuke was a stubborn, impatient avenger.

After obtaining such a powerful skill, he definitely would not be able to resist using it.

Even against a minor enemy, he would use his ultimate move like a basic attack.

Once he faced an enemy with abundant combat experience,

His Chakra could easily be worn down.

In the end, he would lose his life.

Moreover, Uchiha Sasuke had yet to master how to activate the Sharingan.

No matter how strong his talent for dynamic vision was, it could not compare to even a One-Tomoe Sharingan.

Using Chidori was simply too dangerous.

As for Sakura,

She could learn Medical Ninjutsu alongside Tenten and the other three.

For Genjutsu, she could ask Kurenai Yuhi for guidance. They were all on the same side now, so it would not be a problem.

Even if Sarutobi Hiruzen discovered Asuma's failure, he would still need a reason to remove Team Eight's Lead Jonin.

However, by the time he noticed, he probably would no longer have the ability to interfere with the greater authority.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Even without Orochimaru in the original story, you still succeeded.

Everything you forged to consolidate your power, I'll tear it all apart.

Fools will always be fools. Who knows how many people long for Konoha's land, how many covet it? Out with the old, in with the new.

After putting on an act for so many years, you still didn't dare let me see the Scroll of Seals.

You knew my Phantom Body Flicker was powerful, so you assumed I had the same talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu as my useless old man?

He shook his head and entered the Sealing Space in an instant.

Kurama was quietly lying on a bench. Whatever pleasant thing his consciousness in the outside world had encountered, the fox's mouth was stretched into a wide grin.

Wait a little longer. I don't want to let you out just yet.

The Chakra you left behind also contains extremely powerful Mental Power.

You can likewise survive in the bodies of White Zetsu Clones.

For now, I just want to rest properly for a while.

Naruto left the Sealing Space. He neither meditated nor did any other training.

He used the Mayfly Technique to reach the Supply Storage Point.

Only here could he truly relax and get a good night's sleep.

It was like asking a question: if one day you suddenly became rich, what would be the first thing you did?

Naruto would answer without hesitation: sleep beautifully first, then think about everything else after he had slept enough.

The storage point was densely covered in vines created by the Woods-Woods Fruit. If anything unexpected happened, Naruto would sense it immediately.

Moreover, those vines possessed an instinct to protect their master.

Some people thought they were hiding themselves well, but Naruto had sensed their movements long ago.

He simply had no interest in exposing them yet.

He slept until the next morning.

Naruto stretched lazily.

Then he began another new day.

The days that followed were simple as well.

Other than completing one D-Rank Mission every day,

He happily gathered, played, and trained with everyone. The intensity of his training had dropped considerably.

This made Naruto realize that after relaxing, his body had begun to develop faster.

Sleep truly was the most important thing.

During the day, he trained Ino, Tenten, Hinata, and Pink Hair.

At night, he helped Kurenai Yuhi and Mitarashi Anko train. They had zero foundation and had to be taught from the beginning.

During this time, Naruto also got to know an interesting Anbu Ninja.

Kurama had also successfully blended into their little circle.

Every noon, he came by right on time to freeload a meal.

After eating, he would sneak off to carry out some unknown missions.

Did Naruto not know just because Kurama did not tell him?

More than a hundred newly promoted Chunin and over a dozen newly promoted Jonin carried Seeds of Nine-Tails Chakra within them.

That was not something that could escape Naruto's senses.

He merely smiled at all of this. He had not expected Kurama to be so clever. If Kurama was willing to do it, then he could do it. Having been imprisoned for so many years, Naruto generally would not restrict him.

Of course, what surprised Naruto the most was that as his strength increased,

His Woods-Woods Fruit evolved once again.

He discovered that he could now hear the voices of Plants.

It was incredibly clear!

It was no longer that vague, hazy feeling from before.

So, Naruto planted a small sapling on his windowsill.

For the first few days, he talked to it, but it did not respond.

Whenever a breeze brushed against his face, the sapling would lean toward Naruto.

After around a week, the sapling could speak. Its voice was extremely childish!

"Hungry~"

"Lord Naruto, I'm so hungry~"

It gave Naruto quite a fright in the middle of the night.

Then he smiled and mixed some unenhanced Nutrients into the water before watering it.

About two months passed like this.

One day, after Uchiha Sasuke completed the mission to capture the lost pet, Little Tiger, by himself,

The Plants told Naruto that an old man who loved drinking and bragging had arrived in the village.

Naruto knew that the first C-Rank Mission had arrived.

"Demon Zabuza."

"Femboy Haku."

At night, Naruto lay on the bed, with a soft body beside him.

Only failure makes someone a rogue ninja.

Success makes someone the Mizukage.

Zabuza was a memorable character, and also the man who changed Naruto's resolve in the original story.

He killed every ninja from his own class, and he did so within the rules. The Bloody Mist Village of that era was incredibly dark.

In other words, that was the first time Zabuza questioned the Kirigakure higher-ups.

He was similar to Neji, but on a completely different level from Neji.

Naruto turned over and gently wiped away her tears.

The thoughts in his mind continued.

Unfortunately, Zabuza—no, none of the Mist Village Higher-ups knew that their Kage was no longer the original Kage.

Zabuza believed that killing the Fourth Mizukage would solve everything. Then the Bloody Mist Village's dark policies could be abolished.

Unfortunately, he had no idea that behind the Fourth Mizukage stood that old schemer, Uchiha Obito.

Poor Fourth Mizukage. From his first appearance to his end, he had always been controlled by someone else. He did not even have emotions of his own.

Right, even after dying, he was brought back by that bastard Uchiha Obito through Impure World Reincarnation and used as a Puppet.

When Zabuza took Haku away, he had said that he would return again. The next time he returned, Kirigakure would be in his hands.

Call it a pursuit of power or whatever else you wanted. The important thing was that he opposed the Blood Mist Village, and that was the greatest love he could have for the village.

In the original story, Kakashi had said, "Your ambitions are too great. You've sacrificed too many people. This kind of thing... isn't something a ninja should do."

Had Kakashi ever considered how many people died in the Blood Mist Village?

Political talk, huh.

And then, who was Kakashi's father?

The previous one to criticize politics. What a suffocating death he had.

Of course, that also had to do with Kakashi's helplessness. Unable to resist, he could only give up and drift along.

Zabuza's weakness was his arrogance and the fact that he had no cheat ability.

The first time, he tried to assassinate the Mizukage. The second time, Kakashi defeated him alone without taking a scratch, yet he still arrogantly claimed that he would definitely win next time.

That brought up another point. Which person who walked out of the Blood Mist Village had not crawled out from a mountain of corpses?

The same words still applied: you had no cheat ability.

The mission will probably arrive tomorrow.

"Mm~"

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

"Nothing. I was thinking about something."

"Mm... I'm so tired. I'm going to sleep first..."

Speaking of the Land of Waves, Gato also had to be mentioned.

He was merely an ordinary person. How could he possess so much wealth, keep doing shady business, and remain unharmed all this time?

Oh?

There really was someone like that in the world of Hokage.

The Daimyo.

Oh~ So he was laundering... laundering the money!

Money laundering was great these days. Money laundering made money.

Tazuna had only issued a C-Rank Mission because he had no money.

On the road, he said that the Land of Waves was an extremely poor country, so poor that even its Daimyo had no money.

Gato going to Feini? It definitely was not that simple.

Besides, Gato was also a ninja. Yes, a Free-Riding Ninja.

The first time Zabuza was injured, Gato wanted to kill him so he would not have to pay his wages.

Of course, he only dared stiff ordinary rogue ninja for their money. Just try stiffing Akatsuki and see what happened.

Kakuzu would be overjoyed.

But Akatsuki was incredibly formidable too; it took a nation-level figure to hire them. That's right, I'm talking about you, Ōnoki of Both Scales.

"Forget it, I can't sleep anyway. We'll talk about this tomorrow. Let's get to the important business first."

"The Land of Waves mission had plenty of interesting parts."

"Zabuza and Little Girl's love story, part one."