Naruto: Your Chakra Is Like Shit on the Side of the Road

"Nine-Tails, you betrayed me!"

Regarding the situation where the enemy was severely beaten by the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the person involved claimed that their mind was negatively influenced by the Nine-Tails, fitting the criteria for intermittent insanity and thus deserving a lighter punishment.

Oh, this is the ninja world, never mind then.

As the three were about to clean up the messy battlefield, Kakashi appeared leisurely.

He dragged several unconscious enemies with his right hand, looking at the three with a mixture of relief and worry in his eyes.

Kakashi's greatest worry was undoubtedly Naruto.

Is it really the Nine-Tails influencing him? he thought.

This was Kakashi's speculation from a while ago: Naruto's series of abnormal actions were very likely due to the Nine-Tails' manipulation.

He decided to secretly contact the Third Hokage later.

Damn Nine-Tails!

"Sorry for the hard work, everyone. I needed to observe whether the enemy's target was Team 7 or Mr. Tazuna, so I didn't intervene immediately. But, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, well done!"

He gave the three a thumbs-up and, along with the others, tied up the captives who were still breathing.

After dealing with them, Kakashi looked at Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, I'd like to speak with you alone."

This matter was of great importance. The identity and number of the attacking enemies far exceeded the scope that a C-rank mission could handle.

Seeing this, Naruto immediately stood up and scratched his butt. "Ah, it's perfect timing, I need to go to the toilet too, cough cough cough!"

He winked at Sakura.

Sakura put her hand to her forehead. Can't you be more serious when making excuses? Am I supposed to go to the bathroom with you, you big oaf?

After some thought, she claimed she also needed to relieve herself and then ran off in different directions.

A moment later, the two met up.

Upon seeing Sakura, Naruto immediately lowered his voice. "Something's not right. Don't you think this attack was too easy?"

Sakura nodded. "Indeed. It's like someone playing the Soul Game for the first time and putting all their points into strength – completely useless."

Although the intensity of this attack had increased, it was still just scratching an itch.

"Will he put this on Zabuza?"

"No. Zabuza can't mobilize these troops, but Gato can."

Gato, with his yakuza background, had hired Zabuza in the original story to assassinate Tazuna and prevent the bridge's completion, thereby cutting off the Land of Waves' maritime trade and gaining complete control.

"But doing this, besides giving us experience points, has no other meaning," Naruto began using game jargon.

"There are only two possibilities," Sakura said after thinking for a moment.

"Either that person hasn't watched Naruto, or he has other plans."

"Let's hope it's the former," Naruto sighed.

The two briefly deduced the possible upcoming situations and then began to head back.

They couldn't be gone too long, lest others become suspicious.

Before returning, Naruto released a Shadow Clone and sent it speeding back to Konoha to replenish their lethal ninja tools.

Upon their return, Kakashi looked at the three and briefly explained the situation.

It turned out that Tazuna, being short on cash, couldn't afford the reward for a mission above C-rank, so he had lied about the circumstances.

However, Naruto and Sakura immediately expressed their understanding. Especially when Tazuna used his family to garner sympathy, Naruto patted his chest vigorously, promising to take good care of his daughter!

As for Tazuna's grandson, that's another story...

Tazuna was teary-eyed and thanked them repeatedly, adding Naruto to his blacklist.

In fact, this also aligned with Naruto and Sakura's intentions. They wanted to nip the enemy in the bud, and if they couldn't kill them, they at least wanted to figure out what was going on.

Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets, coolly stating that these people weren't enough for him to fight.

"Alright, since you all insist," Kakashi scratched his head and decided to continue.

As they walked, Naruto's consciousness once again submerged into his spiritual space.

After this battle, Naruto discovered he could now communicate with the Nine-Tails in his spiritual space while walking. The sense of lag that occurred when his mind traversed the space had almost completely disappeared.

The dim, gloomy surroundings and the Nine-Tails' heavy breaths no longer exerted any pressure on Naruto.

Home again~

"Nine-Tails, I'm very disappointed in you," Naruto began, showing zero hesitation, and strongly expressed his dissatisfaction with the rent the Nine-Tails was paying.

"What? Didn't you use my power to defeat all the enemies? Hehehehehe..." The Nine-Tails squinted, its expression full of pride.

Finally, an opportunity for my intoxicating power to reappear in the world. Kid, the more you say this, the more it proves you can't control yourself!

"Let me put it this way," Naruto sat down cross-legged, disdainfully. "Your chakra is like dog shit on the side of the road, stinking to high heaven, but it's barely useful, like for fertilizing something."

"What did you say!" The Nine-Tails immediately bristled, its massive body seeming to double in size.

"Stop spouting nonsense, it's too noisy," Naruto said, picking at his earwax. "Why do you infuse your malice into your chakra?"

The Nine-Tails grunted, "I myself am the embodiment of malice, and it's not that my Chakra contains malice, but rather that my Chakra has drawn out the malice within you."

Naruto calmly retorted, "You're a malicious embodiment of a yo-yo. You've just been toyed with by humans too much, and the malice within you has only deepened."

"In fact, you originated from the Sage of Six Paths' division of the Ten-Tails, and the Ten-Tails' power comes from the Chakra Fruit within the Divine Tree."

The Nine-Tails froze. It never expected the boy before it to know so much.

It was the same last time; the boy had easily seen through the lies in the Nine-Tails' words.

The Nine-Tails was silent for a long time, "Who, exactly, are you?"

"Your landlord," Naruto said lightly. "Next time, I need you to provide me with purer Chakra. Otherwise, don't even think about getting out of the seal."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "Don't underestimate the Fourth Hokage, and don't underestimate the power of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style."

Without waiting for the Nine-Tails' response, Naruto directly withdrew from the mental space.

It was enough.

Naruto needed to control the Nine-Tails' Chakra. Not only did he need to manipulate it, but he also needed to show his uniqueness and bring the Nine-Tails and himself to the same level.

Once the Nine-Tails could stably supply refined Chakra, he would practice climbing trees and Water Walking, and after that, the Rasengan.

Of course, he could also add the practice of Shurikenjutsu. Afterward, Naruto planned to try practicing Uchiha Shuriken Throwing Technique.

The group walked for a few more hours. Naruto had a feeling and immediately threw a Kunai, accurately scaring away a little white rabbit.

It was a snow rabbit specifically used for the Body Replacement Technique.

"Zabuza is here," Sakura whispered a telepathic message to Naruto. Naruto nodded and made a gesture behind him.

The Shadow Clone Naruto behind him was ready.

"BOOM!"

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind sounded through the air.

Kakashi faced the enemy as if on high alert and shouted, "Get down!" Naruto pushed Tazuna's head down, and Sasuke and Sakura simultaneously lowered their heads. The group narrowly dodged Zabuza's greatsword.

Bare-chested, tall, with a mask covering his face, he exuded a fierce, chilling aura.

The surroundings were filled with mist. The Mist Technique made visibility extremely low. However, the Shadow Clone did not use Explosive Tags to disperse the mist. He planned to let Kakashi act according to the original story first and see if he could ambush Haku, who would arrive later.

The main body, Naruto, narrowed his eyes, carefully observing Zabuza's appearance.

He couldn't see anything unusual yet. He would see if Zabuza would act according to the original story later.