The Storyline Changed Again

Before washing away the evil at the True Waterfall, the Nine-Tails Chakra could draw out the malice buried deep within a person's heart.

For Naruto now, the experience of more than twenty years from his previous life was enough to keep him from being deeply affected. On top of that, the Nine-Tails had reclaimed some of the malice, making the Chakra absorption purer than before.

Naruto could feel power beginning to surge through every cell in his body. A faint red Chakra surfaced around him, causing the temperature in the air to rise.

Naruto did not hesitate. He dug his toes into the ground and charged toward Haku like a thunderbolt, throwing a heavy punch aimed straight at shattering his mask!

At the same time, Sakura pulled out a Fuma Shuriken and spun once before throwing it. The target was Zabuza's "corpse"!

Everything happened in the blink of an eye!

Kakashi instinctively tried to stop them, but he had exhausted too much of his strength and could not move for the moment. Sasuke caught him.

Haku's heart sank. He immediately carried Zabuza and dodged to the side.

"Boom!" Naruto's thunderous strike tore through the air with a sonic boom. As he flexed his muscles, he forcibly adjusted his body in midair, rapidly wrapping his legs in Chakra. He actually kicked the missed Fuma Shuriken toward Haku!

"Damn, I nearly got my leg chopped off by that blade," Naruto snarled with a grin. Inertia sent his body pitching toward the tree trunk ahead. He kicked off it and shot toward Haku again, red Chakra wings sprouting from his back and accelerating his launch.

Though he had retained his basic rationality, Naruto's fighting style had still become vicious, carrying the air of a fight to the death.

Haku kicked the grip in the center of the Fuma Shuriken, then, after bouncing away, threw senbon toward Naruto's pressure points.

Naruto easily deflected all the needles with the Nine-Tails Chakra, then headbutted Haku and Zabuza away. Sakura had already charged to Haku's rear.

Haku rolled several times before flying into a rage.

"You dare lay hands on Mr. Zabuza's beautiful body!" A crack split his mask, his hair whipping wildly. The cool and aloof air he had possessed at the start vanished completely.

Naruto stood before him with a half-smile. "Little chick, you've finally shown your true colors, huh?"

The Domineering Femboy Falls for the CEO. Not bad.

Haku began forming hand seals with one hand. It looked as though he intended to reunite Naruto with his family on the spot.

And right at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

A large squad of masked ninjas clad in silver armor streamed out one after another and charged toward Tazuna. Sasuke was shocked and instinctively threw all the Explosive Tag Shuriken from his pouch, then shouted at Naruto, "Naruto, let's retreat!"

He felt like a nanny on the battlefield, sometimes protecting Tazuna and sometimes protecting Kakashi.

He had given too much to this team...

"Lin Bei's Gato!" Naruto cursed. They could no longer keep chasing Haku. Otherwise, if the enemy stole the crystal and Tazuna died, they would be laughing and celebrating while getting a game-over.

"Boom! Boom!" At that moment, the traps Sakura had set up in advance began triggering one after another. The enemy suffered heavy casualties as blood and chunks of flesh flew through the air, black smoke billowed, and everything descended into chaos.

The three-person team gathered together. Naruto carried Kakashi, Sasuke carried the terrified Tazuna, and Sakura threw the remaining lethal ninja tools toward Haku to stop him from forming an ice shield.

However, Haku's secret technique required the enemy to be within the range of his spell. Naruto and Sakura unanimously decided that the original Naruto must have had a brain made of iron. Otherwise, they could probably have kept throwing Explosive Tags from outside until Haku was overwhelmed.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The five fled amid the chaos. Before leaving completely, Naruto deliberately summoned a Shadow Clone and had it begin traveling toward Konoha.

Damn, you think you're the only one who can use human-wave tactics?

I'll go straight back to Konoha for reinforcements and bring an entire company over. Let's see how you fight then!

Sakura gave Naruto a thumbs-up for his cleverness.

The group hurried along as fast as they could and finally escaped the enemy's encirclement. The three-person team quickly asked for the address of Tazuna's home and began considering whether they should move somewhere else for safety first.

In the original story, Gato's mercenaries had specifically gone to Tazuna's home, planning to take his family hostage.

If Naruto had not overslept, Tazuna's daughter and grandson might have met with disaster.

"In the original story, they didn't move because it was meant to portray Tazuna's grandson's growth. That was a consideration for the character arc. But if we don't move now, we'll just be acting like idiots."

Naruto, who had returned to his senses, sternly declared that they had to move. If they refused, he would let them learn what it meant for the Nine-Tails Fox to be born evil.

"Exactly. Kishimoto knows jack shit about Naruto." Sakura nodded. At the same time, Sasuke and Tazuna overheard their conversation.

The two of them were utterly bewildered.

Sasuke coughed and cut in, "We really can't stay where we are. And for now, we'd better not go to the bridge either."

"Right!" Naruto slapped his forehead. "Old man, just stay with us for two weeks. Once Konoha's Imperial Army arrives, we'll figure out what to do next."

Sakura covered her forehead. What the hell was Konoha's Imperial Army supposed to mean?!

Could he be serious for once?!

Tazuna looked agitated. "No! Construction on the bridge absolutely cannot stop. It's the only hope Land of Waves has..."

As he spoke, his eyes grew moist.

"Smack!" Naruto slapped the back of his head impatiently. "Can you look at the bigger picture? It's not like I'm forbidding you from building it. I'm only saying you should halt construction for a while."

"Besides, stopping work will throw Gato off. That way, he won't go after your workers. Do you understand?"

"I'll draft the work-stoppage notice," Sakura said, feeling somewhat sympathetic toward Tazuna. Naruto made her feel like he was some kind of bandit. "I used to write promotional posts all the time, so the wording won't be a problem."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I thought you were a streamer. After all that, you're a civil servant?"

"A public institution employee," Sakura said calmly.

"Hey, I'm just saying," Naruto said with a wicked grin. "Do the men around you feel especially accomplished when they conquer you? You're both a speedrunner and a public employee..."

In Naruto's eyes, Sakura still had a powerful personal charm. In his previous life, he would definitely have been willing to be friends with a girl like her.

And she was still such a fresh-faced Sichuan girl. Who didn't know that the Land of Abundance was especially good at raising beautiful people...

Ahem, Mu0 excluded.

Sakura: "Get lost."

Naruto: "You got it."

The group rushed back to Tazuna's house at full speed. Sakura took the lead and explained the situation to Tazuna's family.

Of course, Tazuna agreed to move. After all, if he hadn't, Naruto would have helped him agree.

"I don't want to move!" Tazuna's grandson, Inari, suddenly shouted before running upstairs.

Tazuna's daughter looked apologetically at them and asked cautiously, "Could we move in a few days? Inari needs time to prepare himself. Besides, this gentleman needs care too." She pointed at Kakashi on Sasuke's back.

"We're moving now," Naruto said expressionlessly. "Ma'am, we can't gamble on Gato's kindness. We already encountered two attacks on the way here. If they come looking for us afterward, it will be too late."

With that, he strode upstairs, then looked back and smiled at Tazuna's daughter.

"Don't worry. I won't hit him."

The little brat was attached to his home. That was understandable.