Sakura's Twitching Right Eyelid

Naruto had an instinctive bad feeling. "You couldn't find any trace of Haku?"

"We found him," Pakkun said, looking somewhat embarrassed. "But Bull was seen by Haku when we were retreating. You know, his size..."

Naruto's expression stiffened. "Bull is the big one with the fleshy face?"

"Yes. And Bull said when he returned, Zabuza came out carrying his big sword, which scared it into dispelling the summoning on the spot."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "That means he's almost recovered... Strange, according to the timeline, it should still take a few more days?"

Naruto's face darkened. "It's Gato. He likely hired specialists to help Zabuza recover quickly."

He explained the plight of the laborers in detail, and their expressions all turned grim.

Sakura was silent for a moment, then broke the quiet. "Let's look on the bright side. At least we know Zabuza's current condition in advance, so we won't be caught off guard."

Sasuke cracked his knuckles and smiled faintly. "Right now, I really want to spar with that guy."

Naruto glanced at him. The guy Sasuke was referring to was likely Haku.

Speaking of which, after witnessing Naruto and Haku's abilities a while back, Sasuke's chuunibyou tendencies had significantly faded, and he'd been training much harder.

Now, the sky is clear, the rain has stopped, and Two-Eyes feels like he's back in his prime.

Naruto thought, It really is Two-Eyes' destiny to get beaten by strong people. He then patted Sasuke's shoulder with relief. "When the time comes, you'll go one-on-one with Haku."

Sasuke didn't reply, only let out a cold snort.

The three of them and the dog began to systematically transport the grain back. On the way, they compared the list of retainers Naruto had obtained and knocked out all the mercenaries they encountered on patrol, tying them up together. They also threw some grain into the laborers' small courtyard.

The area around Tazuna's old house had the most mercenaries. With no other options, the three of them dumped the tied-up mercenaries at Tazuna's home.

However, this was merely a stopgap measure. As long as Gato wasn't dealt with, the Land of Waves would never know peace.

The retainers were showing their strength, Zabuza had recovered from his serious illness, and the storm was brewing.

In the living room of Tazuna's new home, under the dim yellow light.

"We'll make our move tomorrow."

Kakashi set his cane aside and said gravely to the group.

"The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it will be. With Gato's methods, re-brainwashing the public is only a matter of time."

Naruto agreed with Kakashi's assessment. Although Gato wasn't strong militarily, he had money power. He could just buy another batch of food.

Sakura thought for a moment and asked, "Naruto, when will the Konoha reinforcements you mentioned arrive?"

"Probably in the next couple of days. I'm not sure of the specifics. Boss, do you have a plan?"

Kakashi surveyed the three of them. "Right now, Zabuza and the masked child are the biggest threats. Since we know their whereabouts, we'll find an opportunity to raid them tomorrow. Once we deal with them, we'll proceed with the 'beheading' plan against Gato."

Simple and clear.

Sasuke couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this plan a bit too simple?"

"No, I agree with Boss's idea," Naruto shook his head. "The more complex the plan, the more aspects need to be considered. If even one aspect goes wrong, the entire plan could fail."

Kakashi smiled and nodded. "That's exactly right."

Sasuke was surprised. He had been overshadowed by Naruto in terms of combat power before, but now, even in strategy, Naruto was surpassing him?

As if noticing Sasuke's gaze, Naruto said faintly, "Two-Eyes, if you're weak, train more."

"Naruto, try saying that again!"

Naruto yawned and didn't respond. Seeing this, Sasuke's eyes grew even colder.

"Stop, say one more word and I'll hit someone," Sakura calmly intervened.

The two of them shivered simultaneously and ceased their bickering.

Sasuke considered his overall strength to be formidable, but during this period, his apprehension towards Sakura had only grown.

The reason was simple: Sakura had made advancements in both Super Strength and Water Style Jutsu. Sasuke had personally witnessed her smash a giant rock with her bare hands.

"She could only crack it before..." At that moment, a storm raged in Sasuke's heart, and he too began to feel the pressure to compete. He started practicing Fire Style Jutsu whenever he had free time.

Overall, the combat power of the three had given Kakashi a subtle feeling of being unable to control them.

"There's still one issue," Sakura suddenly asked. "Do we need someone to stay behind here?"

Kakashi pondered for a moment. "Sakura, can you stay here and protect Mr. Tazuna and the others?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded without hesitation.

"Then I can rest assured." Kakashi signaled for them to prepare their personal belongings, and they would depart first thing tomorrow.

After the meeting, Naruto couldn't help but find Sakura. He whispered, "Hey, what are you thinking? Not running dungeons anymore?"

He thought that given Sakura's hardcore Soul Game player nature, she would at least personally deal with Gato, right?

"Sasuke needs the stimulus of Haku's secret techniques to awaken his Sharingan. You and Kakashi are here, they can't cause much trouble," Sakura replied calmly.

"Besides, I have a feeling something is off. Gato clearly knows about our existence yet he developed so many retainers. I suspect he has ulterior motives."

"That's why I'm staying here. If Tazuna is captured by the retainers, then everything will be lost."

Naruto hesitated upon hearing this, but he couldn't imagine what tricks Gato might have up his sleeve.

Perhaps it was just because our esteemed Sakura was being overly cautious?

Naruto said with forced casualness, "I feel like you might just be too tense from the high-intensity training these past few days, plus all this business with the retainers."

"Why don't we chat about something more relaxing, uh..."

"Like what?"

"Like, like talking about you. Yeah! I remember I haven't seen what you looked like in your past life." Naruto blinked.

"How about this, we both use Transformation Jutsu to see what each other looks like? Consider it our official meet-up in this other world?"

"No."

"What's wrong? Are you perhaps very ugly? Don't worry, I'm not some kind of superficial person."

"I said no."

Naruto scratched his head. The more Sakura acted like this, the more curious he became about her true appearance. He started pacing back and forth.

"I'll cover your meals for this month!"

"...I have parents. They'll cook for me."

"Oh, right. I forgot. How about you name a number, and I'll go buy a lottery ticket!"

Naruto suddenly remembered how lucky Naruto from the original story was, able to win the lottery just by buying a ticket.

"I can earn my own money." Sakura clearly refused, stating she wouldn't spend a man's money.

After that, Naruto proposed no less than ten other plans, only giving up reluctantly after Sakura was about to give him a head massage.

"Sigh, this shyness, definitely a woman. At least that rules out the option of '0'."

The next morning.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were all ready.

Before departing, Kakashi repeatedly warned, "When we encounter enemies later, you must follow my commands. Don't act on your own like last time."

"Don't worry, Boss."

"Let's go."

Sakura watched the three of them, her right hand gently stroking her cheek.

Her right eyelid started twitching again.