Suspected split personality?

The two instantly tensed up. Naruto signaled Sakura to stay quiet, then he himself got low to the ground and slowly crawled towards the sound.

There was no moonlight, only the sounds of the stream and insects on this summer night. The intermittent rustling, though faint, was still noticeable enough.

As they got closer to the source of the sound, Naruto vaguely saw a dark silhouette. He wanted to continue forward, but he accidentally pressed down on a thin branch beneath him, making a crisp "snap."

Naruto's eyelids twitched. He immediately froze, remaining motionless. However, the dark figure seemed to be startled by Naruto and quickly disappeared before his eyes.

"It's a shame, my biggest problem right now is my poor mobility," Naruto grumbled inwardly, regretting it.

Before, his Rasengan surprise attack from behind Orochimaru had been dodged once, and his surprise attack on Kin had also been dodged once. His strongest offensive technique currently could only kill a giant python to entertain everyone. Moreover, he had no genjutsu or similar abilities to strongly control enemies.

This gave Naruto an overwhelming sense of being "unbalanced." Perhaps it was enough for the single-player mode of the Naruto world, but in this "multiplayer mode," his weaknesses in certain areas could be amplified infinitely.

It seems I'll need to learn some new jutsu after the second stage, he thought.

Naruto waited quietly on the ground for another ten minutes, not moving. After ensuring the dark figure wouldn't return, he slowly crawled forward again, then slowly stood up to examine the traces left by the figure.

There were one or two faint footprints on the grass around. They were undoubtedly human. Looking closer, a piece of paper with writing on it lay quietly on the ground.

"Again?" Naruto immediately felt terrible. For the past two days, he'd been dreaming about the "crazy ramblings" carved into tree trunks, it had almost become a psychological scar.

Can't you just be a normal person!

But thinking that the note might contain important information, Naruto hesitated for a moment before opening it.

Written on it in elegant Japanese characters was a line of text:

[Let's talk, clear up misunderstandings, tomorrow]

Naruto's brow furrowed instantly. He had been prepared to be disgusted again, but the current situation had clearly exceeded his expectations.

Another Transmigrator? No, if it's a new Transmigrator, why would they use the phrase "clear up misunderstandings"? It sounds more like something someone who has already contacted us would say.

But the writing carved on the tree trunk before was obviously crooked, completely different from the current handwriting.

Naruto remained noncommittal and took the note back to share with Sakura.

Like Naruto, she initially subconsciously thought it was a newcomer, but she quickly dismissed the idea.

"What does this 'Ming' mean? Her codename?" Sakura frowned slightly.

"I suspect she meant to say 'Tomorrow at XX time at XX place to talk.' When I was almost there, I accidentally made a sound, and that dark figure ran off. She probably only wrote half of it," Naruto said, then looked around, finding nothing unusual.

Sakura murmured softly, "The handwriting has changed, her actions are cautious and logical, and her thinking is also normal..."

"I have a guess," Naruto suddenly said.

"Multiple personalities?"

"Cough, cough, look, we thought of the same thing," Naruto scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed about the prematurely halted display of intelligence.

"The look in her eyes when she fled was full of fear. That's a normal reaction, but it contradicts her previous 'werewolf bluffing' move," Sakura added. "If our deduction is correct, then her crazy personality craves our approval, while her calm personality desires to resolve the conflict."

Upon hearing this, Naruto finally felt a sense of relief.

In terms of strength, he wasn't afraid of Kin at all, and even found it a bit amusing. But if this person was a lunatic, that would be another story, because lunatics are unpredictable and could do things that cause one to lose sanity, which is mental pollution.

"It's good that she's a normal person... Then we just need to proceed normally, and she'll eventually come to us on her own."

"But what if she goes crazy again later? And even if she becomes normal, are we just going to let her go?"

Naruto remained silent. In fact, he was somewhat resistant to the idea of "[killing a patient]." Patients shouldn't be sent to the execution ground, but to a hospital. But unfortunately, this was the ninja world.

"We only have the option to deal with her, but at least we should listen to her thoughts. That way, it will be easier to track her movements," Naruto said.

The two discussed a few more possibilities. Naruto signaled Sakura to go sleep, and he would stand guard. He stared at his faint dark circles and took out the small white snake from his sleeve.

For the past two days, he had occasionally fed the little snake some fish, and it seemed to be healthy.

Naruto studied the little snake for a while. How do you use this thing?

After thinking, he brought his lips close to the little snake: "Hello, hello, is Anko there? Reply if you receive."

After a moment, the little snake suddenly stiffened and spoke in a human voice: "I'm here, what's up?"

Wow, this thing's a walkie-talkie now!

Naruto organized his thoughts and whispered, "Investigation reveals that Otogakure was founded by Orochimaru. The three Sound Ninjas participating in the Chunin Exams this time are Orochimaru's subordinates. They attacked Uchiha Sasuke yesterday for unknown reasons."

Naruto deliberately emphasized "unknown reasons," trying to give Anko the impression that he wasn't omniscient.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and the little snake continued to speak in a human voice: "Understood. I will pay special attention to these three people, but if necessary, I will report to Lord Hokage."

"No need. Two of those three are already dead. Only Kin Hammer is alive now. I need you to track her whereabouts. She is very dangerous."

There was another pause on the other end, as if processing the massive amount of information. Naruto held the little snake in his hand, looked around, and said unhurriedly.

"...What are Kin's abilities? Why do you say she's dangerous?"

Heh, I can't tell you everything.

Naruto thought for a moment and said, "She uses bell sounds as a means of attack and confusion. She has mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu. As for why she's dangerous... her mental state is unstable."

"Received. I will contact you again when I have news."

Anko hung up the 'phone,' put the little snake in her pocket, thought for a moment, and walked into the Chunin Exam proctoring venue.

It was a modern-looking room, equipped with numerous surveillance cameras. Some Chunin examiners and Anbu were gathered there, discussing the details of the exam.

As a precaution, Anko ultimately chose to report Orochimaru's matter to her superiors, but she concealed the fact that she and Orochimaru had interacted with Naruto. She only said that her Curse Mark had reacted and reported the details of the Grass Ninja's death.

At the same time, she also reviewed Naruto Uzumaki's file and learned that the Nine-Tails was sealed within him.

"So that's how it is. He must have lived in hardship since childhood, which is why he developed such skills," Anko thought.

However, Anko had her own opinions about Kin.