Sakura had an ominous feeling.
"Don't let your guard down. This time, keep a close eye on anything that differs from the original story."
Naruto nodded lightly. "Don't worry. I can instantly descend into the mental space now."
If they encountered an emergency, he would immediately make the Nine-Tails pay rent.
At worst, he could tear off the talisman sealing the gate and put on a show. He could always stick it back afterward.
Soon, the day of catching the cat arrived.
The trio's taijutsu had improved tremendously compared to the original story, so the kitten was quickly seized by the scruff of its neck by Naruto.
Seeing the kitten bare its claws and try to scratch Naruto's face, Naruto immediately declared that he would learn from Pan Hong and feed the kitten dragon fruit. Sakura stopped him.
The terrified kitten was smoothly handed over to the Daimyo's wife.
Naruto also took the opportunity to start causing trouble.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, stretched lazily, and then drawled, "These are the village's missions? They really don't require any skill at all."
Iruka, sitting beside the Third Hokage, flew into a rage and shouted, "Idiots! None of you have any experience!"
"You have to start with simple missions and accumulate experience! That's how everyone got through it!"
"Who's everyone? I don't know them." Naruto scratched his eyebrow. "I only know that I can catch every cat in a month in a single day. The person beside me is training in Water Style Jutsu, and Sasuke goes without saying—he had already mastered every Fire Style Jutsu of the Uchiha clan before graduating."
It was worth mentioning that water was among Sakura's Chakra natures. To farm the Land of Waves dungeon, she had already begun training in some basic Water Style Jutsu.
"Heh heh, it's a good thing for young people to be full of drive." Hiruzen exhaled a smoke ring and was about to explain Konoha's mission-ranking system to them.
Naruto interrupted Hiruzen's casting. "Stop. We know all that already. Give us a C-Rank Mission. Otherwise, give us all this year's D-Rank Missions. The sooner we finish our quota, the sooner we can take our annual leave."
Kakashi could barely keep a straight face and moved to grab Naruto, but Naruto predicted his prediction and directly dispelled the Shadow Clone.
The original body was secretly watching the Land of Waves' NPC, Tazuna, from behind the door.
Naruto hid in the blind spot behind the wall and carefully scrutinized Tazuna as the slightly drunk man paced back and forth.
His posture and expression showed no signs of possession. He seemed fine.
A moment later, Tazuna heard Hiruzen's instructions and pushed open the door to enter.
Naruto immediately left and headed to Konoha's Ninja Tool Shop to purchase ninja tools. Most of them were Explosive Tags and Soldier Pills—ninja tools capable of providing considerable one-time firepower—to ensure they could unleash saturated bombardments against enemies during periods of depleted Chakra.
Meanwhile.
"Sorry, Lord Hokage. I'll have a good talk with Naruto later." Kakashi wore an apologetic expression.
"Mm. In any case, your mission is to protect this Mr. Tazuna and ensure that he can successfully complete the bridge." Hiruzen nodded calmly.
Earlier, Kakashi had already chatted privately with Hiruzen several times.
Regarding some of Naruto's recent abnormal behavior, Hiruzen had instructed Kakashi to observe him secretly, figure out what Naruto wanted, and avoid making too much commotion, lest Danzo's hounds seize on rumors and wild guesses.
That was why he had not pursued the matter of Naruto and Sasuke beating people up too harshly some time ago.
A while later, at the gates of Konoha.
"Help me carry some of these." Naruto skillfully tossed one ninja tool pouch to Sakura, then threw another to Sasuke.
He had already given the two of them advance notice.
"You came quite well prepared." Kakashi appeared calm on the surface, but felt slightly surprised inside.
Was this really that careless dead last?
"Oh, this little runt is pretty cautious." Tazuna clicked his tongue and exhaled a breath of alcohol toward Naruto.
Naruto gave him a sidelong glance. "Oh, this old drunk is pretty good at putting on an act."
"Naruto!" Sakura scolded him, then apologized to Tazuna. "How can you talk about a respected senior like that? I'm sorry, sir. Please don't start acting drunk."
Naruto shrank his head back. "Ah, yes, yes. Don't hit me, sir. I'll buy you some drinks later."
Tazuna's face alternated between green and white. So you're just going to slap labels on me like that?
Sasuke remained expressionless and gestured for them to hurry up and set out.
Rustle, rustle, rustle...
Kakashi began chatting with Tazuna, bringing up the Land of Waves.
Naruto and Sakura, meanwhile, began paying attention to the ditches on the ground.
According to the original plot, the first two enemies to attack Tazuna would hide in a puddle by the roadside and ambush them from behind.
Rustle, rustle, rustle...
After quite some time passed.
Sasuke, Kakashi, and Tazuna's expressions remained normal.
Something was wrong...
There were 114,514 reasons something was wrong.
Where was the puddle? I'm asking you, where was the puddle?
Sakura glanced at Naruto. Her right fist slowly clenched, her fingertips turning white from the pressure.
The situation they least wanted to see had still appeared.
Had another transmigrator intervened, causing the plotline to change?
Naruto faced the situation as if it were a formidable enemy. Without the slightest hesitation, his mind immediately slipped into the mental space.
He would not give the enemy any chance to react. He had to activate his biggest cheat right now.
It was like suddenly entering deep water from dry land. Naruto's body seemed to experience about a second of pressure. When he opened his eyes again, he was already in the mental space.
The surrounding dim yellow light did not slow Naruto's rapid footsteps. He soon reached the Nine-Tails.
"Big Brother Nine-Tails, here's your chance to demonstrate your value." Naruto got straight to the point. "Lend me some of your Chakra to play with. Not much—I only need a tiny bit."
The Nine-Tails slowly rolled over, ignoring Naruto.
During this period, he had listened to Naruto's nonstop verbal bombardment pouring over him like a flash flood. To get some peace and quiet, he had recently decided to play dead.
Truly an evil human. The moment the seal is undone, I'll tear that mouth of yours to pieces!
Seeing this, Naruto was not surprised. He simply leaped to the gate and began tearing off the talismans attached to it.
Hearing the noise, the Nine-Tails immediately turned around.
"Kid, have you run into trouble?" the Nine-Tails asked with a low chuckle.
"So are you lending it to me or not?" Naruto stopped moving.
"Heh heh heh heh..." The Nine-Tails revealed a huge row of white teeth. "How presumptuous! You've belittled me for so long, and now you still want to take advantage of me!"
"Big Brother Presumptuous, go sit at the same table as Yunshan." Naruto's face remained expressionless. "Give me a definite answer. If you don't pay rent, I'll let you rot in my stomach. You're only half of the Nine-Tails anyway. At worst, I'll go find the other half."
The Nine-Tails' pupils contracted. "You actually know that I'm only half?"
"I also know that if you keep rambling, I'll go to the True Waterfall and drain all your Chakra while I'm there. Then I'll turn you into fox jerky."
Naruto was not joking. That was exactly what he had done before the Fourth Great Ninja War began in the original story.
The Nine-Tails fell silent. He could not understand how the brat before him knew so much about Tailed Beasts.
He was clearly nothing more than a vessel carrying it...
The man and fox temporarily reached a stalemate.
Meanwhile, while Naruto and the Nine-Tails were negotiating, a sudden change occurred!
Thin mist began to drift through the surroundings, gradually blocking everyone's vision.
Mist Technique!
Before you continue