Naruto's Matter to Discuss

On the other side.

Naruto's main body was speeding through the forest, so fast that only afterimages remained.

In just a moment, he returned to the patch of grass where he had left his Shadow Clone.

Upon seeing his main body return, the Shadow Clone didn't waste any words and simply vanished into white smoke with a "poof."

Naruto himself emerged from the grass looking refreshed, even pretending to dust himself off.

At this moment, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna were gathered under a large tree, resting.

Kakashi caught sight of Naruto at a glance and couldn't help but tease, "You're... so... slow, Naruto!"

"Sorry, sorry..." Naruto walked over with a grin, spreading his hands with insincere apologies, "I accidentally got lost on life's path again."

Kakashi: "..."

He was momentarily speechless, feeling a subtle frustration at having his own signature line, as the Copy Ninja, copied by someone else.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get going."

Kakashi clapped his hands in resignation and stood up.

The group set off again, heading in the direction of Tazuna's house.

Each person's thoughts were different.

Tazuna was in the best mood, swaying his nearly empty sake bottle as he happily mused, "I only paid for a C-rank mission, and I got such a powerful team of ninja. This is a steal! The bridge has hope now!"

Sakura secretly glanced at Sasuke beside her, her face flushing slightly as she plotted in her mind, When we get to Tazuna's house, should I find a chance to ask Sasuke-kun for a walk? Maybe it'll help us get closer...

Naruto had his hands behind his head, walking with a leisurely air. His face held its usual relaxed and carefree expression, as if he had just gone for a stroll, not gone alone to subdue two formidable rogue ninja from Kirigakure.

Sasuke remained expressionless, his hands in his pockets, looking like a cool, handsome young man. However, his eyes would occasionally dart sharply around the surroundings.

Teacher Kakashi was so tense earlier, which means the enemy is definitely more than just those two. The next one... when will they come?

And the Teacher Kakashi, whom Sasuke was silently thinking about, was indeed on full alert at this moment.

One hand was in his pocket, while the other held Icha Icha Paradise, but he was constantly ready for battle.

The title of Konoha's number one technician wasn't earned for nothing. Kakashi's years of experience told him that the people Gato hired would never be just at the level of the Demon Brothers.

The greater danger was likely still ahead.

However...

The journey was uneventful.

Until an old but still spacious wooden house appeared at the edge of their vision. Tazuna stopped and pointed, "Everyone, we're here. This is my house."

Kakashi blinked in surprise and instinctively asked, "We're already here?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Tazuna turned back curiously.

"No, it's nothing..." Kakashi retracted his surprised gaze, muttering under his breath, "That's not right..."

This was too unusually smooth.

According to Kakashi's estimation, so much time had passed since the Demon Brothers' attack.

Gato should have at least organized another powerful ambush by now.

Could it be that he was just overthinking things?

Sasuke frowned, watching Kakashi scratch his head and mutter "Something's not right," and "How could this be?" He silently scorned, He's definitely been reading too many of those inappropriate novels, making him completely abnormal.

The group entered Tazuna's house, where they were greeted by Tazuna's daughter.

She was a gentle and simple-looking woman.

She thanked the Konoha ninja for escorting her father back and explained that Tazuna's grandson, Inari, had gone out somewhere and would return later.

Due to the long journey, Tazuna decided to rest for the day and officially begin bridge construction the next morning.

This meant they had a lot of free time that afternoon.

Sakura's eyes lit up at the news, feeling like an opportunity had arrived!

She took a deep breath, her face flushing, and was about to gather her courage to invite Sasuke beside her for a walk nearby.

To her surprise, Sasuke walked past Sakura and strode up to Naruto, saying crisply, "Hey, Naruto, it's time to continue training, right?"

Naruto seemed to have anticipated this and gave Sasuke a knowing look, "Yeah... Actually, I have something to tell you too."

"Something to tell me?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit perplexed. What else could we possibly have to discuss besides training?

"Teacher Kakashi."

Naruto turned and called out to Kakashi, who was still pondering why the enemy hadn't appeared, "Sasuke and I are going out to train. We'll be back before dinner."

"Huh? Oh..." Kakashi instinctively opened his mouth, about to blurt out "Be careful," but he swallowed the words back down.

Be careful?

Naruto's unfathomable strength, and Sasuke's rapid progress...

It seemed there was no need to worry about safety anymore.

Kakashi swallowed his words, and in the end, he just waved dismissively, saying, "Be back soon."

Watching the two figures leave one after the other, Kakashi felt a sense of redundancy, as if his role as Jonin Instructor was somewhat unnecessary.

But there was nothing wrong with that.

At least it wouldn't bring him any trouble, nor would he have to worry about them running into problems.

Most importantly, when it came to training, they could solve their own issues.

This was truly fantastic.

He didn't have to worry about almost anything.

Meanwhile...

Sasuke silently followed Naruto, walking out of Tazuna's house and heading towards a secluded forest in the distance.

The deeper they went, the quieter it became, with only the faint sound of their footsteps on fallen leaves.

Naruto was all too familiar with this forest.

Because in his first life, he and Sasuke had spent countless days here practicing climbing trees and controlling their Chakra.

And now...

Both climbing trees and walking on water were no longer a challenge for the current Sasuke.

Just as a wave of indescribable emotion surged through Naruto's heart...

Sasuke finally couldn't hold back and broke the silence, "Naruto, you said you had something to tell me, what is it?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately. He led Sasuke to a slightly more open area before stopping and turning around.

"Answer me a question first. Why do you think I'm willing to spend time teaching you?"

Naruto's expression was as calm as before, but instead of answering, he asked a question back.

Sasuke trusted him completely now, much earlier than in their previous Reincarnation. So, it was time to bring up the most crucial issue.

"This..."

Sasuke was momentarily speechless.

He had indeed never thought carefully about this question.

When did his relationship with Naruto become this close?

Before this, they weren't even considered friends.

If he had to find any common ground, it was probably that they had both deeply experienced the taste of "loneliness."

Ever since the Uchiha clan massacre, Sasuke had lived under that shadow.

Until Sasuke met another equally lonely "kindred spirit," Naruto.

If there was any difference...

It was that one went from having to having nothing, and the other went from having nothing to having something.

But even so, that wasn't a reason for Naruto to teach him everything he knew.

After much thought, Sasuke finally shook his head and honestly replied, "I don't know."

"The reason isn't complicated. I truly consider you my best friend, but that's not the main reason I'm teaching you."

Naruto's tone was casual, but he suddenly changed the subject, "The most crucial reason I'm teaching you to become stronger is Itachi Uchiha."