Hearing a noise behind him, the researcher turned around.
"Lord Danzo." Seeing who had arrived, the researcher hurriedly bowed.
"I brought you what you asked for, but things turned out a little differently than expected." Danzo got straight to the point and took out the item in his hand.
The researcher took it, looking at the object in his hand with some confusion. He didn't understand why Danzo had given it to him.
He looked at Danzo questioningly.
"This is Naruto Uzumaki's blood—the jinchuriki's blood." Danzo got straight to the answer.
"Lord Danzo, are you sure this is blood?" The researcher clearly didn't believe it. His arm trembled slightly.
The contents rolled around inside. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like blood.
Danzo didn't know how to explain it, so he could only ask the researcher to study it first.
After Naruto brought the wild boar he'd hunted back to the village, everyone immediately cheered and praised him.
In the end, the village chief invited everyone to stay for a meal, but Naruto and the others turned him down.
The four of them returned to the village.
The pay for this mission was higher than for their previous ones. It couldn't help but make them feel that the only way to earn money was to leave the village.
"Take two days off. I have a mission tomorrow, so train on your own. Meet at the Hokage Building in two days." The three of them had just received their pay and were still there when Kakashi spoke.
As an elite Jonin, he had missions of his own to handle.
"It's about time. Those lousy missions were such a pain." Uchiha Sasuke complained to himself.
"Fine, we'll train on our own, then." Naruto nodded reluctantly. It made no difference to him anyway.
Hinata stood behind Naruto and gave a small nod without saying anything.
Kakashi vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
Early that morning, Hinata was in the courtyard of the Hyuga Clan compound, practicing Gentle Fist against a wooden post.
"I have to keep up with Naruto." Having finally ended up on the same team as Naruto, Hinata treasured the opportunity.
At a window in the distance, Hyuga Hiashi stood watching, his brows furrowed.
"What happened to Hinata?" Hiashi asked quietly.
"My lord..." Someone behind him quietly explained what had happened the day before.
Hiashi frowned. He should have been happy to see Hinata working hard, but if she was doing it for a boy, could a father really be happy about that?
Especially when Hinata's little hands were already injured. Red blood stained the wooden post.
Hiashi couldn't help clenching his hands around the railing.
His feelings were written plainly on his face. The person behind him quietly withdrew without drawing attention.
Sigh! I shouldn't have agreed to it.
Hiashi regretted agreeing to the Third Hokage's terms.
He stood there, outwardly calm, not knowing how long he had been watching.
As for Hinata, she was still training with all her might.
Naruto was a little surprised when little Hinata didn't come to see him.
He went out onto the street, bought something to eat from a random shop, and left. Perhaps Danzo had been quieter lately; although people on the street still looked at him in a way he found unpleasant, nobody said anything aloud.
After buying his food, he left the street and went to his usual spot to continue training.
His Shadow Clones began training while his real body started thinking.
A person's imagination would always be more important than their strength.
"I need to free the Nine-Tails as soon as possible. I wonder how long until the Chunin Ninja Exams?" Naruto no longer remembered the exact date of the Chunin Ninja Exams, but he knew they would take place after the mission in the Land of Waves.
"Then I'll be able to devour Shukaku, the One-Tail." The One-Tail seemed to have quite a few abilities: sealing, Wind Release, and Magnet Release. In terms of combat strength, the One-Tail was actually pretty decent. It just didn't have much chakra, which made it seem weak.
Thinking about the Tailed Beasts' abilities, Naruto couldn't help wondering about those of the other Tailed Beasts. They all had special abilities, and those abilities were pretty good. That was what he wanted. Also, if he absorbed the chakra of all the Tailed Beasts, he might gain Six Paths Power.
The Akatsuki would begin capturing the Tailed Beasts in three years. He had to find a way to devour their chakra before then.
"Shadow Clones still aren't enough. If only I could use Wood Clones. I remember the Second Tsuchikage could split himself apart. That's a real clone. I wonder if I can get my hands on it." Especially when he thought of the Second Tsuchikage's splitting ability: it truly divided him into two people. That ability was perfect for Naruto.
He had to find a way to get that secret technique.
He closed his eyes and began to ponder. He would try awakening Wood Release himself.
Naruto began researching Wood Release. Of course, he had his Shadow Clones do the research, starting with Water-Earth Fusion.
Naruto himself began searching for the Asura Chakra inside his body, to see if he could find any information about Wood Release there.
After an unknown amount of time, Naruto finally found that faint trace of special chakra in his mind.
"It's only chakra. There's no soul." After sensing it, Naruto couldn't help frowning. Were Asura and Indra really dead?
That was the question he was most curious about.
In the original story, the Sage of Six Paths existed as a soul, and he was in the Pure Land.
If Madara Uchiha could be revived, why couldn't the Sage of Six Paths?
"Is he avoiding something?" There seemed to be many enemies of the Ninja World: the Otsutsuki, the Evil God, and demons like Moryo, all coveting the Ninja World.
So nobody knew whether the Sage of Six Paths was good or evil.
Staring at that special chakra, Naruto began to hesitate.
If he devoured it, would the Sage of Six Paths notice?
To the Sage of Six Paths, neither Naruto nor Hashirama was his son. What he truly cared about was the chakra before him.
After hesitating for who knew how long, Naruto still didn't completely devour that trace of chakra. He didn't know what the consequences would be.
Two days passed quickly.
The three of them gathered at the Hokage Building again.
This time, they didn't go to the first floor to accept a mission.
"Teacher Kakashi, what are we going to do?" Although Naruto had an idea what the mission might be, he couldn't help asking.
"We're going to the Lord Hokage for a more difficult mission." By the time Kakashi finished speaking, they had reached the door of the Hokage's office.
The three of them all looked excited, especially Hinata. She was from the Main Family and couldn't leave the village unless there was a good reason.
"Lord Third Hokage," Kakashi greeted him.
"Lord Third Hokage," Hinata and the others greeted him.
"Grandpa Hokage," Naruto greeted him.
"Mm, you're here. I have a mission suitable for you to complete." As he spoke, the Third Hokage picked up a mission scroll and began explaining it to them.
Naruto didn't listen. From the moment he entered, he had noticed a peculiar old man holding a sake bottle and looking thoroughly drunk.
The old man secretly sized them up. When he saw Naruto and the others, disappointment flashed in his eyes. But when he saw Kakashi, a hint of delight appeared in them. He had clearly recognized Kakashi.
"Lord Hokage, are these kids really reliable? I heard there are lots of bandits in the Land of Fire. Are they strong enough to protect me?"