Timeline Convergence / A New Teacher

Anyone who got into at least three fights every day would eventually get sick of it.

"Ah, youth is wonderful. Back in my day..." Kakashi watched the three of them bicker and fight, sighing wistfully. He made no move to stop them.

But then, perhaps remembering something, his mood suddenly darkened, and he fell silent.

"Kakashi-sensei, aren't you going to stop them? Naruto's being so reckless, and Sasuke's injuries haven't healed yet!" Sakura looked at him hopefully.

As he looked at Sakura, Kakashi seemed to catch a glimpse of a girl's figure. A powerful sense of guilt suddenly welled up inside him, and he couldn't help lowering his head.

I have to find Sakura a suitable teacher. If things continue like this, her talent will go to waste...

Otherwise, once Naruto and Sasuke have grown stronger, she'll probably be the one holding them back.

Let's leave the noisy group to their journey for now. Elsewhere, Hiruzen had already received a detailed report on the mission.

There were two reports: one from Kakashi, and the other from—

Anbu—Root!

Chapter 26: Timeline Convergence

Although the Root organization had long since been disbanded by Hiruzen's order after committing a grave mistake, that didn't mean it no longer existed. The documents that kept appearing on his desk were all proof of its presence.

Hiruzen knew exactly what Danzo was trying to say. Whether he liked it or not, Root was still there. Protecting the Leaf Village was its duty, not serving him as Hokage.

I've delivered the intelligence reports. Read them or don't.

As for this report... Heh. Danzo was expressing his displeasure.

The message it conveyed was—

Just look at all the trouble you caused by letting the Jinchuriki and the Uchiha remnants run wild. This is what happens when you refuse to take my advice!

Yes, both Naruto and Sasuke were prime targets for Danzo's surveillance. Hiruzen knew perfectly well why.

The two reports told different stories from different perspectives. Reading them together, Hiruzen could easily understand the whole situation as an outsider.

There was no denying that Naruto and Sasuke had grown far beyond his expectations.

He was quite satisfied with that. It proved his strategy was right: Naruto needed to get out more if he was going to grow into a capable fighter.

The only thing that made him frown was that the seal had still leaked. Naruto's Tailed Beast Transformation hadn't been under his control, and the Root ninja hidden nearby had almost exposed themselves by stepping in to suppress him.

What did one little mission matter? The important thing was that there could be no problems with the Nine-Tails' seal!

Fortunately, the worst hadn't happened. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

The report identified the Commoner Ninja named Keiichi as the culprit behind Naruto's Tailed Beast Transformation. It had been his rash decision that brought all this about.

The report recommended sending him to Root, where Lord Danzo could personally "instruct" him and teach him that a proper ninja didn't need to have ideas of his own!

Hiruzen thought long and hard about the recommendation, but in the end, he rejected it.

Looking at the final outcome, things had gone as perfectly as they could have, even if luck had played a major part.

Besides, Keiichi had rendered great service this time. Whether it was helping the Leaf Village secure ownership of the bridge or killing Zabuza and obtaining Kubikiribōchō, his actions deserved praise and encouragement. What sense did it make to send him to Root?

Hiruzen knew better than anyone how ruthless his old friend could be.

Unless Keiichi made a mistake one day, there was no reason to send him to Root.

Of course, if Danzo was willing to give up something in return, Hiruzen might just have to sacrifice the poor boy.

Hiruzen retrieved the mission request to protect Tazuna from the archives, then personally added and revised some of its details.

With those changes, what had originally been a C-rank mission was upgraded to an A-rank one.

The mission reward was also raised to one million ryo, to be distributed by Kakashi, the team leader.

After taking care of that small matter, Hiruzen turned his attention to the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams. Many ninja from other villages would be visiting this time, and maintaining security alone was a headache.

Besides, the Chunin Ninja Exams were ultimately a stage for each village to display its strength. If the Leaf Village, as host, couldn't put on a convincing show and intimidate the surrounding nations, it might even become the spark that set off a war.

As Hokage, if he didn't worry about these things, who would? He could only brace himself and begin refining the plans, doing everything he could to ensure nothing went wrong.

What was going on?!

What in the world had happened?!

It had only been a few days since he'd returned to the Leaf Village, but when Keiichi opened his system panel, he was stunned.

"Plot Modification Rate: 0.83551%"

The day before, it had still been above 1.2%. How had it dropped so much all at once?

As a result, he could no longer redeem many items in the Exchange Shop that required a rate of at least 1%. No matter how many points he spent, it wouldn't work!

Why had it dropped so much?

Keiichi spent the whole day trying to figure it out, but it wasn't until the third day, when he happened to hear something from Naruto, that he felt completely crushed.

The bridge he'd renamed "Leaf Bridge" had been renamed again!

It had become "Naruto Bridge" once more!

Keiichi nearly spat blood. All his efforts had gone down the drain!

After asking around, he learned that Lord Hiruzen had suddenly decided to let the people of the Land of Waves choose the bridge's name themselves, hoping to win their hearts.

As it turned out, Naruto had accidentally saved Kaiza's wife and won the support of the entire village.

After all, Kaiza was a hero who had stood up to Gato, and his death was a source of pain for every villager.

So everyone had unanimously decided to name the bridge Naruto Bridge, in gratitude for Naruto's kindness.

After hearing the whole story, Keiichi was thoroughly depressed.

You could've named it Kaiza Bridge, at least. Why did you have to call it Naruto Bridge?!

Doesn't that just take us right back to where we started?

No wonder the plot modification rate had dropped so much. It made perfect sense.

Wait, could this be...

Keiichi suddenly thought of something and furrowed his brow.

He'd once watched plenty of movies about time loops. One concept that came up in them was timeline convergence. The basic idea was that if someone was destined to die, then no matter what you did, they would still die at that point in time.

Could Naruto Bridge have been affected by timeline convergence, too?

If so, modifying the plot was even harder than he'd imagined. He had no way of knowing whether his efforts would pay off. Maybe, with a sudden snap, everything would go right back to the way it was supposed to be.

Thinking it over, although the entire Naruto Bridge Incident he'd been involved in had unfolded very differently, the outcome was the same. Could that also have been the effect of timeline convergence?

The Naruto Bridge Incident was only a minor plotline, yet it had already been affected by timeline convergence. If he reached a truly crucial plot point, would he be able to change anything?

Take Sasuke's defection, for example. If he could change Sasuke's mind, he'd surely earn a massive number of Magic Modification Points. But what if Sasuke suddenly changed his mind at the last moment?

With timeline convergence at work, that wasn't impossible!

The only thing that comforted him was that although the bridge's name had been changed back, he hadn't lost the Magic Modification Points he'd earned for changing it in the first place. Otherwise, he really would have been devastated.

As if afraid the system might take them back, Keiichi hurriedly opened the reward menu and redeemed the monthly bundle, quickly spending all 50 Magic Modification Points.

You can't deduct them until I'm in the negative, can you?

"Congratulations, Host. You have received the following rewards:"

50 Magic Modification Points, Water Clone Technique (Elite), Summoning Beast: Magikarp (LV1), Spirit: Iron Wall (1 use available).

Looking at the Magikarp wriggling on the ground, Keiichi was completely numb.

This was so humiliating. It was practically on par with Naruto summoning a tadpole!

Chapter 27: A New Teacher

After he turned in Kubikiribōchō, the promised compensation was delivered soon after. Keiichi was so moved that tears nearly filled his eyes.

He finally had a home. He no longer had to work hard just to pay off a mortgage!

And as it happened, he was Naruto's neighbor. The layout was exactly the same, too.

On his first day in his new home, Keiichi couldn't help thinking—

Heaven help me, Naruto. What right do you have to complain about being poor? You've had a home of your own since you were a child!

A house in exchange for a sword. Was that a bad deal?

Not at all!

Anyone else would have thought he'd gotten the short end of the stick, but Keiichi couldn't have been more satisfied. He even made the old Third Hokage feel a little embarrassed.

Was I being too harsh?

You poor, foolish boy...

Only Keiichi knew that after the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, the Shinobi World entered a long stretch of peace that was plain for all to see. As a result, property prices in the Leaf Village began to soar. In ten years, this house he lived in now wouldn't sell for less than a hundred million ryo.

Could one Kubikiribōchō really be worth that much?

What did you call this?

Investing in the future!

Now he didn't have to share a room with his teammates anymore. He wouldn't have to listen to their snoring and teeth grinding, or put up with their stinky feet that had practically been smoked into the room...

Third Hokage, you're a good man!

As soon as he finished moving, he rushed to the hospital to visit his teammates, who were still recovering from their injuries. He also brought them this "good news."

Then, beneath three pairs of envious, jealous, and resentful eyes, he strode out of the hospital, completely satisfied.

Excellent. That was a huge success. I feel refreshed!

The only bad news was that they'd have to stay in the hospital for another month, then go through recovery training. There was no way they'd make it to the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Fortunately, Hiruzen had promised to find Team 25 a new team leader as soon as possible, and the leader would be a Jonin.

That was also part of the compensation for turning in Kubikiribōchō.

So Keiichi wasn't too worried. As long as their team leader was willing to help him register, he could still make it to the Chunin Ninja Exams.

With his current strength, was he really going to remain a Leaf Village Genin for the rest of his life? He'd given up on the path of staying in the shadows in this life.

"Keiichi, I'm sorry I broke my promise." As soon as he got back from the hospital, he found Kakashi waiting outside his house. The moment Kakashi saw him, he spoke with an apologetic expression.

"Uh? What's going on?" Keiichi asked, completely confused.

"I'm afraid I can't teach you the Water Clone Technique." Kakashi scratched the back of his head, looking quite awkward.

Keiichi understood as soon as he heard that. Kakashi couldn't vouch for him, and something had gone wrong with the matter of him "knowing how to use Water Clones."

"Why?" Keiichi steadied himself and asked.

"It was Lord Hiruzen's order. He wouldn't allow me to do it."

Kakashi briefly explained. In the report he'd written, he'd claimed that the Water Clone that had turned the tide was one he'd prepared in advance, so Keiichi wouldn't be implicated.

What he didn't know was that even the Root report didn't believe Keiichi had been capable of creating a Water Clone disguised as Kakashi. It had treated him as nothing more than a supporting player who'd distracted Zabuza.

So Hiruzen couldn't understand why Kakashi had suddenly decided to teach Keiichi the Water Clone Technique.

He'd rejected the proposal outright and even sent Kakashi to warn Keiichi. Even if he really had learned the Water Clone Technique, he wasn't allowed to use it.

If he did use it and anyone became suspicious, he wasn't to say Kakashi had taught it to him. Otherwise, he'd bear the consequences.

Keiichi wasn't surprised. Compared to him, Kakashi's existence was obviously far more important to the Leaf Village.

That was why Kakashi couldn't teach Keiichi the Water Clone Technique. They had to keep their connection to it quiet.

If he wanted to use the Water Clone Technique in the future, he'd have to explain where he'd learned it. Otherwise, no one would vouch for him.

His mood immediately soured. He'd just gotten the Water Clone Technique from the reward bundle, only to have it forbidden the moment he turned around. What a letdown.

For ninja with clans backing them, learning the Water Clone Technique was no big deal. If anyone asked, they could just say their clan had taught it to them. No one would care.

After all, it was only natural for the major clans to collect ordinary techniques alongside their secret arts.

But Keiichi was just a Commoner Ninja. He'd hardly ever left the village on missions, and now he'd suddenly learned a technique he shouldn't know. If anyone looked into it, he'd probably have to take another trip to the interrogation room.

He couldn't keep blaming everything on his dead team leader.