But Naruto, thickheaded as he was, seemed to have gotten something wrong.
The Anbu had clearly stepped in to protect Naruto, but now Naruto had gone and beaten him up.
It took Yashui a long time to pull Naruto away. Then he spent ages explaining what had happened, until Naruto finally understood.
"Sorry..." Yashui held Naruto's head down as he bowed to apologize to the Anbu.
"It's... it's nothing..." The Anbu's choked voice could be heard even through the mask.
With a swish, the Anbu vanished.
Let's spare a moment for the poor Anbu.
Naruto glanced at Yashui, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Good thing you're good at the Transformation Technique. Otherwise, that prank wouldn't have worked! Hahaha..."
"That wasn't a prank. It was a strategy..." Yashui shook his head helplessly. Naruto really did love pranks at his age.
"Other than us, nobody else could pull something like that off. Hahaha..." Naruto was laughing, but his words were heartbreaking.
"It's getting late. I'll treat you to a bowl of ramen." Yashui patted Naruto on the head.
"Sure!" Naruto agreed at once. "You really are treating me, right?"
Yashui patted his pocket. "Yeah. You can even have two bowls."
Naruto nodded happily. "You know... even though you're a year below me, you're more like an older brother."
"Maybe it's because I'm always with Konohamaru." Yashui also wanted to find out what the legendary Ichiraku Ramen tasted like.
"Um... what you said earlier—it wasn't true, was it?" Naruto suddenly turned serious. "About me being the Demon Fox..."
"Of course I was lying." Yashui's heart ached for him again. After thinking it over, he decided to tell Naruto a little white lie. Mizuki would tell Naruto everything the night after tomorrow anyway.
"I knew it. How could I be the Demon Fox I hate most?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at Yashui. "Does that mean we're friends now?"
"Of course." Yashui reassured him. "Of course we're friends..."
The two boys' silhouettes gradually disappeared into the night.
The Third Hokage had just finished dinner and was studying a military text in his office when an Anbu appeared in front of him with a swish.
"What is it? Has anything unusual happened with Naruto?" the Third Hokage asked, smoking his pipe. He didn't even look away from the scroll.
"Um... Naruto beat me up... sob..." The Anbu took off her mask and burst into tears. "Why is my life so miserable? Having to fight the person I'm supposed to protect is bad enough... but why did he have to beat me up too? Sob..."
"..." The Third Hokage took a long drag on his pipe. "I'll raise your mission rank by one level. That way, you'll get more compensation..."
"Sob... I don't want compensation... I'm done being a ninja... Please destroy my ninja records... Sob..."
The Third Hokage looked at the Anbu, who had removed her mask. She had skin white as snow and a lovely face. She was still young, but already a beauty.
"If you quit being a ninja, what will you do instead?" The Third Hokage sighed. "How about this? Stop being Anbu and become an ordinary ninja. Your temperament doesn't seem suited to serving as an Anbu who carries out missions for long periods."
"Mm... Thank you, Lord Hokage..."
After she left, the Third Hokage pulled a crystal ball out of his desk and watched Naruto's every move.
"Ah... I really am getting old..." the Third Hokage sighed.
Yashui returned that evening and went into Konohamaru's room. Konohamaru was still training. Yashui felt a pang of emotion. Ever since arriving in this world, he had been training constantly. Whenever the Three-Legged Golden Crow assigned him a task, Yashui would train so hard he forgot to eat or sleep.
But whenever the Three-Legged Golden Crow didn't give him a task, Yashui found that he had no idea how to train. Unlike Konohamaru, who trained every day with Ebisu on his back even without anyone to guide him.
Yashui thought that if he ever lost the Three-Legged Golden Crow's guidance, he would still have to keep training. With that in mind, he began reviewing the exercises he had done the day before. He coated his feet in chakra and walked around the room's walls. When that went smoothly, he started working on his physical strength.
When that Konoha Anbu had grabbed his wrist, Yashui had noticed the difference in strength between them. That Anbu was, at most, a Genin—the rank Yashui was about to reach.
Even a Genin had strength enough to completely overpower him. Yashui really did need to consider whether he was too weak.
Ever since arriving in this world, Yashui had relied on the fighting techniques he had systematically learned in his previous life during close combat, and he had hardly ever been at a disadvantage. So the difference in strength hadn't been all that apparent in battle.
Besides, over the past month, Yashui had focused on controlling chakra, which was related to ninjutsu. As a result, his Taijutsu training had once again fallen into a state of near neglect.
"It's time to start building my muscles again." Yashui lay on the ground. He might as well start with some push-ups.
Day broke, and the next day arrived. The Ninja Academy graduation exam was tomorrow. Yashui knew he'd have no problem passing, but he still felt a little nervous.
Yashui went to the Hundred Bird Nest first that day to see the Three-Legged Golden Crow.
"What? You haven't graduated yet?" the Three-Legged Golden Crow asked in surprise. "At your age, you should already be a Chunin!"
"That was during wartime... Things aren't so strict in peacetime." Only then did Yashui realize that he had never told the Three-Legged Golden Crow about his situation at the Ninja Academy.
"Since you've finished your tree-climbing training, your next step is walking on water. You should be able to do it in less than an hour." The Three-Legged Golden Crow flapped his wings. "Come with me."
This was the first time Yashui had left the Sun Palace since arriving at the Hundred Bird Nest.
After following the Three-Legged Golden Crow out of the Sun Palace, Yashui was stunned by the sight before him.
"This..." Yashui wondered if he was watching a science-fiction movie.
The entire Hundred Bird Nest was made up of hundreds of clouds floating in the sky. Birds lived on these clouds, and each one had at least a few palaces on it. The Sun Palace was the largest palace in the entire Hundred Bird Nest.
"Stop gawking and come along," the Three-Legged Golden Crow said impatiently. "Why are you humans so ignorant? You've never even seen Cloud Island."
Following the Three-Legged Golden Crow, Yashui walked out of the palace.
But the moment he stepped outside, there was nothing beneath his feet. He fell through the clouds and plummeted toward the ground.
The Three-Legged Golden Crow hurriedly caught Yashui in his talons, saving his life.
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