Seal

Almost the moment Uzumaki Naruto verified the medicinal effect, several sounds of air being torn apart approached from afar. Accompanied by fluctuations in chakra, two urgent figures appeared around him like a gale.

"Naruto!" Might Guy grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Guy-sensei, I'm not hurt..." Naruto grinned. "You're hurting me."

"Oh, oh, sorry, I was too worried." Might Guy hurriedly let go, looking Naruto up and down carefully. Only after confirming that Naruto was truly unharmed did he turn to observe the traces of the battle nearby.

In the gap while Might Guy looked around, Naruto's gaze moved past him and met Kakashi, who had been standing silently behind Might Guy.

Kakashi was panting slightly, a few strands of silver hair stuck to his forehead by sweat.

Unlike Might Guy, after landing, Kakashi had first vigilantly scanned the surrounding environment, and only after confirming there was no threat did he look at Naruto.

The two gazes met and immediately broke away.

Because of what happened yesterday, the atmosphere between them remained somewhat awkward.

"..."

Naruto was a bit puzzled.

Why... in Kakashi's eyes just now, besides the worry and concern that were identical to Might Guy's, did he also seem to... see fear?

However, what confused Naruto even more was this:

The resentment he had felt toward Kakashi in his heart... had suddenly and inexplicably diminished by quite a lot.

"Naruto, is that the enemy?"

At this moment, Might Guy pointed to the headless female corpse under the cold pool and asked.

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "She is the foreign spy I discovered this morning who suddenly launched an attack on me. I couldn't hold back during the fight just now, so I had to kill her... but her head wasn't burned by me; it exploded automatically after she died."

Ignoring the surprise of Might Guy and Kakashi, Naruto poured out the entire process of the day, naturally omitting the part where he knew Kalifa's intelligence and the moment Kalifa's expression suddenly changed.

Especially the latter; Naruto had a vague but strong intuition that he must keep this hidden. Whatever Kalifa had discovered, it was definitely related to him and concerned his life and death.

As for the Exchange Shop, Naruto had only just begun to explain it when he was stopped by Kakashi, who said it was a matter of great importance to be discussed in detail back in the village, not here.

During Naruto's account, the subsequent Konoha reinforcements gradually arrived.

The Anbu from the Surveillance Squad, members of the Inuzuka Clan, Hyuga Shinichi, and the additional Anbu squad and Medical Corps sent later—in a short while, over a dozen people stood on the bank of the cold pool.

"Wait, Naruto." After Naruto finished speaking, Kakashi finally asked his biggest question besides the Exchange Shop. "You said you could understand what they were saying? You could understand both this woman and the man on the phone?"

Why wouldn't I understand? Isn't it the same language?

--This instinctive thought that almost slipped out was forcibly suppressed by Naruto. He continued without a pause:

"Yes, I can understand what they say most of the time, but sometimes I can't... It's strange, isn't it?"

By the end, Naruto was a bit unsure if he had responded correctly, but judging by Kakashi's reaction, there shouldn't be any issues.

Moreover, this made Naruto realize that there was still some intelligence regarding the two worlds that the Konoha high-ups possessed, but he did not.

Perhaps this was the reason why there was sometimes a slight delay when Kalifa and the others spoke?

"It's nothing... there are some things you don't know, Naruto."

Kakashi had some guesses in his heart, but he didn't press for more. Instead, he directed the Medical Corps to quickly check Naruto's body for any abnormalities or hidden injuries that might have been missed.

While the Medical Corps performed their check, the Anbu squad had already begun to recover Kalifa's corpse and started surveying the area around the waterfall.

Naturally, they discovered a large number of traces left by the battle. Based on their years of experience and Naruto's oral account, the process of this multi-on-one battle was gradually reconstructed.

Shock and doubt surged in their hearts. The combat power displayed by the Jinchuriki today was such that they would believe it if someone called him a Jonin. But if they remembered correctly, the Jinchuriki wasn't supposed to start taking ninja photos for class assignments until the day after tomorrow, right?

How did he... suddenly become so strong?

Most of the Anbu present had been responsible for monitoring the Jinchuriki, including Uzuki Yugao. This was why the Third Hokage had arranged for them to track Naruto; they knew more inside information than ordinary Anbu and were more reliable.

Precisely because of this... the shock they received was even greater.

One had to know, not long ago, Uzumaki Naruto was still a complete dead-last under their very noses.

How did he suddenly soar to such heights?

While the Anbu checked the environment, many Multi Shadow Clone that had not been dispelled stood quietly in the shadows. They did not interfere with the Anbu's work, just stood silently in place, coldly watching everything.

Even for the tough-nerved Anbu, being in their midst made their scalps tingle... Although it was hard to believe, and they didn't want to admit it... the fact was that they were actually intimidated by a twelve-year-old Genin from the perspective of strength.

"Naruto, what about these Multi Shadow Clone of yours?"

Kakashi asked with some concern. He naturally understood the side effects of the Multi Shadow Clone.

"It's fine as long as I don't dispel them all at once." Naruto's tone was calm. "They are being dispelled in batches."

"Is that so..."

Kakashi felt slightly relieved and signaled to the Medical Corps. The head of the Medical Corps had just finished the check and indicated that not only was Naruto fine, but his physical indicators didn't look like he had just finished a battle; it was more like he had just woken up from a good sleep after a full meal. His data was incredibly good.

"Is this the Uzumaki family... or the ability of a Jinchuriki?"

Kakashi was surprised once again.

In reality, Naruto's condition had a lot to do with the Gift he had just exchanged. That Gift didn't just strengthen his body; it also replenished his stamina.

However, the rapid recovery of his arms was purely due to his unique constitution; by the time he was in pursuit of Kalifa, his arms had already nearly healed.

It was the same during the journey to the Land of Waves in the original story, where Uzumaki Naruto would stab his hand with a kunai to bleed out toxins, only for the wound to heal shortly after he pulled the blade out.

One could only say that with the stacking effects of the Uzumaki bloodline, the Jinchuriki status, and the Sage Body, the uniqueness of Uzumaki Naruto's constitution was already at a monstrous level. Otherwise, he would never have been able to endure this period of devilish, suicidal training and grow at a pace that even the Anbu could not keep up with.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

After the Medical Corps withdrew, the Surveillance Squad, who had been observing from the sidelines, finally stepped forward.

Owl said bluntly, "Uzumaki Naruto, you are now under our custody. Return to Konoha immediately."

Having said that, he took out a scroll with the character [Seal] written on it, his tone flat yet brooking no argument:

"Furthermore, per the instructions of the Konoha Advisory Council... as a precaution, please submit to our sealing measures. Once you return to Konoha and are cleared of any abnormalities, we will remove them for you."