An Escort Mission

That afternoon, after they finished the mission, Kakashi handed out their pay and dismissed them.

Kakashi was a rather laid-back person, and Naruto and the others weren't particularly enthusiastic about missions either.

So for the next while, they only took one mission a day. Once it was done, they each went off to train.

The difference from the original story was that they all had their own parents to teach them, so they didn't need Kakashi.

Naruto still spent every day coming up with all sorts of strange and unusual things.

Hinata had learned what Naruto had taught her. Now she only needed to practice on her own, with Naruto occasionally joining her.

In the laboratory.

Naruto came here again.

His clones were each pursuing their own research.

Naruto walked over to a cultivation tank.

Inside was a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Even with my chakra nurturing them, they still can't evolve into the Rinnegan. What are they missing? Do they really have to be in my eyes?"

Naruto was puzzled.

At that moment, Naruto carefully examined them with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

In theory, with his chakra nurturing them, the Mangekyō Sharingan should have been able to evolve into the Rinnegan.

And his bloodline could now rival that of his ancestors.

"Is there some other restriction?"

Confused, he carefully sensed the Mangekyō in front of him.

Naruto didn't know just how powerful the Eternal Mangekyo was, but this pair possessed astonishing ocular power.

At the same time, he didn't know when his own Three-Tomoe Sharingan would evolve into the Mangekyō.

Naruto's Three-Tomoe Sharingan was already incredibly powerful, containing an immense amount of ocular power.

In essence, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan could already rival the Mangekyō. It just didn't have any special abilities.

Even with all that ocular power, there was no way it could evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo.

"Does it really need some kind of emotional shock?"

"That's nonsense."

Just then, a shadow clone behind Naruto spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"Emotional shock doesn't have to come from hatred. All you're missing is the right moment. You could try triggering it with some other emotion."

The shadow clone explained. The Mangekyō were right there, and all the clones who wanted to study them had already done so.

Naruto rubbed his chin.

An emotional shock.

To be honest, he was emotionally steady right now. It wouldn't be easy to provoke him.

Unless someone killed Hinata right in front of him.

Naturally, he would never let that happen.

If killing Hinata could grant him great power, then he didn't want these eyes. Besides, Naruto believed that persistence paid off.

Once his ocular power reached its limit in three months, he would naturally awaken the Mangekyō.

If his own power wasn't enough, he could absorb someone else's.

Thinking of ocular power, the person with the most was probably that guy on the moon.

That Tenseigan had been created by combining so many people's eyes.

Naruto didn't know how many people had lived in the clan on the moon at its peak, but they'd all had their eyes gouged out to create that Great Tenseigan.

"We can save it for Hinata. Once we can get up there, she can try it."

Naruto rubbed his chin. With Twin Palms and Sealing Jutsu, he should be able to create a Tenseigan even more powerful than the one in the original story.

There was no rush.

After thinking it over, he continued studying Sealing Jutsu. He wasn't impressed by the ninjutsu or Taijutsu in this world. Sealing Jutsu, though, was genuinely powerful.

The next day, the three of them gathered as usual.

"Kakashi-sensei, can't we get a more challenging mission?"

As soon as they met, Sasuke couldn't help asking. Life was pretty good now, but he wanted to accomplish something and show off to his older brother.

Hinata, on the other hand, didn't have any particular ambitions. She was already happy just being able to train with Naruto.

Naruto didn't mind either way.

"I'll see what I can find," Kakashi said casually.

As the three of them entered the mission hall, a ninja walked over to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, Lord Hokage wants to see you."

Kakashi agreed and followed the ninja upstairs.

The three exchanged glances, then followed them up.

On the second floor, in the Hokage's office.

Tsunade sat behind a large desk, working. The room was brightly lit.

The moment Naruto stepped inside, he felt his eyes brighten. During the Third Hokage's time, the room had been dim and gloomy.

"Lord Hokage."

"Lady Tsunade."

They greeted her.

"Mm, Kakashi, you're here."

"There's a mission here that the client specifically requested you for."

Tsunade looked up. There was a hint of fatigue in her eyes, but her face remained beautiful and refined, and her presence was commanding and dashing.

The deep cleavage at her chest was especially eye-catching, no matter the occasion.

Naruto looked up, drawn in by her words.

They specifically requested Kakashi? Could it be that mission?

The first thing Naruto thought of was the Land of Waves mission. It had been the turning point that set him on his path and strengthened his resolve.

He hadn't expected that, even after so much had changed, he would still encounter this mission.

Kakashi wasn't surprised. He simply agreed. As a renowned ninja, he was often the one clients requested when they came to assign missions.

The only catch was that specially requested missions cost extra.

So Kakashi was curious. Who was rich enough to pay for that?

Tsunade handed over a mission form.

Kakashi took it and glanced at it, looking a little surprised.

"What kind of mission is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked curiously, craning his neck to see.

"An escort mission."

Hearing that it was an escort mission, Naruto immediately thought of that old geezer. He looked around, but didn't see the old man who drank all the time.

While he was still wondering, Kakashi continued.

"We're escorting a celebrity back to the Land of Snow."

There were celebrities in this world too. In fact, they even had movies and things like that.

The technology in this world was all over the place. They had things like refrigerators and gas stoves, but lacked all sorts of other things.

Hearing that it was a celebrity, Naruto froze.

It's not the Land of Waves mission? What the heck?

Naruto almost couldn't process it.

But the Land of Snow... Where had he heard of that?

Kazahana Koyuki.

Naruto realized it in an instant. Wasn't that from one of the movies?

What the heck? Why was it happening now?

While Naruto was still dazed,

Kakashi had already accepted the mission.

"Naruto, is something bothering you?"

Tsunade noticed his expression and asked.

"Nothing, Lady Tsunade. When can we become Chunin? Being Genin is so boring."

Naruto thought it over and asked tentatively.

More than anything, he wanted to know whether the Chunin Ninja Exams would still take place.

"That... Next month, we'll hold the Chunin Ninja Exams jointly with the Land of Wind. If you're confident, you can sign up."

Tsunade thought about it and answered directly.

Naruto felt relieved.

He had been worried that the main storyline would go completely off course.

If Kaguya or someone like that showed up early, it would really be a problem.

Now it seemed that some things destined to happen hadn't gone off course after all.