Jinchuriki

"Hmph. It's nothing but a false peace." Kankuro looked disdainful.

Gaara, walking at the front, remained expressionless.

Just as the three passed an intersection, three children came running over while playing noisily. The one in front was Konohamaru.

The Sarutobi Clan had become much more low-key, but as the Third Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru was still looked after by many people. As a result, his personality was much the same as in the original story.

"Ow!" Konohamaru wasn't paying attention and crashed into Kankuro.

"You little brat, are you blind?"

Kankuro narrowed his eyes, killing intent leaking from his body.

Konohamaru froze in fright.

His two little companions behind him were frightened as well. They sat on the ground, too scared to say a word.

"Speak up, brat. Are you looking to die?"

Kankuro continued intimidating him. Of course, he wasn't truly stupid enough to kill someone in Konoha. He just saw how carefree this child was, thought of his own childhood, and naturally felt annoyed, so he wanted to scare him a little.

At the same time, Naruto, who was walking down another street, suddenly received a message from the Nine-Tails.

"Kid, I sensed the scent of a raccoon dog."

The Nine-Tails, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly opened its mouth, startling Naruto.

Ever since learning of Naruto's memories, the Nine-Tails had begun cultivating on its own, wanting to grow stronger.

The other tailed beasts might not know how to cultivate, but the Nine-Tails could actively absorb chakra from nature to become stronger.

With Naruto's memories, the Nine-Tails had begun cultivating proactively. It had been silent for so long that Naruto had nearly forgotten there was still a fox inside him.

"You mean the One-Tail, Shukaku?"

Naruto himself was stunned. He had thought that since the Third Hokage was already dead, the Konoha Crush would not happen.

But from what the Nine-Tails said, Gaara had already arrived here.

Naruto immediately frowned.

Does the Land of Wind still want to cause trouble?

For a moment, Naruto was uncertain. The Fourth Kazekage did not seem like someone to be taken lightly.

In the original story, he had wanted to take advantage of this exam to stir up trouble, only to be killed by Orochimaru later.

This time, without Orochimaru's interference, Naruto did not know how things would develop.

"That's right. Naruto, do you want to snatch some chakra from him?" The Nine-Tails' eyes lit up.

Naruto hesitated.

"Let's see how things go first."

"Fine. He's over there."

The Nine-Tails pointed Naruto in a direction.

Naruto suddenly turned.

"Come on. Let's go meet someone interesting."

Hinata did not ask any questions and followed Naruto toward the One-Tail.

Meanwhile, the commotion on Gaara's side caught the Konoha Police Force's attention.

Because of the butterfly effect, the Uchiha Guard had not been disbanded. Instead, more members of the clan had joined it.

The Konoha Police Force had already increased its patrols because of this exam. The moment there was a disturbance here, two guards immediately arrived.

"Let go of that child. Don't cause trouble in Konoha."

The two who arrived were young men, one of whom was a member of the Hyuga family.

"Is this Konoha's attitude? This brat was the one who ran into me, and he hasn't even apologized. What, are you trying to use your power to bully people?" Kankuro grew even more displeased.

By the time Naruto and Hinata arrived, the two sides were confronting each other.

Since the two members of the Konoha Police Force were only young men, Kankuro dared to act so boldly. Besides, Gaara had yet to say anything.

The moment Naruto arrived, his gaze landed on Gaara, who stood with his arms crossed.

For some reason, Gaara was also drawn to Naruto and looked over.

There was no longer a seal inside Naruto. Humans might not have been able to sense anything, but Shukaku within Gaara immediately sensed the Nine-Tails.

"Well, well. Isn't this the mighty Nine-Tails? How did you end up sealed inside a human too?"

A mocking voice sounded in Naruto's ears.

"Heh heh, you stinking raccoon dog. I just found a place to live. Unlike you, locked up in a doghole." The Nine-Tails immediately bared its teeth and mocked back.

Naturally, it had every right to mock him.

Sure enough, when it came to trading insults, the raccoon dog was no match for the Nine-Tails. It instantly flew into a rage, its shrill voice launching into a torrent of curses.

"Heh heh. Fewer tails, weaker strength, and still so useless that you got locked in a cage. What a disgrace to the tailed beasts." Hearing Shukaku's furious voice, the Nine-Tails became even more enthusiastic in its taunts.

Naruto was somewhat speechless as he listened to the two tailed beasts arguing.

"Stinking fox, then come out if you've got the guts!"

The One-Tail was beside itself with rage, and even Gaara's emotions began to grow unstable.

The gourd on his back started trembling.

Killing intent unconsciously spread from his body.

Kankuro, who had been arguing with the others, shuddered and immediately stepped back.

"Gaara, calm down."

The two men on the other side also sensed the danger and instinctively retreated, watching warily.

Only then did Naruto turn his attention to Gaara's face.

His body vanished in an instant, and he appeared beside Gaara, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, calm down. This is Konoha. You can't just make trouble here."

Shukaku, which had been raising hell, abruptly fell silent. The others felt nothing, but Shukaku sensed danger.

At the same time, Naruto suppressed the violent chakra within Gaara.

"So fast."

"So strong."

Kankuro and Temari were shocked. They knew better than anyone how strong Gaara was. The fact that Naruto could suppress Gaara so easily left them stunned.

"Gaara of the Sandstorm. What is your name?"

A cold voice rang out.

Naruto released his hand and stepped back a few paces.

"Naruto Uzumaki." With that, he turned and left.

"I'll remember you."

Gaara's voice carried icy killing intent.

Naruto did not care in the slightest.

He led Hinata away from the scene.

"Let him go. We're leaving." Gaara spoke coldly, then turned and walked away.

Kankuro did not dare utter a single word and obediently followed behind him.

"That was so cool! Who is Naruto Uzumaki?" Only then did the three children come back to their senses.

Moegi and Udon stared with sparkling eyes in the direction Naruto had vanished.

"Hmph. He's just a bastard." Konohamaru snorted. He did not take Naruto's act of saving him to heart at all. Instead, he still remembered that Naruto was the one who had killed his grandfather.

As for this little brat, Naruto had long forgotten about him. More importantly, the two had never met before.

"Naruto, were they ninja from the Sand Village?"

"That's right, and they're the Kazekage's children."

"Do you know them, Naruto?"

Hinata was somewhat surprised.

"No. That guy is a Jinchuriki. I was just a little interested."

Naruto explained. Of course, the main reason was that the two were too similar: both were the foolish sons of village leaders, and both had become Jinchuriki. The only thing Naruto had better than Gaara was that his own father was dead. If their positions had been switched, even Naruto could not be sure whether he would have wiped out the Sand Village.

"Jinchuriki?"

It was the first time Hinata had heard this term.

Naruto did not hide anything and told her what a Jinchuriki was.

The little girl was not stupid. She immediately understood something and looked at Naruto.

"That's right. I'm a Jinchuriki too—the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki."

Naruto then explained further.

Perhaps to others, Jinchuriki were symbols of misfortune and calamity, but to Naruto, being a Jinchuriki was nothing more than having a cheat.

As for social contact, a modern person would not feel lonely at all even after leaving society behind.

The strong all had lonely hearts. For Naruto, he believed only in strength.