Aftermath of the Incident

After yesterday's intense battle, Naruto was exhausted.

But his body had already fully adapted to his bloodline. With the support of his three bloodlines, Naruto's recovery ability had reached an astonishing level.

After waking from a good night's sleep, he immediately felt refreshed and full of energy.

Being young was great. No matter what happened, a night's sleep made it all go away.

"System, what was my reward?"

No wonder Naruto had felt like he had forgotten something. He had been too tired yesterday and had fallen asleep the moment he returned.

Only after waking up this morning did he remember that he had not claimed his system reward.

"Congratulations, Host. You have completed the mission of killing two spies and recovering the intelligence scroll."

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained Perfect Colored Contacts."

"Perfect Colored Contacts: After the Host equips them, changes in the Host's eyes will not be visible to outsiders."

"Not bad. This reward is actually somewhat useful!" Naruto recalled at that moment.

Only then did he remember that it was not that he had completely forgotten about the Sharingan during yesterday's battle. Rather, he had always had some reservations about using it.

Of course, the Sharingan was definitely powerful and could provide Naruto with considerable help in battle.

Now that he had Perfect Colored Contacts, he could switch to the Sharingan at any time during battle in the future.

If he obtained other eye techniques in the future, would he be able to switch between them freely too?

By then, he could have a Rinnegan in his left eye, a Tenseigan in his right eye, and drill another hole in his forehead. He could open whichever eye he wanted!

The scene shifted, and time returned to the previous night.

"Hurry up! There was a lot of commotion in the grove. Ninja spies from another country may have infiltrated the Hidden Leaf!"

After sounds of battle came from the grove, the nearby patrolling ANBU quickly sent out a notice and gathered the ANBU in the area to head over together.

The ANBU ninja swiftly assembled. Their movements were silent, like ghosts in the night.

They moved through the streets of Konoha Village, advancing quickly and orderly toward the grove.

Upon arriving at the scene, they immediately spread out and began carefully searching the surrounding area to ensure that no clues were missed.

Deep within the grove, the ANBU ninja discovered three corpses. One of them wore Hidden Leaf clothing and was very likely a spy hidden within Konoha Village.

Of the other two corpses, one wore ordinary clothing, making it impossible to tell which ninja village they came from. The other wore black clothing.

All of them bore obvious signs of battle.

Clearly, these corpses were likely ninja spies from other countries, but their heads had all suffered fatal blows. Their brain tissue had been destroyed beyond recognition.

Other than the intelligence they could directly observe, the ANBU ninja searched all three corpses but found no further relevant information.

"Captain, there's no intelligence on these bodies. It's as though they were picked clean. And the other side seems to know that our Konoha Interrogation Department has methods of extracting partial information from the brain. Their brains were directly destroyed, so there's no way to obtain any information from them!"

One ANBU reported to the captain leading this operation.

This made it impossible for them to obtain any intelligence through interrogation.

"Expand the search area. Look for every possible clue nearby. We must find every suspicious item in the area!"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing the order, all the ANBU instantly scattered and expanded the search area, determined to find even the slightest evidence!

In a nearby grove some distance away from the corpses, the ANBU ninja found Rock Lee.

At that moment, he was panting heavily, with several minor wounds on his body.

He was training diligently.

"Who are you? What are you doing here so late?" one of the ANBU ninja asked Rock Lee.

Faced with the ANBU ninja's questioning, Rock Lee appeared somewhat nervous.

"My name is Rock Lee. I'm a student about to enter the second year of the Ninja Academy. I'm doing physical training here. My teacher, Guy-sensei, taught me all these training methods. Guy-sensei's full name is Might Guy, and he's a very powerful Hidden Leaf jonin!"

After briefly questioning Rock Lee, the ANBU ninja concluded that he was merely a student and unlikely to be directly connected to the spy incident, so they allowed him to leave.

They brought the three corpses back to the Konoha Interrogation Department, hoping to find some clues from them.

Even when Ibiki Morino, the special jonin and captain of the Konoha Interrogation Department, personally handled the matter,

the damage to the brains made it impossible for them to obtain any useful information from the corpses.

The ANBU ninja then reported the situation to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was an experienced leader. After hearing the report from his ANBU subordinates, he pondered for a moment.

He then immediately realized, "This may have been a planned infiltration by ninja from an enemy village. These spies may have been spotted by Hidden Leaf ninja while carrying out a secret mission or exchanging intelligence, and were defeated in a fierce battle."

"Furthermore, two of the ninja possessed chunin-level strength. They should have been the main participants in this intelligence exchange. The other ninja, who had elite chunin-level strength, was likely responsible for receiving them."

"Someone capable of defeating three chunin attacking together should possess jonin-level strength. And judging from the time it took the ANBU to reach the scene, this jonin should not be weak."

"Not many traces were left at the scene. That's very unusual."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply in thought.

"Did the examination reveal anything unusual about the corpses?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Ibiki Morino, who had come to report.

"Reporting to Lord Hokage, we could only observe that they suffered taijutsu attacks. Judging from the attack marks, they appear to be basic Hidden Leaf taijutsu. The person who defeated them should be a Hidden Leaf ninja skilled in taijutsu."

Ibiki Morino stated what he had observed, along with his deductions.

"Lord Hokage, there were also traces of Wind Release ninjutsu at the scene. We believe it was used by the ninja in black. Other than that, we found nothing," an ANBU added.

"Proficient in basic Hidden Leaf taijutsu and possessing jonin-level strength... could it be him? Go summon Might Guy for me!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi instructed one of the ANBU.

Among those currently in the Hidden Leaf who matched the description of someone proficient in Hidden Leaf taijutsu, only Might Guy fit. There was also Chen, once hailed as the Hidden Leaf's strongest taijutsu ninja, but he had already died from illness.

"Lord Hokage, you summoned me?" Might Guy soon arrived at the Hokage's office and bowed to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Guy, I believe you already understand the situation. Was this your doing?" Hiruzen Sarutobi got straight to the point.

"No, it wasn't me, Lord Hokage. At the time, I was eating at a restaurant on the streets of the Hidden Leaf. The restaurant owner can testify for me. However, my student, Rock Lee, was training nearby. He told me that he encountered a Hidden Leaf ninja in the area, but apparently that person was not very skilled in taijutsu."

"Then my student Rock Lee challenged him to a taijutsu spar. After sparring with Rock Lee, that Hidden Leaf ninja even gave him some guidance."

"However, he didn't leave his name. It may very well have been this unidentified Hidden Leaf ninja. I have already asked the ANBU ninja to draw a portrait based on Rock Lee's description. It should be ready soon."

Might Guy answered.

"Is that so? Then let's wait a little longer," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied.

Very soon, the ninja from the Konoha Interrogation Department who specialized in profiling had finished drawing the portrait.

After comparing the portrait, they found that the person was a snack shop owner on the streets of the Hidden Leaf, clearly not a ninja.

It seemed that a ninja had used the Transformation Technique to assume the owner's appearance, then stopped the spies.

At that point, the trail went cold.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then summoned Kakashi Hatake and asked about Naruto's situation.

"Kakashi, the village has not been peaceful lately. How has Naruto been doing?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked kindly.

Kakashi watched over Naruto every day and knew his situation like the back of his hand.

He answered, "Lord Hokage, Naruto has been completely normal lately. No unusual behavior has been observed. The only difference is that the boy seems to be growing. His appetite has become unusually large, and he basically sleeps after eating and eats after sleeping."

"I see. It seems little Naruto really is growing. His nutrition must keep up. I'll send him some more money after a while so he can eat his fill."

Hiruzen Sarutobi often received Uncle Teuchi's ramen bills. When he heard that Naruto had eaten it, he never said much.

He had taken Minato's inheritance back then, and the money he obtained was far more than this. Spending some money on Naruto again was no big deal.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, satisfied with Kakashi's answer.

He knew that Naruto possessed a special bloodline. The Uzumaki Clan's constitution was quite extraordinary, possessing immense vitality.

That might be the reason for his recent increase in appetite. The Uzumaki Clan bloodline within him might have begun to awaken.

"Kakashi, strengthen your supervision of Naruto and make sure he does not go down the wrong path. At the same time, we must remain vigilant and prevent similar incidents from happening again," Hiruzen Sarutobi said sternly.

Kakashi nodded to show that he understood.

He knew that, as a ninja, protecting the village's safety was his duty. Safeguarding Naruto's growth was also his duty.

While protecting Naruto, he would also remain more alert toward any developments that might threaten Konoha Village's safety.

After sending Kakashi back to continue looking after Naruto,

Hiruzen Sarutobi still felt worried about this spy incident, because it meant that Konoha Village might be facing an unknown threat.

In the shadows was someone highly skilled in taijutsu who had yet to reveal any ninjutsu abilities.

That was always cause for concern.

In the end, the attack on the spies could only be left unresolved.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately ordered patrols within Konoha Village to be strengthened.

This was to ensure that no similar incident would happen again!

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