Konohamaru

Naruto moved quickly, each footfall precisely severing grass blades without harming the crop roots, his efficiency a cut above Sakura's and Sasuke's.

Kakashi sat on a large tree, pulling out Make-Out Paradise to spread across his knees; his gaze occasionally drifted from the top of the page to Naruto, watching Naruto's steady movements with a thoughtful expression.

The day's weeding task ended, leaving all three of them covered in sweat and dirt.

Sakura wiped her sweat while complaining about blisters on her hands, Sasuke turned and walked straight away, and Naruto bid the two a brief goodbye before returning to his apartment.

On the way back, Naruto ran through the results of today's observations in his mind.

This farmland was not suitable for a secret training spot; he would keep looking.

The next day

Kakashi was over an hour late once again, and after the customary excuse about getting lost, he assigned the three of them a river cleanup mission.

The mission location was a river on the edge of Konoha, the water surface not particularly wide, but the current quite swift. The riverbed was cluttered with a bunch of random junk thrown by someone, ranging from plastic bags to old beverage bottles.

Kakashi sat on a large boulder by the riverbank to continue reading his Make-Out Paradise, occasionally raising his head to shout, "Over there, there's another piece that hasn't been picked up!"

Naruto rolled up his trouser legs and waded into the river, starting to observe the terrain of this area while scooping up trash.

This river meandered through the interior of Konoha, and by this section, it was already approaching the edge of the village.

The end of the river channel was a natural cliff-like drop, the river water plunging wildly down from the precipice to form a white waterfall.

The pool beneath the waterfall was surrounded by dense woods, the sound of water roaring and mist swirling. Looking down from the top of the waterfall, one could only see a patch of green canopy shrouded in water vapor.

Naruto's eyes lit up slightly.

He followed the river channel downstream to clean up the trash, observing the surroundings of the waterfall more closely as he picked things up.

This area was quite far from the center of Konoha, with no residences or fields around. The nearest building was an abandoned old watermill shed that looked like it had not been used for many years.

The sound of the waterfall was extremely loud; speaking by the edge of the pool required raising one's voice just to be heard. This natural white noise could perfectly mask any sounds that might be produced during training.

Moreover, because water vapor shrouded the area year-round, the woods around here were heavily humid and the soil soft, making it an environment unsuitable for human gathering and activity.

Naruto silently placed this waterfall pool at the top of his candidate list, planning to find some time another day to scout the location in person without being monitored and thoroughly figure out the surrounding environment.

The third day's mission left Naruto completely speechless.

Kakashi led the three of them to a wealthy residential area in Konoha, stopping in front of a luxury mansion with an independent large garden.

Opening the door was a middle-aged noblewoman dressed in a gorgeous kimono, holding a poodle wearing a small vest in her arms.

She sized up the four shinobi through her nostrils, then stated the details of her commission in a condescending tone:

"Our little princess needs to go out for a walk today, but I am feeling unwell. You guys take it for a walk around Konoha Park. Remember to wipe its paws with wet wipes, and it doesn't like walking on gravel roads; if you encounter other dogs, you must pick it up, and also..."

Before she finished speaking, Sakura's face had already darkened, Sasuke's face grew even darker, and the corners of Naruto's mouth twitched.

Kakashi took the dog leash with an expressionless face and said with his most standard smile, "Please leave it to us!"

Then the four of them began what could be called the most humiliating mission in their shinobi careers: walking a poodle that had its own exclusive wardrobe.

Naruto walked in the middle of the group holding the dog, thinking to himself just how rich this person had to be to pay shinobi to help walk her dog.

Konoha's Genin mission system had always been famous throughout the Shinobi World for weeding, finding cats, and picking up trash, but walking a dog was a first for him.

However, walking a dog had one advantage: it allowed one to stroll around various areas of Konoha under a legitimate pretext without arousing anyone's suspicion.

Passersby seeing a few Genin pulling a poodle down the street would only think it funny and sympathetic, and no one would ever suspect them of scouting locations.

Taking advantage of the dog-walking opportunity, Naruto walked through several areas on Konoha's outskirts, silently drawing a mental map.

As the dog-walking route passed through a wasteland in the northwest corner of Konoha, Naruto's footsteps paused slightly.

At the entrance of the wasteland stood a striking warning wooden sign with "Trap Area, Strictly Prohibited" written in red paint, flanked by a circle of thick wooden guardrails.

Peeking through the gaps in the guardrails, one could see dense wire mesh, animal traps, and pitfall traps on the ground, some already rusted and looking ancient.

"Kakashi-sensei, what is this place?"

Naruto told the dog he was pulling not to run around, then turned to ask Kakashi.

"An early Konoha Trap Training Ground..."

Kakashi rarely put his book away, glancing at the wasteland behind the guardrail: "It was used during wartime to train Genin in setting and disarming traps. It was abandoned later, and since the traps inside weren't cleared and fell into disrepair, there was an accident a few years ago, after which it was sealed off."

"What is it, Naruto, interested?"

"No, just passing by, I'm asking out of curiosity."

Naruto shook his head and continued walking forward while holding the dog.

But in his mind, he had already marked this trap area with heavy emphasis.

Abandoned training ground, warning signs, guardrail blockade-normal people would never come in here.

Compared to the waterfall area, this place was closer to the center of the village, but the risk was conversely lower because everyone assumed no one would ever enter here.

As for those traps, they were no big deal to him; he just needed to spend some time slowly clearing them out.

Naruto compared the two candidate locations of the waterfall area and the trap area in his mind, deciding to choose a final plan once the timing was right.

The dog-walking mission finally ended, and the four of them returned the dog unharmed to the luxury mansion. The noblewoman cradled the dog and inspected it for a full ten minutes before finally signing the mission confirmation form with satisfaction.

Kakashi led the three of them to the central mission office to settle the payment. Combined, the three days of D-Rank Missions yielded enough reward per person to buy a few bowls of Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto carefully stowed the money away in his frog wallet, put it aside, and turned to walk toward his apartment.

He had not walked far when, passing the opening of an alley behind a commercial street, the sound of tiny, scuffling footsteps came from behind him.

Naruto did not look back; he could clearly perceive that three small chakra sources were following closely behind him, hugging the base of the wall. When they approached a large boulder near the alley entrance, the rock even wobbled slightly.

Naruto stopped in his feet and sighed.

"Your disguise is way too obvious."

Silence hung behind him for two seconds.

"Bang!"

Then a smoke bomb exploded in the alleyway, and the Transformation Technique was dispelled.

Three small figures jumped out from the smoke.