Summary of Gains

First, he had completed the first stage of Flying Raijin training.

Naruto had originally expected it to take several days to fully grasp spatial perception and technique inscription, but with forty clones studying simultaneously and the massive chakra boost from Golden Body Mode, he had completed the most difficult breakthrough—from zero to one—in a single night.

Then there was the unexpected gain: Golden Body Mode.

It had not been part of tonight's plan, but because of that exchange of punches with the Nine-Tails, the Nine-Tails had voluntarily opened its chakra gates, allowing him to master Nine-Tails Chakra Mode ahead of schedule.

Although the entire process had carried the risk of exposure, fortunately, under the dual suppression of Absolute Control and the Perception Isolation Barrier, no one in Konoha had noticed the commotion by the waterfall pool.

Since coming to this world, Naruto had, for the first time, felt that he held some real bargaining chips in his hands.

Not the prophetic advantage brought by information disparity, nor the breathing room gained by playing clever tricks from the shadows, but power that he genuinely held in his own hands.

At last, he had a little confidence to face the shinobi world and those old foxes in Konoha, each with their own schemes.

The sky gradually shifted from gray-white to pale orange, and the clouds behind the distant mountains were rimmed with gold by the rising sun.

The meeting time was eight o'clock. It was still early, but he could not time things too precisely.

He needed to return to the village before dawn and switch back seamlessly with his Shadow Clone Technique without letting the ANBU discover anything unusual.

But he had already planned all of that with his Shadow Clone Technique beforehand.

With that in mind, Naruto leaped toward Konoha.

In a small alley near one of Konoha Village's main roads stood an old-fashioned public restroom built on a corner.

The restroom was in a secluded location, flanked by two abandoned old warehouses. Normally, almost no one passed by except stray cats and the occasional construction worker sneaking off for a break.

Naruto landed behind the outer wall of the public restroom and first swept the area with both Good and Evil Perception and ordinary chakra sensing.

There were no ANBU nearby, no patrolling shinobi, not even villagers out for an early morning walk.

He pulled open the restroom's wooden door and went inside. As expected, it was empty. All three stalls stood open, and water dripped steadily from the faucet over the sink.

He walked into the innermost stall, closed the door, and waited quietly.

At the same time, at the apartment, the Shadow Clone Technique opened his eyes on schedule.

He stretched, yawned, then got out of bed to wash up.

While brushing his teeth, he even made a face at his own foam-filled mouth in the mirror.

The Shadow Clone Technique had copied every detail of the original's daily life perfectly, even squeezing out slightly too much toothpaste just as Naruto normally did.

After changing into his shinobi outfit and putting on his forehead protector, the Shadow Clone Technique left the apartment.

In the canopy of a tree across the street, an ANBU member gave a silent yawn, nudged his partner with an elbow, and tipped his chin toward the apartment entrance.

His partner nodded and silently adjusted the focus of his binoculars.

The blond boy emerged from the apartment building, neither hurried nor slow as he crossed the empty morning streets toward the small bridge where Team 7 usually met.

Everything was normal, no different from any previous morning.

Halfway there, when the Shadow Clone Technique passed the public restroom around the corner of that secluded alley, he naturally turned inside.

The door closed behind him.

Less than thirty seconds later, Naruto's original body pushed open the stall door. He put the shuriken transformed from a Shadow Clone Technique into his ninja tool pouch, turned on the faucet to wash his hands, adjusted his forehead protector while looking at himself in the mirror, then pushed open the restroom door and continued toward the meeting place beneath the morning sun.

Less than a minute had passed from his arrival to the Shadow Clone Technique entering the restroom.

Other than an orange cat crouched atop the wall, there was no movement in the alley outside.

The ANBU's attention had remained fixed on the steadily moving target, and they noticed nothing unusual.

By the time Naruto reached the bridge, neither Sasuke nor Sakura had arrived.

As for Kakashi, there was no need to mention him. Everyone in Konoha knew Team 7's jonin leader was famously late. Arriving early would have been abnormal.

The bridge was empty. Only a few early-rising sparrows hopped along the railing, while a thin veil of morning mist drifted across the river.

Naruto leaned against the small bridge's railing, glanced at the sky, and silently estimated the time.

There was still at least an hour until the eight o'clock meeting time.

Waiting around like this would make him seem different from the Naruto who always arrived at the last moment—or even late. Being too early would draw attention instead.

He formed a cross-shaped hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

Poof, poof, poof...

More than a dozen clouds of smoke burst across the bridge, and more than a dozen Narutos appeared in the morning light.

The clones exchanged glances, understood one another, and quickly spread across the small open space beside the bridge, pretending to carry out various basic training exercises.

Some did push-ups, some repeatedly practiced shuriken-throwing stances, while several crouched by the river and tossed stones into the water to see who could throw the farthest.

The training looked lively enough, but in truth, it was mostly to create the impression that he was still working hard.

Of course, the ANBU monitoring him in secret would only take it for the ordinary daily routine of a hot-blooded genin.

Naruto himself sat cross-legged on the ground with several remaining clones, closed his eyes, and continued digesting the theoretical knowledge of Flying Raijin Second Stage.

The core of Flying Raijin Second Stage was to repeatedly use Flying Raijin for multiple instant movements during high-speed combat, even using the momentum of teleportation to alter the direction of an attack.

Sitting there with his eyes closed and a calm expression, occasionally gesturing with his hands, he looked as though he were pondering some particularly difficult chain of shuriken attacks.

The two ANBU watched from afar. The less experienced one clicked his tongue softly.

"That guy really has a lot of chakra. He's already split off more than a dozen Shadow Clone Techniques to train this early in the morning!"

"The Uzumaki clan's bloodline, plus that thing."

The older ANBU replied blandly. There was no judgment in his tone, only the cold indifference of stating a fact.

"It's normal for him to have abundant energy."

"Focus on the mission. Don't chat."

"Yes, sir!"

The younger ANBU said nothing more and returned his attention to Naruto.

They did not notice that there was actually one extra Shadow Clone Technique among the dozen or so.

The Shadow Clone Technique that had transformed into a shuriken during the handoff in the restroom had been brought out mixed in Naruto's ninja tool pouch. During the earlier training, it silently blended into the pile of clones, used the smoke as cover to dispel itself, and returned to the original body.

Second by second, the time drew closer to eight.

Once Naruto judged that the timing was about right, he dispelled all the Shadow Clone Techniques.

After the smoke cleared, he sat alone against the base of the bridge railing, breathing slightly hard, a few beads of sweat on his forehead. Even his expression and condition had been perfectly adjusted to look like someone who had just finished training.

In the past, he might have needed to consciously think in order to maintain this level of disguise, but as he continued using Absolute Control, controlling his expressions, adjusting his breathing, and simulating body language had become as natural as breathing.

Just before eight, two figures emerged through the morning mist at the bridgehead.