A Spring Outing Beyond the Village? Hidden Killing Intent!

Konoha's gates cast long shadows in the morning sunlight.

Tazuna's hangover-ridden face still bore the dazed look of someone who had survived a catastrophe after Naruto's killing intent had scared him pissless yesterday.

He trembled as he followed behind Team 7 like a prisoner under escort, occasionally sneaking a glance at the blond kid walking at the back of the group, his eyes full of awe and fear.

After going back yesterday, he had spent the whole night thinking. How was this a C-rank mission?

This was clearly a hell-level reality show called "How to Survive Under an S-Rank Humanoid Tailed Beast"!

"Stay sharp!"

Kakashi walked lazily at the front with his trademark dead-fish eyes, holding an orange little book with an indescribable cover in his hands.

"Even though this is only a C-rank mission, once a ninja leaves the village, death could come at any time. From this moment on, we're in wartime conditions!"

Kakashi's voice was completely unmotivated, sounding like a manager reading a soulless pep talk from a script before a company retreat.

Naruto walked at the very back with his hands in his pockets and let out a bored yawn.

Wartime conditions?

For this?

With this lineup, it was basically Neon Genesis Evangelion escorting two human cannons and a walking ATM on a spring outing.

He swept his gaze around from the corner of his eye.

Sakura was like a peacock in full display, chirping all the way, "Sasuke-kun, are you thirsty?"

"Sasuke-kun, do you want some snacks?"

"Sasuke-kun, doesn't that cloud look like your handsome face?"

Naruto got goosebumps all over.

He seriously suspected that if Sasuke's icy face didn't practically say, "Strangers keep out, come closer and I'll call the police," Sakura would have latched onto him on the spot.

...And what about their Sasuke-kun?

He wore a solemn expression, his gaze burning as he stared ahead... at Naruto's back.

The whole way, Sasuke's gaze tracked Naruto like a radar, but his heart was far less calm than he appeared.

Once upon a time, he had looked down on this perennial dead last in class, believing Naruto was just an idiot who made a spectacle of himself for attention.

But ever since the graduation exam, this dead last had overturned his understanding again and again.

The shock of those thousands of Shadow Clones, the combat instincts and terrifying taijutsu he displayed during the exercise that far surpassed genin level... especially that day, when Kakashi had nearly defeated him in an instant, yet Naruto had turned around and toyed with their famous jonin teacher in the palm of his hand.

More importantly... when Kakashi had trapped him with Earth Release, leaving him unable to move and utterly humiliated, Naruto had been the one to help him.

That sentence—"My teammate isn't yours to discipline"—was like a scorching pebble thrown into the lake of his heart, frozen over for years, stirring ripples even he had never expected.

He craved power. He craved revenge against that man.

And this former dead last before him now possessed a shortcut to strength that he could not understand.

The stark gap in their strength and his extreme thirst for power eventually forced him to suppress the Uchiha Clan's innate pride.

He held it in for a long time, but finally could not endure it any longer. He slowed down and walked beside Naruto.

The air around them instantly became awkward.

When Sakura saw Sasuke take the initiative to approach Naruto, the smile on her face froze on the spot. Her sweet call of "Sa-su-ke-kun" caught in her throat, neither rising nor falling.

Sasuke's handsome face was drawn tight, though a suspicious flush crept up the tips of his ears.

After fidgeting for a long while, he finally squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Pfft!"

Naruto nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Damn it!

Don't be like this!

You were the last tsundere Uchiha, the man I was going to grind into the ground someday. Could you at least have some backbone?!

"Ahem." Naruto cleared his throat and put on the air of an older brother listening patiently. "Talk."

Sasuke took a deep breath as if he had made an enormous decision. With a thirst for knowledge in his eyes, he humbly asked:

"That move you used that day... at the training ground, the one where you smashed Kakashi-sensei into the ground like a nail... how exactly did you exert force?"

He asked with extreme seriousness, every word revealing his desire for power.

Naruto froze for three seconds.

Which move?

Oh, right. Wasn't it just an ordinary punch while in the Eight Gates state?

Looking at Sasuke's Sharingan, practically screaming, "Teach me! I want to learn!" Naruto's eyes rolled, and wicked thoughts immediately began bubbling up.

He deliberately stopped walking, clasped his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, and slowly spoke in the tone of someone weathered by life.

"Sasuke, you're still too young. You don't understand."

"The true essence of power has never been in muscles. It lies in... philosophy."

Sasuke: "?"

Sakura: "??"

Kakashi, pretending to read while his ears stood up like antennas: "???"

Naruto raised one finger and said mysteriously, "What do you think about when you throw a punch? Revenge? Getting stronger? Too shallow! Do you think power is merely the motion of your arm? No! That is the brute force of a laborer, not the art of a ninja!"

"True power must connect with the earth! You must feel power rise from the soles of your feet, race up your spine like a waking dragon, and finally gather upon the edge of your fist! And what drives that 'dragon' is not chakra, not muscle, but your 'path'! Your philosophical thought! You must ask yourself, what lies at the end of the universe? What is the meaning of life? Only when you merge that punch with grand contemplation of the whole world and all living things can you strike that punch with its... divine essence."

Naruto spouted nonsense with a completely serious face, to the point where he almost believed it himself.

Yet after hearing him, Sasuke was stunned at first.

The universe?

Philosophy?

What did any of that even mean?

But one sentence in Naruto's words struck his mind like lightning—"Power travels from the soles of your feet, along your spine, and gathers at the edge of your fist!"

A scene from the training ground instantly flashed through his mind.

When Naruto had punched Kakashi into the ground, his stance had indeed been as steady as a mountain, as though his entire body had rooted itself into the earth. It was completely different from Sasuke, who only knew how to exert force with his upper body!

Could it be... all that grand contemplation about the universe and life was meant to enter that special state of "connecting with the earth"?

Was it meant to drive that dragon-like power rising from the soles of his feet?

So that was it!

So that was how it was!

He had been wrong all along!

He had only seen the surface of power—those flashy ninjutsu and hand seals—yet he had never touched upon the profound realm Naruto-kun had reached, where philosophy and the core of taijutsu became one!

No wonder he could not beat Naruto!

His perspective had been too narrow!

"I understand now... big brother!"

Sasuke the Enlightened suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining as though his Ren and Du meridians had been opened. Even his words became incoherent.

As if he had found a priceless treasure, he immediately ran over to a large tree by the roadside, planted his feet firmly, took up a punching stance, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

"The soles of my feet... connected to the earth... what is the universe... who am I... where should I punch..."

Sakura stared blankly from the side.

She was completely confused.

Sasuke-kun... what was wrong with him?

Had Naruto, that big idiot, talked him stupid?

Why was Sasuke-kun looking at Naruto with such worship in his eyes?

Why did Sasuke-kun act like he had been injected with chicken blood after Naruto casually made up a few things?

What... was wrong with this world?!

Three black lines slid down Kakashi's forehead.

Exhausting.

Leading this batch of brats was genuinely going to shorten his life.

Leading this batch of brats was genuinely going to shorten his life.

The group continued onward, and the atmosphere became even stranger.

Sasuke was so immersed in his philosophical world that he could not pull himself out, while Sakura fell into deep self-doubt.

Watching this scene, Naruto could barely suppress the curve of his lips.

Tsk, training a tsundere really was one of life's great pleasures.

Just then, the group arrived before an open stretch of forest.

The sun shone brightly, and the sky was clear for miles.

Yet right in the middle of the road, a puddle had appeared out of nowhere.

Konoha had enjoyed clear weather for several days straight, without even the slightest sign of rain. This puddle... looked as though someone had deliberately taken a piss here.

Kakashi's eyes instantly sharpened, but he pretended not to notice anything. Still holding his little book, he walked straight past with the swagger of someone who recognized no relatives.

Perfect acting.

Naruto, walking at the rear, felt no ripple in his heart and even wanted to laugh a little.

Here it came, the classic hiding-in-a-puddle routine!

He could not even be bothered to activate his Byakugan. He could tell with his toes that two small fry were hiding inside—the Demon Brothers, rogue ninja from Kirigakure.

They were weak as hell and loved playing embarrassing games.

Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna passed through the puddle one after another.

Then, just as Tazuna, the slowest and most unsteady on his feet, shuffled past the puddle at the end—

"Splash!!!"

The puddle exploded as if a bomb had been thrown into it!

Amid the scattering spray, two vicious figures burst from the water!

A chain gleaming with cold light connected their hands, its length covered in poisoned barbs. Like two venomous snakes ready to strike, it shot toward Kakashi at the front with lightning speed!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The chain tore through the air with a piercing howl!

Kakashi did not even turn his head before the chain wrapped precisely around his body, coil after coil, instantly binding him into a tightly trussed dumpling!

"First one!"

One of the Demon Brothers let out a triumphant, savage laugh.

Bloodthirsty light flashed in their eyes as the muscles in their arms bulged. They simultaneously yanked the chain in their hands apart with all their strength!

An enormous force instantly acted upon Kakashi's body!

There was a muffled "Splat!"

Before everyone's horrified eyes, Kakashi Hatake, Konoha's famed number one technician, had his body twisted apart like a fragile rag doll, instantly shredded into countless bloody pieces!

Blood and chunks of flesh flew through the air!

A thick, nauseating stench of blood instantly filled the air!

"Ahhh—!!!"

Sakura's mind went blank. She watched helplessly as the teacher she respected was brutally torn apart before her eyes. The horrifying sight, like the worst nightmare imaginable, instantly shattered every one of her mental defenses!

A shriek so piercing it nearly tore through eardrums echoed across the silent forest!

"Kakashi-sensei!!!"

Tazuna's legs gave out, his eyes rolled back, and terror nearly scared his soul out of his body. He almost went into shock on the spot!

Dead... dead?!

That jonin who seemed lazy but had made everyone feel so safe along the way... had just... died?!