Naruto Bridge

The smell of blood, mingled with the rusty stench of iron and fear, lingered in the damp fog.

When Tazuna led a group of villagers holding hoes and fish spears onto the bridge with trembling steps, everything had already fallen silent. Their eyes swept across the bridge deck, where corpses lay everywhere. The thick smell of blood made some of the younger villagers cover their mouths and retch.

At the bridgehead, the blond boy standing with his hands behind his back and an indifferent expression looked like a demon who had walked out of hell.

Except that this demon stood on their side.

There were no signs of a fierce battle, no damaged structures—only bodies that had fallen in neat rows, stripped of their ability to resist in an instant.

Zabuza knelt on one knee, the massive Kubikiribōchō embedded beside him. Gato's blood still dripped from its blade.

"Th-this..." Tazuna's lips trembled, and he could not even form a complete sentence.

Behind him, the villagers' "weapons" clattered to the ground.

Naruto Uzumaki ignored those insignificant disturbances.

He turned to face his team.

"Medic." His voice was cold, his wording precise.

"Begin post-battle treatment procedures."

Sakura's body instinctively straightened.

"Treat Sasuke first, then treat Zabuza." Naruto Uzumaki issued the order without emotion.

Sakura's mind went blank for a moment. Then, an inexplicable feeling overwhelmed her fear.

She did not ask why, nor did she burst into tears. She quickly opened her ninja tool pouch and took out medical bandages and ointment.

"Yes!" she answered loudly. Her movements were so crisp that even she was surprised. Without realizing it, she had already grown used to that commanding tone.

Kakashi seemed as if he wanted to say something, but held back. He found it increasingly difficult to understand Naruto Uzumaki's true thoughts.

Was that chilling rationality and indifference merely a protective shell, or was it his true nature?

If it was only a shell, then Naruto Uzumaki was still Naruto Uzumaki. Everything he did simply served efficiency and results. Though his methods often defied ordinary human sensibilities, they were ultimately moving in a better direction.

But what if it was his true nature? Kakashi shook his head. He did not dare think any further.

"I really want you to go paint Hokage Rock again, Naruto Uzumaki," Kakashi muttered quietly to himself.

After treating Sasuke, Sakura ran over to Zabuza.

Haku stepped in front of him, watching Sakura warily.

"Let her treat me," Zabuza said hoarsely.

He looked at the blond boy's back in the distance. The pride belonging to a strong man had already been utterly crushed and reshaped into something entirely new.

Awe.

And... obedience.

Several days later.

At the bridge's celebration, the crowd roared with excitement.

The Land of Waves, a nation that had been shrouded beneath dark clouds for far too long, had finally welcomed sunlight.

Tazuna stood atop a hastily constructed platform, his face flushed red with excitement.

"My fellow countrymen! We have won!"

"We drove out Gato, and now we have this bridge that connects us to hope!"

The villagers erupted in thunderous cheers.

Tazuna took a deep breath and looked toward where Team 7 stood below the stage. His expression became incomparably solemn.

"We must not forget the heroes who brought us all this! It was Konoha's ninja who saved us!"

"Especially that young man..."

Everyone's eyes focused on Naruto Uzumaki.

Their gazes carried a complicated mixture of gratitude, worship, and deep fear.

"To commemorate this Order and this hope, I have decided to name this bridge—the future of our nation—"

"Naruto Bridge! The great Naruto Bridge!"

The cheers swept across the entire coast like a tsunami.

"Naruto Bridge! Naruto Bridge!"

People shouted the name as if it could grant them strength.

Sakura Haruno excitedly grabbed Sasuke's arm, and for once, Sasuke did not shake her off.

Kakashi wore the helpless expression of someone thinking, My student seems kind of incredible.

Only Naruto Uzumaki, standing at the center of all the cheers, showed no change in expression.

He did not smile, wave, or even look at the frenzied crowd.

To him, this was merely an outcome.

[Regional stability increased.]

[Public approval has reached its peak.]

[Personal prestige of "Naruto Uzumaki" established. Possesses role-model effect.]

[Land of Waves pilot plan. Evaluation result: Perfect.]

Wave after wave of cheers surged toward him. People tugged at Naruto Uzumaki's clothes until they finally lifted him up and tossed him into the air again and again.

Looking at the countless smiling faces cheering around him, Naruto Uzumaki fell into a brief daze for the first time in ages. Suddenly, he remembered a bright, carefree smile beneath the sunlight from a long, long time ago.

"I, Naruto Uzumaki, am going to become Hokage!"

"My ninja way is to always keep my word!"

That voice had been loud and fearless, carrying the momentum of someone afraid of nothing, as if it could shake down the ceiling.

Was that me?

After a brief hesitation, he gave a bitter smile, then revealed the exact same grin.

"A full smile can move people's hearts and leave an approachable impression. Contrasted against my previous cold image, it creates a powerful effect and wins even more public favor."

Naruto Uzumaki shouted, "Everyone, I'll be back!"

The night before departure.

Naruto Uzumaki stood alone at the center of Naruto Bridge.

The sea breeze stirred the hem of his clothes. Haku swiftly appeared before him, dropped to one knee, and bowed his head as he delivered his report.

"Lord Naruto Uzumaki, Lord Zabuza and I have followed your Fire Seed Plan. We have left Konoha's detection range and found a way to return to the Land of Water."

"Very good." Naruto Uzumaki spoke to the empty air. "Remember your mission."

"Phase one: lie low. Gather intelligence on every faction within Kirigakure, especially a list of forces dissatisfied with the current Mizukage."

"Phase two: infiltrate. Use your former identities to approach targets who can be 'won over.'"

"Phase three: await my orders. Do not expose yourselves before the final Purification begins."

"Understood," Haku replied respectfully. "Everything is for the new Order you have described."

Naruto Uzumaki nodded and turned toward the sea. His view was wide open, and the sound of waves stirred by the evening wind echoed beside his ears.

He calmly conducted his final review.

This mission had verified the effectiveness of the Thought Seal on specific targets.

Strong individuals like Zabuza, betrayed by the old Order, as well as "weapons" like Haku, who possessed firm convictions but lacked proper guidance, were resources with the highest conversion rate.

This model could be replicated.

His thoughts drifted from the tiny island nation of the Land of Waves toward the broader continent.

"The identity of Konoha's political commissar is the most perfect protective shell at this stage. As long as I make it clear that I do not want to become Hokage, the indecisive Third Hokage will not rush to purge me."

A voice within him narrated calmly.

"It can soothe the sentimental heart of the Third Hokage and grant me the greatest freedom of action."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi needs a loyal Guardian to inherit his outdated Will of Fire, so I will play that role."

"But he will never understand."

"True protection is not patching up a broken ship riddled with holes."

"It is dismantling it completely, then using the reclaimed timber and brand-new steel to build a fearless warship capable of withstanding any storm."

"A unified, powerful Iron Empire, one that discards all emotional internal strife and is governed by absolute rationality."

"This is humanity's only path forward when facing the erosion of Chaos and heresy."

"The Land of Waves is merely the first cornerstone."

Naruto Uzumaki turned around, his back to the sea and his face toward the Land of Fire.

In his vision, the map of the entire ninja world slowly unfolded.

It was a vast territory waiting to be integrated, Purified, and brought beneath a single will.

He stepped forward and walked off the bridge, leaving behind both the monument named after him and his ridiculous childhood.