"I needed the Raikage's permission to meet the Eight-Tails, but then I ended up injuring him... so I had no choice but to wait until he recovered."
Naruto felt rather ashamed. He had failed to control his strength, after all. The Raikage was another village's leader, equal in status to the Hokage. Although Kumogakure's ninja had been hostile toward Naruto after he injured their leader, they had not attacked him or even thrown him in jail.
During his travels through the shinobi world, Naruto had learned a little about reading people and allowing both sides to save face.
Thinking back to his more thoughtless days, he had killed their Hoshikage right after arriving. If he had not later discovered that their Mysterious Peacock Method shortened their lives and helped them resolve that problem, the Star Ninja might well have become Konoha's mortal enemies.
Yet despite having learned that lesson, he had made another mistake here in a major Shinobi Village like Kumogakure. He really should have known better.
It was not that Naruto feared Kumogakure or worried that Konoha would blame him. His conscience simply would not let it go.
He would at least wait until the man had been treated and regained consciousness.
"I see. Then why don't you..."
Before Sasuke could finish, Naruto knew what he meant and explained, "Of course I thought of that. I even offered to go back to Konoha and bring Granny Tsunade here to help, but they turned me down."
They turned him down?
Sasuke froze, then fell silent for a moment and looked at the expressions of the Kumogakure ninja watching them nearby.
Tsunade was a medical ninja renowned throughout the shinobi world. If someone of the Raikage's stature truly had a medical problem, even hostility toward Konoha should not have been