"This should be the place."
After leaving the Hyuga Clan Compound, Naruto did not return to his apartment right away.
He used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to a secluded corner far away and quickly shed his disguise.
Naruto's control over Wind Release was not yet good enough to sustain flight. He could only use it to lift himself straight up and down.
It was enough to put on a show and fool people, or launch a Great Spiraling Ring before making his escape.
He put away the black robe and fox mask, and the Ice Sword dissipated.
A short while later, Naruto Uzumaki appeared in another part of Konoha, back in his everyday clothes with his blond hair restored.
This was one of the temporary residential areas the village had assigned to the ninja villages participating in the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams.
Compared to the private courtyard assigned to Sunagakure, the accommodations for some of the smaller Shinobi Villages were much more modest.
Naruto stopped in front of an ordinary-looking, even somewhat shabby two-story row building. The sign hanging by the entrance identified it as the quarters of the Genin team from Kusagakure in the Land of Grass.
A village's military strength and attitude also determined its international standing and treatment.
As a Shinobi Village of one of the Five Great Nations, Sunagakure had the best accommodations, followed by Amegakure, which had produced Hanzo of the Salamander.
The outside world did not yet know that Hanzo of the Salamander was dead, so although Amegakure was a Shinobi Village of a small nation, it received the same treatment as Sunagakure.
Although Kusagakure was Konoha's ally, a weak, opportunistic village that had betrayed Konoha did not deserve such fine accommodations. It had little money, either, so it could only