The rabbit lying in wait arrives

In the forest.

Naruto got back to his feet and stood before Zeff again. Whatever was on his mind, training had to continue.

Just as Zeff swung his club again, his Observation Haki suddenly picked up another presence nearby.

It was a familiar presence: Shisui Uchiha, whom he had met before.

"Finally here, huh?"

Zeff spoke very quietly, but Naruto still heard him.

Since Naruto had yet to awaken his Observation Haki, and his use of Nen was not particularly advanced either, he had not sensed Shisui Uchiha's presence.

"Teacher Zeff, is Shisui Uchiha here?"

"Yes! He's here!"

With that, Zeff lashed out with his club again.

"Holy shit... why are you still swinging?" As he spoke, Naruto instinctively dodged the blow.

"Heh... good. Keep going..." Zeff did not answer Naruto's question. Instead, he kept swinging his club at him.

And for some reason, Zeff actually used Armament Haki on this swing.

Although his blindfold kept Naruto from seeing the club that had turned pitch-black, his instincts told him this attack was different from the others. He had to dodge it, or he would be in for a world of hurt.

The instant that thought arose, he leaned forward. The black club swept right through the hair at the back of his head, making him shudder.

Zeff's eyes lit up at Naruto's movement.

"Heh... just as I thought. Looks like only a life-or-death crisis can draw out your potential!"

With that, the club swept out again.

Sensing mortal danger once more, Naruto twisted sideways and dodged again.

Then came a third attack... a fourth...

Naruto managed to evade every strike by a hair's breadth.

"Not bad... now... how about this?"

As he spoke, Zeff suddenly sped up his swinging arm, catching Naruto completely off guard.

Unable to dodge, Naruto was naturally sent flying again. However, Zeff withdrew his Armament Haki just before the club struck him, sparing Naruto a serious injury.

At the same time... Rock Lee, who was taking a beating on the other side, was also sent flying by Naruto's shadow clone.

Rock Lee was certain... Naruto was definitely treating him as a punching bag.

Every time Teacher Zeff knocked Naruto flying, Naruto's shadow clone would absolutely hit him hard enough to send him flying too.

Meanwhile.

Hidden among the trees, Shisui Uchiha watched Naruto and Rock Lee training in the clearing with utter bewilderment.

After hearing the commotion, Shisui Uchiha had quietly crept over to investigate.

Then he had witnessed the two of them getting knocked flying.

He could tell they were probably training, but even so, surely there was no need to have their own clones beat them so viciously?

Rather than training, this looked more like self-abuse.

"I heard the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki wasn't right in the head... I never thought it was actually true!"

If Naruto knew what Shisui was thinking, he would absolutely download an anti-scam app, throw it in his face, and calmly say, "Wait until you're dead and have no use for this thing before you call me stupid!"

Just as Shisui sank into thought, Naruto shouted from the clearing, "Who's there?"

Hearing Naruto, Shisui knew he must have been discovered.

What Shisui did not know, however, was that Naruto had actually noticed nothing. He had only shouted to draw Shisui out. As long as he came out... training could be put on hold...

Right now, Naruto's head was buzzing. He did not know whether he could awaken Observation Haki, but if this kept up, he would definitely awaken a concussion!

"Don't be nervous... it's me, Shisui."

In the end, Shisui stepped out.

Seeing Shisui emerge, Naruto finally breathed a sigh of relief. On the other side, Naruto's shadow clone also stopped attacking Rock Lee.

"Oh, it's you, Shisui..."

As he spoke, Naruto walked toward Shisui.

Shisui also knew it was not proper to spy on someone else's training, so he explained, "Well... I was just heading home when I heard the noise over here, so I came to take a look!"

"Anyway... I didn't interrupt you, did I?"

"No, not at all... you came at just the right time!"

Naruto warmly took a seat on a fallen, dead tree, then motioned for Shisui to sit beside him.

Seeing this, Rock Lee also wanted to come over and sit, but Naruto stopped him.

"Rock Lee, didn't you want to learn Iron Body...? What is Iron Body? It's a skill that can get you killed if you're not careful."

As he spoke, Naruto looked at Zeff and continued, "Teacher Zeff, if you're itching for more, you can keep training Rock Lee!"

"Sure! Leave it to me!"

After answering, Zeff hauled a thoroughly bewildered Rock Lee away.

Only after Rock Lee left did Naruto turn to Shisui.

Seeing how friendly Naruto was being, Shisui frowned. To be honest, he did not want too much contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

If not for the incident with Mizuki last time, Shisui believed their paths would never have crossed before Naruto grew up.

Seeing Shisui's frown, Naruto instructed the Nine-Tails inside him, "Kurama, let me know if that old man, the Third, starts watching me!"

"Relax! With me here, there won't be any problems!"

Inside the Sealing Space, the little Nine-Tails, who had already grown several sizes fatter, spoke while drinking cola and hauling bricks.

With Kurama's assurance, Naruto could now confidently set about hoodwinking Shisui Uchiha.

"Shisui... you really want to resolve the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha, don't you?"

Naruto cut straight to the point without beating around the bush.

At Naruto's words, Shisui immediately grew serious.

He had thought Naruto was merely a child, with nothing more than the title of Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, at most. But... he had never expected such words to come out of his mouth.

The fact that he could speak of the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha showed that Naruto was no ordinary child.

At the very least... the prospective ninja currently attending the Ninja Academy could not see the increasingly tense situation in Konoha.

"Naruto! What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said!"

Naruto shrugged. "Don't treat me like a kid. I know just as much as you do... no... to be precise, I know even more than you!"

Hearing this, Shisui took a deep breath, then asked, "Go on! What do you want from me?"

Already thoroughly brainwashed by the Third, Shisui decided that once he returned today, he would report the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's unusual behavior to the Third Hokage.

Shisui had heard a little about Naruto Uzumaki's multiple personalities. He had reason to believe that the Naruto before him was not Naruto...