Naruto left the town without hurry.
The road narrowed as lantern light faded behind him, replaced by dirt, roots, and the quiet hum of the forest. His steps were even, unremarkable. Anyone watching would assume he was relaxed.
They would be wrong.
Four chakra signatures slid into place behind him, loose but coordinated. Not aggressive. Not careless.
ROOT.
Naruto let them follow for several minutes, mapping their spacing, their breathing, the way they shifted weight when the terrain changed.
They're better than the last group, he noted. Still cautious. Still unsure.
He stepped off the road and into a clearing framed by uneven ground and broken sightlines. Exposed roots. Slanted rocks. Poor footing.
Naruto stopped.
The response was immediate.
Two operatives fanned out wide, moving through the trees with practiced silence. One stayed back, chakra compressed tight. The last advanced slowly, blade held low, testing distance.
Naruto exhaled once and shifted his stance.
The first attack came from the right.
Steel flashed toward his ribs. Naruto twisted just enough for the blade to scrape his forearm instead of sinking in. Pain flared briefly as he caught the attacker's wrist, rotated, and slammed him shoulder-first into the ground.
The earth cracked under the impact.
The man tried to recover. Naruto drove a kick into his side, sending him skidding across the clearing.
Alive. Incapacitated.
The second operative struck from behind, aiming for the spine. Naruto dropped low, swept the man's legs, and followed through with a knee to the chest that knocked the air out of him in a sharp wheeze.
Naruto held him there for a moment, feeling the panic spike.
Breaks under pressure.
He released him and stepped back.
The third operative hesitated.
That hesitation cost him everything.
Naruto crossed the distance in a single step, driving a chakra-reinforced strike into the man's throat. Bone gave way with a dull crack. The body collapsed without a sound.
The leader reacted instantly, turning and fleeing into the trees.
Naruto allowed three steps.
Then he blurred.
A burst of speed shattered the ground beneath his feet as he reappeared in front of the fleeing operative. A precise strike landed just below the collarbone, flooding the man's system with disrupted chakra.
He dropped, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Silence returned to the clearing.
Naruto stood still, letting the sensations settle. The fight had been clean. Controlled. Informative.
They're adapting, he thought. Not fast enough.
He burned the bodies, erased traces, and restored the clearing as best as terrain allowed.
When he was finished, he turned.
Jiraiya stood at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed.
"You don't waste movement," Jiraiya said. "That's new."
Naruto shrugged. "Waste gets you killed."
"You let one of them hit you."
"Needed to know how hard."
Jiraiya studied him for a second. "You weren't angry."
"No."
"You weren't rushed."
"No."
They started back toward the road.
"ROOT's been poking at you for a while," Jiraiya said. "You know that."
Naruto nodded. "They're learning."
"And you?"
Naruto didn't answer right away.
"I already learned," he said finally.
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
Elsewhere — Root Headquarters
Danzo Shimura read the report without expression.
Four more.
No witnesses. No evidence. No residue worth tracking.
He set the scroll aside and folded his hands.
"Total losses?" he asked.
"Thirty-seven confirmed over three years," the operative replied. "Possibly more."
Danzo nodded once.
The number itself was irrelevant.
Naruto Uzumaki had not lashed out. Had not retaliated against Konoha. Had not exposed his strength recklessly.
He had responded only when approached.
Removed obstacles.
Left nothing behind.
The lack of information was information.
"Cease direct observation," Danzo said. "Shift to indirect methods only."
The operative hesitated. "Sir, if we stop—"
"He is aware," Danzo interrupted calmly. "Continuing will only sharpen him."
The operative bowed and vanished.
Danzo turned toward the wall.
A weapon that chooses restraint…
That was not something to provoke.
That was something to wait for.
Every tool has it uses, you just need the right triggers to move them.