"Then, I'll leave Naruto to you! Sixth Hokage." Inside Konoha's encampment, Yamato saluted Sakura.
"Don't call me Sixth Hokage!!!" The pink-haired girl immediately hissed. "Sato Sakura, sic him!"
Upon receiving the order, the user of the Inu Inu no Mi bared her sharp teeth and bit down on his arm.
Behemoth's saliva, capable of melting rock, dripped onto his clothes with a sizzling sound, making Yamato dart around like a startled cat.
It took a long time, with Naruto and Kakashi's help, to separate the two. Besides a ring of teeth marks on his hand, Yamato had also lost half his sleeve.
"Sigh, that was close!" Yamato laughed sheepishly and raised his hand to rub his head.
Kakashi, sitting beside him catching his breath, asked casually: "So, why did Tsunade-sama send you to bring Naruto to the front lines at this time?"
"About that..." Yamato's expression turned solemn. "Remember the research institute that cloned... ahem, that created Sakura-sama's daughter?"
"Huh?" Sakura was confused, because the matter of Sato Sakura being a clone was completely fabricated by her based on what Vegapunk had said in the One Piece World.
'So, did you actually capture Vegapunk in the Ninja World?'
'That would truly be a rare sight… unbelievable!'
"Based on a batch of declassified documents from the Third Hokage's era, Tsunade-sama has made contact with a company in the Land of Fire that has long specialized in the production of life sciences and medical equipment."
Yamato raised his hand to point at himself, then at Sato Sakura. "Later, through the village's intelligence network, it was discovered that this company has been conducting experiments on the cultivation and cloning of strong individuals' genes. Oh, by the way, the name of this company is… Kara."
"Ugh, cough, cough, cough..." Sakura's eyes bulged, she choked on her tea, and coughed violently.
But the others listening to Yamato's story didn't pay attention to Sakura. Kakashi further pressed: "And then?"
"Tsunade-sama has announced the dissolution of this company, and I am now responsible for tracking down their remaining hideouts and destroying them!" Yamato pointed at the thick dark circles under his eyes, a faint sense of deathly exhaustion of an overworked employee permeating from him.
"But what does this have to do with you bringing Naruto here?" Sakura caught the blind spot, pointing at the blond-haired boy beside her.
"Have you forgotten? Tsunade-sama previously asked you to help Naruto complete that technique."
Yamato took out the mission receipt and handed it to Sakura. "Also, your combat power here is more abundant, which can prevent the Akatsuki from ambushing and capturing Naruto."
"Hey, don't talk about me as if I'm an object! My combat power is very strong, you know!" Naruto, looked down upon by Yamato, puffed up his cheeks and shouted.
"Fine, leave him here then." Sakura nodded, signed the receipt, and returned it to Yamato.
"I have my mission, so I'll take my leave!" Yamato tucked the scroll close to his body, bowed to Sakura, and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave Konoha's encampment.
"Then, time is short. Let's begin!" Sakura stood up and snapped her fingers, grabbing Naruto by the collar with her other hand.
In the distance, Leviathan, connected to her will, flew over, opened her large mouth, and swallowed the two in one gulp.
Leaving behind Kakashi, the lonely old man, looking around in confusion, feeling as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.
Inside Leviathan's stomach, Naruto felt a wave of cold darkness brush against his skin. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself on the deck of a large speedboat.
"Oh ho ho, what is this place?" The blond-haired boy looked around curiously, his restless little hands touching the boat. "Sakura-chan, your summoning creature actually has a place like this inside its stomach?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto's hand was whipped by an annoyed rope. Leviathan, her small face puffed up in anger, rose up from below deck. "You're the summoning creature! I'm Sakura's companion!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry." Naruto blew on his reddened hand and apologized to Leviathan with a grin.
"The toads have already told you about the Nine-Tails, right?" Sakura got some juice from below deck, came to sit in front of Naruto, and handed it to him.
"Yeah, I talked with the Great Toad Sage about the Nine-Tails, and I also saw the Sealing Technique Scroll from Gerotora!" Naruto pursed his lips. "Also, Sakura-chan, I met my mom and dad inside the seal!"
"You've had it pretty tough too, kid." Leviathan, munching on a potato chip, reached out and rubbed Naruto's head.
"Then, let's begin our training. Don't let your father's efforts go to waste!" Sakura raised her fist toward Naruto.
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned and raised his fist to bump against Sakura's.
"First, to face this strongest Tailed Beast directly, you need to eliminate the darkness in your heart." Sakura, who had now entered teaching mode, exuded an undeniable authority.
"Darkness... I don't have that kind of thing in my heart. Let's just go see the big fox!"
Three seconds in, revealing his true nature, Naruto showed what he thought was a sunny smile, eager to face the Nine-Tails.
But Sakura wouldn't be fooled by his appearance. Don't let his usual loud, carefree, and simple-minded exterior fool you... his inner emotions are actually very delicate.
"Words are not enough. Let Leviathan help you determine that!" Sakura raised her hand to rub Leviathan's head, showing Naruto a devilish smile.
The small ship spirit forcefully spread her wings. A dark power slowly eroded her own body. Then...
A cluster of pale flame clouds rose from her body surface, circling behind her and quivering, making her look incredibly divine and strange.
—Awakened State: Night Swallow!
In the great battle at Wano, having overused her abilities, the will of the Devil Fruit that constituted Leviathan's main consciousness had revived, and she had naturally entered her awakened state.
Of course, this discovery had made Sakura quite jealous for a while!
"Seal: The Birth of Tragedy!"
Endless darkness surged, converging into a small, pitch-black night bird. It flapped its wings and rushed into Naruto's consciousness, guiding the darkness out within his inner world.
Thus officially beginning his training in the use of the Nine-Tails' power!
…
On the other side, within the Land of Water, Kirigakure.
Inside the Mizukage Building, built of blue brick, the Mizukage's Advisor and Elder, Genji, leaning on his cane, walked through the hallway after a day of work.
The Ninjas along the way raised their hands and bowed to him respectfully, and he replied to them with a smile.
After walking a long distance, he returned to his office, activated a seal to ensure that no sound could be heard from inside or out, and then collapsed into his office chair.
"Ah, I'd love to try what it feels like to take a shit~" As if a third-year high school student buried in intense studying was lamenting the wonderful life after the college entrance exam, an aura different from his age emerged from Genji's body.
Just then, the air twisted.
Obito, wearing his mask, descended from a wrinkled spatial singularity, reached out, and tossed a small test tube containing a black liquid to Genji. "This should be the last batch. Have Kirigakure's forces been assembled?"
"Don't worry, Madara-sama. I've taken care of everything. Kirigakure will commit six thousand troops to this war in the Land of Frost."
Zetsu, codenamed Todi, returned to his role as Genji and gave Obito a thumbs-up.
Thus, a total of six thousand Kirigakure's Ninjas, riding warships, departed from the waters of the Land of Water, passed through the border of the Land of Lightning, and headed toward the Land of Frost.
At the same time, small test tubes containing a pitch-black liquid, said to enhance one's Chakra capacity, were also distributed among Kirigakure's Ninja forces under the instruction of an unknown superior.
Finally, at the end of November, Kirigakure joined the battle, raising the curtain on the Fourth Great Ninja War.