Sakura had a growing sense of dread.
"Don't get careless. Once we leave the village, we need to watch for any deviation from canon."
Naruto nodded calmly. "Relax. I can drop into the mental space instantly now."
If something went wrong, he'd make the Nine-Tails pay rent on the spot.
Worst case, he'd peel off the seal tag on the gate as a bluff—then slap it back on later.
Soon, the cat-catching day arrived.
Team Seven's taijutsu had improved way beyond canon, so Naruto snagged the cat by the scruff in no time.
The cat thrashed and tried to claw his face. Naruto announced he'd "make it eat dragon fruit like Pan Hong does," and Sakura stopped him before he committed a felony.
The trembling cat was returned to the daimyo's wife.
Naruto took the chance to start his usual troublemaking.
He sat down cross-legged, stretched lazily, and complained, "So these are Konoha's missions? There's seriously zero skill involved."
Iruka, sitting next to the Third Hokage, exploded. "Idiot! None of you have real experience yet!"
"You build experience starting from simple missions! Everyone does it that way!"
"Who's 'everyone'? Don't know them." Naruto scratched his brow. "All I know is I can catch a month's worth of cats in a day, the girl next to me is training Water Style, and Sasuke doesn't even need mentioning—he'd mastered the Uchiha clan's Fire Style jutsu before graduation."
Notably, Sakura had Water as one of her chakra natures. To prep for the Land of Waves, she'd started practicing standard Water Style.
"Hehe, young people having drive is good," Hiruzen smiled and puffed a smoke ring, preparing to explain mission ranks.
Naruto cut his casting off. "Stop. We know all that. Give us a C-rank mission. Or just dump this year's D-ranks on us so we can hit quota early and take an early vacation."
Kakashi tried to grab Naruto, but Naruto predicted the prediction and dispelled his shadow clone.
The real Naruto hid behind the door, quietly observing the Land of Waves "NPC," Tazuna.
From a blind corner, Naruto studied the slightly drunk old man pacing around.
Posture, expression—no sign of possession. He looked fine.
A moment later, Tazuna heard Hiruzen's order and entered.
Naruto slipped away to the weapon shop to stock up, mainly on explosive tags and soldier pills—anything that could deliver burst damage during his current low-chakra period.
Meanwhile—
"Sorry, Hokage-sama. I'll talk to Naruto later." Kakashi apologized.
"Mm. Your mission is to protect Mr. Tazuna and ensure his bridge is completed." Hiruzen nodded.
Earlier, Kakashi had privately consulted Hiruzen multiple times.
Hiruzen had told him to observe Naruto quietly, figure out what Naruto wanted, and avoid causing a scene—so Danzo's dogs couldn't exploit it.
That was why Kakashi hadn't made a big deal out of Naruto and Sasuke beating people up earlier.
Not long after, at Konoha's gate—
"Carry some of this." Naruto casually tossed one gear pack to Sakura and another to Sasuke. He'd already briefed them.
"You're surprisingly well-prepared," Kakashi said flatly, inwardly a bit shocked.
Wasn't this kid supposed to be careless?
"Heh, this shorty's pretty cautious." Tazuna belched alcohol at Naruto.
Naruto glanced sideways. "Heh, this old drunk's pretty good at acting."
"Sasuke! Naruto!" Sakura snapped, then apologized to Tazuna. "Don't listen to him, sir. Please don't go on any drunk rampages."
Naruto ducked. "Yeah yeah, uncle, don't hit me. I'll buy you booze later."
Tazuna's face went pale, then red, then pale again. You two really slapping labels on me like that?!
Sasuke kept his face blank and motioned for everyone to hurry up.
Step… step… step…
Kakashi began chatting with Tazuna about Wave Country.
Naruto and Sakura kept their eyes on the road.
According to canon, the first two attackers would be hiding in a roadside puddle, ready to ambush from behind.
Step… step… step…
A long while passed.
Sasuke, Kakashi, and Tazuna looked normal.
No.
This was 114514 levels of not normal.
Where's the puddle?
I'm asking you—where's the puddle?!
Sakura shot Naruto a look. Her right fist clenched so hard her fingertips went white.
The worst-case scenario had arrived.
Another transmigrator had interfered and changed the plotline?
Naruto went on high alert. Without hesitation, he dove his consciousness into the mental space.
No time to give the enemy a second to react. He needed to flip the biggest switch now.
Like plunging from dry land into deep water, his body felt a brief pressure squeeze. Then he opened his eyes inside the mental space.
The dim yellow gloom didn't slow him. He sprinted straight to the Nine-Tails' gate.
"Nine-Tails bro, here's your chance to prove your worth." Naruto got to the point. "Lend me some chakra. Not much—just a pinch."
The fox rolled lazily, ignoring him.
After weeks of Naruto's endless trash-talk, the Nine-Tails had decided to play dead for peace and quiet.
Evil human. The second you free me, I'm ripping your mouth off.
Naruto wasn't surprised. He leapt to the gate and started tearing off the sealing papers.
Hearing the sound, the Nine-Tails snapped its head around.
"Brat… trouble out there?" it rumbled, amused.
"Just say yes or no," Naruto stopped mid-rip.
"Hehehe…" The Nine-Tails bared its teeth. "Arrogant! You've belittled me for ages, and now you still want my benefits?"
"Arrogant bro can go sit with Yunshan." Naruto's face didn't move. "Give me a straight answer. Pay rent, or rot in my gut forever. You're only half of Kurama anyway. I'll just go fetch the other half."
The Nine-Tails' pupils shrank. "You know I'm only half?!"
"I also know if you keep yapping, I'll go to the Truth Waterfall and drain you dry, then turn you into fox jerky."
Naruto wasn't bluffing. Canon Naruto did that before the war.
The Nine-Tails fell silent.
It didn't understand why this kid knew so much.
He was supposed to just be a container.
For a moment, boy and fox deadlocked.
…
Outside, while Naruto negotiated, the situation exploded.
Thin mist began spreading through the forest, swallowing sight.
Hidden Mist Jutsu.
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