[Setting tweak: "family" is replaced with "chingu."]
"Leader, go see what's going on."
The leader started walking toward the back, counting heads one by one.
Naruto was tense. In desperation, he copied the host's tone from earlier:
"Chingu, I'm a newcomer who just joined."
The leader was built like a bear, a coiling dragon tattoo across his chest. He eyed Naruto, spat, and said, "Newcomer? Then why didn't you speak up earlier?"
Naruto studied him too. That accent didn't sound local—more like Gato's trusted inner circle.
He rolled his eyes and said, "Chingu, I was so shaken by the squad's spirit that I followed without thinking. Didn't Chief Gato say we must unite everyone we can unite?"
The leader said nothing, just started checking Naruto's pockets.
He frisked Naruto from head to toe, found no weapons, then asked, "What's President Gato's ideology?"
Naruto blanked. He'd been training and scouting nonstop—how would he know?
Recruit downlines? Bring springtime to Wave Country?
If he made something up, he'd probably die on the spot.
No. Seize the conversation's initiative.
Naruto let a trace of disappointment show. "Chingu… this is how you test cadres?"
The leader frowned.
Naruto raised his volume deliberately. "I only joined today and experienced the morning meeting. Everyone said chingu are closer than family, that we can trust our backs to each other. And now you want to doubt a chingu's loyalty?"
People turned to look. Whispers started.
The leader clearly couldn't take the heat. "Lower your voice. Don't say things that hurt unity."
"No, you're hurting unity!" Naruto turned to the crowd. "Chingu! This chingu thinks I'm an enemy. On my conscience, I've eaten Chief Gato's food for days. How could I be an enemy?!"
An old man beside Naruto chimed in, "Yeah, chingu. We joined this 'family' to eat and live. No need to be so sensitive."
"Right, right."
The leader was cornered. "Ah—listen, chingu. Recently some spies have infiltrated Wave Country…"
"Spies?! I'm a spy?!" Naruto screamed, furious enough to twist his face.
Even though he kind of was a spy.
"Shh, quiet." The leader grabbed Naruto. "Ahem. Just go in and register."
A woman in the crowd soothed him too. "Kid, don't get worked up. Go register."
Naruto snorted, finally giving the leader a way out.
Wait… I really am a spy though.
They filed into the gathering site. The leader counted heads again, then told everyone to pick up nameplates.
Naruto got one too—number 3021.
"So over three thousand people have already fallen…" he thought.
Afterward, the leader brought everyone to the dorms. Military-style management: massive communal buildings, dozens of people packed into each room—college students would faint at the sight.
Every smell imaginable mixed together. Naruto nearly passed out when he stepped in.
He coughed, slipped into an empty corner, and left a shadow clone there. His real body sank into the shadows to wait.
Suddenly, frantic footsteps and shouts echoed down the hall.
"Report! There's a fire on the west side!"
"Send a few squads with wet towels and water—put it out now!"
"Damn it! A fire in Wave Country's humidity?!"
Rushes of steps, yelling, chaos…
A little later, with far fewer patrols around, Naruto's real body emerged and dashed through the compound.
The fire was, of course, Sakura and Sasuke's doing—buying him time.
Naruto made more shadow clones and split up.
"Granary… granary…" he muttered.
At this point, the plan was clear.
They needed to dismantle the gathering site without violence—most people here were Wave civilians. Hurting them would be terrorist-level evil.
Reverse brainwashing? Unrealistic. Gato's manipulation was far beyond them.
So Naruto proposed a simpler solution:
Steal the food.
Food was the real glue holding the chingu together. Brainwashing was powerful, sure, but it still needed time to shift beliefs. Without constant food incentives, most people would disperse.
Unless they were lunatics who'd abandon everything for "ideals." Naruto thought those were still rare.
One clone found the southern granary and dispelled itself. The remaining Narutos converged.
He spotted it fast. Two tall guards patrolled outside.
By their uniforms, pure Gato elite.
Naruto didn't attack immediately. He dipped into his mental space.
"Oi oi oi, Nine-Tails. Rent time."
"You're getting more and more impatient. Have I been too nice, making you forget how terrifying I am?" Kurama growled.
"Bark bark," Naruto waved it off. "As long as the Eight Trigrams Seal cages you, you're a small fox. Hurry up, I've got work."
"Hmph!" Kurama turned away.
"Oh? Little foxie throwing a tantrum?" Naruto said with amusement. "How about this: pay rent two more times and I'll grant you one reasonable request."
Kurama didn't answer, but his aura shifted.
"With your ability, you can't fulfill my request!"
"Not now. But in the future?" Naruto said calmly. "You've seen my potential and my methods. I can use your power too. When I grow, what request could I not fulfill?"
"…Or are you saying you don't believe in your own power?"
Kurama still didn't speak, but Naruto knew he'd hooked him.
Kurama wasn't a machine. He had desires. Naruto was one of the few people who might someday satisfy them.
He didn't say out loud that the request had to be "reasonable" by Naruto's definition.
"Fine," Kurama said at last. "I'll believe you once."
Chakra poured in.
Naruto's mind returned to reality.
He realized he could now communicate with Kurama while still moving a little in the real world—like being half-online.
He rushed in to knock the guards out—
—and froze.
Two dark figures were crouched behind them.
Naruto squinted.
The old grandpa and auntie from the gate.
He went stiff.
Chingu, don't screw me over!
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