At first, Whitebeard believed that the evil energy within Naruto was something he was born with, a special talent that set him apart from others.
Even though this power was unconventional and sinister.
It was still Naruto's own.
Wasn't that a unique talent in itself?
However.
Whitebeard now realized...
Naruto was "possessed" by a dangerous monster residing within him, threatening his life and safety. This made Whitebeard think that Naruto's biological father was extremely irresponsible.
"Dad, he's not my father!" Naruto said after a long silence.
Hearing Whitebeard openly criticize his biological father, five-year-old Naruto felt increasingly aggrieved.
He thought Whitebeard was right. Why should he, a child, bear all this?
Why seal such a terrifying monster within him?
With so many powerful ninjas in Konoha.
Why did it have to be him?
Naruto bit his lower lip hard and firmly said again, "He's not my father! I don't care who he is, I only know that you, Dad, are my father!!"
"Gurarara! Foolish son!" Whitebeard was pleased, "Don't think too much. I am here with you!"
"Yeah!" Naruto's small face brightened up again.
To Naruto.
The parents, who had died years ago, couldn't bring him warmth or familial bonds.
But.
Dad could!
"... I hope my teacher can't hear this from heaven," Kakashi muttered to himself.
Actually, he also felt that what Minato did might be somewhat irresponsible.
The Will of Fire in Konoha shouldn't be—"Wherever the leaves dance, fire is also there. The shadow of fire will blaze the village and let new leaves sprout."
But after the old generation sacrifices themselves, can they truly just leave everything behind, abandoning their responsibilities?
Why should new growth bear this burden?
Did they consider the future of an infant?
Thinking about this... he couldn't even focus on the content of the book he was holding.
While Kakashi was deep in thought, he suddenly sensed something was off: "Wait a minute!"
Kakashi was startled.
"This place..." Following behind Whitebeard, he glanced around and came to an unbelievable conclusion: "This is no longer within the Land of Fire!"
While lost in thought, he had unknowingly followed Whitebeard across the border of the Land of Fire!
In other words.
After accepting the Hokage's mission, he watched as Whitebeard took Naruto out of the Land of Fire.
Oh!
Right!
"The Hokage's order was just to follow Whitebeard, not to do anything else..."
Kakashi's shock gradually subsided.
"I see, the Hokage must have had other intentions." He returned his attention to his book.
Kakashi wasn't scared!
But after thinking it over...
Kakashi decided to send a ninja hound back to report.
He squatted down and patted the head of the small ninja hound: "Pakkun, take this scroll back to Konoha. This task is up to you."
The ninja hound Pakkun rolled his eyes.
It was the only non-combatant ninja hound that could speak: "I'm a non-combatant hound, and you're giving me this job?"
"This isn't combat, it's right up your alley."
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.
Pakkun: "..."
"Gurarara! White-haired brat, all these countries in your ninja world seem the same!"
Whitebeard noticed Kakashi sending a small dog back with a message.
But Whitebeard didn't care.
"Because this is a small country." Kakashi recalled their current position. Even without a map, his amazing memory allowed him to understand their location.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Land of Grass, a small country neighboring Konoha to the northwest."
Kakashi explained, "Although small countries also have ninja villages, due to their small size, they struggle to develop unique cultural and geographical identities, unlike the Five Great Nations."
This is different from the world of One Piece, where islands, even neighboring ones, have distinct styles.
But in the ninja world.
Especially in small countries.
Their cultures are completely assimilated by the larger nations, showing little uniqueness.
And the Land of Grass...
I was one of them.
"Huh? If they have ninja villages, does that mean they also have 'Kages'?" Naruto, now in better spirits, was curious about everything in his first venture outside Konoha and the Land of Fire.
Kakashi shook his head, "Not every country's strongest in their ninja village is called a 'Kage.' Typically, only the strongest in the Five Great Nations are called 'Kage.'"
"We better avoid causing trouble here," Kakashi kindly warned, "Or we might spark a diplomatic incident between Konoha and the Hidden Grass Village."
Just as he said this, Kakashi paused.
He realized his warning was pointless.
Warn Naruto? A five-year-old kid couldn't cause much trouble.
Warn Whitebeard?
Well...
He wasn't even from Konoha.
Whitebeard was a pirate!
"Uh, forget I said anything."
Kakashi added.
...
"Hey, hey, hey... what's with that giant? And that masked white-haired guy looks familiar! Isn't he wearing a Konoha headband?"
In the distance.
Three ninjas, holding binoculars, secretly observed Whitebeard, Kakashi, and Naruto.
These three spies were from the Hidden Grass Village!
After all, with Whitebeard's massive stature and his group's blatant entry into the Land of Grass, it was hard for the Hidden Grass Village ninja to ignore them.
Under these circumstances, it was difficult not to notice this group.
"A Konoha headband, white hair, a mask, a man."
One of the Grass Village ninjas quickly took out a booklet from his pocket. After flipping through several pages, he was shocked: "This guy..."
"Is the Copy Ninja from Konoha—Kakashi Hatake!"
"What?" The other two Grass ninjas were equally shocked.
The booklet detailed various ninjas with bounties, and under "Kakashi Hatake," it clearly stated his bounty was 30 million Ryo!
"Gulp!"
The three Grass ninjas swallowed hard. Kakashi's reputation and bounty both astonished them.
"Hurry back and report to the leader!" One of them, looking tense, immediately set off: "Konoha's ninja suddenly coming to the Land of Grass can't be good!"
"You two, keep an eye on them and don't let them out of your sight, and don't let them notice you!"
The other two Grass ninjas nodded.
They carefully monitored Whitebeard's group through binoculars from at least a kilometer away, believing this distance to be safe.
Until...
In the binoculars, they suddenly saw the giant among the trio glance in their direction!
They were so scared they dropped their binoculars.
Cold sweat poured from their backs and foreheads!!
"Was... was that a coincidence?"
...
...