Thank you,"Arfel santos" for upgrading to a top tier member, shoutout to you . Enjoy!
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Team 7 continues their usual routine, taking on missions in the morning and training together in the afternoon.
Recently, however, Kakashi has noticed something strange about Naruto's eyes.
They now convey emotions like empathy, sympathy, and excitement.
This puzzles Kakashi, as Naruto's eyes have become unusually expressive.
When questioned, Naruto brushes it off with responses like, "It's nothing," "Don't worry about it," or "You just have to live with conviction," further deepening the mystery.
But everyone is accustomed to Naruto's quirks by now, so Kakashi doesn't dig deeper.
The truth behind Naruto's strange expressions lies in what he learned from his mother, Kushina.
She informed him that his chakra reserves are nearly ten times those of Kakashi's under normal conditions.
This knowledge leaves Naruto struggling to contain his emotions whenever he sees Kakashi—a living unit of chakra measurement.
Despite Kakashi's rigorous training under Kushina's watchful eye, which made him somewhat stronger than his counterpart in the original timeline, he still can't compete with the immense chakra reserves of the Uzumaki clan.
Naruto is only twelve years old now, but as he matures and his body strengthens, the gap will widen even further.
He might easily burn through a few hundred calories without breaking a sweat—not to mention the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him.
Naruto once asked Kushina how much chakra he had exactly.
Kushina, with a mysterious smile, simply told him to learn chakra perception jutsu and see it himself.
Shaking off his thoughts, Naruto puts on his training weights and starts his physical exercises.
As for the Rasengan, Flying Thunder God, and chakra-sensing training, he leaves those to his Shadow Clones.
Naruto is determined to strengthen his physique.
After all, whether he uses the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode or Sage Mode in the future, it's like adding multiple buffs to his abilities, with the Uzumaki clan's physicality and the resilience of a jinchūriki, it would be a waste not to focus on physical training.
Meanwhile, Sakura has already finished reading another book.
According to her, she has memorized the previous one completely.
Naruto is impressed—Sakura's knowledge is akin to a high school student having memorized the entire Oxford Dictionary, leaving him with nothing to say but, "That's insane."
Given Sakura's dedication, Naruto introduced her to Shizune, a medic-nin who assisted in his birth along with Sarutobi Biwako.
On the day of the Nine-Tails attack, Shizune was saved by Minato.
After several years, she left the Anbu, got married, and now works at Konoha Hospital.
She has a habit of pinching Naruto's cheeks and making him call her "sister," which at least provides enough guidance for Sakura in her medical training.
Sakura was too shy to bother Nonō Yakushi, who was always busy at the orphanage.
Now, Sakura has learned basic medical ninjutsu and can heal minor wounds.
In addition to her standard ninja tools, she now carries a medical kit and plans to further expand her medical knowledge.
Sasuke's progress with the Chidori has been relatively smooth.
He's managed to generate some sparks, but he's still far from mastering the technique.
****
One day, Team 7 received the infamous "catch-the-cat" mission.
This cat, named Tora, isn't just any cat—it's the beloved pet of the Fire Daimyo's wife.
Its frequent escapes have contributed significantly to Konoha's economy.
How the cat managed to escape from the Daimyo's residence to Konoha is anyone's guess.
Due to Lady Daimyo's special status, she's always personally received by the Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who often assigns these tasks to Team 7.
Catching the cat was uneventful, but when they returned to the Hokage's office to report, Naruto met Lady Daimyo—a heavily adorned, plump woman.
After handing over the cat, Lady Daimyo clutched it tightly, fussing over it as she was escorted out by her entourage.
Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she would hire Konoha ninjas as guards when she left, contributing even more to Konoha's economic growth.
After Lady Daimyo left, Minato stopped Kakashi, who was about to lead the team, out and said, "Hold on. I have a C-rank mission for you."
At that moment, an elderly man stumbled through the door, reeking of alcohol.
The old man wore a bamboo hat, carried luggage, and clutched a bottle of sake.
Naruto instantly recognized him—Tazuna, a famous NPC from the Land of Waves arc, the bridge builder who lied about the mission's rank and guilt-tripped Team 7 into helping him.
Tazuna eyed Naruto and the others with disdain, muttering, "Are these kids supposed to protect me? They don't look very reliable."
Naruto knew what kind of man Tazuna was, so he didn't react. But Sasuke and Sakura glared at him, clearly offended by his lack of faith in their abilities.
Minato wasn't bothered by Tazuna's attitude and calmly explained, "You requested a C-rank mission, and Team 7 is one of Konoha's top-generation squads. Kakashi Hatake, their leader, is my former student. They're more than capable of handling any situation that might arise."
Upon hearing that Kakashi was the Hokage's student, Tazuna took a closer look at the team.
Noticing their competent appearance and the blond-haired boy who resembled the Hokage, he hesitantly asked, "Is that boy... your son?"
Minato didn't hesitate to confirm, "Yes, that's my son—one of the top graduates of the Ninja Academy."
The gears in Tazuna's mind started turning. For the cost of a C-rank mission, he had managed to secure the Hokage's student and son—what a bargain!
Tazuna quickly dropped his attitude and agreed, eager to ensure they wouldn't change their minds.
Kakashi took the mission details, then turned to his team, "The mission to guard the Land of Waves might take some time, so go prepare. We'll meet at the village gate in half an hour."
Kakashi and the rest of the team departed to make their preparations. Only Naruto stayed behind, looking at Minato and saying, "Dad, can you take me home?"
Minato raised an eyebrow, puzzled that his son, already grown, would make such a request.
Naruto quickly explained, "I just want to experience the Flying Thunder God Jutsu a few more times—it might help with my training."
"Ah, I see. Alright then," Minato agreed.
Three seconds later, Naruto found himself at home, courtesy of the Namikaze Minato Express.
Kushina happened to be home as well—her squad had just completed a simple mission.
Minato briefly explained the situation before returning to his office.
"You're going away? And for a long time?" Kushina asked, her worry evident. Even though Naruto was mature for his age, she couldn't help but fret.
"I'll help you pack right away!" Kushina declared, rushing to get everything ready.
"Uh... you don't need to go through so much trouble..." Naruto only had time to reach out with a half-hearted protest as his mother bustled around, too concerned to listen.
****
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