Upon hearing Natsuro's words, Naruto's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned around, slammed his hands on the desk in front of the Third Hokage, and shouted, "Can we get the mission now?"
The Third Hokage was startled by Naruto's outburst, and with a helpless sigh, handed the mission scroll over to Naruto, who then jumped up in excitement.
Iruka, who had been sighing nearby, couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened. This was his student, after all. It was hard to watch sometimes, but with Kakashi and Natsuro around, even if Naruto caused trouble, they should be able to handle any difficult tasks.
"Ah, this one seems much more reliable than those kids," the drunken old man said, looking at Natsuro with a hint of interest. Though he couldn't gauge Natsuro's strength, his aura seemed particularly formidable. The old man then muttered, "So, when do we set off? I need to get back quickly."
"Hmmm…" Kakashi glanced at the Third Hokage, received a nod, and then looked at the time. "Well, let's set off immediately."
"Yay, mission start!" Naruto shouted excitedly.
...
On the way, there was no conversation. Natsuro kept his sensory perception at a high level, not because he was worried about this C-rank mission…
It was actually a bit absurd to send two jōnin for a C-rank mission. The Third Hokage's intention was clear: he wanted Natsuro to keep an eye on Naruto. Given that Natsuro had previously broken part of the seal on Naruto, there was a possibility that the Nine-Tails' power might leak.
If Naruto went berserk, Natsuro needed to be present.
Thus, Natsuro's real task was to monitor Naruto.
Natsuro maintained his heightened perception due to inspiration from the Nine-Tails.
Natsuro could clearly sense the malice contained in the Nine-Tails' chakra, a chakra that seemed to want to devour everything. This was quite terrifying.
Thus, Natsuro realized that if he could detect the Nine-Tails' will through its chakra, perhaps he could also sense a person's will through their chakra.
Although tailed beasts are products of chakra, their chakra might contain a clearer will, but a ninja's chakra also contains their mental energy.
Natsuro thought that the chakra extracted by ninjas might have some unique characteristics, and he wanted to discover these characteristics.
Unfortunately, he still had no clues, although he occasionally sensed chakra from the Nine-Tails within Naruto. It seemed that Naruto and the Nine-Tails had reached some sort of agreement, but he wondered how Naruto had achieved that.
Natsuro felt that if he could discover these unique traits, his perception would not be limited to just the amount of chakra but would be able to specifically identify individuals. For instance, he could sense Naruto but couldn't recognize him before; if he completed this, such confusion wouldn't occur.
However, he felt that his perception hadn't reached that level yet, so he hadn't made much progress…
Soon, Natsuro detected two hidden figures. He paused and looked at Kakashi. Kakashi, who had also noticed Natsuro's look, understood the situation without needing to speak.
Natsuro quickly found an excuse to leave the team, saying he would catch up later. Kakashi, as the team leader, agreed without hesitation.
Once he left, the two hidden figures could no longer wait. Their plan was to kill the silver-haired man first. After that, dealing with the remaining three kids would be a piece of cake. Even if the other seemingly tough guy showed up later, it would be too late.
Thus, seizing the opportunity, the two of them swiftly and efficiently 'dissected' Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei!!" Naruto screamed.
"Eek!!" Sakura, seeing the blood flowing in front of her, widened her eyes in shock and let out a scream.
"Sakura, protect the old man!" Sasuke, also surprised, quickly reacted and shouted at Sakura.
"Ah, yes." Sakura quickly responded, taking out a kunai to shield Tazuna.
"Damn it, they actually killed Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto glared at the two figures wielding connected chains with wicked smiles, his eyes filled with anger.
"Naruto, Kakashi won't die so easily, he's stronger than Natsuro," Sasuke reminded Naruto.
Naruto paused, nodded, and said, "It seems so, but no matter what, I'm going in!"
"Hmph." Sasuke's mouth curled into a smile. This situation didn't require the Sharingan, and he charged forward with Naruto.
"Wow, you're being a bit too dramatic," Natsuro said to Kakashi, observing the scene. It was normal for Kakashi, being an elite jōnin, to be recognized by Sasuke.
However, Natsuro was somewhat surprised by Naruto's performance. He remembered that Naruto's initial performance in the original story was not that impressive.
"Well, as long as the goal is achieved," Kakashi said casually, then looked at the scene below with a satisfied expression. Sasuke and Naruto were performing even better than he had expected, and Sakura was effectively protecting Tazuna.
Even though it was their first collaboration, their division of labor and reactions were impressive.
Kakashi was also surprised to see that the two brothers who had emerged, seemingly rogue ninjas from the Mist Village, were dealt with efficiently. Their skills, which hadn't shown in the usual D-rank missions, seemed to have improved significantly since the tests.
How did they manage that? Kakashi wondered.
But now was not the time for questions. Kakashi looked at the time and said, "Natsuro, as per the Third Hokage's instructions, it's better if you don't intervene unless necessary."
"I understand. It's also an opportunity for Naruto and the others to train," Natsuro nodded.
"Okay, then I'll head back into the scene," Kakashi said and re-entered the fray.
Natsuro watched the scene unfold, gradually matching his memories, and smiled. It seemed that soon he would encounter Zabuza.
A ninja who could fight Kakashi to a standstill in the early stages, even if Kakashi had to divide his attention because of Team 7, was not to be underestimated, especially with the ice-user Haku.
If Haku's abilities weren't limited by personality, his ice techniques might rival Zabuza's, but unfortunately… he wasn't suited for the path of a ninja.
Natsuro remembered Haku's achievements. Defeating the two main characters of the Hokage with that level of skill was already something to be proud of. Natsuro's mind suddenly recalled the image of Sasuke covered in thousands of needles…
At this point, he had a slight doubt because some of the thousand needles in the anime were… potentially fatal. So, did Sasuke actually die once and then come back to life due to Indra's influence? Similarly, when Naruto was hit in the heart by Kabuto's chakra scalpel… their hearts had apparently stopped. With Tsunade right there, could Sakura have made a mistake, or could Tsunade have misjudged the situation too?
Such doubts had left a strong impression on him. In the end, he sighed; it no longer mattered what the actual facts were because, with him around, such things would never happen again.
That said, he remembered that Haku could perform hand seals with one hand. There were only a few characters in the entire series who could do that, and Haku was one of them, which piqued his interest.
Although he could now perform some of his primary jutsu without hand seals, not all techniques could be performed without hand seals. He didn't have time to thoroughly study all the less critical jutsu.
Therefore, hand seals still had their place even as he became stronger. Natsuro, thanks to his Lightning Release acceleration, could already perform four to five seals per second, which was quite fast.
However, he had never tried single-handed seals before. Perhaps he could learn the technique from Haku.
Meanwhile, after Kakashi questioned Tazuna about concealing the truth, they decided to continue the mission because of Naruto's insistence.
Naruto and Sasuke also asked Kakashi if Natsuro should be joining them now. Kakashi explained that Natsuro, being a jōnin, was likely very busy and would join them later, thereby deflecting their inquiries.
Sasuke and Naruto were somewhat skeptical of Kakashi's words, but since Kakashi didn't want to elaborate, they had no choice but to stop questioning.
Indeed, Natsuro was a jōnin and likely had a tight schedule. However, his willingness to make time to teach them made them feel a bit moved.
Sakura, watching Sasuke and Naruto, could understand Sasuke's strength, but when had Naruto become so powerful? He had only shown impressive physical strength in school…
Was Team 7 now at its weakest, with her being the weakest link? Sakura had previously thought that Naruto was the weak link, but she sighed and looked at Sasuke, deciding she needed to improve and gain Sasuke's respect.
Ino had gone so far; she needed to work hard as well! Sakura slapped her cheeks and followed along.
Natsuro observed this and couldn't help but frown. Sakura… To be honest, she had a good amount of talent, but it only started to show after Sasuke's defection.
Early on, Sakura's talent was evident but minimal compared to her later self. Natsuro thought the author might have exaggerated Sakura's talent to balance out Team 7, but now he didn't believe that anymore.
Sakura's talent was certainly there, but it depended on her mindset. If she kept striving only to catch up with Sasuke…
She might not reach the level depicted in the original story, where Sakura's change was clearly related to Sasuke's defection—such as her more composed demeanor and… the disappearance of her second persona!
Or perhaps a merging of personas and a boost in talent? Although it was hard to understand, it seemed somewhat reasonable…
Natsuro sighed, feeling troubled. He wondered if his presence would negatively impact Sakura. If she didn't achieve the desired level, it wouldn't be his fault, and maybe Sakura wanted more for Sasuke not to have defected than to become stronger herself?
In his thoughts, he finally sensed the presence with considerable chakra and smiled.
The time had come.
Zabuza Momochi was about to make his appearance!
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