"Nine-Tails ruined me!"
In response to the enemy being thoroughly thrashed by the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the individual in question claimed that his psyche had been adversely affected by the Nine-Tails, qualifying him as intermittently insane and therefore deserving of a lenient sentence.
Oh right, this is the Shinobi World, so never mind.
As the three of them prepared to tidy up the chaotic battlefield, Kakashi appeared quietly.
Dragging several unconscious enemies with his right hand, he looked at the three youngsters with a gaze that held both relief and worry.
Without a doubt, the one who worried Kakashi the most was Naruto.
"Is the Nine-Tails really influencing him?" he thought to himself.
This was a delusion Kakashi had concocted some time ago—that Naruto's series of abnormal actions were most likely instigated by the Nine-Tails.
He decided to contact the Third Hokage in secret later.
Damn Nine-Tails!
"Sorry, you guys worked hard. I needed to observe whether the enemy's target was Team 7 or Mr. Tazuna, which is why I didn't step in right away. But, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, great job!"
He gave the three a thumbs-up and joined them in tying up the captives who were still breathing.
After finishing, Kakashi looked at Tazuna: "Mr. Tazuna, I'd like a word with you in private."
This was a serious matter. Regardless of the identity or number of the attacking enemies, it far exceeded what could be handled in a C-rank mission.
Seeing this, Naruto immediately stood up and scratched his butt: "Ah, perfect timing, I gotta go take a leak anyway, cough cough cough!"
He winked at Sakura.
Sakura slapped her forehead. Can you at least be serious when finding an excuse? Am I supposed to go take a dump with you, a grown man?
She thought for a moment, announced that she also needed to relieve herself, and bolted off in a different direction.
A moment later, the two rendezvoused.
Seeing Sakura, Naruto immediately lowered his voice: "Something's off. Don't you think this ambush was way too trivial?"
Sakura nodded: "Indeed. It's like someone playing a Souls-like game for the first time and dumping all their stat points into strength—totally useless."
Although the intensity of this ambush had increased, it was still nothing more than a superficial scratch.
"Would he wear that on Zabuza?"
"No. Zabuza can't mobilize these forces, but Gato can."
Gato, a criminal underworld figure who hired Zabuza in the original story to assassinate Tazuna and halt the construction of the bridge, thereby cutting off the Land of Waves' maritime trade routes and achieving total control.
"But doing this serves no purpose other than giving us some trash-mob experience points." Naruto also began using gaming terminology.
"There are only two possibilities," Sakura said after a moment of thought.
"Either that person hasn't watched Naruto, or they have other plans."
"Let's hope it's the first one," Naruto sighed.
The two briefly deduced the situations they might encounter next, and when they finished talking, they started heading back.
They couldn't stay away too long, lest they arouse suspicion.
Before returning, Naruto released a Shadow Clone, sending it flying back to Konoha to replenish their lethal ninja tools.
Upon their return, Kakashi looked at the three and briefly explained the situation.
It turned out that because Tazuna was strapped for cash and unable to pay the reward for a mission above C-rank, he had lied about the true nature of the mission.
However, Naruto and Sakura immediately expressed their understanding. Especially when Tazuna played the sympathy card using his family, Naruto fiercely slapped his chest and promised to help take care of his daughter!
As for Tazuna's grandson, well...
Tzuna was moved to tears, thanking them repeatedly while mentally placing Naruto on his blacklist.
In fact, this aligned with Naruto and Sakura's own objectives—they wanted to nip the enemy in the bud, and if they couldn't kill them, they at least wanted to figure out what was actually going on.
Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and coolly remarked that these people weren't even a warm-up for him.
"Alright, since you're all so persistent." Kakashi scratched his head and decided to press on.
As the group walked along, Naruto's consciousness slipped once again into his Mind Space.
After this battle, Naruto discovered that he could now walk while communicating with the Nine-Tails in his Mind Space; the lag sensation that usually occurred when his mind traversed the space had almost vanished.
The dim, gloomy surroundings and the Nine-Tails' heavy breathing no longer carried any sense of oppression for Naruto.
Back home again~
"Nine-Tails, I am very disappointed in you." Naruto initiated zero-frame combat, expressing his profound dissatisfaction with the rent the Nine-Tails was paying.
"What? Didn't you use my power to defeat all those enemies? Hehehehe..." The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes, its expression full of smugness.
Finally, an opportunity for my intoxicating power to reappear in this world! Brat, the more you say that, the more it proves you can't handle it!
"Let me put it this way," Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground and said with disdain, "your chakra is just like dog shit on the side of the road—revoltingly stinky, though it's barely useful for things like fertilizing fields."
"What did you say?!" The Nine-Tails instantly bristled, its massive body seeming to expand twofold.
"Quit the bullshit, it's too noisy," Naruto picked at his earwax: "Why do you insist on infusing your malice into your chakra?"
The Nine-Tails snorted: "I am the very embodiment of malice, and it's not that my chakra contains malice; rather, my chakra simply hooks the malice already buried in your heart."
Naruto calmly retorted: "You're a yo-yoing embodiment of malice. You're just a creature played for fools by humans over and over again, making the malice within you grow deeper and deeper."
"In truth, you originate from the Sage of Six Paths dividing the Ten-Tails, and the Ten-Tails' power comes from the chakra fruit of the God Tree."
The Nine-Tails froze. It never expected the young boy before it to know so much.
It was the same last time—the boy easily pierced through the lies in the Nine-Tails' words.
The Nine-Tails fell silent for a long time: "Who... exactly are you?"
"Your landlord," Naruto said flatly: "Next time, I need you to provide me with much purer chakra, or you can forget about ever getting out of this seal."
After a moment's thought, he added: "Don't underestimate the Fourth, and don't underestimate the power of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style."
Without waiting for the Nine-Tails to reply, Naruto directly exited the Mind Space.
That was enough.
To master the Nine-Tails' chakra, Naruto didn't just need to use psychological manipulation (PUA); he also needed to showcase his own uniqueness, bringing the Nine-Tails onto equal footing with himself.
Once the Nine-Tails could stably supply refined chakra, he would practice tree-climbing and water-walking, followed by the Rasengan.
Of course, shuriken training could also be added to the agenda; afterward, Naruto planned to try practicing the Uchiha Shuriken Jutsu.
After walking for a few more hours, Naruto felt a stirring in his heart and immediately threw a kunai, accurately startling away a white rabbit.
A snow rabbit specifically used for the Substitution Technique.
"Zabuza is here." Sakura quietly transmitted her voice to Naruto. Naruto nodded and gestured backward.
The Shadow Clone Naruto in the rear braced himself and stood ready.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a fierce whistling wind tore through the air.
Treating it like a formidable enemy, Kakashi roared, "Duck!", Naruto pressed Tazuna's head down, and Sasuke and Sakura ducked at the same time, narrowly dodging Zabuza's huge sword.
Bare-chested, tall in stature, his face covered by a mask, he radiated a piercing, murderous aura all around.
Mist billowed in the surroundings, the Hidden Mist Technique dropping visibility to near zero. However, the Shadow Clone did not use an Explosive Tag to disperse the mist; he intended to let Kakashi act according to the original story first, while he himself looked for a chance to ambush Haku when he arrived later.
As for Naruto's main body, he narrowed his eyes slightly and carefully scrutinized Zabuza's appearance.
No clues could be discerned yet; let's see if he acts according to the original story shortly.