Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

One month later.

Inside Konoha's great forest, a tiny black shadow suddenly leapt out from the bushes ahead.

Immediately afterward, a hand overflowing with "cool-guy aura" snatched it directly out of the air and held it up.

"Target successfully captured by Sasuke-kun. Mission complete."

Using her Byakugan to monitor the surrounding area, Hinata calmly reported the information to their "commander."

"Yosh! Another difficult mission successfully completed!"

Naruto—who somehow produced a pair of sunglasses from nowhere and wore them dramatically—slapped his thigh proudly before applauding Sasuke and Hinata.

"... Ever since you became a Chūnin, why do I feel like our recent missions have all been completely meaningless?"

Sasuke walked over while holding the captured cat in one hand and the other shoved into his pocket.

His face looked utterly speechless as he stared toward Naruto's ridiculous behavior.

"Hm?"

Naruto immediately straightened his sunglasses arrogantly.

"Are you, a mere Genin subordinate, dissatisfied with me, your glorious Chūnin superior?"

"Subordinates are forbidden from questioning their commander, got it?"

As he spoke, Naruto deliberately tugged at the green flak jacket he had intentionally worn today.

The standard shinobi vest issued to Chūnin and above.

Its defensive properties were practically negligible.

But it perfectly displayed his "higher status" compared to Genin.

"..."

Sasuke silently stared at Naruto's smug act.

Then suddenly—

He released the cat.

The frightened animal instantly regained freedom and darted directly back into the forest.

"Oi! What're you doing?!"

Sasuke calmly returned both hands to his pockets.

"This Genin is too weak and incompetent."

"The target escaped."

"Please, honorable Chūnin captain, personally finish the mission yourself."

"You did that on purpose!"

Naruto's teeth nearly shattered from grinding.

He rolled up his sleeves—

Preparing to dive back into the forest and catch the cat again.

After all, if the mission failed, the angry old lady who issued the request would definitely blame Naruto, the acting Chūnin squad leader.

Fortunately—

Before Naruto moved, Hinata had already gently returned carrying the cunning cat in her arms.

She had long since grown accustomed to the two boys constantly bickering and simply completed the mission herself.

"Hinaaata…"

Naruto looked deeply moved.

"You're seriously too considerate!"

This had become their daily routine lately.

"Honestly, these missions really are incredibly boring."

"It feels like a complete waste of time."

"Well…"

Hinata spoke softly.

"Even though Naruto-kun became a Chūnin, without Jōnin Instructor Kakashi-sensei around, our team's mission limits were reduced according to village regulations."

"Not just reduced."

Naruto immediately complained.

"Grandpa Hokage even said we still lack enough experience, so we need to spend more time doing D-rank chores first!"

The three continued chatting casually while returning toward the village.

Then suddenly—

All three simultaneously turned their heads toward a nearby tree branch.

"... Huh?"

The ANBU operative who had just landed there using Body Flicker froze awkwardly.

Apparently, all three had already noticed him before he even spoke.

Has my Body Flicker gotten THAT bad?

Forget Chūnin…

Even Genin can detect me now?!

"Um…"

The masked ANBU coughed awkwardly.

"By order of the Hokage: all Chūnin and above currently within the village are to gather at the Memorial Stone immediately."

"That is all."

After delivering the message, the ANBU instantly vanished again.

Clearly too embarrassed to remain longer.

"Something happened?"

Sasuke immediately looked toward Naruto.

"Hinata and I will finish delivering the mission."

"You go."

Naruto naturally understood the seriousness of the situation and immediately headed toward the Memorial Stone alone.

By the time he arrived, many shinobi had already gathered there.

Almost all of them were Chūnin or above.

Still, despite their fame, Konoha's shinobi didn't particularly put on airs inside the village.

Most simply stood around casually chatting with familiar comrades.

Naruto quietly listened for a while.

Apparently nobody really understood why they'd been summoned either.

Trying to find someone familiar to ask questions, Naruto looked around the crowd.

Then suddenly—

His eyes lit up brightly.

Among the gathered shinobi, two particularly eye-catching figures instantly stood out.

One white-haired man carrying dual swords.

And one green-spandex watermelon-head.

Impossible not to notice them.

However, unlike the ordinary shinobi chatting around them, that specific group consisted entirely of Konoha's core elite Jōnin.

A soundproof barrier had also been erected around them.

Those inside could hear outside conversations.

But nobody outside could hear what they discussed.

"... According to the decoding team, his internal organs were completely destroyed."

"However, the core information seal remained intact."

"Once the encoded intelligence was deciphered, the village finally learned Akatsuki's member list."

"Not only Uchiha Itachi…"

"But even Orochimaru is connected to Akatsuki."

"More importantly…"

"The leader of Akatsuki is supposedly the legendary Madara Uchiha!"

The moment that legendary name surfaced, everyone's hearts trembled.

Only Might Guy looked completely confused.

"Why are all these people connected to Konoha?"

"Does Akatsuki specifically collect Konoha missing-nin or something?"

"And more importantly…"

Guy frowned seriously.

"Has the information been verified?"

"You only recently returned to the village, so you wouldn't know."

Another Jōnin calmly answered.

"The Third Hokage personally confirmed the intelligence himself."

"There's no possibility of error."

"And the seal hidden inside the body was designed to self-destruct if touched externally."

"Embedding such a seal within one's own body…"

"If Kirigakure was plotting something, they wouldn't possibly miss discovering it."

"At the very least, this confirms the Fourth Mizukage's attitude was genuine."

"Additionally…"

Another shinobi continued.

"The sealing specialists also confirmed a deadly curse seal remained within the heart."

"And the seal had already activated once before."

"Although the structure is extremely complex, we can still conclude it was a controllable curse mark."

"And the cause of death truly matches the Mizukage's explanation."

"Which…"

Someone sighed heavily.

"Only further proves the Fourth Mizukage wasn't lying."

"Really unexpected…"

"A spy hunted across the entire ninja world…"

"And even after death, the intelligence he provided remained critically important…"

"He truly was a great shinobi…"

"Kakashi-sensei! Thick-eyebrowed uncle!"

The moment Naruto shouted, everyone immediately turned.

The blond-haired boy ran toward them with his usual bright grin.

"Oh! Isn't this Naruto-kun?! Long time no see!"

Guy instantly responded enthusiastically as always.

Naruto Uzumaki?

Why is he here?

Then several Jōnin immediately remembered—

Right.

He's already a Chūnin now.

"Naruto, weren't you out on missions today?"

"Already finished!"

Naruto grinned.

"I just got back to the village."

"By the way, Kakashi-sensei, when did you return?"

"Well…"

Kakashi casually scratched his head.

"I've actually been back for a while."

Then Kakashi subtly glanced toward the surrounding Jōnin.

The others immediately understood and quietly dispersed.

"What were you all discussing just now?"

"And why did Grandpa Hokage suddenly summon everyone here?"

"Hm? Ah, well…"

Kakashi awkwardly rubbed his hair.

"That was classified Jōnin information."

"Sorry, Naruto."

"Your current rank still isn't high enough to access it."

Naruto instantly looked speechless.

So this is karma?

He had only recently used his Chūnin rank to mock Sasuke.

And now Kakashi immediately turned around and used "Jōnin authority" to brush him off instead.

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