Naruto instinctively felt a sense of foreboding.
"There's no sign of Haku?"
"I did find him," Pakkun said awkwardly. "But when Blu was retreating, he was spotted by Haku. You know—he's pretty big…"
Naruto froze. "You mean the blue one—the biggest, fattest-faced guy?"
"Yes. Blu said that after he came back, Zabuza walked out carrying that massive sword. It scared him so badly that he canceled the summoning on the spot."
Xiaoying frowned slightly. "Doesn't that mean his injuries are almost healed? That's strange—according to the timeline, it should still take a few more days."
Naruto's expression darkened. "It's Gato. He probably hired someone to speed up Zabuza's recovery."
He then explained the situation to the others in detail. Their expressions grew increasingly grim.
After a moment of silence, Sakura spoke up.
"Let's look on the bright side. At least we know Zabuza's current condition in advance, so we won't be caught off guard."
Sasuke rubbed his hands together and smiled faintly.
"Right now, I really want to spar with that guy."
Naruto glanced at him. The person Sasuke meant was clearly Haku.
That said, after witnessing Naruto and Haku's training methods some time ago, the smug, edgy arrogance Sasuke once carried had faded considerably. He trained harder than ever now.
The sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, and Juzi felt much better.
Naruto thought to himself that being defeated by the strong really was Jizu's destiny. He relaxed, patted Sasuke on the shoulder, and said,
"When the time is right, you can go one-on-one with Haku."
Sasuke said nothing, only snorted in response.
The three of them—and the dog—began transporting the food back in an orderly manner. Along the way, they cross-checked the list of relatives Naruto had obtained, knocked out every mercenary they encountered on patrol, tied them up, and even tossed some food into the workers' courtyards.
The largest concentration of mercenaries was near Daz's old home. The three decided to go all in, binding all of them and dumping them inside Daz's house.
But this was little more than drinking poison to quench thirst. As long as Gato remained alive, the Land of Waves would never know peace.
The relatives were beginning to reveal their strength. Zabuza was recovering from his severe injuries. A storm was coming.
…
In the dimly lit living room of Daz's new home—
"We do it tomorrow."
Kakashi set aside his crutch and spoke solemnly.
"The longer we wait, the worse things become. With Gato's methods, it's only a matter of time before he brainwashes the people again."
Naruto agreed. Gato wasn't strong militarily, but he had immense wealth. At the very least, he could buy another shipment of food.
After thinking for a moment, Sakura asked,
"Naruto, when will the Leaf Village reinforcements arrive?"
"Probably within the next couple of days, but I can't say for sure. Boss, what's your plan?"
Kakashi scanned the three of them and said,
"Right now, Zabuza and that masked kid are the biggest threats. Since we know where they are, we'll ambush them tomorrow. Once they're dealt with, we'll carry out a decapitation strike on Gato."
Simple enough.
Sasuke couldn't help asking,
"Isn't this plan a bit too straightforward?"
"No, I agree with the boss," Naruto shook his head.
"The more complicated the plan, the more points of failure. If even one step goes wrong, the whole thing collapses."
Kakashi smiled and nodded.
"Exactly."
Sasuke was surprised. He had already fallen behind Naruto in combat strength—now even Naruto's strategic thinking surpassed his?
Noticing Sasuke's expression, Naruto said calmly,
"Pillar-bro, if you're a beginner, then train more."
"Say that again, Naruto!"
Naruto yawned and didn't respond. Sasuke's gaze grew even colder.
"Enough! If either of you says one more word, I'll hit you," Sakura said calmly, stopping them both.
They both shuddered and backed down.
Sasuke had always been proud of his overall strength, but recently he had grown increasingly wary of Sakura.
The reason was simple: her physical strength and Water Release techniques had advanced dramatically. Sasuke had personally witnessed her shatter a massive boulder with her bare hands.
"Even before, I could barely keep up…"
That moment tormented him deeply. He began secretly imitating her, practicing escape techniques whenever he had free time.
Altogether, the combat power of these three made Kakashi feel completely overwhelmed.
"I have one more question," Sakura suddenly said.
"Do we need to leave someone behind?"
After a moment of thought, Kakashi replied,
"Sakura, can you stay here and protect Mr. Daz and the others?"
"Okay." She nodded without hesitation.
"Then I'm relieved." Kakashi motioned for everyone to pack their belongings and prepare to leave at dawn.
After the meeting, Naruto couldn't help pulling Sakura aside and whispering,
"Hey, what do you really think? Don't you want to go dungeon-crawling again?"
Based on her personality as a seasoned Souls-game player, he was sure she'd want to personally deal with Gato.
"Sasuke needs Haku's secret technique to awaken his eyes. You and Kakashi will be there, so nothing will go wrong," Sakura replied calmly.
"And besides, something feels off. Gato knows we exist, yet he's still maintained such close contact with us. I suspect he has another scheme."
"That's why I have to stay. If Daz gets captured by his relatives, everything's over."
Naruto hesitated after hearing this, but he couldn't think of what other tricks Gato might have left.
Maybe Haruno Sakura was just being overly cautious?
Putting on a relaxed front, Naruto said,
"I think you might just be stressed from the intense training lately—and from your friend's situation."
"How about we talk about something lighter?"
"Like what?"
"How about you? I don't think I've ever seen what you looked like in your past life." Naruto blinked.
"How about this—we both use Transformation Jutsu to see each other's true appearances. We can pretend we're meeting in another world."
"No."
"What's wrong? Are you really ugly? Don't worry, I don't care about looks."
"If I say no, then it's no."
Naruto scratched his head. The more she refused, the more curious he became, pacing back and forth.
"I'll cover your food expenses for a month!"
"…I have parents who cook for me."
"Oh, right—I forgot. Then give me the numbers and I'll go buy lottery tickets!"
Naruto suddenly remembered that in the original story, Naruto's family was incredibly wealthy—winning the lottery would be easy.
"I can earn my own money," Sakura said firmly. "And I don't spend men's money."
Naruto proposed more than ten different plans, until Sakura looked like she was about to give him a head massage. Only then did he give up in disappointment.
"Heh. That level of shyness is definitely a female trait. At least that rules out option 'zero.'"
The next morning—
Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were ready to depart.
Before setting out, Kakashi repeatedly reminded them,
"From now on, when you encounter enemies, you must follow my commands. No acting on your own like last time."
"Don't worry, boss."
"Let's go."
Sakura watched the three of them leave, her right hand gently touching her cheek.
Her right eyelid began twitching again.
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All the fanfiction is 30-chapter ahead but this "A Witty Life in the Naruto World" is 30 chapters ahead there