"You plan to attack Konoha?!"
Sasuke shuddered slightly at Naruto's calm smile. Despite his growing suspicions about Konoha due to the Uchiha clan's mysterious downfall, he had never truly considered turning against the village.
"What's wrong? Surprised I'd make a move directly against the Leaf?"
Naruto reached out and grabbed Kosuke Maruboshi's head, lightning flickering from his palm as he scrambled the old man's neural pathways. Without a change in expression, he pointed nearby.
"Bring his left leg over. We should at least return his corpse in one piece. Careful though—his left leg is packed with explosive tags."
"This guy was so strong… why was he still just a Genin?"
Sasuke had already noticed the man's missing left eye and the prosthetic leg during their fight. He flicked his finger, sending a steel wire snaking forward, summoning the five kunai and Kosuke's prosthetic limb back toward him.
"You could say he gave up on himself," Naruto replied. "But since we're on the topic of Genin, I've got an interesting story for you."
With a wave of his right hand, Naruto wrapped the prosthetic with chakra threads and reattached it to Kosuke's body. Then, he pulled out a scroll and unfurled it.
"Interesting? Like what?"
Sasuke's expression twisted slightly. He'd intended to let Naruto explain things himself—but somehow, he found himself responding without thinking.
Poof!
A puff of smoke—both the corpse and the scroll vanished.
Naruto strolled over, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"In Konoha, there are plenty of nameless Genin stronger than most Jōnin—even Elite Jōnin."
"That's impossible!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, though he noticed the fatigue in his body was rapidly fading. He glanced at his shoulder, where green healing chakra was glowing softly.
"This medical ninjutsu—can I learn it?"
"Of course. That girl Sachiko managed to pick up the basics of the Mystic Palm Technique in just half a month. With your Sharingan, you just need to watch carefully and you'll pick it up easily."
Naruto answered casually, nodding.
"You know I'm just trying to make sure it's the real technique."
Sasuke's eye twitched. Sachiko might have learned Mystic Palm, but her application was... questionable—like healing a live fish to death.
"You'll definitely learn it," Naruto replied. "But I can't promise how effective you'll be."
He withdrew his hand and added,
"We've still got two hours before afternoon classes start. There's plenty of fish in the daimyo's estate. Practice on them. You'll find out soon enough."
An hour later, Sasuke was feeling smug as several lively sea fish swam happily in a tank—still alive after his healing attempts.
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Leaf Village, ANBU had delivered Kosuke's last carrier pigeon message to the Hokage's office.
"Iwagakure is increasing troops along the border, while covertly investigating the Akatsuki. Sunagakure is also probing into the Akatsuki's activity… Hmm?"
The Third Hokage paused.
"Land of Waves replaced its daimyo a year ago—quietly. And the new daimyo has opened an academy to train shinobi? There's suspicion that Kirigakure is backing them..."
Sarutobi's expression grew grim as he read the intel. After a moment's thought, he summoned an ANBU and gave him instructions.
Soon after, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura entered the office.
"Take a look. This came from Kosuke just an hour ago."
The Third cast a sidelong glance at Danzo—thinking of yesterday's incident—and handed the report to Koharu first.
After skimming it, she passed it to Homura.
"Has Jiraiya returned yet?" she asked.
The Hokage shook his head.
"He promised he'd be back before the Chūnin Exams."
That thought annoyed Sarutobi. If his student were back, Danzo wouldn't be sitting at this table.
The intel reached Danzo last. Homura read it silently.
"…About Kirigakure…"
Danzo had only spoken a few words when—
Knock knock!
"Lord Hokage! Emergency!"
"Enter," Hiruzen commanded.
An ANBU opened the door and reported,
"Lord Hokage, the reconnaissance unit just found Maruboshi Kosuke's corpse at a patrol post outside the village barrier."
"What did you say?!"
Sarutobi's eyes narrowed sharply, his voice rising.
Danzo's eyes flashed coldly.
"Where is the body now?"
"It's been taken to the Intelligence Division."
At the ninja academy's training field, it was about 30 minutes until class.
"Naruto, what did you think of the new substitute teacher this morning?"
Shikamaru was leaning against a tree, basking in the sun. He didn't even open his eyes as he spoke, chewing on a toothpick, his tone lazy.
"I think he had a nice temperament," Naruto replied with a smile as he sat beneath the tree.
But in his mind, he was fully aware—the Third Hokage and his team had just arrived at the Intelligence Division. His trap was ready.
"Temperament, huh? So even you thought he was nothing special?"
Shikamaru opened one eye. In the shinobi world, strength speaks loudest—and Naruto's wording was obviously sarcastic.
"I didn't say that. All the girls said Mizuki-sensei was handsome, didn't they?"
Naruto took a few steps forward, standing in front of Shikamaru.
At that moment, he sensed the Third had arrived within one meter of Kosuke's corpse. Multiple people were in the surrounding rooms—one even touched the Flying Thunder God seal Naruto had placed on Kosuke's forehead.
Instantly, Naruto activated both the Binding Curse Seal and the Inner Four Symbols Seal placed on the corpse.
Shikamaru frowned—Naruto's answer felt unusually evasive.
Boom!
A massive black sphere exploded from the morgue on the third floor of the Intelligence Division. Within seconds, it expanded to an 18-meter-wide dome.
Then—
CRACK!
The black sphere vanished.
Support beams shattered. Walls caved in. Dust and debris erupted in a massive cloud. Floors seven through one of the nine-story Intelligence Division building were simply… gone.
The top two floors crumbled seconds later.
"What was that?!"
The earth shook. Shikamaru looked up to see thick smoke rising from the distance. He immediately moved to investigate.
Just as he reached the edge of the field, he turned back.
"You're not coming?"
Naruto glanced calmly at the smoke-filled sky.
"We haven't even graduated yet. Let's not get in the way."
He hadn't expected the Four Symbols Seal to be so effective. Since the body had no chakra, the technique should've been far weaker than if cast by a living person.
Even so, he sensed eight people were swallowed by the blast.
30 Minutes Later — Class Time
Iruka stood at the front of the classroom, his expression dark.
"Class is dismissed for self-study today."
Without another word, he clutched his lesson plan and walked out.
The explosion had been massive. It brought back memories of the attack from years ago.
Aside from Naruto and the informed Sasuke, the other students were visibly shaken—unsure, afraid to speak.
The silence remained until the dismissal bell rang. Slowly, the class trickled out.
But the school grounds were eerily quiet.
Even students from other classes seemed stunned, fear written on their faces. It was like the entire world had gone silent.
"Hmph. So the old Third got away—and even Hayate Gekkō managed to escape. Naruto, that sealing jutsu was too slow. I checked the synced data—right now, they're combing for suspects."
Kurama's voice grumbled in the spiritual space.
"It's fine," Naruto replied. "I only meant to scare the Third Hokage."
Kurama huffed and returned to the Mirror World.
Back in the real world, Naruto opened his eyes, basking in the heavy silence.
Because sometimes, silence speaks louder than any voice.
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