[Konoha Village]
The three who had just come out of the Mission Center didn't look very happy.
Although Gaara had survived, the mission had failed.
And since it was their first mission, it hit the three of them a little hard.
"Naruto, I'm going to train hard for a while. I'll only take missions again when my teacher allows it."
Sasuke suddenly said this after a pause.
Naruto looked at Gaara, "How about you, Gaara?"
Gaara waved an arm; sand wove and spun in front of him, "I don't have Shukaku anymore, but it's not that different from before. For future training I still need to ask Elder Rengoku."
"Naruto, what about you?", Gaara asked with concern.
In Konoha, if you want to learn ninjutsu you can either pay money or trade merit points for it.
Obviously, Naruto has neither.
Unlike Sasuke and Gaara, who have clans as backing and can get instruction from masters and seniors, Naruto is alone.
Konoha's ninjutsu resources are available to the Uchiha; before they weren't, but now they are.
Naruto is a lone orphan, he can only rely on himself.
Naruto gave a goofy grin. Although he has no clan, he does have a mother, when in doubt, ask Mom.
He just couldn't say that out loud.
"I'll figure something out myself. Gaara, you don't need to worry."
Sasuke thought Naruto was putting on a brave face, so he patted Naruto's shoulder, "Whatever jutsu you want to learn, I'll ask my teacher to teach you."
Naruto scratched his head, "Hmm, let me think. Let's meet at Training Ground Four tomorrow."
Sasuke and Naruto had rushed back overnight and were a bit tired now.
"All right, see you tomorrow."
———
After they parted, Naruto went home quickly.
"I'm back!"
"Ah, Naruto, you're back so soon?", Kushina was holding a spatula frying something.
She only knew Naruto had gone on a mission and that Rengoku would be with him, so she hadn't worried.
She didn't expect him to come back this early.
Naruto hugged Kushina, acted cute at his mother, "Mom, I missed you so much."
Kushina ruffled Naruto's hair, "Did something happen?"
"Yeah," Naruto still looked a bit down.
Kushina turned off the stove and pulled Naruto onto the sofa.
"What's wrong?"
Naruto then told Kushina everything that had happened on the mission.
"All right, your strength wasn't enough, you couldn't stop it."
"Anyway, Elder Rengoku was there. Don't be discouraged, you're a kid who graduated early from the elite class."
Kushina, of course, wasn't on Naruto's level; she thought the mission and the attack were a bit strange.
But she didn't want to overthink it. Asking Rengoku directly would be faster.
What Naruto needed now was some encouragement.
Hearing his mother's encouragement, Naruto showed his silly grin.
After all, being cared for is what he needs and loves most.
"Mom, Sasuke wants to learn a special jutsu, and I want to learn one too. What do you think I should study?"
Honestly, Kushina hadn't considered this question before.
To her, Naruto already learning Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu at such a young age was enough.
But since Naruto wanted to learn something now, teaching him the Rasengan could work.
After all, that was a technique Minato created based on the Tailed Beast Orb.
How to teach it was the problem. Though the Hyuga clan people were not monitoring Naruto's house right now.
Because Kushina's identity couldn't be exposed, Rasengan wasn't something just anyone could teach.
"Let me think. You go tidy up the kitchen first."
"All right, Mom."
Naruto went to the sink, dumped the blackened stuff from the frying pan, and started washing dishes skillfully.
Kushina had taught him how to fry eggs and little sausages.
Naruto later learned that those were actually Kushina's best dishes.
More complicated recipes from Kushina usually turned into strange creations.
Because she liked cooking and often tried odd things, the dishwashing fell to Naruto, and that's why he was so practiced at it.
Kushina sat on the sofa not to rest but to contact Rengoku.
This body was a Rengoku-created avatar, but Rengoku had cut off all perception from here.
Only when Kushina actively contacted him would Rengoku be awakened.
The other avatar used for Miroku was the same.
"Rengoku, Rengoku…"
After Kushina called repeatedly, the avatar's awareness finally came online.
"What's up, Kushina?"
Kushina told the avatar about Naruto's wish to improve.
The avatar then contacted the original.
Because they weren't synchronized, the avatar didn't know recent events and left it to the original to handle.
Rengoku's real consciousness switched in and understood the situation, "No problem. I'll personally teach Naruto the Rasengan."
Kushina was surprised, "Eh? Rengoku, you can teach Rasengan?"
Rengoku smiled, "I can't, but I know how Naruto practices Rasengan, so it's not an issue."
Kushina, knowing Rengoku's predictive insight from his ocular power, had no objection.
"How did this mission go wrong?"
Rengoku chuckled, "I orchestrated this mission myself. Don't worry."
"When he starts learning Rasengan, you can arrange a meeting with Minato."
"Really?", Kushina was shocked and delighted.
Rengoku replied, "Letting Naruto know about Minato is also part of my pressure on the Third Hokage."
"Naruto's old enough, he should know who his father is."
"I understand, Rengoku. Thank you."
————
[Rain Village]
[Kakuzu's Office]
"Elder Chiyo, we meet again."
This time Chiyo came with Maki, and they brought ten elite troops.
Kakuzu and Chiyo had crossed paths during the last ore vein dispute and were somewhat familiar.
"Mr. Kakuzu, I hope you are well."
Chiyo exchanged greetings with Kakuzu.
She glanced around; she didn't see Sasori of the Red Sand and was a bit disappointed, but she didn't show it and went straight to the point:
"Did the mission go smoothly this time?"
Kakuzu took out the tea cup and placed it on the table, "The mission is complete."
Even with the sealing removed, Sunagakure's people could still sense Shukaku's powerful chakra.
Maki restrained her excitement and took out a scroll containing money.
"Mr. Kakuzu, this is the payment for this mission."
Kakuzu opened the scroll; inside were several dozen boxes.
He opened them one by one, each box stacked with high-denomination bills.
Kakuzu began counting the money slowly.
This kind of counting might be tedious to some, but Kakuzu relished it.
He rarely had the chance to count so much money.
Sunagakure, though anxious, could only watch Kakuzu count.
While counting, Kakuzu told the Sand people, "Master Senku said: after taking Shukaku back, do not use children as jinchuriki."
The Sand people were quite surprised. Maki asked, "What does Master Senku mean?"
Kakuzu, half-distracted, said, "What do you mean? It means exactly what it says."
Maki's expression changed, "Isn't Master Senku meddling too much?"
Kakuzu snapped open another box and continued counting, "Master Senku said: if you keep using children as jinchuriki, he will once again extract the tailed beasts."
Maki's face went pale. Being targeted by someone who specializes in dealing with jinchuriki is no small matter.
"Whether you listen is your business, I'm only the messenger."
"All right, the money is in order. Take it and go."
Kakuzu collected the money, then pushed the tea cup to Maki.
Maki took the tea cup, his expression complicated, and left with Chiyo.
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