Sakura had a bad feeling.
"We can't let our guard down. This time when we leave the village, we need to watch closely for anything that doesn't match the original story."
Naruto nodded calmly. "Don't worry. I can instantly dive into the mental space now."
If things got urgent, he'd immediately get the Nine-Tails to pay his 'rent.'
At worst, he'd tear off the sealing talisman on the door as a bluff—it's easy to put it back anyway.
Soon enough, it was time to catch the cat.
Their taijutsu skills had improved a lot compared to the original story, so Naruto quickly had the little cat by the scruff of its neck.
When the cat hissed and tried to scratch Naruto's face, Naruto joked about learning from Pan Hong to feed the cat dragon fruit, but Sakura stopped him.
The frightened cat was safely handed over to the Daimyo's wife.
Naruto took the opportunity to mess around.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, stretched lazily, and said slowly, "Is this the mission in the village? Honestly, there's no skill involved at all."
Iruka, sitting beside the Third Hokage, shouted angrily, "Idiot! You all have no experience!"
"You have to start with simple tasks to build experience. Everyone starts like this!"
"Who's everyone? Never met them," Naruto scratched his head. "I know I can catch a month's worth of cats in one day. The guy next to me is practicing water jutsu, and Sasuke? He mastered all Uchiha fire techniques before graduating."
Worth noting, Sakura's chakra nature included water. To grind through the Land of Waves mission, she'd already begun practicing some basic water-style jutsu.
"Heh, it's good to see young people full of energy," Hiruzen exhaled a smoke ring, about to explain Konoha's mission rank system.
Naruto interrupted, "Stop. We know all that. Give us C-rank missions. Or better yet, hand over all the D-rank jobs for this year—we'll finish them fast and take an early holiday."
Kakashi was a bit speechless, trying to catch Naruto, but Naruto predicted this and immediately dispelled his shadow clone.
Meanwhile, Naruto himself hid in a corner behind the door, watching Tazuna from the Land of Waves carefully.
Tazuna, slightly drunk, paced left and right. His posture and expression didn't show any signs of being possessed. Everything seemed normal.
After a while, Tazuna heard Hiruzen's order and pushed the door open.
Naruto left quickly to go buy ninja tools in Konoha's shop—mostly explosive tags and ration pills that pack a punch for a short burst, ensuring they could bomb enemies during chakra exhaustion phases.
Elsewhere—
"Sorry, Hokage-sama. I'll have a serious talk with Naruto later," Kakashi apologized.
"Anyway, your mission is to protect this Tazuna and make sure he finishes building the bridge," Hiruzen said calmly.
Kakashi and Hiruzen had talked privately several times about Naruto's recent strange behavior.
Hiruzen instructed Kakashi to keep an eye on Naruto quietly, figure out what he wants, and avoid causing too much trouble so Danzo's spies don't catch wind.
So when Naruto and Sasuke got into fights recently, Kakashi didn't push too hard.
Later, at the village gate—
"Help me carry some stuff." Naruto tossed a ninja tool pack to Sakura, then another to Sasuke.
He'd warned them in advance.
"You're pretty well prepared." Kakashi's face was calm but he was a little surprised.
Is this really the careless troublemaker?
"Hmph, this little guy's taking things seriously." Tazuna clicked his tongue and blew a breath smelling of alcohol at Naruto.
Naruto glanced sideways. "Hmph, this old drunk is quite the actor."
"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, apologizing to Tazuna, "How can you talk about our elder like that? Sorry, sir, please don't get drunk on us."
Naruto ducked. "Ah, right, sir, don't hit me. I'll buy you some drinks later."
Tazuna's face flushed as if caught off guard by their banter.
Sasuke was expressionless, signaling the others to hurry up and leave.
Rustle rustle...
Kakashi started chatting with Tazuna about the Land of Waves.
Naruto and Sakura kept an eye on the puddles on the ground.
According to the original story, the first wave of attackers hiding to ambush them would be concealed in roadside puddles.
Rustle rustle...
Some time passed.
Sasuke, Kakashi, and Tazuna's faces looked normal.
But no—
Something was very, very off.
Where's the puddle? I'm asking you, where's the puddle?
Sakura glanced at Naruto. Her right fist slowly clenched, fingers turning white.
The worst-case scenario had happened.
Had other time-travelers interfered, changing the story?
Naruto was on full alert. Without hesitation, his mind plunged into the mental space.
He wouldn't give the enemy any chance to react. Time to flip the biggest switch.
Like suddenly diving from land into deep water, Naruto's body felt a brief pressure.
Opening his eyes, he was inside the mental space.
The dim yellow light didn't slow his steps.
He quickly reached the Nine-Tails.
"Nine-Tails, time for you to show your worth," Naruto said bluntly. "Lend me some chakra—not much, just a little."
The Nine-Tails lazily turned over and ignored him.
Lately, the Nine-Tails had been ignoring Naruto's endless trash talk to get some peace and quiet. It had started pretending to be dead.
Damn humans—first thing they do after unsealing is yell at you!
Naruto wasn't surprised. He leapt over and started tearing off the talisman on the door.
Hearing the noise, the Nine-Tails immediately turned back.
"Kid, in trouble?" it growled with a low laugh.
"Just asking if you'll lend it or not," Naruto paused.
"Heh heh heh heh..." The Nine-Tails showed a big toothy grin. "Arrogant! You've been trash-talking me forever, and now you want my help?"
"If you don't pay your rent, I'm ripping you up inside. Besides, you're only half the Nine-Tails—I'll find the other half if I have to."
The Nine-Tails' eyes narrowed.
"You actually know I'm only half?"
"If you keep whining, I'll visit the real waterfall and drain all your chakra. Then I'll make you into dried fox jerky."
Naruto wasn't joking. Before the Fourth Great Ninja War, he really did that.
The Nine-Tails was silent, confused why this brat knew so much about it.
It was only a container for the beast...
The two were at a stalemate.
Meanwhile, while Naruto and Nine-Tails were negotiating, something strange happened!
Thin mist began to drift around, slowly obscuring everyone's vision.
The Mist Concealment Jutsu!