By the bridge, Kakashi stood guard.
He kept an eye on the situation at the bridge while watching Sasuke and Sakura's tree-climbing training.
The so-called tree-climbing training involved gathering Chakra at the soles of their feet and walking up the tree trunk relying solely on the adhesion of their feet to the bark.
This training was primarily to exercise their Chakra control ability.
For Sakura, this was a novel but not particularly difficult training method.
For Sasuke...
'Tch, I can't believe I'm losing to this girl in this aspect.'
Sasuke, who had failed and fallen during his climb, thought darkly as he looked at Sakura sitting successfully on a tree branch.
'That Naruto guy, instead of coming here to train properly, he's off doing who-knows-what with that Son Goku.'
'Whatever, why am I thinking about him? Training is what's important.'
'I can't lose to a girl, otherwise how will I ever get my revenge on that man!'
Thinking this, a shadow passed through his eyes, but it instantly turned into a fiercely burning flame of fighting spirit.
Watching the two training hard, a look of approval flashed in Kakashi's eyes, followed by thoughts of Naruto.
'Naruto, will you be able to succeed in training that so-called Ki?'
In the forest.
Naruto had dark circles under his eyes, but his spirit was exceptionally brisk.
He kept drawing out Ki, retracting it, drawing it out again, and retracting it again in front of Goku.
His performance showed he was much more proficient than yesterday.
"Goku, look, I'm a lot better now, right?"
After repeating this countless times, Naruto grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth.
He had practiced controlling Ki almost the entire night, all for the sake of getting stronger as soon as possible.
It was precisely because of his dedication, forgetting sleep and food, that he could perform like this now.
"You're really good, Naruto."
Goku never stints on praise for his juniors.
"Hehe~"
Hearing Goku's affirmation, Naruto immediately showed a silly grin.
"So, can I catch a sword with one finger like you now?"
After his silly laugh, as if remembering something, Naruto asked with an expectant look.
"Well, that... I'm afraid not yet."
Goku rubbed his nose and said.
"Your Ki isn't very strong right now. You need to keep training to strengthen it."
"Once your Ki becomes powerful, then you can do it."
"Ah?"
Hearing the denial, Naruto's face fell, but he immediately rallied and said,
"Strengthen it, right."
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, am the man who's going to be Hokage!"
"Something small like this won't defeat me!"
While each side was busy with their own affairs, an uninvited guest arrived at a spot not far from the bridge, hiding in the shadows and secretly observing Kakashi and the others.
'They're... not together?'
Haku, who considered himself Zabuza's tool, had arrived at the first light of dawn after receiving Zabuza's order, ready to gather intelligence on the enemy.
After discovering the targets weren't in the village, he came here.
However, it was different from what he had imagined before coming.
The mysterious man who called himself Son Goku was not present.
Furthermore, one of the Konoha genin was also missing.
'Where did those two go?'
Earlier in the village, through indirect inquiries, he learned that Goku and Naruto had been with Kakashi and the others in the morning.
But now they were nowhere to be seen.
After observing for a while longer, Haku left the area.
He needed to find out where the missing two had gone, so he could provide Zabuza with complete intelligence.
So, he began searching the vicinity, trying to find traces of the two.
When he reached a place relatively far from the bridge but closer to the village, he suddenly heard noises not far away.
"85, 86, 87..."
In a clearing, Naruto was doing frog jumps in a circle with a half-meter wide boulder on his back.
His face was flushed red, his whole body soaked with sweat, and his legs were trembling.
But his eyes were firm, gritting his teeth and persevering.
Finally,
When the count reached one hundred, he removed the stone and flopped onto the ground with a thud, spread-eagled.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
He panted heavily, feeling sore and aching all over.
"G-Goku, does, does this really work?"
He turned his head to look at Goku, who was leaning against a tree noisily eating some fruit.
Earlier, Goku told him that to strengthen his Ki, he must temper his body.
For this, Goku specifically found a large boulder for him to carry on his back while doing frog jumps.
And just now, he had completed ten sets of training, each set consisting of one hundred frog jumps.
"Of course it does."
Goku swallowed the fruit pulp, casually tossed the core aside, and continued,
"That's how the Turtle Hermit old man trained me back in the day."
"Thinking about it now, it's really nostalgic!"
As he spoke, a hint of nostalgia flashed across his face, as if images of his childhood training under the Turtle Hermit with Krillin appeared before his eyes.
"Turtle Hermit old man is?"
Naruto asked curiously.
"He taught me martial arts, a very powerful old man."
Speaking of the Turtle Hermit, Goku seemed to see a funny little old man wearing a turtle shell, standing on a sea turtle and giving a peace sign.
It was precisely because of his teaching that he had achieved what he had today.
"Ohh, of course. You're so strong, Goku, your teacher must be really strong too."
Naruto laughed, rubbing his head.
Then, he rolled over and stood up, clenched his fists, and said with fighting spirit,
"I'm going to become strong too! That's the only way I'll be qualified to become Hokage!"
With that, he hoisted the large stone onto his back again and continued his frog jump training.
Seeing him resume training, Goku smiled slightly, then glanced towards a certain direction in the forest, scratched his head, and paid it no further mind.
Whoosh!
In the forest, Haku leaped from branch to branch, a trace of doubt on his face.
'Just now, did he notice me or not?'
'If he did, why didn't he give chase?'
Earlier, he had followed the sounds and discovered Naruto doing frog jumps in the clearing.
At the same time, he also spotted one of the primary targets of this trip:
Son Goku.
So he hid in the forest, observing the two.
Discovering that Naruto was actually receiving training from Goku, he found it strange:
'Isn't that guy a Konoha genin? Why would he separate from his teammates to come train with this mysterious man?'
Just as he was preparing to continue observing to learn more, he suddenly noticed Goku glance in his direction.
Thinking he had been discovered, he turned and fled without a second thought.
He expected the other party to pursue, potentially leading to a fierce battle.
But surprisingly, there was no movement behind him; the other party hadn't chased him at all.
'Forget it, I should return and report this situation to Zabuza-sama soon.'
'If they are still separated like this tomorrow, then Zabuza-sama has a very high chance of successfully completing the mission.'
It was already past noon. By the time he returned to report to Zabuza and the two of them made their way back, it would likely be getting dark, and their opponents might have returned to the village.
So today wasn't a good time for a confrontation.
If they came together first thing tomorrow morning and the opponents were separated as they were today, that would be the perfect opportunity to complete their mission.
Soon, it was the third day.
Naruto, dragging his sore and aching body, continued his training under Goku's guidance.
Kakashi continued to take Sasuke and Sakura to the bridge to protect Tazuna.
At the same time, Zabuza, accompanied by Haku, arrived near the bridge. Looking at Tazuna on the bridge, he smirked coldly.
'Today, I'm going to take your head and complete the mission!'