Chapter 125
"Gai, look at that face—doesn't he look like Lord Hokage?"
Gai, upon seeing Naruto's face clearly, excitedly patted Kakashi's shoulder: "Hey! Kakashi!! Look at that guy—doesn't he look like Lord Hokage?"
Kakashi quietly said to Gai: "Remember to hide yourself well. Don't reveal anything."
Gai seemed to remember something and immediately nodded vigorously, promising Kakashi: "Don't worry, Kakashi—I will definitely hide myself well! If I fail to hide myself, I'll do 3000 sit-ups! If I can't do 3000 sit-ups, I'll run 200 laps around Konoha…"
Kakashi: "…"
After some friendly negotiation, Kakashi led his temporary subordinates and successfully obtained permission to board the ship.
On the ship, Naruto wasn't too surprised by this.
Earlier when Nara Shikaku said he would let Naruto leave, Naruto already felt something was off.
He talked about it being "Konoha's trust in Naruto," but in reality, wasn't it just Nara Shikaku's personal trust in Naruto?
Now, encountering the ANBU secretly following him, Naruto wasn't angry either.
What could he do?
In other villages, the moment a jinchūriki left, they would be frantically questioned and hunted.
Naruto was only able to gain Nara Shikaku's trust because his seal was extremely stable.
"I know him. I'll defeat him one day!"
Sakyo followed Naruto's gaze and saw Kakashi's figure.
She remembered their last battle again and gritted her teeth as she spoke.
Naruto replied: "Little Sakyo, don't even think about getting the upper hand against him anytime soon."
Kakashi's strength isn't particularly strong, but it's not weak either.
Especially his terrifying combat experience and flexible use of various ninjutsu.
If Kakashi hadn't become depressed later, he might have grown into a second Tobirama Senju.
This isn't nonsense—the same-generation Gai, after years of training, has already become a potential super-Kage level powerhouse.
If Kakashi had developed normally, becoming an all-rounder like Tobirama wouldn't have been difficult.
Unfortunately, the Sharingan and the repeated blows of reality left Kakashi's strength stagnant for many years.
Even so, Kakashi is still one of the most outstanding elite jōnin—the kind you can recognize at a glance.
Sakyo was unconvinced. She didn't understand why Naruto thought so highly of Kakashi. That white-haired guy was obviously weak—if it was a head-on fight, Sakyo could crush several Kakashis with one hand.
Last time, she was just too careless and didn't use full power, which allowed Kakashi to block her easily and make her feel extremely stifled.
"I have the Mangekyō Sharingan—how could I lose to a one-eyed dragon?"
Speaking of one-eyed dragon made Sakyo even angrier.
During that fight, Kakashi had said he was blind.
At the time, Sakyo thought about it for a long time, and Kakashi managed to stall her.
But now it seemed Kakashi wasn't blind, though one of his eyes did appear to be blind.
Although she couldn't see under the forehead protector, the fact that he didn't show it easily meant it was either some kekkei genkai… or he was blind!
And eye-related kekkei genkai, while not rare in Konoha, definitely didn't exist in the Hatake clan.
So Sakyo concluded that Kakashi was a one-eyed dragon… a one-eyed dragon who was blind in one eye…
"One-eyed dragon…"
Naruto's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Kakashi's slanted forehead protector…
"Well… explaining more right now won't do any good."
"If you want to challenge Kakashi, you should at least be able to beat Fūka Natsunami first."
Naruto admired the beautiful sea view and said to Sakyo.
Sakyo was a little confused: "Fūka Natsunami? Who's that?"
Naruto didn't care if he was revealing anything and explained directly: "Oh, just an overambitious beginner in black technology."
That was accurate—compared to Senju Tobirama, Orochimaru, or even the ninja tools from the Land of Craftsmen, Fūka Natsunami's technology was really nothing.
What chakra armor? Really… ugly and weak.
You could only say Fūka Natsunami was worthy of being an early-game mini-boss—no face at all.
Dreaming of conquering the world? That wasn't even a dream—it was beyond dreaming!
"Is Fūka Natsunami very strong?"
Now that an opponent had appeared, Sakyo decided to get more information about Fūka Natsunami from Naruto.
That way, she could increase her chances of winning.
Naruto recalled Fūka Natsunami's appearance in his mind and evaluated: "Uh… just a small fry. No need to feel pressured."
"Really? Then I feel relieved. But where did you get this information from?"
Sakyo was puzzled again: "We've been together these past few days—you didn't have time to gather information."
"Especially going all the way to the Land of Snow to gather info."
Naruto scratched his head: "Uh… the information exchange… has… everyone's information."
Sakyo: "…"
"You think this explanation passes?"
Naruto: "I can predict the future."
Sakyo: "Mm… this one is a bit more believable."
Naruto: "…"
Fūka Setsu had been listening for a while. She had just woken up and was very angry because she was woken up.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw Naruto and Sakyo chatting.
And they were talking about Fūka Natsunami!
You have to know, Fūka Natsunami was Fūka Setsu's nightmare—the fundamental reason she feared the Land of Snow.
Hearing Naruto look down on Fūka Natsunami and call him a small fry, Fūka Setsu immediately felt displeased.
Not because she was siding with Fūka Natsunami, but because if Fūka Natsunami was a small fry, then what did that make her—the one who was bullied by him? Shrimp?
"Fūka Natsunami is invincible! I'm not going to the Land of Snow either!"
Fūka Setsu clenched her fists and declared to Sakyo and Naruto.
Sakyo didn't speak, just quietly watched Fūka Setsu.
Naruto also didn't speak. The atmosphere became silent and awkward.
After a while, Naruto couldn't help coughing twice to ease the embarrassment: "Ahem…"
"Um… this ship is heading to the Land of Snow."
Fūka Setsu frowned: "Hmph! I'm not going anyway!"
With that, Fūka Setsu angrily left.
She never expected that the ninjas hired by the crew would be two idiots who dared to call Fūka Natsunami a small fry and wanted to take her to her death.
She, Fūka Setsu, still wanted to live! She didn't want to die. She was going to find the three doctors, have them tell the director to fire Naruto and Sakyo, and then return to Konoha to find proper Konoha ninjas.
At the very least… real Konoha ninjas should have forehead protectors, right?!!
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