"Yes, we were just sparring."
Naruto nodded, confirming Temari and the others' claim.
"That's right."
Although they didn't know why Naruto agreed with their explanation, since Naruto had accepted the reason, Sakura and Sasuke, as his teammates, saw no need to contradict him.
"Sparring?"
Looking at the damaged street, the burning flames, and the utter mess, you're telling me this was sparring?
Fortunately, this location was remote and sparsely populated; otherwise, who knows how many civilians would have been affected.
The three Anbu members' eyes twitched slightly before they spoke indifferently.
"If you want to spar, find a better location. This is a public street. What if someone gets hurt?"
"Go to the Konoha Office and pay the fine yourselves."
If they followed the old rules, Naruto and Gaara's two groups would definitely have to go to the Konoha Office Building to clarify the situation.
But since Konoha was currently hosting the Chunin Exams, too many people from outside villages had entered Konoha. To preserve Konoha's image, such incidents were usually minimized and resolved quickly.
They just needed to pay the cost of the damages to the Konoha Office.
As for the repair work here, other departments would naturally be responsible.
After issuing a brief reprimand, the three Anbu left.
Seeing the Anbu leave, Temari and Kankuro sighed in relief, yet they stared nervously at Gaara, hoping he wouldn't cause any more trouble.
Fortunately, Gaara was quiet this time, merely staring intently at Naruto without showing any desire to attack.
The matter was settled, and Team 7 and the Konohamaru Corps prepared to leave.
"Alright, you guys go pay for the repairs here. We'll be heading off now."
"Huh? We have to pay for everything? Don't you guys bear any responsibility?"
Temari's side wasn't unable to pay the money, but since it was clearly a shared responsibility, why should only their side pay?
Hearing Temari's words, Naruto simply laughed.
"First, you should be very clear about how this started. How about I have Konohamaru tell his grandfather, and you can discuss it with his grandfather directly?"
"Second, the guy carrying the gourd attacked us first; we were just defending ourselves. If you disagree, how about we fight again?"
As everyone knows, Uzumaki Naruto is a pauper. He's fine with fighting, but asking him to pay money? No way.
Moreover, the reason he gave was perfectly reasonable.
You guys started the trouble, and your person struck first. Why should I be responsible for any part of the payment?
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, am a reasonable person. If you can persuade Konohamaru's grandfather, or defeat me, then I wouldn't mind paying a single penny."
Ask Temari and the others to persuade the Third Hokage?
Heh, just thinking about it makes it clear that's impossible.
As for defeating Naruto?
Judging by the fact that Naruto erupted with orange-red Chakra, this young man might also be a monster. Even if Temari had great confidence in Gaara, they couldn't expose Gaara's full strength at this stage.
So, they had no choice but to accept the loss.
Seeing that Temari and Kankuro remained silent, Naruto nodded, gathered his companions, and left the area.
The Chunin Exams would officially start tomorrow, so today they were going to an internet cafe to relax... "As expected, Brother Naruto truly is my big brother! He sent that guy with the dark circles flying with just one punch. That was amazing!"
They hadn't walked far before Konohamaru couldn't help but praise Uzumaki Naruto.
Ise Udon, Moegi: "Yeah, yeah, Brother Naruto is really amazing."
"Haha, it was alright."
Laughing heartily, Naruto neither admitted nor denied it.
Afterward, he chatted with the three youngsters, steering the conversation toward video games. Once he saw the three were chatting excitedly and had forgotten about the recent incident, he called out to Kurama in his heart.
'Kurama, do you know that Gaara?'
Naruto remembered Kurama's gleeful tone at the time and immediately wanted to understand why.
'I don't know that brat, but I know what's inside him.'
'Huh? What's inside him? Could it be...'
'That's right, he's a Jinchuriki too. The Tailed Beast inside him is Ichibi Shukaku.'
'That explains it. No wonder when I first saw him, I felt he was a bit similar to me. I was wondering what the similarity was—turns out we're both Jinchuriki.'
Naruto learned from Ge Liang that most Jinchuriki live miserable lives starting from childhood.
Naruto figured that Gaara's childhood must have been similar to his own.
Unable to buy food, forced to eat junk food.
Having no friends, and facing hostility from everyone around them.
Only those who have lived such a life truly understand.
'Kurama, what is your relationship with Ichibi like? Since you are both Tailed Beasts, your relationship should be pretty good, right?'
'Who told you that all Tailed Beasts have a good relationship?'
'Huh? Could it be that your relationship is really bad?'
'Yes, that Shukaku guy is an absolute megalomaniac. Even though he has the fewest tails among all the Tailed Beasts, he constantly challenges me, wanting to be the Tailed Beasts' big brother. Naturally, I wouldn't indulge him. I beat him half to death every time, and our relationship got worse and worse over time.'
'So, does that mean the Tailed Beasts' strength is ranked by the number of tails?'
Naruto's thought process was simple: since Ge Liang said the Nine-Tailed was the strongest Tailed Beast and had the most tails, did having more tails mean greater strength?
'It's not exactly like that. The number of tails only determines the capacity of the Chakra reserve. Shukaku has the least Chakra among us Tailed Beasts, but it is not the weakest.'
Naruto nodded, acknowledging what the Nine-Tailed said.
Considering his current natural Chakra reserves, which are definitely greater than most Jonin, could he defeat those Jonin without relying on the Nine-Tailed's Chakra burst?
He definitely couldn't win.
Even if he used the burst, it would probably be a close call.
As for the ranking of the nine Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tailed didn't mention it, and Naruto naturally didn't want to pry.
"Naruto, what was that orange-red Chakra all about?"
Sakura and Sasuke looked quite conflicted throughout the journey.
They really wanted to know what that evil Chakra was.
But this was Naruto's secret after all. If they asked abruptly, would it upset Naruto and affect their friendship?
Yet, if they didn't figure it out, they felt uneasy.
Sasuke managed to keep his composure, as he had heard Ge Liang mention Tailed Beasts before, leading him to suspect that the Chakra might be related to them.
Sakura, however, didn't know what a Tailed Beast was, so she was the one who finally spoke up and asked Naruto.
"Oh, you mean that Chakra? Let's talk about it privately when we get to the internet cafe."
Matters concerning Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki are still considered confidential intelligence in the Ninja World. Naruto wasn't sure if hearing about it would negatively affect the three members of the Konohamaru Corps.
So, he decided it would be better to tell Sakura privately if she wanted to know.
"Alright."