Chapter 160 The Land of Waves is Coming
Kakashi squinted and carefully examined the mission.
"Escort Tazna, the bridge-building master from the Land of Waves, back to his village?"
As Kakashi murmured softly, Sarutobi nodded and said, "This mission was specially prepared for Naruto and the others.
Among this group, you guys are the most suitable."
Naruto, is he suitable?
Kakashi sensed something was wrong almost immediately; the Third Hokage had just given Naruto and the others an A-rank infiltration mission.
Moreover, the Third Generation Lord's expression didn't seem like he was joking.
Is there something else going on with this mission?
However, Kakashi nodded, took the scroll containing the quest, and then turned to leave.
"Kakashi."
Kakashi paused, then turned to look at Sarutobi, who had called out to him.
A smile appeared on Sarutobi's aged face. He looked into Kakashi's eyes and said meaningfully, "Believe in yourself, and also believe in your subordinates."
Kakashi paused for a moment, then resumed his lazy demeanor, nodding and saying, "Yeah, I really trust them."
Seeing Kakashi's expression, Sarutobi smiled helplessly and then waved for him to leave.
As the door closed gently, Sarutobi's aged voice echoed from the Hokage's office.
"But Kakashi, it seems like it's been a long time since you've trusted your teammates."
Sarutobi shook his head, then continued working on the unfinished files.
Kakashi walked out and looked at the empty blue sky, without a single cloud.
He squinted his eyes, then quietly walked to the tree and closed his eyes.
Do you trust your teammates?
Do I... really still have teammates?
After keeping his eyes closed for a full ten minutes, Kakashi heard a loud shout.
"Oh! My lifelong rival, Kakashi, let's duel!!!"
"Hey, Mr. Guy, Kakashi-sensei is resting. It's not nice to disturb him like this."
She tried every day to persuade Guy to stop, but could she really stop him from pursuing his youth?
Kakashi opened his eyes, and even without opening them, he knew that it was Guy, the rare beast, who had arrived.
"Hey Guy, how about we have a race to see who gets home first?"
Kakashi greeted Guy lazily.
"Wow, that's awesome! No, Kakashi, what kind of duel is this?!"
Ah Guy cheered at first, then realized something was wrong.
"Well, I'll be going now."
Kakashi ignored Guy's rant, squinted at the sun, and walked towards his home.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Guy abandoned Neji and the others, running towards Kakashi.
"Guy-sense!"
Watching Guy leave every day, she cried out, almost in tears.
Neji covered his forehead, patted Tenten's shoulder helplessly, and thought, "Oh well, I'm almost used to it anyway."
"Ah, youth! Guy-sensei didn't want to see Kakashi-sensei alone, so he took his own youth with him and rushed towards Kakashi. Ah, youth!!!"
As Rock Lee watched Teacher Guy walk away, tears of emotion welled up in his eyes. "Teacher Guy truly is a man of youthful spirit."
"Honestly, Rock Lee, why are you like this too? He's just resting against the tree."
Seeing Rock Lee with tears in his eyes every day, I feel a sense of helplessness that is common for normal people.
"Perhaps, Teacher Guy sensed something different."
Neji shrugged, then led Tenten and Lee, who was wiping away tears, toward the mission hall.
And what about Naruto at this time?
"What?! Son, you're going on a C-rank mission?!"
When Kushina heard that Naruto was going to do a C-rank mission, she was completely shocked and stared at her son without blinking.
"What should we do, Minato? What if Naruto suffers out there?!"
Kushina grabbed Minato's clothes and asked in a flustered manner.
"Um, Kushina, why don't you calm down first?"
Minato gave a shy smile, then patted Kushina on the back, put his arm around her waist, and comforted her.
"What if a bad guy tries to harm Naruto?
What if we accidentally get so engrossed in watching the anime that we don't notice Naruto's condition?"
Kushina poured out all her worries, and they weren't without reason.
The masked man who attacked Konoha was still alive.
If he took advantage of Kushina and the others' inattention and killed Naruto, then everything would be over.
"Um... Actually, Naruto isn't that fragile. Kids always need to go out and learn from their experiences."
Minato comforted Kushina while giving Naruto a meaningful look.
"Okay, don't worry, Mom, I'll take good care of myself."
Naruto nodded and joined his father in comforting his mother.
What about the human and the fox who took care of Naruto for almost ten years?
"Hey, Kurama, what are you doing?"
Hashirama spotted Kurama lurking around where the Bagua seal had been, and instinctively hid the Sage Chakra he was holding behind his back.
"Oh? I just came here for a stroll."
Nine-Tailed Kurama, wagging its tail, was three or four times smaller than before, and stammered as it spoke.
"Um...where's your tail?"
Hashirama pointed at Kurama's buttocks and asked curiously.
Kurama seemed to have his little secret exposed.
The only remaining tail on his buttocks transformed into nine short tails, just like his shrunken form.
"None of your business."
Nine-Tailed Fox simply shrunk down and jogged away, heading towards the place where the racing cars were parked.
A smile flashed in Hashirama's eyes, and he walked to the Bagua seal.
He separated a section of the Nine-Tails' chakra, which was clearly more than twice as much, and placed half of the Sage Chakra stored in Kurama's chakra there.
Ugh, that wretched Nine-Tailed Buddha. He's always sneaking off.
Hashirama looked at the Bagua seal, which was already completely crammed in, and shrugged helplessly.
Oh well, next time I'll make this seal bigger.
Well, it's finally time for Naruto to leave the village. Time really flies.
I don't know what the Child of Prophecy is. If it's just about becoming friends with the Tailed Beasts, why would it call me over?
A hint of worry flashed in Hashirama's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
"Well, you have to believe in Naruto. He's my student, the man who's going to become Hokage."
At this moment, Kurama poured all his remaining chakra into Unit-05 in the warehouse.
A scarlet light flashed inside the wooden shell of Unit-05, but then dimmed.
Kurama lay exhausted on the ground, sticking out his tongue and panting. It had been a long time since he had used up so much chakra.
It closed its eyes, wanting to rest for a while, and then it heard footsteps.
"Well, Kurama, let me take you back."
Hashirama came over, picked up the little Kurama, and took it back to the cabin.
"Don't hug me like that next time."
Kurama raised his head and spoke to Hashirama, then closed his eyes and ate the fruit Hashirama had given him.
"Okay, okay."
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End of this chapter...