Naruto curled his lips in disdain.
“You really can’t judge a book by its cover. I thought you were a serious guy, but it turns out you’re the king of slacking off.”
Sakura nodded vigorously beside him.
Even though Sasuke said nothing, his expression clearly read:
I misjudged you.
Meanwhile, Kakashi devoured his bowl of ramen at astonishing speed, acting as if none of this had anything to do with him.
Faced with Naruto’s accusations, Haruto didn’t blush in the slightest.
With complete confidence, he replied:
“The experience gained by shadow clones returns to the original body anyway. Whether I go personally or not makes no difference. It’s just more efficient.”
Naruto thought about it.
That actually made sense.
After all, he was practically a shadow clone specialist himself and understood the mechanism better than anyone.
After chatting for a while, Kakashi suddenly became serious.
“Starting tomorrow, Haruto, your real body will be rejoining the team.”
“I assume your ‘closed-door training’ is finally finished?”
Kakashi knew Haruto well enough.
If he hadn’t completely mastered those techniques, there was no way he’d be casually wandering around town.
The moment the word training was mentioned, Naruto’s and Sasuke’s ears perked up instantly.
Setting down his chopsticks, Haruto nodded.
“The process was pretty painful, but I got it done.”
The exposed eye beneath Kakashi’s forehead protector narrowed immediately.
“You mastered them completely?!”
Only Kakashi truly understood the significance of that statement.
Haruto folded his hands on the table and answered calmly:
“Yeah. Learned all of them.”
A storm was already raging inside Kakashi’s heart, though he forced himself to remain composed.
“Looks like I seriously underestimated your potential.”
“I originally thought you’d be lucky if you mastered a third of them.”
Haruto smiled modestly.
“I was surprised too.”
“Though the difficulty really was ridiculous.”
“I didn’t expect it to take me over three months.”
Black lines immediately appeared on Kakashi’s forehead.
Listen to yourself.
Is that something a human being says?
What do you mean it “took” three months?
Back then, Kakashi had also coveted those forbidden techniques.
As the Fourth Hokage’s student, he’d had access to many of them.
The result?
He hadn’t mastered a single one.
Granted, his chakra reserves and bloodline limitations played a role.
But Haruto had just learned Flying Thunder God, the complete Wood Release system, Impure World Reincarnation, Reaper Death Seal, Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags, and a whole package of S-rank forbidden techniques.
And he thought three months was slow?
For a normal shinobi, mastering even one of those techniques in a lifetime would be enough to brag about forever.
Especially Flying Thunder God.
Kakashi had dreamed of learning it.
Instead, it had nearly driven him insane.
Watching Kakashi’s face cycle through shades of green and white, Haruto awkwardly coughed twice and forcefully changed the subject.
“Ahem.”
“So, Kakashi-sensei, what’s tomorrow’s mission?”
Kakashi sighed helplessly and adjusted his mood.
“No idea.”
“Most likely another D-rank chore.”
After all, the entire team consisted of genin.
By the rules, that was all they were qualified to do.
The moment Naruto heard that, he exploded.
Slamming the table, he shouted:
“Kakashi-sensei, I’ve had enough!”
“Every day it’s picking up trash or finding cats!”
“I’m practically a janitor!”
“When are we getting a real mission?”
Kakashi glanced sideways at him.
“You’re a genin.”
“You can only take D-rank missions.”
“If you perform well, you might get a C-rank mission.”
Naruto immediately protested.
“But we’ve never even seen a C-rank mission!”
Kakashi smiled mercilessly.
“That just means our team is still too weak.”
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura weren’t paying attention to Naruto’s tantrum at all.
Their minds were entirely focused on Haruto.
They were dying to know what incredible thing he and Kakashi had been talking about.
Unfortunately, until the meal ended, neither of them revealed a single detail.
Their mouths were sealed tighter than clams.
The next morning, under bright sunshine, Team 7 arrived at the Hokage’s office.
Naruto was sprawled across the floor, throwing a fit and demanding a difficult mission from the Third Hokage.
The old man calmly puffed on his pipe while watching the spectacle.
Every now and then, his sharp old eyes drifted toward Haruto.
With his perception, he immediately recognized that today’s Haruto was the real one.
“Haruto.”
“You came in person today, didn’t you?”
Nowadays, even the Third Hokage found it increasingly difficult to distinguish Haruto’s shadow clones.
That alone demonstrated how rapidly the boy’s strength had improved.
Haruto nodded.
“Yes.”
The Third Hokage smiled with satisfaction.
“Looks like you’ve completely mastered that technique.”
Haruto remained modest.
“I can use it, more or less.”
It was both humility and deliberate concealment.
But to the Third Hokage, that answer essentially meant complete mastery.
Otherwise, Haruto wouldn’t have returned to active duty.
What the Hokage didn’t know was that Haruto had also learned an extremely practical concealment technique hidden in a corner of the Scroll of Seals.
More accurately, he had placed a disguise seal over his eyes.
From now on, even if he walked around with his Sharingan activated, others would only see ordinary black eyes.
Given his current strength, he technically didn’t need to be so cautious.
Still, he had no desire to become a missing-nin because of unnecessary attention.
Sharingan plus Wood Release.
To Konoha’s higher-ups, those two bloodline limits together were basically a walking nuclear weapon.
Unless absolutely necessary, he had no intention of exposing either one.
Of course, techniques like Susanoo were completely out of the question.
Unless he wanted to demolish Konoha and rebuild it from scratch.
Besides, he had more than enough forbidden techniques at his disposal.
Throwing out a few of those would already be enough to ruin anyone’s day.
The Third Hokage’s wrinkles deepened as he smiled.
“Since the Fourth Hokage, that technique has become a lost art.”
“Now that you’ve mastered it, I hope you’ll inherit the Will of Fire and someday reach the Fourth Hokage’s level.”
Haruto was completely immune to this kind of motivational manipulation.
Internally, he felt absolutely nothing.
Naruto and Sasuke, however, immediately caught the implication.
Haruto had learned the Fourth Hokage’s signature technique!
Naruto, incapable of keeping his thoughts to himself, blurted out:
“Grandpa Hokage!”
“What exactly did Haruto learn?”
“The Fourth Hokage’s technique?”
“Is it super powerful?”
“I want to learn it too!”
The Third Hokage smiled kindly.
“It is indeed the Fourth Hokage’s technique.”
“Unfortunately, it isn’t suitable for you.”
Flying Thunder God demanded absurd levels of talent.
Considering Naruto’s current state…
The Third Hokage didn’t even want to imagine it.
Even geniuses like Kakashi and Orochimaru had struggled with it.
Not to mention his chakra control was still a complete disaster.
Naruto puffed out his cheeks.
“How do you know?”
“You won’t even let me try!”
The Third Hokage’s expression suddenly hardened.
“Naruto.”
“This opportunity was something Haruto earned by risking his life.”
“And the training process is extremely dangerous.”
“One mistake could kill you.”
“Are you sure you still want to learn it?”
The moment the word kill was mentioned, Naruto instinctively shrank back.
At this stage, he was still deeply afraid of death.
Sasuke immediately caught the key phrase.
“Risking his life?”
“What happened?”
Naruto also reacted.
“Yeah!”
“What do you mean he earned it with his life?”
The Third Hokage gave Kakashi a meaningful glance.
“Kakashi can explain that later.”
“But since you’re so eager for a challenge, I’ll make an exception.”
“I’ll assign your team a C-rank mission.”
Naruto instantly forgot everything else.
“C-rank?!”
“YES!”
“Are we protecting a daimyo?”
“Or escorting a princess?”
In his imagination, a C-rank mission had to be something glamorous.
Kakashi rolled his eyes helplessly.
The Third Hokage actually liked Naruto’s simple enthusiasm.
At least his heart remained bright.
A jinchūriki with that mindset was less likely to lose control.
It was one reason he had always prevented Danzō from getting his hands on Naruto.
If Naruto ended up in Root, he’d eventually become nothing more than a cold-blooded weapon.
Exhaling a ring of smoke, the Third Hokage said:
“You’ll be escorting someone.”
“Mr. Tazuna, please come in.”
The office door opened.
A strong smell of alcohol immediately filled the room.
An elderly man with a flushed face staggered inside, clutching a bottle.
Clearly, he was drunk.
Naruto’s excited expression froze instantly.
“What the heck?!”
“We’re escorting this drunk old man?”
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
Tazuna squinted drunkenly at the room.
“What is this?”
“Why’d they send a bunch of brats?”
“Especially that short idiot-looking one.”
Naruto looked around.
“Hahaha, short?”
“Who’s he talking about?”
Then he looked at Sasuke, Haruto, and the tall Kakashi.
His face immediately turned red.
“YOU DRUNK BASTARD!”
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!”
Tazuna let out a belch.
The contempt in his eyes practically screamed moron.
“I’m gonna kill you!”
“Don’t stop me!”
Naruto lunged forward wildly.
Fortunately, Sasuke and Sakura grabbed him before disaster struck.
“Idiot!”
Sakura hissed while restraining him.
“He’s the client!”
“Do you want us to fail the mission?”
Truthfully, Sakura wasn’t thrilled about babysitting a drunk old man either.
Sasuke felt exactly the same.
Only Haruto remained calm, like a completely detached observer.
Kakashi sighed and accepted the mission paperwork.
Then he led four problem children and one drunken client out of the Hokage Tower.
Although Naruto remained unhappy about the client, the excitement of leaving the village for the first time quickly drowned out his complaints.
A huge backpack was slung over his shoulders, stuffed with all kinds of random junk.
At the village gate, everyone noticed something.
Like Kakashi, Haruto wasn’t carrying any luggage at all.
Tazuna curiously looked at him.
“Kid.”
“Aren’t ninja teams usually three people?”
“Why does your team have four?”
Haruto smiled.
“Four-person teams are rare, but not unheard of.”
“I guess ours is just a little special.”
Kakashi casually lied:
“There happened to be one extra graduate that year.”
A ridiculous explanation.
Normally, surplus students got sent back for additional training.
This generation was simply an exception.
Tazuna continued studying Haruto.
For some reason, he felt this young man wasn’t ordinary.
“Those three kids are carrying mountains of luggage.”
“Why are your hands empty?”
“Are you so strong that you don’t need to prepare anything?”
Haruto merely smiled and ignored the question.
The old man talked too much.
Kakashi stepped in.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Tazuna.”
“Even if these kids aren’t reliable, I’m here.”
Tazuna actually had no idea who Kakashi was.
He was just a bridge builder from the Land of Waves.
He’d never met anyone famous.
Haruto added:
“My teacher, Kakashi, is a renowned elite jōnin known throughout the shinobi world.”
“You can rest easy.”
“Besides, this is only a C-rank mission.”
“Normally, a team of genin could handle it.”
“The only reason an elite jōnin is present is because Kakashi-sensei is training rookies.”
The meaning was obvious.
Tazuna understood immediately.
Deep down, he knew perfectly well that the mission was far more dangerous than a standard C-rank.
Still, knowing an elite jōnin was present eased some of his worries.
At least there was a chance against Gato’s hired killers.
At that moment, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke approached with their oversized luggage.
Looking at the lightly equipped pair, they asked:
“Kakashi-sensei.”
“Haruto.”
“Where’s your stuff?”
Naruto’s eyes were especially wide.
Kakashi patiently explained:
“Because we have storage scrolls.”
“Everything’s sealed inside.”
“We don’t need to carry our belongings around like we’re moving houses.”
Naruto scratched his head.
“What’s a storage scroll?”
“Can you eat it?”
“Idiot!”
Sakura couldn’t take it anymore.
“A storage scroll is a ninja tool that stores objects in a separate space.”
“They’re extremely convenient.”
“And ridiculously expensive!”
Naruto nodded vaguely before suddenly realizing something.
“Wait!”
“Then why does Haruto have one?”
It was normal for a jōnin to own one.
But Haruto was just a genin.
Sasuke and Sakura had wondered the same thing.
Even Sasuke, despite being wealthy, knew these were strategic resources.
Money alone couldn’t always buy them.
A single storage scroll was worth multiple houses.
How could an orphan from a civilian background afford one?
Haruto remained silent.
Seeing this, Kakashi answered for him.
“It was a reward personally approved by the Third Hokage after his last mission.”
“Like I said earlier.”
“He earned it by risking his life.”
“Three months ago, Haruto completed an S-rank mission far beyond his rank.”
“He barely survived.”
“This was one of the rewards.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Sasuke’s pupils contracted violently.
An S-rank mission?
As a genin?
What kind of joke is that?!
Sakura and Naruto were equally stunned.
“S-S-rank?!”
Even Tazuna sobered up a little.
This clean-cut young man was actually that formidable?
The significance was staggering.
Kakashi delivered the finishing blow.
“Haruto almost didn’t come back from that mission.”
“Now do you understand?”
The story had already spread throughout the jōnin community.
Only these genin had remained unaware.
Naruto stared at Haruto’s back.
For the first time, his quiet teammate seemed incredibly tall and mysterious.
No wonder he used shadow clones for ordinary missions.
They weren’t even playing in the same league.
Before, Naruto had thought Haruto was just aloof.
Now he realized the guy had the strength to back it up.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly.
Once again, he reassessed Haruto’s strength.
The fighting spirit in his eyes grew even stronger.
The journey continued in silence.
The atmosphere became strangely complicated.
Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke kept stealing glances at Haruto.
Their expressions were difficult to read.
Haruto ignored them completely.
He chatted casually with Kakashi while enjoying the walk.
After traveling for quite some time, the vegetation became denser and the air noticeably more humid.
The Land of Waves was close.
As they passed an ordinary-looking puddle, a faint smile appeared on Haruto’s lips.
He exchanged a glance with Kakashi.
A silent understanding passed between two veterans.
Haruto immediately understood.
The old fox wants to test the rookies’ nerves.
Fine.
I’ll play along.
He saw through the plan but chose not to expose it.
Nor did he intend to steal the spotlight.
Only a few steps past the puddle—
Two black shadows suddenly burst out from the water like ghosts.
Two Hidden Mist chūnin.
Their chained gauntlets sliced through the air with terrifying speed.
Instantly, they cut Kakashi and Haruto in half at the waist!
Originally, Haruto had been walking near the front.
He had deliberately fallen back so the attackers could conveniently “kill” him too.
Blood splattered.
Bodies hit the ground.
The gruesome scene happened so fast that Naruto and Sakura froze.
Their minds went completely blank.
Neither understood what had just happened.
After landing a successful strike, the two Hidden Mist ninja ignored the “corpses” entirely.
Grinning viciously, they charged straight toward Tazuna.
Though her legs trembled with fear, Sakura reacted on instinct.
She shakily drew a kunai and stepped in front of the client.
Sasuke recovered quickly as well.
His face was pale, but he still hurled shuriken and kunai with remarkable precision.
Clang!
The chain was pinned tightly to a tree trunk.
While Sasuke and Sakura fought desperately to protect the client, Naruto collapsed to the ground as though his soul had left his body.
He couldn’t even move a finger.
The image of Kakashi and Haruto being cut in half had shattered his mental defenses.
He muttered incoherently:
“Kakashi-sensei is dead…”
“Haruto too…”
“They were… cut in half…”
By contrast, although Sasuke and Sakura were clearly outmatched and fighting desperately, they still remembered their duty as shinobi.
At this moment, Naruto truly was the dead last.
High on a nearby tree branch, the completely unharmed Kakashi and Haruto stood side by side.
Watching the battle below, Haruto commented:
“Sasuke’s mental fortitude is pretty solid.”
“For his age, that reaction is impressive.”
“He’s got potential.”
Kakashi, however, was staring at the trembling Naruto.
His eyes were somewhat dim.
Haruto patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t be too harsh.”
“Naruto grew up in a sheltered environment.”
“This is his first time seeing blood.”
“It’s normal to freeze up.”
Kakashi sighed.
He knew this wasn’t something that could be rushed.
Experience was the only cure.
Turning to Haruto, he looked at him with complicated emotions.
“Speaking of which…”
“Your acting wasn’t bad either.”
“It’s still hard to believe that someone your age already possesses power beyond mine.”
Haruto was undoubtedly the most talented monster Kakashi had ever seen.
No exceptions.
In fact, Kakashi suspected that if Haruto went all out, even the Third Hokage might not be his opponent.
Looking across all of Konoha, there probably wasn’t anyone who could defeat him with certainty.
Even one of the legendary Sannin might struggle in a one-on-one fight.
Of course, that was only Kakashi’s speculation.
After all, monsters like Orochimaru were unfathomably deep.