Chapter 60 (Patreon)

After returning safely to Konoha, Tsunade began preparing to formally assume her position as the Fifth Hokage. Despite her busy schedule, she still made time to treat Kakashi and Sasuke, both of whom remained unconscious after suffering the effects of Tsukuyomi.

Fortunately, Rock Lee had avoided suffering any lasting injuries. He was perfectly healthy and was already training alongside Might Guy, pouring all his energy into another youth-filled exercise routine.

Naruto stood nearby as Tsunade placed her right hand against Sasuke’s forehead. Green medical chakra enveloped her palm as she slowly repaired the mental trauma caused by Tsukuyomi.

He silently observed everything she did, carefully memorizing every detail.

Over the past few days, Naruto had already gained a basic mastery of the Healing Jutsu commonly used in Medical Ninjutsu, as well as techniques for extracting poison. When combined with his [Physical Healing], the results were exceptionally effective.

Treating mental trauma, however, belonged to a far more advanced branch of Medical Ninjutsu. Even [Physical Healing] couldn’t repair damage inflicted upon the mind.

This was a rare opportunity, so Naruto studied Tsunade’s technique with complete concentration.

He had considered secretly activating his Sharingan and copying the technique, but there was a chance Tsunade would notice the change in his eyes.

Exposing his secret for a single technique wasn’t worth the risk.

Tsunade’s medical abilities were truly remarkable.

After only two minutes, Sasuke—who had been unconscious for nearly a month—slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

“Sasuke-kun!”

Sakura’s eyes immediately filled with tears. Before Sasuke could understand what was happening, she threw her arms around him.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the sight and tightened his hold on Hinata’s hand.

Indeed, the first thing he had done after returning to Konoha was find Hinata.

Once Tsunade finished treating Kakashi, Guy’s eyes filled with tears as he prepared to embrace his eternal rival.

Kakashi responded by kicking him away.

“All right, let’s go, Hinata.” Naruto grinned at the shy girl beside him. “How about I treat you to some ramen?”

He then paused as another thought occurred to him.

“Let’s invite Iruka-sensei too. I haven’t seen him in a long time. I’ve missed him.”

Naruto turned toward Guy and Lee.

“Oh, right! Guy-sensei, Lee—you two should come with us. It’s my treat!”

Guy glanced back at Kakashi, clearly reluctant to leave his recovering rival behind.

After hesitating for a moment, he said goodbye to Kakashi and led Lee after Naruto.

“Kakashi, Jiraiya told me quite a bit about Naruto.”

Tsunade looked at the silver-haired jōnin, whose expression remained unreadable.

“That boy possesses remarkable talent.”

Kakashi’s visible eye shifted toward her.

“On our way back, Naruto defeated and killed Orochimaru’s spy, Yakushi Kabuto. From what I saw, Naruto’s strength is already close to your own.”

Kakashi’s head snapped up.

Disbelief flashed through his eye.

“What Naruto endured over the past twelve years left even me speechless,” Tsunade continued. “I won’t say anything more about the old man, but you—and Jiraiya as well—made the wrong choice regarding that boy.”

With that, Tsunade turned toward the door.

“Recover quickly. The village still needs shinobi like you.”

When she opened the door, she found Sasuke and Sakura standing outside with stunned expressions.

They had clearly heard everything.

Tsunade glanced at them but said nothing as she walked away.

Sasuke clenched his fists, his eyes filled with frustration.

Naruto killed Yakushi Kabuto? A shinobi as strong as Kakashi?

Has he really become that powerful?

Sakura held tightly to Sasuke’s arm as she watched him with concern.

At the same time, she was genuinely happy that Naruto had grown so much stronger.

Those conflicting emotions left her deeply uneasy.

…

Konoha had only recently suffered a devastating attack.

If the village reduced the number of missions it accepted, the other hidden villages might interpret it as a sign of weakness. Because of that, Konoha continued accepting every available request and even took on more missions than before.

As a result, the workload of every shinobi in the village—including the genin—nearly doubled overnight.

Team 7 was soon assigned a B-rank protection mission.

However, jōnin like Kakashi were already occupied with other high-ranking assignments. Consequently, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura would have to complete this mission without him.

“This is a B-rank protection mission,” Tsunade explained as she handed the mission scroll to Naruto. “Depending on what happens, it could be reclassified as an A-rank mission.”

Even if that happened, Tsunade believed Naruto’s strength would be enough to complete it.

The mission itself appeared straightforward.

The neighboring Land of Tea held a dedication ceremony at Todoroki Great Shrine once every four years. A ceremonial race took place as part of the festivities, and Team 7 had been hired to protect one of the participants.

Half an hour later, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura departed from Konoha.

After traveling for three hours, they arrived in the Land of Tea and met their client, Jirōchō Wasabi.

There, they learned the true nature of the mission.

The Todoroki Great Shrine Race was essentially a proxy battle between the two most influential families in the region—the Wasabi Family and the Wagarashi Family.

Victory would determine which family gained control over Degarashi Port and, by extension, influence over the surrounding town.

To ensure victory, both sides had secretly hired ninja to protect their own runner and, should the opportunity arise, eliminate the opposing contestant.

Naruto and the others were soon introduced to the runner they had been assigned to protect.

His name was Idate Morino.

He was an arrogant young man whose confidence in himself bordered on contempt for everyone around him.

Idate also happened to be the younger brother of Konoha’s head interrogator, Ibiki Morino. After a certain incident drove him to abandon Konoha, Idate had developed a deep and seemingly inexplicable hostility toward shinobi from his former village.

Naturally, Naruto didn’t care about any of that.

A mission was a mission.

As long as he completed it, the process scarcely mattered.

Besides, if hostile ninja appeared along the way, killing them would provide him with another supply of System Points.

The following day, the race officially began.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura remained close to Idate, ready to protect him at a moment’s notice.

“I think Boss Jirōchō is worrying over nothing,” Idate complained. “Hiring you ninja was completely pointless.”

Naruto glanced at him but didn’t answer.

“Just stay out of sight and don’t get in my way,” Idate continued rudely when none of them responded.

Smack!

Naruto slapped him across the face.

Idate staggered sideways, staring at Naruto in shock.

“We’re here to complete our mission,” Naruto said coldly. “We’re not here to listen to your childish nonsense. Besides, you aren’t even the client who hired us.”

Sasuke and Sakura were both startled by Naruto’s actions.

His personality had changed considerably.

However, since Naruto wasn’t wrong, neither of them tried to stop him.

Idate was merely the person they had been hired to protect.

Their actual client was Jirōchō Wasabi.

Idate clutched his cheek and opened his mouth, clearly preparing to shout back. However, the moment he met Naruto’s cold, murderous gaze, the words lodged in his throat.

He silently swallowed his anger.

As expected, his arrogance disappeared the moment he encountered someone he couldn’t intimidate.

A sharp whistle rang out.

The race had officially begun.

The Wagarashi Family’s runner was a man named Fukusuke Hikyakuya. The moment the starting signal sounded, he sprinted toward the boat waiting ahead.

According to the official route, the runners first had to travel by boat to the far side of a neighboring island. From there, they would cross the island on foot before making the return journey by boat.

Calling it a simple running race wasn’t entirely accurate.

However, the Land of Tea was an archipelago, and the nearby town was centered around its port. The unusual route reflected the region’s geography.

Idate, however, ignored the expected route and suddenly ran in the opposite direction.

“Huh?”

Sakura stared after him in surprise and was about to call out when Naruto raised a hand to stop her.

Idate clearly had a strategy of his own.

They only needed to protect him and eliminate any enemy ninja who attempted to interfere.

Sure enough, Idate had predicted the approaching change in the weather and used it to reach a shortcut.

Just as they were preparing to continue, Naruto’s expression sharpened.

Without attracting anyone’s attention, he created a shadow clone.

The clone immediately activated the Flying Raijin Jutsu and vanished, reappearing beside a Flying Raijin mark Naruto had secretly left along the road moments earlier.

Five minutes later, three chūnin from Amegakure lay dead on the ground.

Ding!

[Congratulations to the Host for killing three chūnin and receiving 30 System Points.]

At Naruto’s current level, ordinary chūnin could no longer offer any meaningful resistance.

There’s still a jōnin accompanying the other runner.

Naruto’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Another hundred System Points… Not bad.