Naruto continued his intensive training.
After supposedly being "rescued" from Orochimaru, Jiraiya did not returned to Konoha.
Instead, he opted to wander the Shinobi World, seemingly living life to the fullest.
In Jiraiya's experienced view, he could no longer actively assist Naruto's progress, so he figured it would be better to focus on improving his own strength.
This was indeed true for Naruto.
After finally achieving reconciliation with the Nine-Tails and unlocking the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, his base stats had temporarily hit their peak.
What Naruto needed now was to "learn skills."
After all, the current Naruto hadn't even developed a Rasenshuriken that he could safely throw yet, so the gap between his overwhelming raw strength and his technical jutsu skills was considerable.
He hadn't even mastered the Rasenshuriken, let alone a proper Tailed Beast Ball.
However, Makoto had directly and indirectly helped Naruto achieve Sage Mode and the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Now it was time for Naruto to return the massive favor and make himself useful.
—By acting as a high-level combat sparring partner.
At the same time, this was a perfect opportunity to help Naruto gain desperately needed battle experience.
Because of the timeline changes in the ninja world, many of the classic life-or-death battles for the current Naruto would no longer occur.
From Zabuza on the bridge to Pain in the ruined village, all those defining fights were gone.
He had only really fought internal, highly emotional skirmishes with Sasuke, resulting in a massive drop in his practical combat experience.
The ones who came looking for Naruto this time were Team Ajisai.
Well, not her original genin squad, but a covert Flying Thunder Formation teleportation squad modeled exactly like the Sound Four.
It consisted of Ajisai and Hiruko's three former subordinates.
First, they obtained Tsunade's permission.
Tsunade felt that Naruto should be informed about Sakura running away from home, so she sent an Anbu operative to accompany Ajisai to find him.
The goal was to see if Naruto was free.
If Naruto found out Sakura went to the Sound Village and decided to chase after her, then he obviously wouldn't be able to help them spar.
But on second thought, Tsunade realized it couldn't be handled so simply.
'What if my Granduncle misunderstood the situation and thought I was pulling some stunts, and in retaliation, sent Makoto over to "discipline" me again? That wouldn't do.'
Therefore, Tsunade decided to fully cooperate and handed some highly classified items over to Ajisai.
"WHAT?! Sakura also left Konoha without a word?! And went to the Sound Village just like Sasuke?!"
Naruto's face twisted in sheer bewilderment.
His use of the word "also" here was truly masterful.
It was only because Naruto had a remarkably forgiving temper. Otherwise, at this point, he would have snapped.
'Are you kidding me?! Taking turns making me chase after you one by one—is Kakashi-sensei next?!'
"It wasn't exactly without a word. She left a letter at home saying she wanted to follow Uchiha Sasuke's example and study abroad." The Anbu, Uzuki Yugao, trailed off awkwardly.
"However, according to Lady Tsunade's medical analysis, her main goal is to go to Orochimaru's to find that experimental potion that can trigger a second... uh, accelerate her physical development."
Yugao had been about to say "second puberty," but then it suddenly occurred to her that given Sakura's current physique, she probably hadn't even finished her first puberty yet.
Uh, or maybe she had just barely started? On the contrary, Shizune, who had frantically chased after Sakura, was the one truly seeking that second puberty potion!
"Alright then," Naruto said, shrinking his neck back into his collar.
He vividly imagined the brutal iron fist he would face if he ever dared call Sakura flat-chested.
"Hm?" Yugao tilted her head in confusion. "You're not going to chase her and bring her back?"
"Why should I bring her back? Isn't Sakura just looking for a medical potion? She'll come back once she finds it," Naruto scratched his head and replied.
"That is just a surface excuse. She got into a massive argument with her parents before leaving Konoha. It is only because the major nations and hidden villages are currently allied, if this were the past, such behavior would be considered high treason and defection. Do you understand?"
"Oh." Naruto remained completely unmoved.
A sense of profound tragedy washed over Yugao.
'Sure enough, If it's Uchiha Sasuke, you will chase after him to the ends of the earth. But if it's Haruno Sakura, you couldn't care less.'
'Saying you 'like' Sakura is clearly just lip service to hide your true feelings. When it comes to true love, it's all about Uchiha Sasuke, isn't it? And a potion? Looking for a potion in this dangerous ninja world is just ridiculous.'
"Oh right, you just said Sakura's main goal was the potion. What was her secondary goal?" Naruto asked, his curiosity suddenly piqued.
This question entirely lacked the frantic, deep concern he had shown when inquiring about Sasuke, it was pure curiosity and a desire for gossip.
"As for the secondary goal... Sakura suspects she isn't her parents' biological child. She wants to look for classified information about her real parents over there and verify her true bloodline," Yugao explained, her expression incredibly complex as she composed herself.
"HUH?! Sakura is adopted?!"
Naruto was so surprised he felt like he had just stumbled upon a massive scoop of gossip.
However, hearing the Anbu mention the search for biological parents suddenly reminded Naruto of a lingering question.
Back when Orochimaru kidnapped the Pervy Sage, the snake seemed to have mentioned his own mother.
Now that the whole incident had been proven to be a staged theatrical act just to urge him to train, was that Edo Tensei'd mother in the story real or fake?
Given Naruto's thick-headedness, he had completely forgotten to ask it.
Or rather, his chaotic brain had just tossed it to the back of his mind.
Had it not been brought up just now, he wouldn't have remembered it at all.
"No, I have to... uh, go chase after Sakura." Naruto turned around to start packing his ninja pouch.
Ajisai could easily tell that this was exactly the obstacle that would hinder her from completing her sparring mission.
Fortunately, the resourceful 'strategist' had already prepared Plan B for her.
Tsunade had also provided some crucial items to cooperate.
The first person who requested to fight Naruto was Sasori of the Red Sand.
After being enlightened by Makoto's logic, Sasori understood that while artificially losing his emotions made him perfectly rational—which seemed like a good thing for a puppeteer—it also caused him to lose the inspiration, creativity, and competitive drive unique to humanity that fueled true progress.
After seeing Lady Chiyo's cursed swimsuit photo, Sasori learned from his psychological trauma and began to recover his emotions.
Actually, recovering his human emotions was surprisingly simple.
Modifying one's body into a wooden puppet led to a loss of emotions primarily due to rigid, systematic chakra manipulation.
As long as the chakra was properly regulated back into his core, the emotions would return.
After all, this was a world where souls objectively existed. Compared to Sasori, who still retained his biological heart, the dead didn't even have a physical heart, yet they could still retain rich emotions when revived.
Therefore, whether the fleshy physical body was missing or not was not the crux of the matter.
Upon regaining his volatile emotions, the very first thing that was aggressively stimulated was his competitive drive.
The role Orochimaru was playing made Sasori—who never had a good relationship with the snake to begin with—feel deeply displeased.
Looking at Orochimaru's horrific biological creations, and then looking down at his own wooden puppets, they suddenly seemed like mere children's toys.
So, he began to carry out drastic innovations and modifications to his arsenal.
And it was only after Sasori recovered his emotions that he could possess such boldness and manic creativity.
If it had been the original Sasori, who felt nothing toward anything, he wouldn't have cared about any of this, nor would he have had any desire to push his own limits.
"Hold on a moment." Ajisai called out, stepping in front of Naruto to stop him.
"And you are?" Naruto glanced at the Hidden Rain Village headband on Ajisai's forehead, struggling as he could never remember what the symbols of other hidden villages looked like.
"I came with her to inform you that your squad leader, Hatake Kakashi, has been captured by the Sand Village."
Ajisai delivered the shocking excuse Makoto had prepared long in advance.
Yes, exactly.
Tsunade and Makoto had the exact same wavelength.
Since one runaway Sakura wasn't enough to distract him, they would just throw a Kakashi in mortal peril into the mix!
As for the real Kakashi? He was currently locked away in a dark office somewhere, buried under towering piles of administrative paperwork.
"WHAT?! The Sand Village?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Gaara is the Kazekage now, right?! Why would they capture Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto shook his head in sheer disbelief.
"It's entirely possible," Ajisai countered calmly, shattering Naruto's naive illusions. "Hatake Kakashi's father, the White Fang of Konoha, once killed the son and daughter-in-law of Lady Chiyo from the Sand during the Great War."
"The reason Kakashi was captured this time is because Lady Chiyo laid down a twisted ultimatum, stating that since the Hatake family caused her to lose her son, Kakashi must pay her back by giving her a new son!"
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Kakashi suffering is endless wtf