For the next month, Kakashi, following Hiruzen Sarutobi's instructions, arranged intensive training for Naruto Uzumaki and his two companions. The regimen was grueling, focusing on chakra mastery through tree climbing and water walking. They also underwent taijutsu training to enhance their physical strength and drills on throwing techniques, capped off with practical combat sessions.
In short, they spent their mornings on missions and their afternoons and evenings training. It was so packed that the three of them were almost exhausted, but the results were remarkable.
Well, except for Sakura Haruno, who still didn't know any ninjutsu yet. Sasuke Uchiha, having mastered C-rank ninjutsu, and Naruto, having mastered A-rank ninjutsu, were now fully capable of becoming chunin.
Of course, Naruto's rapid mastery of his chakra was largely thanks to the deceased Aburame Torune. If he hadn't inadvertently solved the problem of managing such a vast amount of chakra using the Five Elements Seal, Naruto would probably still have been stuck at the tree-climbing stage. The improvement in chakra mastery signified a massive increase in strength. Even without the Nine-Tails' chakra, Naruto could now create nearly a hundred Shadow Clones thanks to the Uzumaki Clan's massive chakra reserves.
Besides training, many other things happened in the past month. The novel "Young Aming" became a huge hit after its release. The first volume sold over 100,000 copies in just one month, breaking the record set by "Make-Out Paradise".
Furthermore, Naruto and Iruka Umino's relationship was restored to normal under Menma's deliberate guidance. Through Naruto's explanation, Iruka understood that the cruelty wasn't in Naruto's hands, but rather in the alter ego resulting from Naruto's painful past. Therefore, Iruka felt even more sympathy and pity for Naruto. He even treated him to ramen for a month and frequently cleaned his house, acting like a loving father. Afterward, Hiruzen Sarutobi also began to value Iruka again. Along with his promotion, Iruka was given a new task: to try and change Menma using ideas like the Will of Fire.
The result was inevitably a failure. Afterwards, Menma would simply disappear upon seeing Iruka, and he mentally moved the plan forward again. Executing the plan required manpower, and he had already targeted two specific individuals: Haku and Zabuza Momochi, who would appear in the Land of Waves storyline later.
Hidden Leaf Mission Desk.
"Oh dear, my little darling, I was so worried!"
The wife of the Land of Fire's Daimyo was tightly hugging a ferocious-looking cat, rubbing her head against it frantically. Even from a distance, Naruto and his companions could feel the cat's pain and rejection.
At the mission desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi, pipe in mouth, took out a mission completion form and read aloud. "Team 7, successfully completed the D-rank mission: finding the lost Tora."
"Uh, the next mission is... helping to take care of a child, or going to the neighboring village to buy things, or helping to harvest sweet potatoes..."
Before Hiruzen could finish reading, Naruto couldn't hold back any longer. He crossed his arms in front of him in a gesture of refusal and shouted, "Damn it! Don't give us missions like this anymore! After training for over a month, Kakashi said we're all at chunin level!"
Sasuke and Sakura behind Naruto nodded in agreement. After arduous training, a significant mission was naturally needed to test their skills!
Seeing this, Hiruzen turned to Kakashi: "What do you think?"
Kakashi stroked his chin and said, "We've done enough D-rank missions, and their training is quite good. So it's time to try taking on a higher-rank mission."
Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, I'll assign you a C-rank protector mission." He gestured toward the nearby rest area. "Come out, someone has taken your mission."
The rest area door opened, and an old man carrying a bottle of liquor stepped out. "Finally someone took it... What? All kids?" His eyes landed on Naruto. "Especially that shortest blond brat in the middle, he looks stupid. Is he really a usable ninja?"
The old man, his words laced with strong aggression, was Tazuna, the bridge builder from the Land of Waves. He was also the beginning of the Land of Waves storyline in the original manga.
Within his consciousness.
Finally, the Land of Waves storyline is about to begin.
Looking at Tazuna, who was concealing his true information with a bottle of sake, Menma waved his hand, opening his system panel.
[Host: Menma]
[Corruption Points: 15,000]
[Trust Level: 40%]
[Mastered Jutsu: Sexy Jutsu, Clone Technique, Kage-level Taijutsu, One-Tail Chakra Mode, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu]
After more than a month, the trust level had slowly risen back to 40%. The Corruption Points should have been over 18,000. Most of it came from Naruto's experiences wandering around the Hidden Leaf and being scolded over the past month. At first, he could gain quite a lot, but later, perhaps due to being scolded too much, Naruto became completely immune to insults, and those vicious curses could no longer arouse his emotions. This explained why Naruto didn't retaliate when Tazuna insulted him outside.
The remaining 3,000+ Corruption Points were all exchanged by Menma for taijutsu that allowed him to interact with ninja combat styles. However, most of these were chunin on duty within the village; only Kakashi, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kurenai Yuhi were Jonin. This continuous accumulation successfully upgraded his Elite Jonin taijutsu to Kage-level.
Although he possessed Kage-level taijutsu, without activating the One-Tail Chakra Mode, Menma's strength was roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary Elite Jonin. Since he hadn't encountered Might Guy and didn't know specific taijutsu techniques, his strength could have increased significantly. Furthermore, Menma had long coveted Might Guy's Eight Gates. To put it bluntly, with the Eight Gates, Menma's Kage-level taijutsu could unleash power surpassing Kage-level. Moreover, the One-Tail Chakra Mode he redeemed was the Yang Release Nine-Tails chakra. The damage inflicted on the body by the Eight Gates could basically be healed and repaired with this Yang Release chakra.
Suppressing his inner thoughts, Menma turned his gaze back to his Corruption Points. Since the plot has begun, I might as well redeem these points.
With that, Menma reached out and tapped on the jutsu stored by the system.
[Redeemed Three-Tail Chakra Mode (Yang Release) - 12,000]
[Redeemed Flying Thunder God Technique - 3,000]
[Current Corruption Points: 0]
Because he previously exchanged for the One-Tail Chakra Mode, the required 14,000 points minus 2,000 equals 12,000. As for exchanging for the Flying Thunder God Technique, it was because Menma was preparing to reorganize his subordinates and begin implementing his plan. Therefore, he needed the Flying Thunder God Technique's long-distance movement to increase his mobility.
Outside.
The members of Team 7, having successfully received their mission, had already packed their backpacks and were meeting Tazuna at the gate. With Kakashi's command to set off, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who had never stepped out of the village gates before, embarked on their journey to the Land of Waves.
...