As Hiruzen leapt over the trees toward the clearing Naruto had withdrawn to over the past few weeks, the lush green caught his eye at once.
His gaze narrowed.
"How can the foliage there still be so green?" he murmured. "It is autumn. It should have changed color long ago."
He cast Cat a glance over his shoulder.
"Why was I not informed about something like this?"
Cat, who was leaping close behind the Third Hokage, looked up at him.
"What exactly did we fail to report, Lord Hokage?"
Hiruzen's heart beat faster.
"The clearing," he said sharply. "It looks as though it is still early summer there, not the beginning of autumn."
Cat frowned slightly.
"It looks normal to me."
For a brief moment, Hiruzen said nothing.
Then his voice turned colder.
"We will discuss that once this matter has been resolved."
A few moments later, the Hokage landed with Cat beside the other two ANBU at the edge of the clearing.
And there he saw Naruto.
The boy sat amid the still-green foliage, tracing characters into the ground with a stick.
Then his delicate voice rang out across the clearing.
"Big Sister, is this right?"
Hiruzen froze.
A few seconds later, Naruto jumped up and began pacing in restless circles.
"Can we do something else, Big Sister?"
Then he stopped abruptly, looked toward a point in front of him where, to Hiruzen, no one was standing, and put on an expression that was almost painfully childlike.
"Please, something else. We can continue tomorrow."
Hiruzen's expression hardened.
Someone was there.
Someone had to be there.
His voice cut quietly, but sharply, through the tension of the moment.
"Bring me someone from the Hyūga clan. Immediately."
The ANBU tensed.
"And six ANBU teams as well," Hiruzen continued. "If someone can remain this close to the jinchūriki without us noticing, then we have a serious problem."
His gaze swept further across the clearing.
"I also want the fūinjutsu team here."
Now his voice had become completely calm—and that was exactly what made it all the more dangerous.
"I want a barrier around this clearing. If the intruder is here, they will not escape."
"Very well, little one," Artoria said calmly. "How about this? We can begin your chakra training, so that you can protect yourself in the future… or we can do endurance training. The choice is yours."
Naruto immediately began jumping up and down at those words.
"I want to learn that chakra thing!" he shouted excitedly. "Then I can do cool things like the ninja in the village and run up walls!"
Artoria sat down and let her gaze drift upward into the canopy for a brief moment.
System, I have a question. What happens if I fail a mission?
The answer came at once.
Host, if you fail a mission, you will receive 50% fewer points from your student for the next 30 days.
Artoria's expression remained calm.
That is not all, is it?
The system was silent for a moment.
Then it answered:
Host… but you would never willingly allow a mission to fail, would you?
Artoria said nothing to that.
Instead, she sat down cross-legged opposite Naruto.
"I'm going to show you how to extract chakra now," she said calmly. "Watch closely. After that, I'll give you a small portion of my own chakra, so you know what you're meant to look for."
Naruto stopped moving.
"What? I have to sit still for this chakra thing?" he asked, sounding almost betrayed. "But the ninja are always jumping through the air!"
A faint smile crossed Artoria's lips.
"You will be able to do that later as well. But first one must begin with the basics. Even I did not become a swordmaster in a single day."
Naruto puffed out his cheeks for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, Big Sister. I'll try."
He sat down on the ground in front of her and tried to imitate her posture. Then he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.
Artoria leaned forward slightly and gently pressed her delicate index finger against the center of his forehead.
Then she let a small portion of her chakra flow into him.
For a moment, everything fell silent.
Then Artoria's expression changed.
Oh… it's getting crowded here.
In one fluid motion, she rose to her full height and summoned her silver Saber armor around herself.
The familiar weight settled over her body.
Her face remained calm, but her eyes sharpened.
Oh… things are getting a little tight.
For the briefest instant, another thought crossed her mind.
Then I suppose I really do need the armor of Goddess Rhongomyniad.
"Lord Hokage, you sent for me?"
Hiashi Hyūga, who had just landed beside the Hokage on a branch, spoke the words calmly.
Several ANBU teams were already spreading out soundlessly around the clearing.
Hiruzen nodded.
"Yes. I want to know whether there is a second person in that clearing besides Naruto. And if so… how much chakra that person has."
Hiashi gave a short nod.
"Understood."
In the next moment, he activated his Byakugan.
His gaze swept across the clearing.
Then his eyes grew wider. And wider.
At that moment, Naruto's voice rang across the clearing.
"Big Sister, I found it, dattebayo!"
For a brief instant, Hiashi and several of the others thought they had heard something else.
Dattebane.
That speech tic Kushina Uzumaki had once had.
Hiashi's thoughts faltered.
That cannot be…
Kushina's child was said to have died on the day of his birth.
A few beads of sweat ran down his forehead.
Before him, the little bundle of energy was jumping around in delight before a point in the air that seemed empty.
But for Hiashi, that place was anything but empty.
Something was sitting there.
Something that looked like a sun made of pure chakra.
Even the Nine-Tails seemed like nothing more than a small light burning deep within Naruto compared to it.
Hiruzen saw Hiashi's face changing more and more.
"And?" he asked sharply. "Is someone there?"
Hiashi's throat went dry.
"Yes," he said quietly. "There is someone there."
For a moment, even he struggled for words.
"And this person possesses more chakra than…"
He broke off.
Then he forced himself to continue.
"…more chakra than the entire village combined. Including the Nine-Tails."
Silence.
Heavy, hard silence.
Hiashi's gaze remained fixed on the clearing.
"I cannot even estimate how much exactly," he finally said. "And…"
He swallowed.
"This person is looking at us right now."
Even the ANBU beside Hiruzen and Hiashi visibly tensed when they heard those words.