On this day, Naruto, who had been training outside the village with Jiraiya for two years, returned.
Naruto stood on a utility pole, looking down over all of Konoha.
The village had completely changed.
The ruins left by the battle three years ago had long been cleared away, replaced by neat rows of houses and wide streets.
In the distance, on the Hokage Rock, in addition to the faces of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage, Tsunade's face had also been carved, standing in a row with her four predecessors.
And above the Hokage Rock, the palace of the Ninja World Government, with its architectural style resembling a Chinese palace, stood towering and imposing, glowing with a vermilion light under the sun.
"It's changed a lot..."
Naruto couldn't help but remark.
Just as he was expressing his feelings, a woman's scolding voice suddenly came from below:
"Hey, you up there! Get down here!"
Naruto looked down and saw that it was the 'Princess Iron Fan' he had encountered during the previous Chunin Exams.
He jumped down from the utility pole, landed in front of her, and asked with a surprised and delighted expression:
"Huh? Princess Iron Fan, what are you doing here?"
Temari's mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Who is 'Princess Iron Fan'?"
Temari looked up and down at Naruto, whom she hadn't seen for nearly three years, and couldn't help but remark:
"You've grown quite a bit, kid."
Her impression of Naruto from back then was of a short kid with a poor head on his shoulders.
She hadn't expected that three years later, he would end up taller than her.
While Temari was sizing up Naruto, Naruto was also observing her.
"Why are you still in Konoha? And what's with that forehead protector?"
Naruto's attention was focused mainly on Temari's forehead protector.
It did not bear the symbol of Konoha or Sunagakure, but rather the Kanji character for 'Shinobi'.
It was exactly the same as the forehead protector worn by the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original work.
Temari was just about to explain when an extremely familiar, lethargic voice came from behind her:
"That's the new forehead protector mandated by the Ninja World Government. All member nations of the Ninja World Government must uniformly wear forehead protectors with this symbol."
Naruto turned his head and saw two more familiar figures. He shouted with immense surprise and joy:
"Kakashi-sensei! Sakura!"
Kakashi and Sakura, whom he hadn't seen in two years, were also wearing the new forehead protectors.
Kakashi sauntered up lazily, his exposed eyes narrowed into crescent moons.
"Naruto, you've grown quite a bit."
Naruto grinned and scratched his head. "Sensei and Sakura haven't changed at all."
Hearing this, Sakura recalled the disparity she had seen between herself and Hinata while bathing with the others yesterday, and her face darkened.
She let out a 'Hmph' and turned her head away, ignoring Naruto.
Naruto looked completely bewildered, unable to understand why she was angry.
Naruto looked around again.
Compared to usual, many Konoha's Ninjas were walking past him with noticeably quicker steps, their faces showing tense and excited expressions.
"Everyone seems really rushed. Did something happen?"
Naruto asked curiously.
Kakashi's expression became a bit more serious. "War is about to begin."
Naruto was stunned. "What war?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Have you forgotten? The original purpose behind Nishikawa-kun establishing the Ninja World Government."
Hearing Sakura's reminder, Naruto suddenly realized.
He remembered now: the very reason Makoto and his subordinates like Yu had established the Ninja World Government was to unify the Ninja World from the very beginning.
But even so, Naruto still said, somewhat incredulously:
"That guy, Makoto... is finally making his move?"
When the Ninja World Government was first established, Naruto had thought Makoto might be about to act.
He hadn't expected that even a year later, after he himself had left Konoha, there was still no action.
Naruto had begun to think Makoto had abandoned that plan.
It seemed that on his very first day back, it was officially starting.
"This is because our Leader-sama needed to wait for his women to grow stronger, using the other Ninja Villages as stepping stones for their development."
Just then, another somewhat lazy voice spoke up.
Naruto turned and saw the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, led by Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru! Choji! Ino!"
Naruto was about to greet them, but Shikamaru spoke first:
"Naruto, Hokage-sama wants to see you."
Hearing this, not only Naruto, but Jiraiya was also somewhat surprised.
'We had only just returned to Konoha, and yet Tsunade already knew we were back?'
Seeing the confusion on the teacher-student duo's faces, Ino explained:
"The entire village is under the surveillance of Chika-san. Whoever comes, no one can escape her perception."
Hearing this, Jiraiya and Naruto immediately thought of that pink-haired girl who was always by Makoto's side... Fujiwara Chika.
They also remembered that girl's perception abilities were incredibly overpowered.
'Still, it was a bit strange... wasn't Fujiwara Chika one of Nishikawa Makoto's women? What did she have to do with Tsunade?'
Although they found it a bit odd, the two quickly headed to the Hokage Building.
Knock, knock, knock.
Jiraiya knocked on the door.
"Enter."
Tsunade's voice came from inside, carrying a slight, unnatural rasp.
Jiraiya pushed the door open.
Tsunade's face, sitting behind the office desk, came into view. Compared to two years ago, there was absolutely no change... time seemed to have never left its mark on her face.
However, her cheeks were slightly flushed at the moment, and she was wiping her mouth with a tissue.
Jiraiya's expression changed instantly.
As a veteran who frequented the red-light district for his research, he was quite sensitive in this regard.
Naruto, who had absolutely no experience in this area, saw nothing amiss. He walked right past Jiraiya and greeted warmly:
"Yo! Long time no see, Granny Tsunade! You look just the same as always!"
Although Naruto wasn't as highly valued by Tsunade as in the original work, thanks to his personality being very similar to her younger brother Nawaki, he and Tsunade still got along quite well.
Tsunade casually tossed the tissue into the nearby trash can and said irritably:
"You haven't changed a bit either, you brash kid."
Naruto looked around and noticed Makoto and Chika sitting on the sofa. His expression lit up with surprise.
"Ah! Makoto, you're here too! And Fujiwara! I was just wondering on my way here how Granny Tsunade knew we were back—"
Chika also wiped her mouth with a tissue and waved at Naruto in acknowledgment.
Makoto smiled. Without any pleasantries, he got straight to the point:
"Naruto, you and Gaara will form the vanguard unit, leading the Sunagakure's forces to attack Kumogakure."
Upon hearing this, Naruto instinctively looked back at Temari, who had followed him in.
Only then did he understand why the daughter of the Kazekage was in Konoha.
"Did Sunagakure restore its alliance with us?"
Naruto asked.
He knew that Konoha and Sunagakure had been allies before, but their relationship had broken down due to the incident during the Chunin Exams.
According to Makoto's words just now, Sunagakure would join Konoha in attacking Kumogakure. Did that mean the relationship between the two had been mended?
"It's not mended. Rather, Sunagakure has become a member state of the Ninja World Government."
Kakashi explained.
"Currently, to prove their loyalty to the Ninja World Government, Sunagakure has voluntarily offered to act as the vanguard."
Makoto continued:
"Although I've beaten him up a bit, that kid Gaara is still somewhat unstable. Go and talk some sense into him."
"Me?"
Naruto pointed incredulously at his own nose.
Seeing that Makoto was firm in his decision, he could only agree.
Then, Makoto told him Gaara's current address and told him to go talk to him first.
"I'll do my best."
Naruto gave a thumbs-up, turned around, and ran out.