On the way, Naruto explained his purpose for standing by and watching.
"That Kirigakure missing-nin was holding back throughout the fight, completely lacking killing intent. If he had been serious, Sasuke, you would have been killed in an extremely short amount of time."
"In my opinion, he seems to be a kind ninja. It's truly interesting for the quality of kindness to appear in a missing-nin," Naruto said with a faint smile.
"So you just let him go? That Zabuza is a dangerous individual," Sasuke said, perplexed.
"Don't question Naruto!" Sakura, at the side, forcefully twisted Sasuke's arm, making him roll his eyes in pain.
"That wasn't the main reason. If we killed them, it would spoil the fun, and the mission would be completed too smoothly," Naruto said leisurely. "I still want to play around outside a bit longer, so I let that ninja run off with Zabuza."
"Besides."
"We also gained a general understanding of their strength. During this time, Sasuke, you need to get much stronger. Next time you face that missing-nin, you can't embarrass yourself like today," Naruto chuckled lightly.
"Hmph, next time I'll defeat him," Sasuke snorted coldly.
Tazuna, at the side, though resentful, dared not voice his complaints and could only silently follow behind Naruto.
He couldn't understand Naruto's actions.
Clearly possessing considerable strength, yet he didn't try hard to complete the mission, instead allowing the opponent to escape.
The next assassination attempt would definitely be even more dangerous than this one.
Tazuna's eyes were filled with dissatisfaction.
But considering he was the one who had concealed the mission details first, he could only hide his petty emotions.
During their journey, Kakashi awoke. After eating a soldier pill, his complexion improved a lot.
However, his body had still sustained some injuries in the battle with Zabuza and needed a few days of recuperation.
But Zabuza's injuries were even more severe.
"Naruto, you... sigh." Kakashi looked at Naruto and couldn't help but sigh, placing a hand on his forehead.
He understood his disciple.
Seemingly gentle, but in reality, his heart was far prouder than Sasuke's.
He disdained to team up with others and, at the same time, looked forward to dueling even stronger opponents.
While dealing with Zabuza, Kakashi had also noticed the battle situation on Naruto's side.
Haku was holding back at every turn, essentially just stalling Naruto and the others.
He believed Naruto disdained to fight such an opponent, and letting him take Zabuza away was also to allow Haku to mentally prepare himself, to fight with the intention of killing his opponent next time.
Such thinking was incredibly arrogant, one might even say childish.
What level of confidence in one's own strength would lead to such a decision?
This Naruto... how to put it... It was hard to describe in a few words.
Kakashi sighed.
In Konoha, Naruto was everyone's little sun.
Outside, all of Naruto's actions made Kakashi tremble with apprehension.
He was terrified that something would go wrong.
Later, Kakashi also explained the origin of his Sharingan to Sasuke.
His teammate, Uchiha Obito, had entrusted the Sharingan to him before dying.
For Kakashi, this eye was not just his dear friend's final gift; it was also imbued with his friend's will.
After understanding the reason, Sasuke didn't pursue the matter further.
After the remaining few days of travel, Kakashi's group finally arrived in the Land of Waves.
Traveling by a small boat to the island where Tazuna lived, they immediately received a warm welcome from all the townspeople.
To the townspeople, Kakashi and the others were angels sent to save the Land of Waves.
"Thank you so much! We really, really thank you!" Tazuna bowed sincerely to Kakashi's group, his eyes filled with hot tears. "With the help of you ninja-sama, there's hope for our Land of Waves!" The townspeople cheered exuberantly. "This is great! The ninja-sama are here! Our heroes have arrived!"
"With the ninja-sama stationed here, Gato's men definitely won't dare to come again!"
"Wonderful! The Land of Waves is saved!" These townspeople were extremely enthusiastic, their words treating Kakashi's group as heroes who had come to save the Land of Waves.
Under Tazuna's arrangements, Kakashi's group temporarily stayed on the island, as they still needed to protect Tazuna and prevent Zabuza's second attack.
At night, they enjoyed a delicious meal thanks to the warm hospitality of Tazuna's family. However, amidst all the laughter and cheerful voices, a boy sat alone in a corner.
Naruto was the first to notice this boy and looked at him curiously.
Noticing Naruto's gaze, Tazuna sighed and began to tell the boy's story.
From Tazuna, Kakashi's group learned that Inari was once a passionate and cheerful boy. He idolized his father, who was regarded as a hero by the townspeople.
Because his father was a hero, he would always step forward to fight against the evil forces of Gato.
Under his father's leadership, everyone was filled with hope.
However, during one struggle, Inari's father unfortunately died.
From then on, the small country where Tazuna lived truly lost hope, living in a muddle, from being dominated by fear to becoming accustomed to domination.
Everyone seemed to have lost their fighting spirit.
Lost their hope.
Inari no longer believed in heroes and even thought all heroes were foolish.
But Tazuna hadn't given up. He was still trying to defy fate, which was why he had gone to Konoha and issued the request.
"How pitiful," Sakura sighed with compassion after hearing the story.
"Tch," Sasuke scoffed with considerable disdain.
But in Naruto's view, this child Inari was both pitiable and pathetic. Rather than saying he didn't believe in heroes, it was more like he was numbing himself, forcing himself not to believe in heroes.
Such an awkward child was completely unnecessary to waste time on.
Late at night.
Naruto heard continuous strange noises at the door. After quickly dressing, he stepped outside.
Outside the door, Sasuke was still training. He concentrated chakra on the soles of his feet, repeatedly dashing towards a slanting waterfall.
The water from the waterfall continuously rushed down, flowing along the stream into a pond, creating large waves. Sasuke's legs, however, were firmly adhered to the water's surface. In his right hand, surging lightning chakra continuously gathered, changing shape under Sasuke's strained control.
Training with lightning release in water was extremely dangerous, practically suicidal behavior.
Yet Sasuke, in order to become stronger, did not hesitate to use death as his catalyst.
Under such a crisis, he felt his adrenaline surge throughout his body, stimulating his potential.
"What a madman," Naruto shook his head with gratification.
Sasuke was a candidate he had his eye on, possessing great potential.
Perhaps in the future, Sasuke could reach a new height.
Naruto withdrew his gaze, preparing to leave quietly, but then he noticed a small figure coming towards them along the stream.
It was none other than Tazuna's grandson, Inari.
Tonight, Inari couldn't sleep at all. Every time he closed his eyes, the scene of his father, once regarded as a hero by the townspeople, being killed by Gato would surface in his mind.
Hero!
How ironic.
Being a hero, doing things that were completely impossible to succeed at, and in the end, even losing his life.
Since you knew it was impossible to succeed, why did you still try so hard? Inari walked out of his house, moving like a walking corpse. Unconsciously, he followed the waterfall to the side of the stream and saw Sasuke, still training hard late at night.