Kinoshita Yoshiro looked at Naruto lying on the ground, a worried expression on his face:
"Kakashi-sama, what happened to Naruto?"
"It's nothing, he just overtrained," Kakashi said calmly, his expression unchanged.
"By the way, Mr. Yoshiro, did you feel that Chakra just now?"
Kakashi suddenly remembered something, turned his head, and asked Kinoshita Yoshiro. Although his words were a question, his tone held a hint of certainty.
Kinoshita Yoshiro nodded blankly, saying with some confusion, "I did feel a special Chakra. Could it be related to Naru...?"
Speaking up to this point, Kinoshita Yoshiro suddenly stopped, scratching his head with a wry smile:
"Things in your large Ninja Villages are too complicated. This wandering Ninja doesn't want to get involved."
Hearing Kinoshita Yoshiro's words, Kakashi nodded slightly, just about to say something.
Suddenly, Kakashi's expression froze, a hint of solemnity appearing on his face:
"Mr. Yoshiro, could you please take Naruto back first?"
After speaking, Kakashi didn't wait for Kinoshita Yoshiro to reply and immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
"As expected of Yūto-sama, has he calculated everything?"
Looking at the departing Kakashi, Kinoshita Yoshiro narrowed his eyes slightly.
He raised his hand and gently nudged Naruto. With Kinoshita Yoshiro's action, Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
"Mr. Yoshiro, what happened to me?" Naruto asked with a hint of weariness in his voice.
For some reason, Naruto vaguely felt as if he had lost something extremely important.
"You can't train without considering your body. Look, you were so tired you fell asleep."
Kinoshita Yoshiro said softly, a gentle expression on his face.
Thinking that he had only meant to lie down for a short rest but had unexpectedly fallen asleep, Naruto's face showed embarrassment, and he quickly prepared to roll over and stand up.
However, before his body could stand up, a feeling of weakness surged into Naruto's heart, and he plopped back down onto the ground.
"It seems I overdid the training a bit," Naruto said, scratching his head with a smile.
"Come on, I'll carry you."
Kinoshita Yoshiro turned his back and half-squatted on the ground, saying to Naruto with a light smile.
Hearing Kinoshita Yoshiro's words, Naruto was stunned for a moment. Looking at Kinoshita Yoshiro's back, Naruto suddenly felt a pang in his nose.
Bright moonlight shone down from the sky, accompanied by twinkling stars, casting faint reflections of the trees on either side.
Kinoshita Yoshiro carried Naruto on his back, walking slowly towards Tazuna's house.
"Um... um, thank you, Mr. Yoshiro."
Although he was being carried, there was a hint of awkwardness in Naruto's tone.
"It's fine," Kinoshita Yoshiro said with a light smile, not minding at all.
"Mr. Yoshiro, you seem to know a lot about the Whirlpool Clan. Could you tell me more?" Naruto asked softly.
After a while, seeing that Kinoshita Yoshiro didn't speak, a hint of disappointment flashed in Naruto's eyes, but there was no look of surprise, as this wasn't the first time he had asked and been refused.
"Since you want to hear so much, then I'll tell you a story. The reason I know about the Whirlpool Clan is because my wife was from the Whirlpool Clan..."
Kinoshita Yoshiro said softly, carrying Naruto on his back, a hint of faint sadness in his tone.
On the other side, Kakashi ran directly in one direction.
Kakashi didn't stop until he had run several hundred meters away, looking at a masked figure not far in the distance.
When he clearly saw the animal on the person's mask and the special clothes he was wearing, Kakashi was slightly startled. An Anbu member?
No, although Anbu members dress very similarly to this person in front of him, there are still some subtle differences.
"Kakashi Hatake, what do you want?"
A stiff and emotionless voice came from the masked man's mouth.
Hearing the person's emotionless voice, Kakashi's spirit jolted. The attire was so similar to Anbu, and aside from the slightly stiff voice, it was completely characteristic of those Root guys.
It seems that Naruto's display of the Nine-Tailed's aura just now also attracted the attention of Root.
"Why are you Root members here?"
Kakashi Hatake's expression remained unchanged, only his eyes narrowed slightly.
The Root Ninja didn't speak. It seemed the eyes under the mask were coldly looking at Kakashi.
Immediately after, that Root Ninja raised his hand and made two hand signs, then turned and left.
It wasn't until that Root Ninja completely disappeared from Kakashi's sight that Kakashi quietly let out a sigh of relief, muttering to himself, "It seems they really are Root members."
As a former member of Anbu, Kakashi naturally understood the meaning of those two hand signs. In short, it meant 'don't meddle'!
Root members actually appearing in Wave Country, do they have some important mission?
A look of contemplation flashed in Kakashi's eyes, but he then cast it aside. Given Root's mission style, it likely wouldn't have much to do with him.
Thinking this, Kakashi turned and headed towards Tazuna's house. In just a few leaps, he had disappeared.
"Oh my, Kinoshita Yoshiro, I've created an opportunity for you. The rest depends on your own ability."
Yūto had appeared at the spot where Kakashi had just stood, watching Kakashi's departing direction and chuckling softly.
And the Root Ninja who had just been there stood quietly beside Yūto.
...
On the road not far from Tazuna's house.
"There are many rumors about the reason the Whirlpool Clan was destroyed. Some say it's because the Whirlpool Clan possessed powerful sealing techniques and were seen as a threat by other villages."
"Other rumors say that the Whirlpool Clan possessed a special physique that could seal certain monsters, so other Ninja Villages hunted down members of the Whirlpool Clan. My wife was one of those who escaped back then, and that's when I met her."
When Kinoshita Yoshiro said the word "wife," a happy smile appeared on his face, but his tone became increasingly sorrowful.
Naruto, being carried on Kinoshita Yoshiro's back, couldn't help but tremble slightly upon hearing the words "could seal monsters."
For a moment, Uzumaki Naruto recalled his experience of being called a monster and the words spoken by Mizuki sensei, whom he had defeated.
As Naruto reminisced, it seemed the sealing tag, half-torn by Yūto, was no longer as effective as before, and the Nine-Tailed's negative emotions began to surface.
However, just then, the scene in Naruto's mind suddenly shifted. Iruka's smile, the Third Hokage's concern, and scenes of friendship with some comrades began to constantly surface in Naruto's mind.