After watching the Pain Invasion arc, Naruto lay on his bed holding his head, staring at the ceiling, once again thinking about whether or not to save Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Before, he considered saving Hiruzen because he was worried that if Tsunade didn't return after the Chunin Exams, Danzo might take over.
And if Danzo really took over, he probably wouldn't even have a chance to become a Chunin...
"AI-chan, don't you want to give me a mission to become Hokage?"
*Ding!*
[Please finish your current mission first. Don't aim too high too fast~]
"..."
Even if AI-chan didn't say anything, Naruto could guess it.
There would definitely be a mission to become Hokage later on.
And to complete that mission, he needed to start planning now!
First thing—Hiruzen Sarutobi can't be saved!
Because if he saves Hiruzen this time, the old man would most likely survive until the Pain Invasion four years later.
And there's no guarantee Pain could even kill him... Even if he did, there would still be two possible rivals—Danzo and Tsunade.
Naruto didn't want to spend over ten years on one mission.
And honestly, he wasn't that interested in being Hokage forever either...
So if the story follows the original timeline and Tsunade gets badly hurt and falls into a coma... that temporary "Fifth and a Half" Hokage seat might be a nice goal?
Or maybe... fake death and take over like Danzo did?
"But if I don't save Hiruzen, I have to find Tsunade... Otherwise that old Danzo might really take the position early."
Right now, aside from Danzo, there wasn't really anyone else in Konoha qualified to be the Fifth Hokage.
If Orochimaru hadn't attacked and Jiraiya hadn't just happened to be in the village, the two advisors might have seriously agreed to let Danzo take over.
"Looks like I'll have to find Jiraiya after this exam..."
Naruto decided to go with a backup plan.
Don't save Hiruzen, and go find Tsunade first!
If he can't find her, then he'll just kill Danzo!
"Naruto, where's Sasuke?" Sakura came out of the shower, saw that Naruto was the only one in the room, and asked with a bit of confusion.
"He went to train."
Naruto answered casually, then got up and took the change of clothes Iruka had prepared for him and headed to the bathroom.
About ten minutes later,
When he came back out, the dorm room was empty again—he was the only one there!
Naruto didn't really care where Sakura and Sasuke had gone. He lay on the bed and got ready to watch another episode of anime.
But just then, Sakura suddenly burst in from outside.
"Naruto! Something's wrong! Sasuke got attacked!"
"Attacked?"
"I went to look for Sasuke just now, and I happened to see that Grass ninja we met back in the Forest of Death. That guy... he just bit Sasuke out of nowhere!"
"Orochimaru, huh..."
Naruto wasn't surprised that Sasuke got bitten. He couldn't stay by Sasuke's side all the time, and as long as Sasuke moved around alone, it was bound to happen sooner or later.
But just one bite wouldn't kill him. They'd already passed the second round of the Chunin Exam, so Naruto wasn't too worried.
Even though the survival rate for the Heaven's Curse Mark was only about ten percent...
"Where is Sasuke now?" Naruto asked.
"Kakashi-sensei took him!" Sakura said anxiously.
Naruto replied calmly, "If Kakashi took him, then there's no need to worry. Let's just wait here."
"But... are you sure it's really okay?" Sakura was still worried, and since she didn't know where Kakashi had taken Sasuke, she had no choice but to wait with Naruto.
A few minutes later,
She looked at Naruto, who was staring blankly at the ceiling with no expression, and asked curiously, "Naruto, aren't you worried about Sasuke?"
"Not really," Naruto replied without even turning his head.
"Why not?" Sakura asked. "Is it because of what happened during the exam..."
"That's not it," Naruto said calmly. "I just don't think he'll die, that's all."
Even though Sasuke did some things in the Forest of Death that made Naruto a bit unhappy, he didn't really take it to heart.
Unless Sasuke keeps disobeying his orders in the future—if that happens again, he'll definitely make Sasuke understand why the flowers are so red!
The night passed,
And Sasuke still hadn't come back.
Just as Sakura was getting really worried, Sasuke showed up with his hand on his neck.
But he didn't come back alone—Kakashi came with him!
"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei!"
"Mhm."
Sasuke ignored Sakura and went straight to lie down on the bed.
Kakashi did nod back to her, then looked at Naruto, who was also lying in bed, and said, "Naruto, come out for a second."
Naruto looked at Kakashi. It felt like when a student who did something wrong is about to be scolded by the class rep.
Outside the room, Kakashi said, "Naruto, Sasuke's condition is stable now. There's no major danger, but... someone really dangerous has planted a dangerous power inside his body."
"I've already sealed it. But if Sasuke runs out of chakra, that power will burst out on its own. Even my sealing technique can't stop it!"
Naruto looked at Kakashi with a blank face. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to keep an eye on Sasuke," Kakashi said seriously. "Stop him from overusing his power. Don't let that thing inside him get triggered."
"You know that's impossible," Naruto said flatly.
With the way Sasuke is, there's no way he'd give up on getting stronger.
And to get stronger, you need intense battles and pushing your body to the limit.
Unless he had a system...
"After this exam is over, I'll take Sasuke to train," Kakashi said calmly.
If you want to stop someone from overusing power, you either have to fight super carefully—or raise your power ceiling!
As long as he gets stronger, Sasuke won't be tempted by the power Orochimaru gave him.
That's the real reason Kakashi suddenly decided to give Sasuke special training.
Even though Kakashi said it was for the Chunin Exams, that's not the truth.
The deeper reason he's training Sasuke alone is to stop Team 7 from falling apart!
Kakashi knows what Sasuke cares about—being number one.
If Sasuke can keep being the best in his age group, he won't be interested in Orochimaru's power.
But plans don't always work out. No one expected Naruto to become Jiraiya's student... and after Jiraiya's training, Naruto even surpassed Sasuke!
That was something Sasuke couldn't accept.
He believed he trained hard enough, and the only reason Naruto got ahead was because he had a better teacher.
With that kind of comparison, it made sense for Sasuke to turn to Orochimaru.
But now, even without a better teacher, Naruto was still way ahead... Who knows how long Sasuke will stay in the village?
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