After parting ways with his shadow clone, Naruto used the Transformation Jutsu once more and changed himself into the appearance of his young-adult self.
This was not some pointless extra step. After taking on this appearance, Naruto's identity quietly changed as well.
Under arrangements he had discussed with the Third Hokage in advance, he became "Menma Namikaze," a person who had appeared in Konoha out of nowhere yet whose identity information was complete and fully recorded.
Speaking of which, in Naruto's memory, the name Menma Namikaze belonged to Naruto from another time and space. In a certain sense, that meant Naruto could confidently say it was his real name and not something he had fabricated from nothing.
After all, for this trip on a whim, Naruto had already developed a rough plan more than a year ago while training under Jiraiya. It could be said that from that moment onward, Naruto's sudden departure from the village had actually been premeditated for a long time.
The recent incident of Hinata being kidnapped was the important reason that pushed Naruto to turn this plan, which had existed only in his mind, into reality.
First, one of the destinations Naruto needed to visit in this plan was the home of another future companion who had also become a Jinchūriki in childhood: Gaara's hometown, the Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Wind.
Speaking of which, because the prefixes of the Kage titles in each ninja village were named after their countries, Naruto, who was skilled at using Wind Style, had once wanted to complain that by title alone, he seemed more suited to becoming Kazekage than Hokage.
According to the setting that remained in his mind from the original manga, Orochimaru had yet to assassinate and impersonate the Fourth Kazekage.
He also had yet to incite the Hidden Sand Village to break with Konoha and launch an invasion.
During the current period, the relationship between the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha, even if not close enough to call them brothers, could at least be considered friendly cooperation between allies.
In other words, after the Third Hokage personally confirmed this deduction, Naruto only needed an appropriate reason.
With the Third Hokage behind him—and perhaps the backing of more than half of Konoha's main clans—he should have no difficulty openly entering the Hidden Sand Village's territory through the front gate.
He had travel documents, an introduction letter personally written by the Third Hokage as a safeguard, and the most basic D-rank mission fabricated by the Third Hokage: going to the Hidden Sand Village to purchase local specialties. These three layers of protection acted as his credentials.
And even if some unexpected trouble appeared, he still had the convenient infiltration method of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Second was the reason that pushed Naruto to carry out this mission: Hinata's kidnapping.
Although this incident had nearly caused Naruto to lose control completely, and the unknown energy body inside him had quietly spread as if it were about to break through the seal, the impact of the incident was not entirely bad for Naruto himself.
Putting aside the various benefits the Hidden Cloud Village had handed over as ransom after losing both the wife and the soldiers, the most direct advantage for Naruto was that Konoha's security level quietly rose several grades after the incident.
Also, because of the stunning performance in which "Menma Namikaze" instantly defeated elite Hidden Cloud ninjas, those who openly or secretly opposed Konoha or coveted it were greatly shocked.
The previously unheard-of identity of "Menma Namikaze" created the illusion to outsiders that Konoha was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, with jōnin-level experts lying around as if they cost nothing.
On top of that, the Hidden Cloud Village, always known for being overbearing and unreasonable, had uncharacteristically lowered its head to Konoha.
As a result, forces throughout the ninja world had no choice but to carefully reconsider Konoha's strength and think about whether the price of making an enemy of Konoha was within a range they could bear.
In other words, during the three days of the Ninja Academy exam, Naruto used the newly reborn Root organization to gather outside intelligence and noticed this strange but peaceful atmosphere spreading through the ninja world—everyone feeling endangered and silently restraining their schemes.
After reaching the conclusion that, for the short term, no one would dare target Hinata or his other companions again, the heart Naruto had kept suspended finally settled.
He could finally spare the time, using this excellent period of calm, to visit some of the little companions from his memories, the ones he had imagined meeting early many times and changing their fate routes just as he had helped Little Uchiha Fan, so he could see what kind of changes would occur in future events.
After all, in Naruto's view, he had already made a massive change by saving the entire Uchiha Clan.
Rather than safely stay in the village and waste these precious years doing nothing, it was better to keep the optimistic attitude that debts no longer mattered once there were too many.
With that mindset, he could do some of the things he had imagined while reading the original manga.
As for the third reason Naruto decided to set off so quickly, it was probably because he was dodging the Pervy Sage, who had left without saying goodbye.
Do not forget, when Danzo and Root were being eliminated, our Lord Jiraiya, who refused to believe evil, had made the bold declaration that as long as the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan joined hands, he would dare bring Tsunade back to the village and marry her on the spot, whether she agreed or not.
A bet was a bet, and a gentleman's word was worth four horses.
With such a perfect chance to change Jiraiya's lonely and tragic fate, how could Naruto, as a "good disciple" who cared deeply for his teacher—clearly someone who simply liked watching chaos—possibly watch Jiraiya slink away in defeat instead of catching up to him and personally supervising him as he fulfilled that promise?
...
Although "Menma Namikaze" was merely the young-adult version of Naruto's original appearance, under normal circumstances, no one would connect Naruto to this handsome young man.
In addition, during the Ninja Academy entrance exam, Fugaku and the others had shown such protective indulgence toward Naruto that the villagers had more or less sensed his identity might not be as simple as a "reincarnated Nine-Tails fox." As a result, the disguised "Menma Namikaze" encountered no obstruction on his journey.
Even the cold looks and curses Naruto's shadow clone encountered from villagers on the way to the Ninja Academy had sharply decreased compared to before.
That made the clone replacing Naruto's real body even more inconspicuous, allowing Naruto to relax and stop worrying about someone discovering his "cheating" method of using a shadow clone to attend school in his place. He could focus on thinking and calmly arrange his next route.
"Mm... judging from the world map Grandpa Hiruzen gave me and the distance to Pervy Sage's current position, catching up with him seems like it will take more time than I imagined... Could Pervy Sage really be that afraid of facing Tsunade?"
After confirming that the surrounding villagers were at most curious about his appearance, but none of them came forward to trouble him, Naruto fully focused his attention. He spread open the clearly newly printed world map in his hands and muttered to himself while walking at a steady pace.
"Although I can use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport directly to Pervy Sage's side, from the position, he seems to have deviated far too much from my first target... Mm... Should I go find those little guys first, or meet up with Pervy Sage first...?"
Because Naruto had already quietly placed a Flying Thunder God mark on Jiraiya when Danzo and Root were being eliminated, after sensing for a moment, he roughly understood where Jiraiya, who had "escaped" the village without a word, was located.
Then, using the world map in his hand and estimating Jiraiya's possible route, he reached a conclusion: unless Jiraiya planned to take a hundred-and-eighty-degree turnaround route, finding Jiraiya and going to the Hidden Sand Village would conflict with each other.
"Mm... Pervy Sage has already personally raised the flag. In this lifetime, he shouldn't even think about acting cool and running away from marrying Granny Tsunade like in the original.
And there are still more than ten years before the point when he goes to the Hidden Rain Village seeking intelligence and gets himself killed.
I don't have to worry that there won't be enough time to help him win over that golden Legendary Sucker, who already has signs of mutual affection with him... But those little guys are side characters. I have no certainty about exactly when the tragedies that happen to them will occur.
After all, the original didn't describe much about them, so I can't find a concrete and useful reference point."
As his thoughts raced, all kinds of possibilities surfaced in Naruto's mind. After comparing gains and losses, Naruto temporarily "cruelly" set aside the issue between Jiraiya and Tsunade. Because of the need to race against time, he raised the priority of visiting the Hidden Sand Village to first place.
"Mm, if I'm going to the Hidden Sand Village first, then considering the target of another side quest... maybe I should take this route? Uh... no, I remember that child seemed to have been taken in together with her mother... If I go now, whether she's in that village or not is a question...
Well, forget it. Compared with going there directly, it would only delay me a little. I might as well stop by and look."
Just as Naruto pointed at the map and muttered to himself, deciding his next route, his concentration caused him to miss the two smiling young men who had appeared in front of him at some point. Without dodging or avoiding them, he walked straight into them.
"Whoa! Sorry, sorry. I was distracted just now..."
After realizing he had bumped into someone, Naruto's attention finally returned from his drifting thoughts to his body. He instinctively apologized with an apologetic expression and adjusted his gaze to see who he had run into.
But when he narrowed his eyes slightly and clearly saw the faces of the two young men standing before him with their arms crossed, he froze in stunned disbelief. He did not even notice the map slipping from his fingers and quietly falling toward the ground.
"Ita... Itachi-san and... Shisui-san?! Why... why are you two here?!"
"Hahaha! I knew it... Well, Shisui, what did I tell you? I said this unfamiliar face was definitely Naruto. No mistake."
Itachi, who had originally looked somewhat doubtful, confirmed that the young man disguised as "Menma Namikaze" was indeed Naruto's real body after hearing him blurt out those names. Moving quickly, he reached out and caught the map that had slipped from Naruto's hand.
Then he raised his arm slightly and nudged Shisui beside him with his elbow while Shisui still looked puzzled. After a short pause, he turned back to Naruto and replied with a gentle smile.
"Of course, we came to see where you little guy were secretly planning to run off to play by yourself... I knew that if you left from home and wanted to get out of the village as quickly as possible, you would definitely pass through this road. From the look of it, my guess was right, wasn't it?"
As for the reason Shisui was puzzled, it also came from the way Naruto had addressed him. Strictly speaking, this was the first time Shisui and Naruto had met.
Yet this unfamiliar stranger had easily called out his name, and in doing so, had dropped the Uchiha prefix and added an intimate suffix expressing respect, as if in the young man's eyes, he had known Shisui long ago. That naturally left Shisui somewhat confused.
But soon, Shisui remembered that under the Third Hokage's arrangements, as early as a year ago when Root had been absorbed, he had entered the newly reborn Root organization under Naruto's command for further training.
Then he thought of the person before him as the "young" leader of that reorganized Root. He concluded Naruto must have seen his information on the member list and did not dwell on it any further.
"B-but... aren't you two supposed to be training in the organization right now? Why are you here? I don't remember arranging any miss—"
After hearing Itachi's words, Naruto knew this was absolutely not a coincidence, but the result of Itachi and Shisui deliberately searching for his whereabouts. He stammered his question in confusion.
But soon, Naruto's mind cleared as if he had understood everything.
There was no other reason. Facing Itachi's gentle and confident smile, which clearly showed he had planned this long ago, Naruto somehow recalled the meaningful smile the Third Hokage had given him when handing over all the documents and procedures he needed.
'He saw through me long ago... No wonder he agreed so easily. Looks like ginger really does get spicier with age...'
Realizing that his little tricks had probably been seen through by the crafty Third Hokage the moment he proposed them, Naruto felt both nervous and helpless. After a brief pause, he reached out with a complicated expression and took the map back from Itachi. After hesitating for a long while, he frowned and asked in a low voice,
"Did Grandpa Third Hokage send you to stop me from leaving the village?"
"That way of putting it... isn't entirely wrong, but it isn't entirely right either."
Seeing Naruto look nervous and dejected, Itachi's eyes grew even more amused. While handing the map back to Naruto undamaged, he suppressed the curve of his lips and deliberately put on a serious expression as he teased him.
"It's true, just as you said, Third Hokage-sama already knew... you weren't leaving the village to go train with Jiraiya-sama. So... he called Shisui and me over and told us to stay by your side as guards for this trip."
"...Huh? Guards? You... you're not here to take me back?!"
The unexpected answer left Naruto's brain unable to turn for a moment. The map he had just caught nearly fell again. As he fumbled to steady it, he looked back and forth at the two in front of him and only then noticed the obviously well-prepared, bulging backpacks behind them.
Then he opened his mouth again and continued asking in disbelief,
"How... how is that possible? Grandpa Third Hokage is actually okay with me leaving the village like this?"
"You know Third Hokage-sama isn't at ease letting you go, Naruto? Then why are you still so stubborn about leaving the village? Hm?
I'm even wondering whether I should take you back right now, let Father and Mother learn about all this, and have them properly lecture a little guy like you who loves causing huge incidents at the drop of a hat."
While putting on a stern face to frighten Naruto on purpose, Itachi subconsciously wanted to lift his hand and poke Naruto's forehead.
But after comparing their heights and realizing Naruto, transformed into "Menma Namikaze," was clearly much taller than him, he had no choice but to restrain the urge and secretly abandon the idea.
After a short pause, he stabilized his tone to prevent Naruto from noticing his awkwardness, then stopped suppressing the smile on his face and continued gently.
"However, judging from every single thing you've done... Third Hokage-sama also knows very well that you never do anything useless. Since you're trying every possible way to leave the village, you must have your reasons, right?"
"So, aside from entrusting us to accompany you as guards because he was worried about you, Third Hokage-sama also asked me to bring you a few words."
"...Huh? What... did he say?"
"Naruto, no matter what reason made you suddenly want to leave the village, Grandpa won't ask about it... But after you go out, Grandpa hopes you remember one thing: standing behind you is the entire Hidden Leaf Village. So no matter what you want to do, go ahead and do it."
As he spoke, Itachi used a common ventriloquism skill from Root that changed one's tone and voice. His slightly youthful voice gradually shifted into the Third Hokage's hoarse and aged tone, one full of affection.
The smile on his face deepened as he stared at Naruto, who stood frozen in front of him, and continued word by word with firm force.
"Because even if the sky falls, Grandpa will hold it up for you. I will never let you suffer even the slightest grievance again!"