"Kid, don't think I'll help you in battle again!"
Gama-Bunta dared not look at Uehara Naraku, and after angrily yelling at Uzumaki Naruto, he immediately broke off his summoning.
"Huh?"
Uzumaki Naruto scratched his head in confusion and turned to glance at Uehara Naraku: "Boss Toad, what's up with him?"
Uehara Naraku furrowed his brows and said somewhat sheepishly: "Could it be that he lost to me and got mad? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, not at all!"
Uzumaki Naruto quickly waved his hand and repeatedly said: "Anyway, you were just trying to help me; maybe he thinks he's just too weak!"
Although Naruto felt something was a bit off...
But thinking it over, Uehara Naraku hadn't done anything wrong.
It's just that the outcome wasn't ideal. What went wrong exactly?
Uehara Naraku, however, received a mission reward for this, defeating Gama-Bunta, which granted Uehara a summoning contract.
Side mission: Defeat Gama-Bunta (1/1), mission completed, reward summoning contract with King of the River Tum.
Summoning Contract: Summon King of the River Tum, Chakra cost 1000 points.
This contract is a bit hard to explain.
But still, something is better than nothing.
Life in Konoha gradually became calm.
Yet, within this calmness, deeper waves were stirring, especially after the mysterious death of the proctor for the third exam, Gekkou Hayate.
To investigate the conspiracies among major allied countries and Orochimaru, Konoha dispatched a large number of Anbu to conduct investigations in various nations.
The Hidden Rain Village, however, became Konoha's only trustworthy ally.
According to Kakashi's intel, Orochimaru had once stolen treasures from The Hidden Rain Village, causing them to pursue him relentlessly, and Uehara Naraku had consistently thwarted Orochimaru's plans.
The night before the Chunin Examination's main event.
Inside Uehara Naraku's inn room, he was draped in a counterfeit Divine Robe and Kasa, even though he could use a natural illusion transformation; this was to prevent being discovered during an encounter in battle.
This outfit and the Hokage Kasa were obtained by Yakushi Kabuto.
Uehara Naraku stood in front of the mirror, flipped the collar of the Divine Robe: "I just like the little collar of the Hokage's Divine Robe, so worthy of the leader of Konoha Village's outfit, more free and comfortable than the uniforms of our ordinary Akatsuki members."
"Yes."
Yakushi Kabuto, dressed in Anbu attire, stood beside Uehara Naraku, holding his fake Hokage Kasa.
Because Uehara Naraku had a shortage of completely trustworthy hands, he had to let Yakushi Kabuto play a supporting role tonight temporarily.
"Have you memorized your lines?"
Uehara Naraku took the Hokage Kasa and asked casually.
Yakushi Kabuto pushed up his glasses and chuckled softly: "I've memorized them all, I'm just curious why Lord Naraku is making such a big fuss targeting Uzumaki Naruto when you could just abduct him when leaving Konoha..."
"No, I must make him willingly come with us."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, chuckled lightly: "Uzumaki Naruto's strength far exceeds your expectations. Just wait and see, he will surprise you!"
"Lord Naraku means..."
"Just saying."
Uehara Naraku donned the Hokage Kasa and softly said: "Once he leaves Konoha, I'll bring him to the Akatsuki base. Teacher Konan would surely appreciate the gift of the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki!"
"Understood."
Yakushi Kabuto nodded, pulling up a black hood.
For some reason, he felt that his new boss had a screw loose!
Over the past few days, Uehara Naraku had already scouted and found no Anbu monitoring around Uzumaki Naruto's house. Perhaps since he had become a ninja, Konoha no longer wasted resources to protect him.
Late at night.
Under the bright moon.
Uzumaki Naruto lay awake for a rare night of insomnia, his thoughts on how to win his match in front of the crowd tomorrow and earn the villagers' recognition.
As Uzumaki Naruto remained sleepless, a voice suddenly entered his ears: "Third Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto is already asleep. Did you come to check his seal?"
"No, I just came to have a look."
An aged voice reached Naruto's ears, a voice very familiar to him, that of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
However, the next words from Sarutobi Hiruzen made Uzumaki Naruto uncomfortable: "How is Uzumaki Naruto's situation? Many dignified guests will be watching the Chunin Exam tomorrow, and we absolutely cannot have any mishaps because of him."
Uzumaki Naruto bit his bedcover tightly. Was he, in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, always just a troublemaker?
Even though he'd already started to learn how to be a real ninja.
The next second, a stranger's Anbu voice continued into Naruto's ears: "Hokage-sama, rest assured, if his Chakra leaks, I will immediately report it; but if his Chakra anomaly is deemed unmanageable by me..."
"You have the authority to execute him on the spot."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged voice sounded somewhat cold: "Years ago, when I ordered Uchiha Obito to deal with Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Obito made an error, unleashing the Nine-Tails within Uzumaki Kushina, resulting in severe loss for the village."
The Anbu couldn't help but say with relief: "Fortunately, back then, the Fourth Hokage didn't notice, sealing the Nine-Tails into his own son, sparing Konoha from disaster..."