After being brushed off and sent away, Sasuke frowned and muttered, "Teacher Yamakei is way too conservative. He won't let us graduate at all!"
"Yeah. I was actually looking forward to going on missions with my old man after graduation, just to have his back a bit," Naruto complained.
"Seriously, what's that cowardly intelligence agent always running around for? In the current state of the shinobi world, how much useful intel can he really gather?"
Thinking of his own brother, who was always rushing out, Sasuke nodded in agreement. "Exactly. These grown-ups really don't make things easy for us at all!"
"Hey, Naruto, since you've got such a solid reason, why don't you explain it again to Teacher Yamakei?"
"Ha, well, I actually found Teacher Yamakei's explanation pretty convincing," Naruto replied with mock seriousness. "I think I'll tell my dad about it when I get home. Truth is, I can actually understand how my dad feels. He's been an intelligence agent his whole life, and now, in this chaotic shinobi world, there's no place left for him to realize his self-worth."
"And besides, he's probably not getting any missions these days. Without missions, there's no money coming in to support the household. That's why he's been heading outside the village so often recently, trying to gather intel from those monsters... Sigh, this must be what they call a midlife crisis!"
"You're right. Your dad really has it tough," Sasuke said with feeling, then suggested, "How about letting your dad work in the Police Force? They're short on manpower anyway, and he wouldn't have to go on dangerous missions."
"Really? That's possible?" Naruto looked interested. "Now that I think about it, after hearing Teacher Yamakei's suggestion, I was planning to have my dad help me move stuff anyway. His Swift Dash doesn't always have to be used for escaping. It's also super useful for transporting cargo!"
"Don't worry, my dad is actually pretty reasonable," Sasuke said proudly, lifting his chin. "He definitely won't give your dad a hard time!"
"Thanks, Sasuke!" Naruto said gratefully.
After saying that, Naruto sighed in his Consciousness Space, "Finally found a job for my dad... Sigh... I really am the most filial son. What do you think, Kurama?"
"Midlife crisis, Flying Thunder God courier..." Kurama, who was rolling with laughter in the Consciousness Space, hurriedly suppressed a grin upon hearing Naruto's voice. "Yeah, yeah, you're the most filial... Wait, what the hell is this?"
Suddenly standing up, Kurama focused his Sensor abilities toward a certain direction, murder blazing in his eyes. "There's no mistake. That battle energy fluctuation... That trash actually dares to come back!"
"Kurama, what's wrong?" Naruto was just feeling puzzled by Kurama's sudden change in behavior inside the Consciousness Space when his body suddenly jolted.
After exiting the Consciousness Space, he realized the ground was slightly shaking.
A distant pillar of light shot into the sky, flames and sparks bursting forth in all directions!
"Could it be enemies from the Akatsuki organization invading?" Sasuke said excitedly, staring in the direction of the commotion.
As the son of the Uchiha clan head, he naturally had heard about the invasion of Iwagakure.
But as he kept watching, something suddenly didn't feel right. His face paled and he screamed, "That's my house!"
Seeing Sasuke sprinting toward the direction where the firelight rose, Naruto hurried to catch up. "Sasuke, wait for me!"
...
Uchiha Clan's Territory
"It's that damn bastard again!" Kushina glared fiercely at the masked man ahead. Although they had never formally met seven years ago, Kurama's fury inside the Consciousness Space spoke volumes!
"Sorry Mikoto, I've dragged you into this!" Looking at the ruined residence, Kushina felt deep regret.
She just came over for a casual visit, so how did she end up destroying her friend's entire house?
"Don't worry about me!" Though still shaken, Mikoto quickly regained her composure. "They're after what's inside you, aren't they?"
"I think so!" Kushina took a deep breath. "You should escape quickly. Don't worry about me. I'm sure Minato will sense this and come soon!"
"Okay, I understand..." Mikoto clearly knew staying would only make her a burden, but the masked man's next words made her expression change dramatically.
"I originally planned to capture your son for leverage..." The masked man's gaze shifted from Kushina to her. "But this woman works just as well!"
"How dare you!" Kushina's eyes burned with fury that nearly became tangible. Five Chakra Chains extended from behind her and flew toward Obito.
However, Obito completely ignored these chains, charging straight toward Mikoto's position.
In the next moment, those chakra chains radiating powerful energy passed directly through his body.
"An Intangibility ability?" Kushina suspected.
Although this was her first encounter with him, Minato had already warned her about his abilities.
But suddenly, Kurama screamed inside her Consciousness Space, "No! Kushina, you've fallen into a genjutsu! Be careful about that other man wearing a Shinigami mask!"
"What? I've been trapped in a genjutsu? When did this happen?" Kushina looked doubtfully at the man wearing the Shinigami mask whom she had previously ignored.
As a perfect Jinchuriki, she shouldn't have been vulnerable to genjutsu at all.
When she first fell into the genjutsu, Kurama should have disrupted the chakra flow to alert her right away. Why was there a delay this time?
Sensing Kushina's confusion, Kurama spoke uncertainly, "It seems like I've also fallen into a genjutsu!"
"What? His genjutsu can even affect you through the Consciousness Space!" Kushina was shocked. "Could he be another figure like Madara Uchiha?"
"No, he feels completely different from Madara!" Kurama's tone turned wary. "Madara uses genjutsu for forceful control — under external interference, I could still resist. But this person's genjutsu, I can't even judge. I can't even tell if I'm still inside the illusion right now!"
"He's actually this powerful!" Kushina felt shocked and anxious at the same time — Mikoto was in danger!
She wanted to attack directly, but hesitation held her back because of what had just happened.
The previous genjutsu had only caused her to misjudge the enemy's position. What if this time, it made her mistake the enemy as Mikoto instead?
Kushina suddenly had an idea and quickly asked, "That's right, Kurama, aren't you able to sense malice?"
Kurama's voice turned serious. "That's exactly what's terrifying. I can't sense even the slightest malice from him!"
Shaking off her shock, Kushina pressed on urgently, "What about the Uzumaki Masked Man? Can he sense it?"
Kurama let out a confused "Huh?" before saying, "What's with this guy? One minute he's got malice, the next he doesn't? Is he nuts or something?"
Even though confused, Kushina didn't have time to think about it. "From now on," she declared, "don't bother with what I see or hear. Just tell me where the malice is coming from!"
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