Naruto's words made Konohamaru go silent. He stopped resisting and let Naruto take him away.
Before leaving, Naruto patted Tsunade on the shoulder. "Do your job properly!"
Tsunade: "..."
...
"Brother Naruto, is your father the Fourth Hokage?" After leaving the Hokage building, Konohamaru suddenly asked.
"Yeah." Naruto nodded.
"But why... does it seem like no one knows?" Konohamaru asked in confusion.
"Why should they know?" Naruto asked back.
That one question made Konohamaru feel ashamed.
Naruto, as the son of the Fourth Hokage, never enjoyed any special treatment, while he himself, as the grandson of the Third Hokage, enjoyed the love and respect of everyone in the village.
"Train hard."
Naruto patted Konohamaru's head. "If you want to take that house back, you should work hard to become an outstanding ninja, then earn the title of Hokage. Not set a bunch of traps like an idiot to block another Hokage!"
"I got it, thank you, Naruto!"
Konohamaru nodded hard, then asked again, "But Brother Naruto, has everyone already forgotten about Grandpa?"
"Do you think people have forgotten the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto didn't answer directly, instead asking back again.
Have people forgotten the sacrifice the Fourth Hokage made?
Of course not. They had only forgotten the son of the Fourth Hokage.
Konohamaru didn't understand Naruto's sadness, but he understood what Naruto meant.
"I get it, Brother Naruto! I'll pull myself together!!"
Konohamaru regained his energy, and Moegi and Udon beside him also went back to their usual cheerfulness.
"As expected of you, Brother Naruto!"
"Brother Naruto, do you want to come to my house for dinner today? Sister Magpie learned a few new dishes, they're super tasty!"
"New dishes? Did you give your maid more work again?"
"Hehe, it's just because you like her cooking!"
"Ah, I can't say no to you guys. Alright, I'll try it. It's been a long time since I had Magpie's cooking, I kinda miss it~"
"Okay... after dinner I'll teach you guys some training!"
"Awesome!!"
A few days later, Tsunade officially became the Fifth Hokage, and the Leaf held an uplifting inauguration ceremony!
The whole village was lively again, and the Leaf ninja resumed their missions.
Tsunade and the Leaf ninjas' workload also started to grow heavier...
That day,
Naruto and the other two were called to an office to receive a mission.
But the three of them waited for a long time, and Kakashi still didn't show up.
"Huh? Where's Kakashi-sensei? Why isn't he here yet? Is he late again?" Sakura guessed.
"No."
At that moment, Tsunade finally arrived, telling the three of them, "All the jonin, including Kakashi, have been given other missions. So for this mission, it'll just be the three of you!"
After speaking, Tsunade sat down and took out a file.
"Also, Naruto, according to the decision of the village elders, from today you're officially a Chunin, and you can lead a team on missions by yourself!"
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, on successfully becoming a Chunin! You've received the mission reward: Max-Level Observation Haki! ♫]
"Chunin?!"
Sakura looked at Naruto with envy, while Sasuke's gaze carried jealousy.
He didn't care much about the title of Chunin; what he cared about was recognition of his strength.
In the Chunin Exams, he had also done well, but he hadn't been promoted.
What did that mean?
It meant his strength was still far from enough!
"This time, you'll be leading the mission. First time leading — no problem, right?" Tsunade said with a teasing smile.
"No problem!" Naruto still wanted to try out his Observation Haki, but there was no time, so he just gave Tsunade an OK gesture.
"Then let's begin."
Tsunade nodded with satisfaction. "This mission is a B-rank mission, but in special cases it might be raised to A-rank… The mission is to protect an important person."
"An important person? Who is it?" Sakura asked.
"No idea."
"No idea?"
Sasuke and Sakura looked at Tsunade with confusion. She slowly unrolled a scroll and said, "In the Land of Tea, our neighboring country, there's a grand shrine ceremony held once every four years. During the race event that takes place at the same time, you need to protect one of the runners!"
"But before the person you're protecting reaches here, they've already been attacked by assassins sent by their opponents."
"Assassins? So what should we do?"
Even after hearing Tsunade's explanation, Sakura and Sasuke still didn't quite get what they were supposed to do.
Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to remember this mission and stayed calm.
"You'll get the details directly from Elder Jirouchou of the Land of Tea. He'll tell you exactly what to do!"
"Also, you must reach the Land of Tea before the end of today. Move quickly!"
After getting the order, Sasuke and Sakura were ready to head out, but Naruto suddenly raised his hand and asked, "How much is the reward?"
"..."
"150,000 ryō. Since the mission might be raised to A-rank at any time, we're giving you the highest B-rank reward," Tsunade said.
"If it could turn into an A-rank mission, then it should be posted with an A-rank reward from the start. Seriously."
Naruto grumbled, then suddenly narrowed his eyes at Tsunade. "That Elder Jirōchō is your friend, isn't he? You're helping him save money, right?"
Tsunade's cheeks turned red. "Idiot! I'm the Fifth Hokage, how could I do something like that? It's the client's own decision. We're just taking the mission as normal!"
Naruto gave her a look of disdain but didn't argue further. He turned and left with Sasuke and Sakura toward the Land of Tea.
A mission reward of 150,000 ryō meant each of them would get 50,000 ryō—not bad at all.
With current prices in Konoha, that would be enough for them to live for a few months!
A few hours later—
Before noon, Naruto and the others arrived in the country.
The Land of Tea is south of the Land of Fire, sharing a small border with it, and has no ninja village of its own.
"There's a tea house ahead. Let's eat something first, Naruto!" Sakura, feeling hungry, made her request.
Right now, Naruto was the official leader of the squad and the only Chunin among them, so any requests had to be approved by him.
Of course, even if Naruto wasn't the official leader, they would still instinctively ask him.
After all, Naruto was the strongest among them!
"Well, since we're already in the Land of Tea, let's have lunch before we keep going." Naruto looked at the still-bright sky and agreed to Sakura's request.
The three of them walked into the tea house.
The inside wasn't small, with seven or eight tables, but business seemed slow—aside from them, there was only one other customer.
Naruto glanced at the man and immediately knew he must be the person they were supposed to protect this time.
Morino Ibiki's foolish younger brother, the former Konoha Genin—Morino Idate!
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