Even Uchiha Sasuke could not help looking at Uzumaki Naruto in a new light, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably.
That chakra reserve was completely absurd. If it were him, after creating that many shadow clones, he would not even have enough chakra left to cast a single jutsu.
So this was why Naruto could become a future savior?
Or was it because of the monster sealed inside him?
Sasuke recalled a scene from one of the future videos. In that future, he had glanced at Naruto with his three-tomoe Sharingan, seen straight through the Nine-Tails inside him, and crushed it effortlessly.
"Damn, Captain. That kid's chakra is way too insane."
Amakusa Ryuji stared at Naruto's countless shadow clones, completely dumbfounded.
"It really is ridiculous."
Hyuga Keiko was even more shocked.
Ryuji could only judge Naruto's chakra through the jutsu he used, but Keiko could see it directly with her Byakugan.
Under her gaze, Naruto looked like a massive chakra source. Even after expending enormous amounts through his shadow clones, the chakra he had left was still greater than what had previously made her uneasy when observing Kaede Kitahara.
After all, Kaede had only recently acquired his Sage Body. His chakra growth was still limited, amounting to only several hundred times that of an elite Jonin.
Naruto, on the other hand, started at over a hundred times that.
At this point, it was not chakra anymore. It was chakra-tonnage.
"This still isn't his limit," Kaede said calmly.
He knew very well that Naruto's true limit was far beyond this. His complete form would only emerge in the future, once he could fully draw on the Nine-Tails' chakra.
This entire combat style was something Kaede had taught him, perfectly leveraging Naruto's overwhelming chakra reserves. If he created that many shadow clones only to rush in for close combat and get blown apart, it would be a terrible waste.
Facing so many shadow clones using all kinds of jutsu at the same time, even if they were low-level techniques, was enough to give many Jonin a headache.
Both Hyuga Keiko and Amakusa Ryuji wore openly envious expressions. Anyone would be dazzled by that kind of chakra.
Especially for people like them, who had only just stepped beyond the Genin level and reached Chunin strength, the pain of insufficient chakra was something they felt keenly.
"Well done!"
Suddenly, Hatake Kakashi, who should have been shredded into minced meat, reappeared.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura cried out in delighted shock.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'm so glad you're okay!"
Naruto shouted happily as well.
"So you were just watching from the sidelines the whole time."
Sasuke muttered inwardly.
Knowing Kakashi's true strength from the diary, he had never believed Kakashi could be taken out by opponents like that.
He had been relaxed from the start, and now it was clear. Kakashi had simply wanted to see how Team Kakashi would perform under pressure.
Hatake Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
"I wanted to see how everyone would handle an unexpected situation. I didn't expect you all to do so well."
He had seen everything clearly.
The first to notice something wrong had been Uchiha Sasuke, proving he was a natural-born ninja.
Naruto's sensitivity had been much worse, but his reaction speed had not lagged behind at all. His fighting style was reckless, yet he had fully exploited his massive chakra advantage.
This was nothing like the diary's account of the fight against Momochi Zabuza, where Naruto had only created shadow clones without using any jutsu.
If Naruto had used techniques like Great Breakthrough or Practiced Air Bullet back then, rescuing Kakashi would not have been nearly as difficult.
After all, ninjutsu provided ranged attack options.
Was this also something Kaede had taught him?
Kakashi knew Naruto had trained with Kaede before. Now it seemed that training had paid off handsomely.
But then there was Sasuke's Sharingan.
Had he awakened it already?
This was earlier than expected. It did not quite match what the diary had recorded.
Had Kaede's presence altered the so-called fixed destiny?
"Naruto, Sasuke, you both did well. Sakura, you did well too."
Kakashi was very satisfied.
Sakura's performance had not been as eye-catching as Naruto's or Sasuke's, but at the critical moment, she had protected the client. That alone was rare among Genin.
"Hehe, of course. Piece of cake. I'm gonna be the future Hokage!"
Naruto grinned smugly.
"That said, Mr. Tazuna, you should explain something."
Kakashi glanced at Tazuna.
"Who were those two targeting? Us, or you?"
In theory, a C-rank mission should not involve ninja combat unless the mission was actually above C-rank.
"How would I know? I don't even recognize them," Tazuna hurriedly deflected.
He only had enough money to pay for a C-rank mission. There was nothing he could do beyond that.
But he could not give up. That bridge was the Land of Waves' only path to external development.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Suspicion flashed in Kakashi's eyes, but he did not press the matter.
He knew very well that this was only the Demon Brothers. Momochi Zabuza would come next.
He also did not pursue Tazuna's misreporting of the mission rank. According to Kaede's diary, this battle was important for Naruto and Sasuke.
Besides, this time, he would not be caught so unprepared when facing Zabuza.
Prepared and unprepared were completely different states.
Seeing Kakashi drop the issue, Tazuna finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Captain, something's wrong with this mission."
Amakusa Ryuji frowned.
"The mission scroll says it's C-rank. Why are there ninja involved, and more than one Chunin ambushing us? Should we report this to the village?"
"Don't worry about it."
Kaede spoke calmly.
"Our task is to ensure Uzumaki Naruto's survival. As for reporting to the village, that's up to their team leader, Hatake Kakashi. If he's not panicking, why should we?"
With Kaede saying that, the two of them said nothing more.
In Hyuga Keiko's eyes, Hatake Kakashi was one of Konoha's top elite Jonin. And Kaede's strength, as far as she could tell, was at least Jonin-level as well.
With two Jonin personally escorting them, unless they ran straight into another village's Kage, safety was not an issue.
Team Kakashi continued onward.
That night, the group stopped in a small town.
In the original manga, they seemed to encounter Zabuza quickly and reach the Land of Waves soon after. But in reality, the distance from Konoha to the Land of Waves was considerable.
If only ninja were traveling, it might not take long. But with an ordinary person like Tazuna in the group, their pace slowed significantly.
Kaede and his two teammates found an inn near Team Kakashi's lodging. Not too close, not too far, perfectly within the full observation range of Hyuga Keiko's Byakugan.
After taking turns washing up, Kaede opened his diary in his room.
At the same time, in the Land of Fire, inside a hot spring inn, a white-haired man dismissed the dancers. For once, Jiraiya did not linger under the excuse of gathering inspiration.
In his hands was a diary, his brow tightly furrowed as he read.
"Uzumaki Naruto…"
When he first saw the entries, he thought it was some kind of prank. But who could play tricks in front of a ninja of his caliber?
As he read on, his expression grew increasingly grim.
Uzumaki Naruto.
He remembered that name. The posthumous child of his beloved disciple. Konoha's new Jinchuriki.
Although he had not returned to Konoha in all these years, that did not mean he knew nothing. As one of the famed Sannin, Orochimaru had spies and informants in Konoha. Jiraiya was no different.
He had left the village partly to track Orochimaru and investigate the organization known as Akatsuki, and partly because he was deeply disillusioned with Konoha's politics.
The Third Hokage leaned far too heavily on his council.
One Sannin defected. One left.
Did that have anything to do with it?
Of course it did.
At first, Jiraiya had not thought too much of it. He was not even sure who had written this diary or how it had reached him. At worst, it was some unknown space-time ninjutsu.
But the further he read, the more wrong everything felt.
Especially the first video.
Orochimaru's oppressive presence felt as if it were right there in front of him, confirming that this was a glimpse of the future.
He and Orochimaru had been teammates for decades. How could he not recognize Orochimaru's aura?
While watching the video, Jiraiya had also checked his own chakra. There was no disturbance, meaning he was not under genjutsu.
The scene of Kakashi wielding Raikiri against Orochimaru was not an illusion.
He was not seeing this because of some trick. It was something uniquely real that belonged to the diary.
If this was not genjutsu or any other ninjutsu, then that meant the future truly held something called the Konoha Crush Plan.
Jiraiya's expression darkened instantly.
Orochimaru. Orochimaru.
He had chased him for years and knew some of his movements. He even knew Orochimaru had once joined Akatsuki, that mysterious organization filled with missing-nin.
And now, Orochimaru was planning to destroy Konoha itself.
If he could, Jiraiya really wanted to grab Orochimaru and smash him into the ground.
Among the three of them, the Third Hokage had clearly favored Orochimaru the most.
And now, the one who would turn on his teacher and commit such a crime was that same bastard.