Knock, knock, knock.
Naruto froze in the middle of stomping on some clothes, hurriedly doing laundry.
The knocking at the door filled him with a sense of unease. The milk he had spilled earlier in the living room was still all over the floor—it was a mess no matter how you looked at it.
But now that someone was at the door, not answering would only seem more suspicious.
Naruto's mind raced with thoughts. At just ten years old, his ideas weren't perfect, but he tried his best to consider every detail.
"Who is it?"
Naruto decided against using sensory abilities. If the visitor was powerful, revealing his abilities might expose him. For now, he thought it best to keep playing the role of an ordinary kid.
As he mulled over this, a sudden realization struck him.
He thought of the two masked figures impaled on trees.
When he had returned, those masked figures had been staring at him intently. It felt like he had been living under surveillance the entire time.
"Why is this happening?"
Anger flared in Naruto's mind. He despised this feeling.
Not knowing anything made him feel particularly powerless.
Even though he had grown stronger, the more he uncovered the layers of mystery surrounding him, the more tangled and restrictive everything seemed. It felt like invisible chains were binding him.
Strangely, the ignorant version of himself seemed to have lived a lighter, freer life.
"It's me…"
As Naruto's mind spiraled with thoughts, a young yet calm voice came from outside the door.
Hearing the voice, Naruto froze for a moment.
That voice…
"Sasuke? What are you doing here so late?"
Naruto opened the door, letting the dim light from inside spill into the world outside.
"Got bored walking around, so I thought I'd stop by…"
Seeing Naruto standing there in nothing but shorts, his upper body bare, Sasuke couldn't help but feel speechless.
Noticing the soap suds on Naruto's arms, Sasuke quickly pieced together what he had been doing.
In truth, the reason Sasuke was there was different. During dinner with Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage had abruptly stood up and called out Naruto's name without explaining himself. After finishing dinner alone, Sasuke found himself unable to focus on reading. Worried about Naruto, he decided to check on him.
Seeing the light on in Naruto's room had been a relief, but since he was already there, he wanted to see Naruto in person to ease his mind completely.
Naruto was the only friend Sasuke had at school. Compared to everyone else, he found Naruto's slightly messy demeanor more interesting and approachable. Perhaps it was because they had similar experiences.
"Come in and have a seat. I'm in the middle of washing clothes," Naruto said softly, inviting Sasuke in after accepting his explanation.
As someone with a naturally prideful personality, Sasuke rarely lied.
But just now, he had spoken with a slightly flushed face and shifty eyes, a look Naruto knew all too well from his own past experiences.
Naruto quickly realized the real situation: the Hokage must be among the people he had sensed earlier. Sasuke probably got scared being home alone in the dark and came to find this cool guy for help.
Naruto grinned at the thought.
Who would have guessed this cold, talented classmate had such a secret?
"Uh… your place…"
Once inside, Sasuke glanced around Naruto's house, which looked like it had been ransacked by bandits. He was at a loss for words.
But remembering that the Hokage had called Naruto's name earlier, Sasuke's clever mind quickly deduced that maybe Naruto's home had been broken into by thieves—or even robbers.
As for how Hiruzen knew, well, that must've been because he was powerful.
In Sasuke's mind, Itachi was the strongest, Fugaku second, and Hiruzen ranked fifth.
Compared to Naruto, Sasuke's reasoning was still a bit naïve. The knowledge he had gained so far was theoretical and untested.
"A mischievous cat knocked some stuff over. Go sit on my bed. I'll clean this up after I finish the laundry," Naruto said, scratching his head.
He figured Sasuke's concern wasn't as urgent as the evidence he was trying to destroy. That was clearly more critical right now.
"Alright, but hurry up. It's winter—you'll catch a cold like this."
Sasuke gave Naruto a long, meaningful look before speaking.
"Ah-choo!"
Naruto hadn't realized how cold it was until Sasuke mentioned it.
The day's ups and downs, the emotional rollercoaster—it had almost made him forget it was still winter.
Even though his chakra kept him warm, his body was beginning to feel the chill.
"Finish quickly. I'll tidy up your room for you. We have class tomorrow, so let's get everything done and go to bed early."
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, whose nose was running, feeling a bit disgusted.
Then, he spoke faintly:
"Helping others is a commitment; if you're going to start, see it through to the end...
Since I'm already here, I might as well help this interesting deskmate of mine..."
"Hehe, well, thank you, Sasuke~"
For the first time, Naruto began to understand what the white-haired big brother meant by "beauty."
This world didn't seem entirely filthy after all.
The grief buried deep in Naruto's heart seemed to fade slightly, as something else quietly filled the void.
In those moments, the memories of Sasuke and the white-haired big brother lingered...
"Lord Hokage..."
Sensing the commotion in the backyard, a group of people arrived at the site of the chakra disturbance.
On the ground lay a charred corpse, along with a decapitated body that someone had brought in.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed deeply. For such an incident to occur in the Konoha under his rule—four Anbu killed in a single day—it was intolerable.
His anger simmered, a storm brewing in his heart, but with no evidence, he had no outlet for his fury.
"What happened?"
Hiruzen's voice was stern as he addressed the kneeling Anbu ninja before him.
"The shopkeeper from the nearby store is also dead, seemingly silenced after witnessing something. These two Anbu likely noticed something unusual, were drawn here, and got into a fight with the culprit. Unable to match their opponent, they were killed..."
The Anbu squad leader explained softly, recounting the sequence of events.
"Hah, hahahaha! Every year, we spend so much money on you lot, and this is what I get? This is your explanation? Useless! A bunch of useless fools! Investigate! I want a thorough investigation! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find the culprit! If you don't, I'll hold you personally responsible!"
Hiruzen exploded upon hearing the squad leader's report. No information about the culprit, just a group of incompetents.
His mind turned to Naruto.
Without delay, he rushed toward Naruto's house, which wasn't far away, frustration weighing heavily on his heart.
Fortunately, he sensed two presences inside the house, which calmed him somewhat. Otherwise, his fury would have boiled over entirely.
"Wait, two? One of them is Sasuke? Why is he there?"
Hiruzen's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. The situation was becoming increasingly complicated.
He surmised that Naruto must know something, so he dismissed his doubts and hurried to Naruto's house to question him.
The current conclusions left him bewildered.
The two Anbu in the forest had undoubtedly been killed by a highly skilled ninja with exceptional chakra control.
But Konoha didn't have many individuals of that caliber.
Was this the work of someone from outside the village? Or was it an inside job?
There was another mystery: Why was Naruto unharmed and back home so quickly? What exactly had happened?
Why had the Nine-Tails flared up?
And near Naruto's house, what transpired to kill two well-trained Anbu so swiftly? The bodies were far apart, making it unlikely that a single person was responsible.
Why was the shopkeeper killed? Was it really to silence them?
As for the corpse in the forest, reduced to a bloody mist, Hiruzen instinctively brushed it aside...
All these questions formed an intricate puzzle.
The only useful clue was the charred Anbu with his kidney and heart removed, killed with Lightning Release.
This suggested the culprit was skilled in Lightning Release jutsu.
The other body, killed with precise swordsmanship, pointed to someone highly skilled with a blade.
The only person in the village who fit that profile, Kakashi, had been missing for a long time, with no news.
Still, this didn't seem like the work of a single person.
Otherwise, how could they have outmaneuvered everyone, leaving no trace behind?