At the same time, Kakashi's team left Konoha and soon encountered the Demon Brothers who came to attack Tazuna.
Two chunin dressed as Kirigakure ninja suddenly jumped out from puddles on the roadside, instantly binding the lagging Kakashi with serrated chains.
"First one, take the bait!"
The two men smiled grimly and pulled hard. Kakashi's body was instantly torn into bloody pieces.
"Ahhh!!"
"Kakashi…"
"Kakashi-sensei!!"
The three members of Team 7 froze. Except for Sasuke, who gritted his teeth with determination, Naruto and Sakura both turned pale with fear.
"You're the second one!"
The next moment, the two Mist ninja flashed behind Naruto, dragging the chain and preparing to repeat the same trick.
Naruto was so terrified he couldn't move, his face covered in cold sweat.
At the critical moment, Sasuke moved. His shuriken nailed the chain to a tree, stopping it mid-swing.
He then stepped on both Mist ninja with practiced agility, forcing them back.
But the two weren't pushovers—they were still chunin.
Regaining their balance, they split their attacks: one lunged at Naruto again, the other dashed straight toward Tazuna.
"Waaah!!"
Naruto hadn't recovered from his fear. His body froze, and he could only scream.
Sakura, though equally panicked, didn't forget her duty. She threw herself in front of Tazuna.
"Grandpa, step back!" She raised a kunai, but their speed overwhelmed her.
Am I going to die?
Where's Itsuki? Will Itsuki come save me?
Swish!
Someone did appear in front of Sakura—but it wasn't Itsuki.
It was Sasuke, who had judged the situation and realized Tazuna's side was more important than Naruto.
"Sasuke-kun!!" Sakura's face instantly brightened with joy, and in her heart, she tossed Itsuki to Java.
Bang!
The two Mist ninja were knocked unconscious by Kakashi, who suddenly appeared.
The Kakashi that had been torn apart earlier? Just a log from a substitution jutsu.
"Sorry, Naruto. I didn't save you right away and let you get hurt. I didn't expect you to freeze like that!" Kakashi said calmly, holding both chunin down with one hand. "Sasuke, you did great. And Sakura…"
Naruto's heart sank. This was their first mission, yet he was the only one paralyzed with fear. Even Sakura had outshined him.
Unwilling to be left behind, Naruto stabbed the wound on his hand with a kunai, gritting through the pain as he swore:
From now on, he wouldn't run, wouldn't be afraid. He would move forward bravely!
Thus, the ninja world gained another reckless idiot who would charge headfirst into trouble without caring about reasons or consequences.
…
"This Uzumaki Naruto is really something," Tenzo, hidden in the bushes, chuckled at Naruto's dramatic oath followed by his scream of pain.
But he quickly added, "Even if he's the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, he's still way too weak. Kakashi-senpai will have a real headache with a student like this!"
Nearby, Itsuki's wood clone laughed. "Naruto was the dead last back in the Academy. Everyone thought of him as nothing but a clown."
"You think so too?" Tenzo glanced at Itsuki.
Of course he knew Naruto's record, but he wanted to hear Itsuki's personal view.
Itsuki fell silent for a moment, then admitted, "Honestly, I used to dislike him. Always loud, always showing off, but with no real strength. Just an annoying bragger."
This was the truth.
Back when Itsuki watched Naruto as just an anime, the protagonist always seemed like a clown—constantly smacked down or on the way to being smacked down.
"But what about now?" Tenzo pressed.
Itsuki sighed. "If I were him, I wouldn't have the strength to stay so optimistic despite everything. For that alone, he deserves respect."
"That's true," Tenzo nodded. "But he's not the only one who's suffered. Don't underestimate yourself, Itsuki. You've been alone since childhood too. You're no worse than him."
Not just Naruto and Itsuki—even Tenzo himself was the same. That was the cruelty of this era.
Itsuki gave him a sideways glance. Why's this guy getting all sentimental out of nowhere?
"Sensei, don't you think it's odd that two Kirigakure chunin appeared in what was supposed to be a C-rank mission? And they were clearly just the vanguard. Doesn't that scream 'something's wrong'?" Itsuki reminded him.
Tenzo snapped out of his thoughts. "True, there's an issue. But it's not a big deal. That's Kakashi-senpai leading them. If he decided to continue, it means he's accounted for it."
"Our mission is only to ensure the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki doesn't go out of control. The rest isn't our concern."
He really did trust Kakashi—after all, Kakashi had been his captain once.
What Itsuki wanted to point out was that Konoha's mission-level reviews had clear holes.
But then again… what did that have to do with him?
He wasn't the one taking those missions anyway.
"By the way, where's your real body?" Tenzo suddenly asked.
Itsuki nearly fell off the branch. He thought he'd hidden it well, yet Tenzo caught on.
Tenzo smirked. "Don't panic. I was the one who taught you this technique. If I couldn't tell, I wouldn't deserve to be your teacher."
Wood clones were even trickier than shadow clones. Normally, you'd need special chakra sensing to distinguish them.
But Itsuki had chakra to spare, so unless he said otherwise, no one could tell his wood clone apart from the real him.
Truthfully, Tenzo was only 30% sure—it was mostly a bluff to test him. Itsuki was still too young, too easy to trick.
Luckily, Itsuki already had a response ready.
"The Third Hokage already told me how important the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki is to the village. You can never be too cautious. My real body went ahead to scout."
"The two Mist chunin we just saw? My real body probably spotted them already. He'll investigate further to prevent anything from going beyond our control. By now, he should be waiting in the Land of Waves."
Tenzo blinked, surprised, then patted Itsuki on the shoulder. "That's something I should have considered. But since it was just a C-rank and Kakashi-senpai was there, I let my guard down. My mistake."
Itsuki smiled sheepishly. "No, I've just been on similar missions before, so I picked up some experience. I'm nowhere near your level, Sensei."
"Don't be modest," Tenzo chuckled. "Having such an outstanding student puts pressure on me, but it also makes me proud."
…
In truth, after Itsuki learned sealing techniques from Karin's mother, he had indeed rushed to the Land of Waves ahead of time.
Not to investigate though.
His real purpose?
To get the special money bag for travelers.
Because how could Itsuki let that kind of reward slip through his fingers?
...
Author's Note:
The full completed version of Konoha Harem Chat Group: I Can Fabricate the Future (Completed) is now on Patreon!
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