The afternoon mission was, as always… boring. The mission requestor was Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, and the content was—taking care of his precious grandson, Konohamaru Sarutobi.
As the Hokage's direct grandson, Konohamaru naturally had a dedicated Ninja serving as his private tutor for theoretical instruction. This seemingly redundant D-rank mission was most likely due to Konohamaru's persistent pestering, insisting that Third Hokage specifically assign it to Team 7.
Naruto and Konohamaru's first meeting was after their team assignments, sometime before the Land of Waves mission departure. That day, Naruto had just finished a trivial D-rank mission and was about to go home to rest when this kid suddenly shot out from the roadside like a cannonball, blocking his way.
"Hey! Are you that Uzumaki Naruto?! Let's have a match!" Konohamaru struck what he thought was a cool pose and issued a challenge in his childish voice.
As it turned out, Naruto didn't even lift a hand; the kid, due to his exaggerated movements, stepped on his excessively long scarf, and with a "thud," he fell face-first into the dirt.
"Damn it… Is, is it a trap? When was it set?!" Konohamaru lay on the ground, covering his bumped nose, muttering to himself with a bewildered expression.
Naruto recalled that in the original story, he seemed to have taken on a subordinate like this. Was it this clumsy kid in front of him?
Naturally, under Konohamaru's disorganized and full-of-holes Taijutsu attacks, Naruto didn't even use Ninjutsu; with just a few simple dodges and takedowns, he easily subdued the opponent in a flash.
This feeling of purely bullying a child made Naruto feel a bit strange inside.
"Truly… powerful…" Konohamaru, pressed to the ground, showed no signs of dejection; instead, his eyes sparkled. "As expected of the person Grandpa talks about all the time…"
After a brief conversation, mainly Konohamaru babbling incessantly, Naruto understood. Konohamaru's goal was no different from the original story; he still dreamed of becoming Hokage.
For this, he used to challenge Third Hokage every day, but each time he was easily taught a lesson by Third Hokage's casual moves. Then, Hiruzen would earnestly advise him, "You should learn more from a Ninja named Uzumaki Naruto…"
Because he had become a "good student," was he being used as a positive example?
In any case, it seemed that because he experienced an overwhelming power gap with Naruto and was constantly mentioned by Third Hokage as a role model, Konohamaru's curiosity and competitive spirit were completely ignited.
He no longer challenged Third Hokage, instead turning his attention to Naruto, the "child from another family," wanting to see what he was truly capable of.
Thus, Naruto's peaceful life began to be disrupted by frequent "challenges." The frequency was roughly a small skirmish every three days, and a big one every five days… Most of them were Naruto's one-sided "easy wins." Konohamaru, however, was persistent, fighting repeatedly despite repeated failures.
After such a period of "sparring," one time, as Naruto easily defused yet another of Konohamaru's sneak attacks, a familiar prompt sounded in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host: Initial bond established with original character "Konohamaru Sarutobi"!]
[Points gained: 150 points!]
In the simple training ground in the backyard of the Sarutobi residence, two figures, one large and one small, were engaged in what was called "Ninja sparring"—or, more accurately described, a one-sided Ninja game and overwhelming display of power.
"Take this, Big Brother Naruto! This time I'm definitely going to make you take a step back!" Konohamaru puffed out his little cheeks, throwing the wooden shuriken in his hand with all his might.
Naruto looked at the wooden shuriken with its clear trajectory and slow speed, easily dodging it with a simple sidestep.
Then, with just one hand, he effortlessly parried Konohamaru's subsequent series of disorganized and flawed Taijutsu attacks.
Although this "sparring" was indeed a bit boring, Naruto was quite happy when he thought that Third Hokage would pay him for the mission.
After all, although he had received a huge inheritance from Gato and was no longer short on money personally, he still had the ravenous [Ash] organization behind him that required vast funds to maintain its operation and development.
Moreover, Konohamaru's goal had been "downgrading" all along—from ambitiously wanting to "defeat Naruto" at first, to pragmatically becoming "drawing even" later, and now it had realistically adjusted to considering it a victory if he could just "make Naruto take one step back."
This kind of persistence… although the direction was a bit off, this spirit made Naruto look at him with new eyes.
"Konohamaru! Go for it!"
"That's right! Let Naruto see the results of your special training during this time!"
Behind them, Konohamaru's two little companions—Ise Udon, who always had a runny nose, and Moegi, with her two bun-like hairstyles—were enthusiastically waving their little fists, cheering Konohamaru on.
Standing nearby was a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses—Konohamaru's private tutor, Ebisu.
Incidentally, Naruto was quite surprised the first time he met Ebisu. Because this guy's attitude towards him… was actually quite good? It completely lacked the stereotypical disdain he remembered.
This was because in the original story, Ebisu's prejudice against Naruto was not primarily due to the rumors of the "Nine-Tailed Fox,"
but rather because Naruto was a complete "dead last" at the time, failing in both theory and practice, completely not meeting his standards for "Hokage-level qualifications."
Now, Naruto was known as the "diligent genius" during his time at the Ninja Academy, with excellent grades and outstanding strength, which naturally made Ebisu, an elite teacher who valued talent and effort, look at him with new eyes in advance, and his attitude became much friendlier.
Although the bond points displayed by the system were only 10 points.
A little further behind Naruto, Sakura Haruno looked at Kakashi-sensei, who was leaning against a large tree, engrossed in his make-out paradise, completely disengaged, and asked somewhat uncertainly.
"Kakashi-sensei… Is it really okay for us to be like this? For this mission, we're just… slacking off here?" She looked at the scene, which was entirely Naruto's solo show, feeling that the other three of them had no presence whatsoever.
Kakashi's gaze didn't even leave his book, and he replied in his characteristic lazy tone, "It can't be helped, Hokage-sama's explicit request was 'have Naruto spar with Konohamaru.' Our mission is 'guard duty,' and since there's no situation threatening the client, us doing nothing, strictly speaking, is also fulfilling our duty. Besides, don't you think Naruto is handling it very well?"
Next to Sakura, Uchiha Satsuki slightly clenched the fist hanging at her side, her gaze fixed on the effortlessly agile blonde figure in the training ground. In this situation, she actually really wanted to cheer Naruto on, even though she knew Naruto was the winning side.
But… if she really shouted out, would Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, and Konohamaru look at her with those strange, ambiguous eyes?
As soon as she thought of that possibility, Satsuki's courage, which she had finally mustered, deflated like a punctured balloon. She could only continue to maintain a seemingly calm exterior, silently swallowing that cheer back into her stomach.
On the training ground, Konohamaru was already panting with exhaustion, his little face flushed. In contrast, Naruto on the other side remained calm and composed, not even breaking a sweat, as if the previous activity was just a warm-up.
Faced with this despair-inducing power gap, Konohamaru steeled himself, deciding to unleash his ultimate trump card, which he had painstakingly trained for and had been tested in "actual combat"!
Actually, the inspiration for this "trump card" came from Naruto. It was not long after Konohamaru and Naruto first met that Konohamaru, troubled, consulted Naruto. "Big Brother Naruto, what exactly do I need to do to defeat Grandpa?"
Naruto stroked his chin at the time, recalling a classic scene from the original story, and with a mischievous smile, offered advice. "Given your current strength… a frontal assault is definitely out of the question. What you need is a… hmm… a very special, extremely 'impactful' Ninjutsu! A jutsu that even an experienced Ninja like Third Hokage might be caught off guard by!"
Naturally, Naruto was referring to the Sexy Jutsu, which "he" was famous for, but which the current him in this world had not actually practiced. He just mentioned it casually, not expecting Konohamaru to take it seriously and secretly train diligently.
And the "actual combat" effect of this jutsu had already been verified on one person—Konohamaru's private tutor, Ebisu! During one special training session, Konohamaru suddenly used this move, and the effect was outstanding, directly causing the usually serious Ebisu-sensei to have a massive nosebleed and freeze on the spot, leaving an incredibly deep impression on Konohamaru.
It also made Ebisu even stricter in Konohamaru's education afterward.
At this moment, Konohamaru once again mustered his courage and rushed towards Naruto, his hands already rapidly forming hand signs during the sprint! His face bore an expression mixed with determination and anticipation as he shouted loudly.
"Take this, Big Brother Naruto! This is the ultimate Ninjutsu that even Ebisu-sensei couldn't resist!"
"Ninja Art: Sexy Jutsu!"
Bang!
A burst of white smoke instantly exploded, completely enveloping Konohamaru's figure!
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