In the original story, Deidara—the undisputed genius of blowing shit up—had defeated Isobu by bombarding the Three-Tails with such an excessive quantity of explosives that it was rendered completely incapable of fighting back.
Deidara possessed impressive combat instincts, but against a massive creature like Isobu, he still relied on the simplest possible strategy:
When in doubt, use more firepower.
The current combination attack from Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Minato was different.
They certainly had far fewer explosive tags than Deidara's clay bombs.
However, the place they were targeting was far more critical.
It was Isobu's weak point.
Filled with resentment, the Three-Tails turned its head one final time and stared at the enormous Adamantine Staff approaching from behind.
It had indeed been careless.
Back in the Land of Water, while fighting Hatake Sakumo, Isobu should have wondered why the White Fang kept circling behind it with his blade drawn while muttering, "One Thousand Years of Death."
Had Sakumo truly been searching for its weakness?
No!
This was simply a defining characteristic of Konoha shinobi!
Unfortunately, Isobu had failed to recognize that fact at the time.
As a result, it had not prepared itself against similar attacks from other Konoha ninja.
Its rear defenses finally collapsed beneath the combined assault of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Minato.
The Three-Tails lost consciousness.
Its enormous Tailed Beast body gradually receded until only an unconscious Rin remained.
Fortunately, Hiruzen withdrew the Adamantine Staff in time.
Otherwise, the final impact might have injured Nohara Rin as well.
And so, the Three-Tails' rampage came to an end.
Konoha began rebuilding.
Obito waited patiently.
Only after the reconstruction was complete and everyone had free time again would the villagers be able to properly condemn the Tailed Beast.
…
Meanwhile, in the real shinobi world, Konoha's three-man Sage Mode promotion team continued traveling toward Sunagakure.
Whenever they passed through small countries and minor ninja villages, they spread the senjutsu training method there as well.
On this particular day, the three arrived at a rather unusual settlement.
Every ninja in the village was a woman.
That was right.
This was Nadeshiko Village—the home of Tokiwa, the kunoichi who had previously traveled to Amegakure seeking assistance from Jiraiya.
It was also the village where Jiraiya had once agreed that their respective students would fight to determine a marriage arrangement.
However, Tokiwa had already brought the Sage Mode training method back with her.
Nadeshiko Village was currently in the middle of a frenzied senjutsu competition, with every kunoichi scrambling to master Sage Mode before anyone else.
At long last, the village had broken free from its old tradition and no longer spent every waking moment plotting ways to abduct men from the outside world.
Therefore, even though Naruto openly identified himself as Jiraiya's student—and was technically the person expected to fulfill his master's promise—the current village leader, Nadeshiko Shizuka, never mentioned the marriage agreement.
Instead, she assigned Tokiwa, presently the only person in Nadeshiko Village who had mastered Sage Mode, to host the Konoha trio.
After exchanging a few polite greetings, Shizuka turned around without hesitation, returned to her residence, and resumed her "training."
As the creator of the Sexy Jutsu, Naruto frequently visited bookstores with Konohamaru, the inheritor of that proud tradition.
They would browse the more questionable shelves, then pretend they were merely holding sophisticated discussions about famous historical emperors.
Naturally, arriving in a village populated entirely by kunoichi made Naruto curious.
Especially now that he possessed some additional knowledge.
Konohamaru was the same.
After all, Naruto had only developed the Reverse Harem Jutsu in the original story.
Konohamaru, however, was such a genius that he invented the Yuri Jutsu—something even Naruto had never created.
After whispering with Konohamaru for a while, Naruto finally asked Tokiwa the crucial question.
"Um… since every ninja in Nadeshiko Village is a woman, does that mean all of you like girls?"
"…"
Tokiwa had never expected Naruto to ask something like that.
She silently thought that he truly deserved to be Jiraiya's legitimate student.
He was every bit as shameless as his master.
"Nadeshiko Village is actually the same as Konoha."
Tokiwa looked meaningfully at the three of them.
"?"
"What does that mean?"
Naruto did not understand her answer.
Neither did Konohamaru nor Kakashi.
Nadeshiko Village was the same as Konoha?
In what way?
Konoha was neither an all-male nor an all-female village.
How were the two remotely comparable?
What the hell did she mean?
"You shouldn't judge everything by appearances."
Tokiwa began explaining.
"Although every ninja in Nadeshiko Village is a woman, our preferences are perfectly normal. We all like men…"
She paused halfway through.
"Konoha, on the other hand, has both male and female ninja, yet none of your preferences are normal."
"That's bullshit!"
Naruto immediately became indignant at this baseless attack upon Konoha's spotless reputation.
"How can you just make things up and accuse Konoha's ninja of having abnormal preferences?
"The great Uzumaki Naruto has lived in Konoha for more than ten years! In my entire life, I've never met a single person with weird preferences!
"Right, Kakashi-sensei? Konohamaru?"
"…"
Kakashi and Konohamaru were both honest men.
Neither could shamelessly agree with Naruto.
They knew perfectly well that something had been wrong with Konoha ever since the Will of Fire began with Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
Naruto only grew more passionate when they remained silent.
He continued defending the village.
"Not long ago, Sasuke and I slept together every night! He even used genjutsu to put me to sleep, and there was still nothing abnormal about us!
"I think you've just read too many of the kinds of books Kakashi-sensei likes. Now your head is full of filthy ideas."
"…"
Tokiwa was so angry she nearly laughed.
What part of that was remotely normal?
And now the brat had the nerve to accuse her of reading too many dirty books.
Yes, of course she had read them.
She was already this old and still single. What else was she supposed to read—academic treatises exploring the profound mysteries of ninjutsu?
Besides, Konoha produced more famous adult-book authors than any other village.
How did Naruto have the nerve to criticize her?
Then Tokiwa suddenly relaxed.
She even breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness she had brought Sage Mode back and abolished Nadeshiko Village's tradition.
Otherwise, Naruto really would have been forced into a matchmaking duel with Shizuka.
The village leader would have been far too pitiful.
She would have been forced to marry a man who liked other men and spend her life as his miserable beard.
"What about this?"
After thinking for a moment, Tokiwa offered a proposal that would allow her to handle official business while satisfying her personal irritation.
"I've already achieved a basic grasp of Sage Mode. I'd like to accompany you during the rest of your journey, observe how you teach it to others, and continue improving my own understanding.
While I'm there, I'd also like to make a bet with you and determine whether you truly have normal preferences."
"Sure! What's the bet?"
Naruto agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Kakashi tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
Shouldn't they at least discuss something like this first?
Naruto was simply far too easy to manipulate.
Because Tokiwa had added the words "make a bet" to the end of her proposal, Naruto had automatically agreed to everything she said before it as well.
"Before we decide the terms, let me ask you one question."
Drawing upon some gossip she had overheard on the streets of Amegakure, Tokiwa began setting her trap.
"In your opinion, is the Kazekage, Gaara, a normal person?"