A wandering ninja attacking the Land of Uzumaki?
Neither Shisui nor Uzumaki Homura paid much attention to the news. This kind of thing was basically routine—those wandering idiots either got chased into the sea or recruited into Uzushio Village as expendable labor.
Before Naruto could even respond, someone almost volunteered like their life depended on it:
"If you don't want to get your head chopped off again, let me go. I'm good with Water Release. I'll wrap it up within an hour."
Izumi Uchiha shot him a look but said nothing, then continued her report:
"The wandering ninjas have already been captured by the patrol team. However, this group is a bit different—they were hired to deliberately cause trouble in the Land of Uzumaki."
"Oh?" Naruto's interest instantly piqued. "Which ninja village is behind them?"
Izumi shook her head. "Not a ninja village. A businessman—Gatō. Apparently, our development of maritime trade has cut into his smuggling profits, so he's targeting us."
The room went quiet.
Naruto, Shisui, and the others all froze for a second.
They were expecting some shadowy mastermind or at least a decent enemy… but it turned out to be just a greedy businessman with a death wish.
After understanding the situation, Naruto turned toward the window, and a slow grin spread across his face.
Perfect timing.
He had just been worrying about economic development—and now a walking wallet had delivered itself to his doorstep.
Naruto chuckled.
Shisui immediately caught on and said, "Lord Naruto, are you planning to deal with Gatō? If we take over his assets, the village won't have to worry about funding for years."
"They provoked us first," Naruto corrected calmly.
Then he added with a faint smile, "Besides, Gatō built his fortune by squeezing the people of the Land of Waves dry. We're just… helping the locals get rid of a parasite."
Shisui paused, then nodded. Fair enough. Moral justification unlocked.
Uzumaki Homura asked, "Lord Naruto, will you personally handle this operation?"
His question snapped Naruto out of his thoughts.
While recalling Gatō's background, Naruto had noticed something odd:
During the Land of Waves incident, Gatō sent people to sabotage the bridge construction—but after the bridge was completed, he didn't destroy it.
Why?
The Land of Waves was dirt poor. There was no way they could afford to rebuild it.
And another thing—
After Gatō was killed by Momochi Zabuza, where did all his wealth go?
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
Naruto tapped the table lightly.
"This time, I'm not going personally. Shisui will lead the mission… and he'll take Zabuza and Haku with him."
Shisui blinked, clearly surprised.
Going to the Land of Waves made sense. But bringing Zabuza and Haku?
Kirigakure ninjas, working for Uzushio?
What kind of weird team-up was this?
What he didn't know was—
This was purely Naruto's bad sense of humor.
Zabuza also looked a bit confused, but he still nodded. The better he performed here, the more influence he could gain for the future Mizukage candidate, Hōzuki Mangetsu.
And if Mangetsu became Mizukage, Kirigakure might even copy Uzumaki's development model.
After all, Uzumaki was the most stable and ideal village Zabuza had ever seen.
Nine-year ninja education alone was enough to blow his mind.
Kids not being thrown into life-or-death missions at age twelve?
What kind of utopia was this?
After the meeting, Naruto left the Uzumaki Building and headed toward the Uzumaki Shrine.
Ever since their last discussion about the Pure Land, the old patriarch had been obsessing over it, basically camping near the shrine.
Naruto figured he should check on the old man before he accidentally sealed himself into oblivion or something.
On the way, Naruto planned to buy something to feed the Nine-Tails, but Kurama suddenly spoke:
"Naruto, have you been slacking off lately? Managing a village isn't your job. You should be hunting Jinchūriki. Meet them, beat them, take their power—this old man will help you."
Naruto gave him a sideways glance.
"Oh sure. So I go around beating up Jinchūriki and stealing their power. That wouldn't make me look like the next Akatsuki at all, right?"
He snorted.
"I'd become public enemy number one in about five minutes."
Kurama went silent.
…Yeah, fair point.
His real intention wasn't about the other Tailed Beasts anyway.
He just didn't want Naruto messing around with the Pure Land.
For some reason, that place made even him uneasy.
Like once you went there… there was no coming back.
Even for a Tailed Beast.
Naruto sensed Kurama's unease and smiled.
"If I sense danger, I'll stop. Don't worry. The experiments haven't even properly started yet."
Kurama grunted but didn't argue further.
Then suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"…Naruto. How the hell do you keep guessing what I'm thinking? That's supposed to be my ability."
Naruto smirked.
"Maybe it's because we're connected."
"Bullshit," Kurama snapped instantly. "This old man isn't 'connected' to some damn human."
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze was sitting beside the Three-Tails.
Compared to Kurama's violent chakra, Isobu's presence was calm—almost peaceful.
As for Naruto's decision to mess with the Land of Waves?
Minato didn't interfere.
He was always someone who put Konoha first… but also his family.
And strangely enough—
Naruto's method of "justified aggression" felt… very Hokage-like.
Naruto casually replied to Kurama, but his gaze shifted toward the Uzushio Village headquarters.
Even though he said he wouldn't interfere in the mission—
He didn't trust it.
Not completely.
The village had just been established. This was the most unstable phase—betrayal, infiltration, all kinds of bullshit could happen.
And worse—
The Akatsuki.
Aside from him, no one in the village had strong enough sensory abilities to detect White Zetsu.
If Obito or multiple Akatsuki members showed up…
Even Shisui might not survive.
Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Yeah… I'll just follow quietly."
He smirked.
"Who knows… maybe I'll run into another Jinchūriki. Six-Tails… Eight-Tails…"
"That would be interesting."
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