"Sasuke—reaching Point B."
"Hanabi—reaching Point C~"
"Naruto—at Point A!"
"Good. Team Seven… move!"
Dark silhouettes threaded through the forest. The ambient sound carried an uneasy undercurrent.
[First!]
[Episode 8, let's go!]
[Ugh, Naruko's back to Naruto again]
[Guess we've hit the first major event]
[Seven years—I waited a whole seven years for this!]
[It's episode 8 and still no Ninja Road roast segment?]
[He lives across the ocean—heard he got looted during a 0-yen shopping incident and ended up in the hospital]
[Wait, I heard it was because he streamed a banned anime on his channel and got hit back by Bilibili]
From the audience's perspective, only seven days had passed between episodes seven and eight.
But for Team Seven, the calendar had turned—it was now spring of the following year.
Over that period, Naruto and Sasuke had mastered tree-climbing and water-walking. They hadn't learned any spectacular jutsu, but their taijutsu had sharpened considerably, and their chakra control was smoother than ever.
Hanabi, meanwhile, had been deep in her own research.
Dual-sword techniques, for one. Both Jingliu and Shiki had agreed that she'd be stronger in combat wielding two blades—but this was something she could only figure out on her own. She could train in resonance with Jingliu inside the dreamspace, but Jingliu's swordsmanship wasn't the kind of thing you absorbed in half a year's worth of once-a-week lessons. Even with her talent, there was barely room to cover "extracurricular" material.
The Titans' world, on the other hand, had practically been built around dual wielding—except those techniques were designed for killing giants, not people. By her third visit to that world, Hanabi had been drilling how to cut giants with paired blades, but none of it translated cleanly to human opponents.
What she did develop was a strong feel for the modified ODM gear. Her wire control had become second nature. The cables could even substitute for bandages, opening the door to using Lotus-type forbidden taijutsu.
In terms of anti-human combat, the Titans' world had given her little. But after stylizing everything into her own approach, Hanabi thought it might come in handy against large-bodied beasts—anti-Tailed Beast application, maybe?
All right, that was a stretch. Tailed Beasts and Titans weren't even in the same weight class. But for the sake of looking cool, it would absolutely do.
Beyond that, Hanabi had gone looking for the scrolls of Warring States sealing history.
What she found was more than one scroll—the contents ran long, and the people sealed inside all shared a common profile: individuals too dangerous to kill outright, killers and monsters stacked one after another.
Finding Hikari Uchiha among them wasn't difficult. The harder part was Hikari's condition—her body had long since been pushed past its limits, worn down to something like a tattered patchwork. So while Hanabi had confirmed the seal's location, she hadn't gone to find Hikari yet.
Besides—material this good deserved to be an OVA episode. She'd at least wait until she had the script written.
The audience view panned back to Sasuke. He crouched in the undergrowth, expression taut.
Naruto was tucked behind a tree, scanning the scene.
Then the shot eased toward Hanabi—and her "frame" felt subtly, undeniably different. She was perched on a branch, smiling softly, feet dangling. Below the hem of her long kimono, white stockings glowed against the red cord wrapped at her ankle, a small bell swaying with every idle kick.
[Ice cream, ice cream!]
[White stockings, red cord, little bell—too much firepower]
[My friend says he's healed]
[Cameraman, you've earned a bonus!]
[The intent of that close-up is very clear]
Against a group of coiled, tense people, Hanabi stood out in a way that felt almost surreal.
She was even cradling a plush doll.
"Move out!"
"Got it!"
A small cat—one ear decorated with a bow—thrashed and squirmed in Naruto's arms.
The tension that had been coiling through the scene evaporated instantly, giving everyone a totally ridiculous vibe.
Peak comedic delivery.
"Can't we get even one mission with some actual stakes?!"
Naruto had finally cracked.
These past months, he'd thrown himself into training—especially the Transformation Jutsu. Determined not to be a pervert about it, he'd held the transformation active the entire time he wore female clothing. The results were real: by now, his chakra control was genuinely excellent.
Just recently, Hanabi had declared that both of them could consider this phase of training complete.
Which made the dissatisfaction sitting in his chest all the sharper.
I already grinded my way to Shilipo Sword God status, and I'm still catching cats?!
He wasn't there yet—not even close—but it didn't stop the urge to do something with all that pent-up preparation.
Hanabi, however, knew. The "wheels of fate" had already begun to turn.
The cat Naruto had just caught was Tora—Lady Shijimi's pet, arguably the unluckiest creature in the entire Naruto franchise. In virtually every Team Seven story ever written, this poor animal got caught at least once.
But what held Hanabi's attention was something else entirely.
She looked at the Stage's notification.
[Promotion Evaluation has begun]
[Evaluation results and compensation rewards will be distributed after the Land of Waves major event concludes]
This was the first step from background extra toward superstar.
Most of her Stage permissions were still locked. Only after earning a supporting role would more functions become available.
Like a fan base, for instance.
—What kind of idol didn't have fans?
"Team Seven's next assignment is… babysitting for the Elder's household… running an errand to the next village…"
"No!"
After logging the completed mission, the Third Hokage began issuing Team Seven's next task.
Naruto finally couldn't hold it back.
Flat refusal.
"I'm already strong now—Gramps, give us something harder! Something real!"
"Everyone starts by building experience on easy missions. You're still too green!" The Third hadn't even opened his mouth before Umino Iruka slapped both palms on the desk and rose to his feet. Iruka meant every word—he genuinely worried about Naruto.
"But I'm already strong! I can tree-walk and water-walk!"
"What?! You've already gotten that far?" Even Iruka blinked, but he pressed on. "That attitude—wanting to show off—is exactly the problem. Overconfidence leads to disaster. Understand?!"
"But, but—"
Naruto was seething.
At that point the Third Hokage stepped in, walking Naruto through the breakdown of ninja mission ranks.
Naruto, clearly unconvinced, launched into a back-and-forth with the Third. Sasuke said nothing, but his expression made his feelings plain—equal dissatisfaction.
There was no denying both of them had grown. But they were still clearing D-rank missions. What was the point of all that training?
Hanabi's attention, meanwhile, had drifted to the waiting room next door.
Sitting there was a grizzled old man nursing a drink.
Tazuna, the famous bridge-builder of the Land of Waves.
Just as she'd described to Neji: Gatō had deliberately stood back and let the Land of Waves gather their materials and start construction.
By now, the bridge was maybe a month from completion. That was when Gatō would make his move.
The funds for construction were already spent. Labor and resources had both hit their limits.
At this moment, a single push from behind was all it would take to send someone off a cliff.
Some conspiracy theories placed the blame on Tazuna—claimed he'd drunk away the money that should've paid for proper escort, leaving him only enough for a C-rank request.
The truth was simpler. The "wine" Tazuna was drinking was the cheapest rotgut available, barely registering as alcohol.
Less drowning his sorrows—more wearing the "drunk old man" mask to avoid awkward questions about the mission details.
The original story made this clear enough, if you read it right. Tazuna picked fights with Naruto almost immediately after being introduced. But the moment he was sparring with Naruto, no one was asking him anything uncomfortable. And later, once the dust settled, Tazuna showed Naruto genuine respect.
By this point, Naruto's argument with the Third had run its course.
The Third set down his pipe. "All right. If that's how you feel—then I'll give you a C-rank mission."
—The Land of Waves mission had begun.