"You carry the load, I lead the horse, greeting the sunrise and bidding farewell to the sunset…"
"Trampling over..."
Naruto sat cross-legged on his floating iron door, swaying left and right to the rhythm as he sang the theme song of Journey to the West.
At this moment, he had fully imagined himself as Tang Monk, and the big iron gate he was sitting on was the White Dragon Horse...
It can't be helped. The child who has been wandering outside for a month is finally going home, so he was just too happy.
It had been so long since he last saw Hinata!
But Naruto's singing made the other three feel like their hearts were about to skip a beat.
"Naruto, shut up!"
"It's so awful! It sounds just like a saw cutting wood in my house!"
"Shut up!"
The three people couldn't stand it anymore and shouted at Naruto, who was still floating on his iron door, in tacit understanding.
This guy had been singing nonstop ever since he opened a portal to return to the outskirts of Konoha Village, without any consideration for their feelings.
"Tch…"
"You can't even handle this?"
"A true Shinobi is someone who endures everything!"
"You guys still have a long way to go."
Naruto put on a stern face, looking down at them with disdain as he lectured them using Jiraiya's words.
Kakashi covered his face, speechless.
'While that is technically true...'
'But who the hell told you that this is how this sentence should be understood???'
'And also...'
Kakashi felt like he'd heard those words somewhere before, but he just couldn't remember where.
Sasuke and Sakura didn't want to pay any attention to Naruto who was floating in the air.
'This bastard had zero self-awareness about how terrible his singing was.'
For the next few minutes, Team 7 continued in silence.
Moreover, the three of them had agreed that as long as Naruto started singing again, they'd all jump him at once.
They'd make sure to teach him a lesson before he could even react.
When they saw the village's gate, every member of Team 7 instantly relaxed.
Even Kakashi's perpetually dead fish eye showed a flicker of relief.
Right now, all he wanted was to ditch the team and be alone for once.
For the past month, Kakashi hadn't gotten a single proper rest.
Every day, he either had to listen to Sasuke cackling madly while training his Lightning Release or endure Naruto banging his giant iron door around in the middle of the night.
It was absolute torture!
Fortunately, Kakashi figured he could finally rest properly in the village for a while.
'Sigh…'
'When will Jiraiya-sama return to the village?'
When the gate guards of Konoha Village saw the members of Team 7, two of the Shinobi quickly ran back to the village and began to spread the news of Team 7's return.
"N-No good!"
"Team 7 has completed their mission and is back!"
"Quick, alert the Nara and Hyuga Clans!"
…
As soon as the four of them stepped through the gate, Naruto jumped off his iron door, put it back into the system's inventory, and then politely greeted the guards.
"Hello, uncle."
"Um... Hello."
Naruto is in a very good mood now that even these random gatekeepers seemed delightful to him.
However, Kakashi noticed that the guards had stiff expressions and evasive eyes, not daring to look at Naruto at all. Clearly, they still held some deep-seated unease toward Team 7.
But at this point, he didn't care anymore...
Anyway, his Team 7 has already become the most notorious group in the village, so a few extra gatekeepers avoiding them didn't make a difference.
Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and walked ahead alone.
"Let's go, let's go to the Hokage Tower to hand in the mission first."
The three Genin nodded and followed Kakashi obediently.
Sakura thought back on everything she had experienced during this mission and wanted desperately to go back and see her parents.
After all, she had almost become a Konoha's Missing-nin.
Sasuke just wanted to find a quiet place to read and continue figuring out Fire Release: Flame Mantra.
As for Naruto…
He just wanted to go to the Hyuga Clan's compound to see his wife.
As they walked through the streets of Konoha, the villagers they met on the way were all terrified when they saw the yellow-haired kid coming back.
Some closed their shops and refused to receive customers, some picked up their children who were playing on the street in a hurry, and some slammed their doors shut.
In short, they were all terrified of making eye contact with that yellow-haired boy.
The fear in their eyes was even worse than when they saw the Kyubi.
It's because Kyubi could at most kill them on the spot, but this yellow-haired brat could torture them to the point where death would be a mercy.
The villagers of Konoha can only place their hopes on the Nara Clan and the Hyuga Clan.
…
Kakashi pushed open the doors to the Hokage's Office, and the moment the four of them stepped inside, they saw a bald old man sitting in a wheelchair, his entire body wrapped in bandages.
When Naruto saw this old man, he scratched his head for a long time, but couldn't find a familiar name in his memory.
'Wait…'
'Who the hell is this old man?'
'How can he enter the Hokage's Office??'
Hiruzen looked deeply troubled, as if he'd just finished some unpleasant conversation with the old man.
Just by looking at his expression, everyone can tell that he is very angry.
"Sandaime-sama, this is the mission scroll."
Kakashi handed over the scroll for this mission. Hiruzen took it and signed it without even looking at it.
Once that was done, he ordered someone to retrieve Team 7's mission reward.
"Damn you, you little Uzumaki brat!"
"I'm going to kill you!!!"
The old man sitting in the wheelchair trembled violently, his chest heaving as he raised a shaky hand and started cursing at Naruto.
The members of Team 7 all turned to stare at Naruto in unison.
Their eyes seemed to ask...
'Have you ever offended this old man?'
Naruto was completely baffled by this.
He scratched his head, looked up and down at the old man in the wheelchair in front of him, and spoke to him after a while, "Uh…"
"Old man, who even are you?"
"Do I know you?"
"Cough cough cough cough…"
Hearing Naruto's words, the old man sitting in the wheelchair turned red, his mouth became crooked with anger, and he broke into a violent coughing fit.
Kakashi was worried that the old man would be angered to death by Naruto in the Hokage's Office.
"Danzo!"
"Calm down!!"
"You are seriously ill now, you can't get angry!"
Seeing that his old friend looked like he was about to die, Hiruzen immediately stepped in and tried to comfort him with words. At the same time, he rummaged through Danzo's bandages and gave him medicine to drink.
When Naruto heard Hiruzen's words, his jaw nearly hit the floor.
'Holy shit!'
'This is the old geezer Danzo?!'
'How did he become like this???'
Not only was Naruto shocked, but even Kakashi's pupil shrank slightly.
It was hard to imagine the mighty leader of Root reduced to such a state.
Naruto was stunned for a long time, then he began to think about what Danzo had just said to him. He hid aside and whispered, "Old geezer Danzo......"
"What did I even do to you?"
"I never even messed with you..."
"Why do you hate me so much?"
He, Uzumaki Naruto, swore that there was absolutely no malice in what he said.
He was genuinely curious why Danzo had such a grudge against him.
Naruto's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the room heard him.
Especially Danzo, who was still wheezing...
The moment those words were heard, his coughing became more intense and even his body began to twitch.
Finally, he was so angry that his eye rolled back and he passed out.
"Danzo!"
"Danzo, wake up!!"
"Somebody, get a Medical-nin here!"