In Konoha, Naruto lies down

The feeling of the furry feet seemed to make Sakura unable to stop. She stepped back and forth several times, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

Naruto didn't urge her, but just stood there and watched. He watched Sakura entertain herself non-stop until she was sweating and then stopped, letting go of the grass.

After Sakura caught up, Naruto walked forward and asked with a slight turn of his head.

"Is it that fun?"

"I don't know. I've never played it. It's okay." Sakura's answer was realistic and she spoke the truth.

The convenience store not far away was still open. It was late at night, and Naruto looked over there for a while. Looking at the lights, he suddenly felt a little sleepy. He didn't want Sakura to see him yawning.

"Wait here for me, I'm going to buy something."

"Okay." Sakura stood there, looking at him.

Naruto turned and walked away. When he was almost at the door of the convenience store, he yawned while holding Sakura on his back. When he was halfway into the shadow of the convenience store, he turned around and looked back at Sakura.

She just stood there, like a slender weed.

So he went in without worry, and began to yawn unrestrainedly while standing in front of the freezer. The boss also dozed off on the table. When he heard the wind chimes at the door, he opened his eyes a little, glanced at the customer, and closed them again.

Under the bright light, two ice cream bars were thrown on the counter.

"How much?" Naruto asked.

"Twenty taels." The boss glanced at him and yawned heavily.

With a rustling sound, Naruto walked out of the store carrying two ice cream cones, feeling himself being immersed in the heat again. He squinted his eyes and glanced around to make sure Sakura was still standing there.

"Here." Naruto handed over the ice cream.

The two found a bench and sat there. Naruto leaned back and licked his ice cream, and Sakura followed suit and sat there eating his ice cream. Their legs were crossed, and they were very close.

Naruto could clearly feel Sakura's body temperature. He didn't say anything, but looked at the dark night and thought about the mission in the Snow Country.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked suddenly.

"Now that Kazama Koyuki has run away, the mission in the Snow Country cannot be completed." Naruto sighed and leaned back on the bench. "As expected, she still cares about him, but now she is nowhere to be found."

Sakura looked up at the dim streetlight blocked by the leaves and narrowed her eyes slightly.

The green trees are lush and leafy, providing shade.

"Are you going to get her back?" Sakura asked. "It might not be easy to get her to restart the Snow Country mission. Princess Fengyun seems very reluctant to go to the Snow Country."

"Maybe." Naruto said ambiguously, "Actually, we don't have to use her."

He remembered that Fenghua Xiaoxue's key was still on him, so he threw it into the sealed space. He had no other choice but to secretly go to the Snow Country alone to complete the mission.

Although it was not legitimate, he had no choice but to give up the invisible version of Flying Thunder God if he was forced to do so. This was his future trump card, the opportunity to surpass the speed of the Fourth Hokage.

With this, he became the fastest man in the ninja world.

"I can help you persuade her, maybe we can restart the mission." Sakura's voice dropped slightly, and she turned to look at him, "Do you want me to go on the mission with you?"

"Of course I do. If the mission is restarted, how can I handle it alone?" Naruto said to himself while holding the ice cream, without noticing anything.

"But you still have to stay away from that woman Anko. Never be with her again. What a hollow jounin."

"it is good."

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto turned his head, "Why are you so quiet......"

He paused, and froze in place. Sakura's face was exhausted, her eyelids drooping, and she looked incredibly weak.

"I'm a little sleepy." She yawned and then smiled. "Take me back."

Naruto was stunned for a moment and nodded.

After half an hour.

"I'm going upstairs first, see you tomorrow." Sakura stood at the door, watching the dawn gradually appear, and waved to Naruto.

"Okay." Naruto was a little worried, so he said it directly, "You are not feeling unwell, right?"

"No, I'm just a little sleepy." Sakura said with a smile in her eyes.

Naruto didn't know what she was so happy about. Was it because he had spent the whole night with her going crazy or because he could finally experience what it felt like to sleep?

Even so, Naruto didn't let her go so easily.

"Is it really okay? Haven't you been awake all this time? Suddenly today..."

"I told you I was lying. How could a person not sleep?" Sakura showed an expression she had never had before and looked at him with amusement.

"Uh...then why are you crying?"

"Eh?" Sakura was startled and subconsciously touched her face, her fingertips were wet.

......

The next day.

Naruto woke up from the bed, took out the key that Fenghua Xiaoxue gave him, and hesitated whether to complete the task secretly.

But leaving the village was another problem, and Jiraiya would be back soon.

After thinking about it, he couldn't think of any safer way, so he could only put away the necklace-like key.

Hokage Building.

"Sakura asked for leave?" Naruto looked at Tsunade meaningfully.

"Her mother came here to explain that she seemed to be overworked and couldn't be woken up no matter what." Tsunade said as she flipped through the documents.

"It's probably just excessive fatigue caused by sleeping too long. I'll probably be fine after a day of rest."

"Why do you care about her?" Tsunade asked curiously, "You two seem to be on good terms lately? That's rare, Uzumaki Naruto."

"With such a lazy personality like you, you actually care about your teammates?"

"What's so strange about this? I was just asking casually." Naruto rolled his eyes at her and said, "Anyway, I'm glad you're alright."

He was actually worried and had planned to go to her house in the afternoon to see what the situation was. She didn't look like she was fine yesterday.

"Hey, Naruto, you look pretty energetic?" A strong voice came from outside the door.

Jiraiya, with his spiky white hair, stood at the doorway and laughed heartily.

"Lewd sage?" Naruto was a little surprised.

.......

With a snap, the popsicle broke into two halves, and ice chips flew everywhere.

"Here," Naruto shamelessly handed over the smaller half.

Jiraiya's face twitched and he said speechlessly.

"You little brat, are you really that poor? Why are you pretending to be pitiful?"

"We're not poor," Naruto said, sucking on his popsicle. "We'll save money and start a family later."

"Damn it!" Jiraiya took the popsicle and complained while chewing it, "How much money can you spend on starting a family? You're so stingy."

Naruto didn't respond and changed the subject.

"Tsunade-sama said that you, Lecherous Sage, went to investigate the Akatsuki. What was the result?"

"The result?" Jiraiya was not used to being asked for information, and said awkwardly, "It's roughly within the borders of the Land of Rain, right? Did Tsunade tell you everything?"

"Hmm? Is there anything you can't say?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya in confusion, "Senigmatic Sage, you are not looking down on me, are you?"

"I'm not looking down on you, hehe." Jiraiya felt a little guilty after his thoughts were seen through. He turned around and made up an excuse to fool the other party. "Anyway, the Rain Country has always been secretive. It's too dangerous for a Genin like you."

"I'll go in and investigate first, and then I'll talk about it after I get detailed intelligence."

Intelligence? Naruto's eyelids twitched slightly. The last thing he needed right now was intelligence. But he couldn't say it openly at the moment. He could only find a way to go in with Jiraiya.

As long as we don't let Akatsuki fight in a group, it would be safest to separate them and kill them one by one.

"I'm not some little brat. If Uchiha Itachi comes again, I will definitely kill him." Naruto grinned, "If you give me some more time, even if the Akatsuki organization comes together..."

With a bang, Jiraiya slapped Naruto on the back of the head and said, "What big talk, little brat? It's not your turn to worry about dealing with the Akatsuki organization."

He was speechless at Jiraiya's overbearing behavior and directly expressed his attitude with his actions. Naruto looked disdainful and spat directly to the side of the road.

"hei tui!"

Looking at his disdainful face, Jiraiya suddenly became furious and said through gritted teeth.

"You little brat! Damn it!"

"Anyway, I'll go no matter what. You can do whatever you want, lecherous sage." Naruto scratched his face. "I'm the perfect Jinchūriki. I won't be able to sleep well if I don't kill them."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto who looked like a rogue and was speechless. How could this guy...

Chapter 216: Restoring order still depends on me, a stranger!

"Alright, alright, let's talk later." Jiraiya, thinking that the yellow-haired man was his disciple, pinched his nose and compromised, "Put away that look for now."

Hearing this, Naruto returned to normal.

"Wouldn't it be more dangerous to sneak into a place like the Rain Country alone?"

"You little brat..." Jiraiya laughed, "I'm the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, no small figure. I've been to countless dangerous places in my life, and I've always escaped unscathed."

"I'm not bragging, no matter how dangerous a place in this world is..."

"Hey hey hey! Don't go! You little devil!"

"Uzumaki Naruto! What did the ninja school teach you? Do you understand respecting your teachers?"

"Tsk." Naruto had already walked away, completely ignoring what Jiraiya said. As the so-called son of prophecy, his mind was now full of thoughts on how to destroy the Akatsuki organization.

In the past, he thought it didn't matter, as there was still plenty of time and he could take his time. But now he needed some strength, even if he was strong enough now to be able to walk sideways in Konoha.

But this was far from enough. Facing the Akatsuki organization's human wave tactics, it was far from enough. Now he would face a more powerful opponent, requiring even greater strength.

After he had some free time in the afternoon, Naruto went to Sakura's house to ask about it. After learning that Sakura hadn't woken up yet, he went back. He thought about it for a while on the way, but then stopped thinking about it.

In any case, Sakura can only wait and see what happens.

in the next period of time.

He still had nothing to do, just doing some simple practice every day.

Team 7 was in tatters, and he was the only one left. Plus, Tsunade allowed him to rest for a while, delaying the reorganization of Team 7, leaving him with plenty of time.

The rest of the Genin class was very busy preparing for the upcoming Chunin Exam.

After a year of training, the Genin who graduated the previous year gradually matured. Being promoted to Chunin meant a higher status and more mission rewards.

More importantly, this is necessary motivation. After working as a Genin for a whole year, who wouldn't want to move up?

Not everyone is as inactive as Naruto. Strength is indeed important for a ninja, but the title that matches it is equally important.

At least leave a good mark on the resume of your ninja career.

For example, Shikamaru, thanks to his ability to command calmly, won the title of Konoha's only Chunin in the joint Chunin exam last year, but the value of this title is different from that of the ordinary Chunin who passed the Chunin exam.

In short, except for the top leaders, most people's attention was fixed on the Konoha Chunin Exam that was about to be held.

"Are you going to take part in the Chunin Exam?" Jiraiya sat on the roof in a frivolous manner, put down the telescope he was fond of, and looked at Naruto in some surprise.

The rooftop of the building opposite the bathhouse.

"Just passing by." Naruto said, leaning against the wall, "I haven't had much to do lately anyway, so it's okay to just idle away all the time."

"...If Tsunade heard you say that, she would twist her head off." Jiraiya shook his head and said, "She has been very busy with your affairs recently."

"That can't be helped. I'm having a hard time too. It's not easy for a lecherous sage to do nothing all day long." Naruto said while gesturing.

"We need to have fun everywhere and train occasionally. But...it's really boring without any missions. Why don't we go to the Rain Country now?"

"Don't even think about it. Tsunade will go crazy." Jiraiya coughed, "With all the shit you've been doing lately, insisting on being the head of the Uzumaki clan..."

"Oh? You little brat might as well marry three hundred wives."

"Huh? Why aren't you talking?"

Jiraiya turned to look at Naruto, only to find that guy rubbing his chin, as if seriously considering his suggestion. His face fell, his forehead was full of black lines, and his eyes were gray.

"You're not serious about coming, are you?"

"Uh, I didn't say anything." Naruto was a little helpless. He was obviously distracted just now and didn't listen to Jiraiya at all.