Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

The so-called peace lasted only a short period of a little over a decade.

Konoha's ability to revitalize itself so quickly on the surface is merely due to its consistent dominance; its underlying decay is no different from that of the other four great nations.

If you want to defect from Konoha, you must understand that Konoha's current peace does not represent the entire ninja world.

Conflict remains the dominant theme in the ninja world.

Naruto warned himself in his heart.

Once you are unable to make the right judgments, danger becomes difficult to deal with.

"—So, Class 7's request to find the lost cat, Xiaohu, has come to an end."

The Third Hokage's voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts.

The complex thoughts swirling in his mind were but a blink of an eye to others; Naruto's momentary daze went unnoticed by anyone.

At the very center of the mission assignment counter in Konoha Village, the Third Hokage used a brush to black out one of the sections on the mission request form, indicating that the mission was complete.

He puffed on his pipe, his gaze sweeping over the members of Team 7 before finally settling on Kakashi: "Kakashi, among the ninja teams that graduated in the same year, your Team 7 has completed the most missions so far."

Hearing the praise in the Third Hokage's words, Kakashi scratched his head with great humility and said, "You flatter me, Third Hokage."

"That's the truth, there's no question of complimenting or not."

The Third Hokage took a deep drag on his cigarette. There were three ninja teams that successfully became genin this year: Teams 7, 8, and 10.

Based on the task completion status of each class over the past two months and the reports from the Jonin in charge, the three members of Team 7 are the ninja team with the highest level of teamwork.

And the reason for this...

The Third Hokage looked at Naruto.

At that moment, Naruto was staring at the cat that was struggling desperately in Mrs. Shijimi's arms.

Naruto contributed even more to the team's cohesion than Kakashi. He tailored his interactions with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno to their individual personalities, creating a perfect synergy.

Over the past two months, arguments have frequently occurred in the other two classes, but none of them have happened in Class 7.

This is all thanks to the conflicts between the three members of Team 7, which Naruto always manages to resolve cleverly.

The Third Hokage suddenly remembered Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage during the Scroll of Seals incident.

It seems Naruto is working hard to grow towards his dream.

Feeling a surge of relief, the Third Generation removed the pipe from his mouth, exhaled a pungent cloud of smoke, closed the entrustment form in his hand, and made his decision.

"Squad Seven's next mission is to protect someone; the mission level is C!"

The third generation finally voiced their decision.

The Third Hokage's words made Naruto's expression harden.

As Naruto stared at the cat, Koko, Mrs. Shijimi, who was carrying Koko away from the mission allocation office, passed by another person entering the mission allocation room.

The newcomer was a disheveled old man carrying a bottle of liquor, looking drunk, and wearing reading glasses.

"The client has arrived."

Naruto wasn't the only one to notice the newcomer; the Third Hokage's timely re-speech confirmed the man's identity.

"The C-rank mission of Team 7 is to escort Mr. Tazuna, a bridge-building expert, back to the Land of Waves, and to protect his personal safety until the bridges in the Land of Waves are completed!"

It really was Tazuna!

Since Naruto is not as close to the Third Hokage as he is in the original story, his previous method of pestering the Third Hokage to obtain a C-rank mission is not advisable.

While Naruto was staring at the cat, Tiger, he was thinking about how to get Team 7 out of the vortex of the D-rank mission as soon as possible.

Before we could figure out a method, the Third Generation unexpectedly offered to have Class 7 carry out a Class C mission.

In Naruto's defection plan, the upcoming Chunin Exams were key to his scheme.

He is not the original Naruto, so he can't talk the Nine-Tails into submission. Although the Eight Trigrams Seal that sealed the Nine-Tails is still effective, the leakage of the Nine-Tails' chakra is increasing day by day.

Therefore, he wanted to ensure that Karin, who was participating in the Chunin Exams, would become his partner. Karin possessed the same sealing techniques as Kushina Uzumaki, which could help him suppress the Nine-Tails.

Furthermore, Karin felt no sense of belonging to Kusagakure, the village that had killed her mother.

After defecting following the Chunin Exams, Naruto was confident he could win Karin over to his side.

However, the Chunin Exams, which began soon after, were generally not something that genin like Naruto and his friends, who had graduated less than six months prior, could participate in.

Naruto had pondered why Kakashi in the original story allowed the three members of Team 7, who had only recently graduated from the Ninja Academy, to take the exam.

The most reasonable explanation is the Wave Country incident in the original work, which was called a C-rank mission but was actually a B-rank mission!

The mission in the Land of Waves allowed Team 7 to grow rapidly, leading Kakashi to conclude that Team 7 was capable of handling the Chunin Exams.

However, given the precedent of Iruka Umino's death during the Nine-Tails' rampage, Naruto was also unsure of the exact time when Tazuna sent his request to Konoha.

Naruto had already given up hope of ever meeting Tazuna again, just like in the original story.

That's why Naruto has put so much effort into getting Team 7 working together these past two months. All he needs to do is find a way to get Team 7 one or two genuine C-rank missions.

After Kakashi saw the teamwork of Team 7, he encouraged Sasuke, who was eager to become stronger, to go with him to persuade Kakashi to let Team 7 participate in the Chunin Exams.

If that doesn't work, Naruto has a backup plan that isn't as effective.

For example, he could directly strike up a conversation with Karin, who was on her way to Konoha to take the exam.

Without the identity of a Chunin Exam candidate, he inexplicably came into contact with a ninja from a foreign village.

Naruto is very likely to be targeted by Danzo again, and Karin is not the kind of person who is foolish enough to easily trust others. In the original work, Sasuke only gained Karin's favor by chance.

...This backup plan is both dangerous and unreliable.

Therefore, Naruto has been planning various solutions.

but now……

Looking at Tazuna in front of him, Naruto sighed that even if some things change, they are still destined to meet.

For example, it is still Team 7 that has accepted Tazuna's request—and all the problems that Naruto was just worrying about have disappeared at this moment.

Chapter 12 The Art of Wind Caressing the Dawn

An hour has passed since the third generation issued the Class C mission to Class 7 to protect bridge-building expert Dazner.

The group left Konoha Village at exactly 10:00 AM, and would arrive at the Land of Fire's ferry crossing around noon, from where they would take a boat to the Land of Waves.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Team 7 will be able to escort Tazuna back to the Land of Waves this afternoon.

After that, he will stay in the Land of Waves for about half a month to carry out a protection mission for Tazuna who is building the bridge.

Tazuna, as the client, reported a C-rank mission to Konoha that would not involve fighting ninjas.

Even if battles occur, the enemies in C-rank missions are usually gangs or armed groups composed of ordinary people, and dealing with these guys is very easy for ninjas.

Therefore, Kakashi, as the Jonin in charge of the team, did not force the three members of Team 7 to form a protective formation for the client.

Besides Kakashi and Tazuna walking side by side, they were secretly on guard against their surroundings.

Naruto and his friends strolled leisurely through the Konoha Forest outside the village.

This relaxed state of mind is more like a trip than a "task".

However, Tazuna, who conveyed false information to Konoha, was well aware of his own life-or-death situation.

He couldn't help but worry that the Konoha ninjas who had accepted the mission might not be able to protect him at all.

"Is there really nothing wrong with what they're doing?"

Tazuna questioned Kakashi beside him, making no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction.

Sasuke remained unchanged, his hands in the pockets of his white shorts, responding to Sakura's incessant chatter with a silent indifference.

Tazuna saw all of this. To him, Sasuke was just a cool kid, while Sakura was a lovestruck young girl.

As for Naruto...

Tazuna thought Naruto was short and dull, and didn't look like a "ninja" at all; he was just a brat you could see anywhere.

"What does it matter? If something happens, I, a Jonin, am here."

Kakashi smiled and comforted Tazuna.

"Well……"

Kakashi shut him down with his question, and Tazuna didn't say anything more for a moment.

After all, on the surface, this is a C-level mission that doesn't pose much of a danger.

"That's for the best, I've already paid!"

But a moment later, Tazuna started glaring and berating Kakashi again.

Kakashi had no choice but to continue making assurances to Tazuna with kind words and a smile.

Naruto first looked at Sasuke and Sakura, then glanced at Tazuna and Kakashi.

He didn't choose to integrate into either of the two circles; instead, he focused his attention on the forest.

Since leaving Konoha, Naruto has been using sensory ninjutsu.

That was Naruto's attempt to emulate the powerful sensory abilities he gained after mastering Sage Mode.

Memorize the sensations you feel when activating Sage Mode, and create sensory ninjutsu based on those sensations—

—The art of the wind caressing the dawn.

This is an environmental perception ninjutsu, similar to the Rain Tiger Free Technique.

The principle behind Pain's Rain Tiger Free Technique is to clearly perceive everything under the rain by infusing chakra into the rain.

Naruto's Wind-Soothing Dawn Technique involves injecting chakra into the air, creating an invisible wind.

Using "wind" as a medium, it knows everything within the scope of ninjutsu as if "stroking" it.

Compared to the tangible rain, the invisible wind is more likely to catch people off guard.

While activating Sage Mode itself grants Naruto considerable sensory abilities, the act of recreating sensory ninjutsu seems somewhat redundant.

However, Sage Mode has a time limit, and in the village monitored by Danzo and the Third Hokage, Naruto, who "did not have a master to teach him Sage Mode," had no way to openly use Sage Mode.

Naruto, who already possesses wind-style chakra, can arguably use the Wind-Soothing Dawn Technique, which utilizes wind as its medium, as the most suitable sensory ninjutsu for him when he is not using Sage Mode.