Chapter 39: This Uchiha Isn't Tsundere

Early in the morning, in front of the mirror.

"I seem to have gotten even handsomer. No wonder Ino didn't even look at Sasuke at the dinner gathering yesterday, she just kept staring at me."

Naruto carefully examined himself in the mirror: tall, handsome and sunny, with a pair of sparkling eyes.

Especially these eyes.

They shimmered with confidence, exceptionally charming.

One look and you could get lost in them.

"Why am I so confident?" Naruto asked himself, and instantly got the answer.

Well, if you're invincible, how can you not be confident?

If someone gave you 500 billion, you'd be confident too.

After admiring himself for another moment, Naruto flashed a brilliant smile and put on his forehead protector.

"Let's go!"

Arriving at the small bridge, their meeting point, Naruto was astonished.

Sakura and Sasuke being there was understandable, but how was Kakashi-sensei there too?

He checked the time.

He wasn't even late.

Walking over to his friend Sasuke, Naruto complained, staring at Kakashi.

"The sun must have risen from the west today. Not only is Kakashi-sensei not late, he's even earlier than me."

Kakashi's expression remained unchanged, pretending not to hear, but Sakura stifled a giggle.

"Kakashi-sensei is here because I dragged him along," Sasuke replied.

"You?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke in surprise, and as their eyes met, Naruto immediately understood.

Sasuke genuinely wanted to improve.

After five nights of non-stop training sessions, he had tasted immense sweetness. The feeling of growth and getting stronger had addicted Sasuke.

He became enthusiastic about training, seizing every opportunity.

Last night, Sasuke, who was usually reserved and proud, even proposed a 'cohabitation plan'.

After being explicitly rejected by Naruto again.

This morning, Kakashi-sensei was pulled out of bed early by Sasuke.

He truly was the Sasuke who chose to defect for power in his previous life. In this life, for the sake of strength and revenge, he had changed so much.

This Uchiha wasn't tsundere at all anymore.

What exactly was driving Sasuke to become like this?

Was it the distortion of human nature?

Or the decay of morality?

It couldn't possibly be those 114.514 beatings he took every night, could it?

"Sigh!"

Life was tough, and Naruto sighed.

It seemed he was destined to be a tool for others.

However.

"Do you really want to get beaten up that much?"

Sasuke didn't get angry at the question. He knew there was a huge gap between him and Naruto, but he was also very confident in himself.

"It's just six more years of training than me, isn't it? Naruto, give me three years, and I'll definitely catch up to you!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Good, very spirited.

In your previous life, let alone at 17, you were still getting stomped by me at 32.

In this life, you'll have to work harder.

People, if they don't fight a bit, they'll never know they're just a salted fish.

No, Sasuke was different.

He was a salted fish who worked hard and had dreams.

"Good luck!"

"Alright, enough idle chatter."

Kakashi stepped forward to interrupt their conversation. "Today, at Sasuke and Sakura's request, we'll also take a C-rank mission if there's one available."

At the mission assignment desk, when the Seventh Squad expressed their desire for a C-rank mission, the Third Hokage hadn't said anything yet, but Iruka-sensei strongly objected.

"You idiots! You're just beginners, yet you want to take on a C-rank mission. Go reflect on yourselves properly!"

Iruka, who had just started his desk duty, scolded the three with concern in his voice.

Hearing this, Naruto's eyes instantly lit up. His chance had come!

He chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, we're still beginners. Isn't it better to just stick to D-rank missions in the village? How dare we even think of taking C-rank missions!"

That's right!

Naruto Uzumaki loved the village!

In this life, he just wanted to do simple D-rank missions during the day and travel around the ninja world at night.

What was this talk about being a charging bank or a tool?

It was simply too terrifying.

This attitude earned him a dissatisfied "Hey, Naruto!" from Sakura.

She tugged at Naruto's sleeve, her gaze clearly saying:

'Did you forget our previous vote?'

Naruto reluctantly pouted, and then Sasuke delivered the fatal blow.

"Hey, Naruto, don't you want to be Hokage? You can't become Hokage just by doing low-level missions, you know."

Naruto suddenly came to his senses.

Oh right, he'd been so pressured by Sasuke these past few days that he almost forgot about that.

He, Naruto Uzumaki, still had to become Hokage.

"Grandpa Hokage, please find us a C-rank mission quickly. We've grown up; we're not fresh graduates anymore. We're perfectly capable of handling C-rank missions!"

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and glanced at him.

Naruto was still the same mischievous Naruto.

But he had indeed grown up.

Iruka was also relieved. It had only been half a month since Naruto graduated, a short time, but looking at the three of them again, they really seemed to have matured.

"In that case, I will assign you to protect someone."

The Third Hokage announced the mission. "Look, the client has arrived."

The three turned their heads just as someone pushed the door open and entered.

The newcomer was a kindly-looking middle-aged man, slightly plump, with a beer belly, wearing glasses, and a face that seemed perpetually bullied.

"Are you the ones protecting me? Why are they all just brats?"

Sure enough, his tone immediately made you want to punch him.

On the other side, Tazuna, seeing that his mission was being handled by three brats, felt that Konoha wasn't taking him seriously.

He was facing assassination attempts from the villain Gato. How could three brats possibly complete the mission?

But the Land of Waves was too poor, and they were too poor, to afford a higher B-rank mission, so this was their only option.

Having some ninjas was better than having no ninjas.

Besides, the rumors about Gato wanting to kill him were just that—rumors. That guy was notoriously stingy; he might not even hire ninjas to kill him.

If it was just ordinary people, these brats should be fine, right?

"I'm Tazuna, the famous bridge builder. In the time it takes for me to return home and complete the bridge, you must desperately protect me!"

"During the time you build the bridge?"

Sasuke, triggered by the keyword, his eyes lit up. "That must take a while, right?"

"It will take at least three more weeks to complete the bridge," Tazuna replied.

Three weeks!

"Excellent!" Sasuke silently exclaimed. Three whole weeks. He had to seize this opportunity.

The scene shifted to the gates of Konoha.

"Kakashi-sensei, this gate looks a bit different," Naruto said, touching the Konoha gate, a puzzled expression on his face.

Kakashi glanced at it and explained.

"This is the First Hokage's Wood Style Gate. It's very sturdy."

"Oh? Is the First's Wood Style a special bloodline limit? Why haven't I seen anyone else use it?

Also, is this Wood Style created by fusing Water and Earth chakra natures? Can an individual not fuse these two to awaken Wood Style?" Naruto asked sincerely.

"Wood Style is a unique bloodline limit. As for fusion..."

Speaking of Wood Style, Kakashi recalled the Wood Style ninja he had known since childhood, a ninja with a not-so-pleasant past.

He skipped over that part of history and encouraged, "Perhaps. Naruto, you've already mastered both Earth and Water attributes. You can try fusing them; maybe you'll succeed."

He said this, but Kakashi never truly believed Naruto could succeed.

No matter how much of a genius Naruto was, something like a bloodline limit wasn't that simple.

But.

Naruto's goal had already been achieved.

See, Kakashi-sensei even said so.

If he were to pull out Wood Style next, it wouldn't be surprising at all, would it?