In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

"How could it be someone from the village's higher-ups, those people in the Hokage Tower…" The drunkard's eyes widened, but his words abruptly stopped halfway, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

He had seen the blade behind Yugao and immediately sobered up a little.

For ordinary people, the authority of Konoha's higher-ups was not to be challenged. They are an untouchable presence for them. Even though they all lived in the same village, this is a Shinobi Village.

The higher-ups were all either immensely powerful individuals or people who had made significant contributions to Konoha's development. To insult them in front of an Anbu? It's purely asking for trouble.

Koyuki stood there, opening and closing her mouth but unable to utter a word. What she had assumed and what she was now learning were worlds apart.

Even though she was an outsider, Koyuki knew what it means to be a higher-up in Konoha, the leader of the five most powerful Shinobi Villages in the Shinobi World.

'Oh boy, it was inside information… so I had been worrying for nothing.'

She glanced at the stunned drunkards, then suddenly smiled and pointed at a group of people before saying, "They wouldn't let me go."

Yugao turned her head and looked toward the group of drunkards.

"I... I'm drunk... I…" The leader of the group immediately turned around and stumbled away with unsteady steps.

"I just remembered I have something to do."

"Me too…"

The group dispersed, and Yugao calmly said, "Let's go, we still need to find a dog."

"A dog?" Koyuki chased after her and asked, "What dog?"

As they walked down the streets, Koyuki could clearly sense a shift in the atmosphere. Yesterday, she could still hear occasional negative comments about Naruto, but today, she couldn't hear any.

If the previous news that Konoha no longer had a Jinchuriki was controversial and divided public opinion, then today's announcement had completely silenced everyone.

Naruto is now one of Konoha's higher-ups, possibly the youngest in Konoha's history.

All the rumors and slander crumbled in the face of this official news, collapsing like a house of cards in less than half an hour.

Silence was the best response in this situation.

"This thing is a bit weird." Naruto looked at Tobirama's Space-Time Ninja Tool, stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Why are the set locations in places like Kumogakure and Amegakure?"

"It looks like it's meant to drop bombs on those places!"

After thinking for a few seconds, Naruto came to a conclusion, 'Nidaime Hokage was truly a top-tier schemer. He must have been planning to blow up Kumogakure every day.'

Although Naruto didn't know why the Space-Time Ninja Tool had been abandoned, after some tinkering, he managed to get it working, albeit barely.

After spending some time in the secret room, and since Koyuki hadn't arrived yet, Naruto decided to go look for Tsunade.

He dashed up to the fifth floor, stretched his neck to peek inside the office, but saw no one. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had wanted to ask Tsunade about the Nidaime Hokage, but she wasn't there.

"Naruto-kun?" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

Hearing the sound, Naruto quickly turned his head and saw Hinata standing there, looking a bit shy as she glanced at him.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Um... Tsunade-sama…" Hinata lowered her head and softly said, "Shino had something come up, so it was my turn to submit... submit the mission report."

Naruto's gaze shifted downward and he caught a glimpse of the mission report clutched in Hinata's hands.

"Oh, I see." He stepped aside to make way for her and said, "Just leave it inside. Tsunade-sama will definitely see it when she gets back."

"Okay." With flushed face, Hinata quickly ran in to place the mission report on Tsunade's desk.

Naruto, who had been meaning to ask about Kurama's drinking escapades with Hinata in Hyuga Clan's compound, was about to speak when Hinata turned around. It seemed she expected him to have left, as she was surprised when she saw him still standing there, making her blush even more.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" She asked nervously.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just been a while, and you've grown taller, Hinata." Naruto said, gesturing to her head, "You're about up to my eyebrows now."

"Naruto-kun has grown taller too." Hinata mustered the courage to look up, and for a brief moment, their eyes met before she quickly looked away.

The windows in the hallway were wide open, and sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees outside.

The dried leaves gave off a faint grassy scent, mingling lightly with the summer breeze as it drifted in. Hinata was wearing a long coat and long pants, and was a little shorter than him.

Hinata glanced down at her shadow, which overlapped with Naruto's in the sunlight, almost looking as though they were kissing.

The sudden loud cry of a cicada outside made her heart skip a beat. Hinata felt a pang of guilt, as if she had stolen something secret.

"And also, Hinata, you've gotten much prettier too."

"Is... is that true?" Hinata stammered, her face turning even redder, "I haven't... I haven't really changed that much."

Naruto wasn't embarrassed at all. He believed in complimenting others when it was deserved, and it certainly didn't hurt to say something nice.

"Really, Hinata. You're amazing." He said, and then asked, "How's your training going? We haven't been on a mission together since last time. Have you been preparing for the upcoming Chunin Exams?"

Hinata blinked quickly, her face flushed as she tried to cope with Naruto's back-to-back questions. Even though she was embarrassed, she felt a warm happiness inside.

"I've been preparing, and I…"

Just as she began to speak, footsteps echoed from the other end of the hallway. Three seconds later, Shizune appeared at the other end and waved toward Naruto.

"Naruto, the client has arrived, but we haven't found that dog of yours."

"Huh?" Hinata seemed a bit flustered by the interruption, but she quickly reacted, "Naruto-kun, you should go first. That foxhound is probably at my place."

She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and gave a small bow, ready to leave.

"It's fine." Naruto said as he grabbed her wrist. From Shizune's angle, she couldn't see his movement, "Got it, Shizune-san. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." Shizune turned and left.

Once again, it was just Naruto and Hinata in the hallway. He could clearly feel her trembling hand. He glanced at her with slight surprise, noticing how deeply she had buried her head.

Using a bit of force, he gently squeezed Hinata's wrist and said, "It's okay, go ahead and finish what you were saying."

"B-but Naruto-kun, don't you have something important to do?" Hinata asked in a low voice, too shy to lift her head. She tried to struggle free but failed.

"Indeed, there's a pretty important mission I have to do." His face was expressionless, which made him look serious, "But I'd like to hear what you have to say first before I go."

Hinata's body trembled, and the muscles in her hands stiffened for a moment. Her expression was strange, not exactly embarrassed, but more like shy.

"I-I've been preparing and training for a long time." She said earnestly, trying twice before speaking without stuttering, "Because last time, Naruto-kun told me that I didn't have to follow someone else's path, so I've been focusing on training with my Byakugan."

"At first, it was really difficult, but I wanted to catch up to Naruto-kun, and after some effort, I started seeing results. I also came across your foxhound by chance, and it wanted some sake, so I gave it a little."

"A few days ago, when that news came out from the Hokage Tower, I was worried about you. But today, when I heard you've become one of the higher-ups, I wanted to congratulate you. I was just too embarrassed to say it."

Hinata lowered her head, her face flushed as she spoke quickly, spilling out everything on her mind. Naruto continued holding her wrist, calmly listening to every word without interrupting.

He simply stood there, quietly letting her express her thoughts. Every bit of her feelings was written plainly on her face, without reservation.

"I-I've finished." Hinata said softly.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine." Naruto smiled and said, "To be honest, being part of the higher-ups is just a title. But it's still useful for scaring people a bit."

He released her wrist, "Anyway, thank you, Hinata."

…

In the secret room.

"Are you alright?" Koyuki asked.

"What could be wrong? I've been here the past few days fixing this machine." Naruto kicked the Space-Time Ninja Tool, then turned to look at Koyuki, "This thing is a Space-Time Ninja Tool."

"What?" Koyuki was momentarily stunned.

"In simple terms, it's a tool that can instantly teleport someone from one place to another." Naruto explained.

"That's amazing." Koyuki marveled.

"Yeah, well, now there's good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" He walked towards the Space-Time Ninja Tool and asked while tinkering with it.

"Uh… the good news, I guess."

"The good news is…" He paused, bent down, and stuck his head into the device to flip a switch. His muffled voice came out, "This thing can just about fit two people… you and me."

"And the bad news?" Koyuki gulped.

"Well…" Naruto pulled himself out of the machine, "The bad news is that this thing is really old. Even if I've spent a lot of time fixing it, I still can't completely fix it."

"If we make a jump, the destination will be random."

"Random?" Koyuki almost choked on her own saliva, "So, we wouldn't even know where we'd end up? That's basically a gamble with our lives!"

"Well, not exactly." Naruto furrowed his brows, "I'm good at what I do, and after fixing it, this thing's pretty sturdy. We just have to try a few times."

Koyuki's face turned pale, but seeing Naruto's confident expression, she didn't know what to say.

"Forget it, since you're so confident, I'll trust you."

"Trusting me is the right choice." Naruto climbed into the device first and gestured for Koyuki to follow, "What are you still standing there for? Get in here!"

"Alright, alright." Koyuki was speechless, but still crawled in obediently.

Tobirama's Space-Time Ninja Tool is a platform activated by Chakra. Although it had been tested many times with live chickens and fish, Naruto still made a protective shell to be on the safe side.

This is something similar to a spherical space capsule, which can accommodate two people if they squeeze together. Naruto had inscribed imprints on the surface of the Space-Time Ninja Tool, so if they ended up in the wrong place, he could directly teleport to the platform and then make another jump.

"Why are you holding onto me?"

"Because I'm scared of death." Koyuki replied.

"Alright then." Naruto said with a sigh, then activated the Space-Time Ninja Tool.

In the next instant, above the skies of Kumogakure, an iron ball suddenly appeared.