In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

"C, deal with that guy!" Darui shouted.

As Raikage's most trusted person, Darui and C shared a strong sense of teamwork. The moment Darui called out, C moved swiftly. The intention was clear, to force Naruto to fall back on defense.

As expected, Naruto decisively gave up attacking and went back to defend. As he retreated, reinforcements from the Kumogakure were arriving en masse.

Seeing that dragging the fight out any longer would be unwise, Naruto thought about it and simply tried his best to shrink the Adamantine Sealing Chain on Hachibi.

"Aaahhhh!!" Killer B's scream echoed deafeningly across the battlefield.

Naruto knew he couldn't take out the entire group just yet. Prolonging the fight wouldn't be worth it, and these people summoned Impure World Reincarnation only held the advantage for a few minutes before becoming ineffective.

Thinking about the mission ahead, Naruto sighed, but he still feels a little unwilling. In this battle, besides the iconic Rasengan, he had already pulled out all the stops in this battle, almost to the point of exposing every trump card.

But to just retreat now? That felt too cowardly.

After all, Uzumaki Naruto's reputation as a small-time troublemaker wouldn't be too damaged if he fled, but right now, he was wearing Sasuke's face! The pride of the Uchiha Clan couldn't be stained like this!

At this moment, Naruto finally understood a bit of Sasuke's pride, 'Damn it, Sasuke turned rogue, and here I am, his old teammate, still trying to polish his reputation!'

Naruto figured, no matter how reckless his actions might be, the sins would go to Sasuke, not himself, Uzumaki Naruto. With that in mind, Naruto stopped running, turned around, stomped his foot hard, and jumped high into the air.

In the distance, when Koyuki saw Naruto, fully intact, running towards her, she was immediately happy. But then, she saw him leap into the sky once again, leaving her confused.

'What's he doing now?'

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Kumogakure's reinforcement had arrived, and the Sealing Squad was watching the battlefield closely, monitoring every move. Yondaime Raikage and his old father punched each other, producing deafening booms and afterimages.

Even at just a tenth of his original strength, Sandaime Raikage is still a terrifying force. While Yondaime Raikage had the power to win directly, he seemed hesitant to finish his father off for some reason.

Darui and C worked together seamlessly and successfully sealed Shodaime and Nidaime Raikage. But as they turned their attention to the infamous Gold and Silver Brothers, a sudden, intense feeling of dread washed over them.

Their sixth sense is sending out warnings one after another, as if there's a party in their heads.

"Oh no! There's danger!" Darui shouted.

"Everyone! Retreat!" C also shouted, "Quickly get out of this area! Hurry!"

In an instant, C could clearly sense the overwhelming killing intent coming from a particular direction. He turned to look and immediately felt his breath catch in his throat.

In the distance, high up in the sky, a small but ominous Bijudama was slowly forming.

And the one forming it was none other than the cold-faced Uchiha Sasuke (Naruto).

Feeling the massive pressure and the sharp, needle-like killing intent, both C and Darui were struck with panic for the first time, 'This is unreasonable… what kind of Bijudama exudes such terrifying?'

They had seen Hachibi's Bijudama before, both large and small, but they had never felt a Bijudama with such murderous aura.

Under the glaring sunlight, Naruto hovered in mid-air, supported by the Biju Chakra Cloak. He allowed the violent energy inside him to surge, no longer suppressing the near-boiling killing intent coursing through him.

The pitch-black Bijudama slowly took shape in his hand. All the raw, explosive emotions channeled through his limbs and into his palm.

Naruto's gaze fixed on the distant battlefield, staring in the direction of the Yondaime Raikage. The dazzling blue Lightning Chakra could still be seen clearly even from several kilometers away.

Naruto's face remained expressionless and his emotions were as calm as still water.

There was no need to aim at all. After all, the Chakra of Sandaime Raikage and Yondaime Raikage were too dazzling, one black and one blue, constantly clashing against each other.

Naruto slightly adjusted his palm, and casually pointed in the direction of the Yondaime Raikage. Then, with a move of his thought, he threw the Bijudama casually, like throwing away a garbage.

The Bijudama moved.

It pierced through the air at incredible speed, accompanied by a sonic boom, and vanished into the sunlight.

"Raikage-sama!" C attempted to sense the Bijudama, but it was moving too fast for him to track. In the blink of an eye, it had already reached the battlefield atop the cliff.

This Bijudama wasn't fired out of hatred or for any specific reason, it was purely for the battle. Just like Yondaime Raikage had fought with all his might moments ago, Naruto was simply returning the favor.

The path it traveled cracked and collapsed in delayed reaction, as if the earth itself had risen up. Sand and stones were crushed by the violent winds, and with one Bijudama, the ground shattered.

Bang!

Yondaime Raikage abruptly accelerated. He abandoned his clash with his resurrected father and rushed toward the incoming Bijudama.

In the burst of white light, Naruto shamelessly slipped away with Koyuki.

…

Far from the battlefield.

In order to speed up the escape from Kumogakure's territory, Naruto carried Koyuki in his arms as the scenery around them rapidly blurred.

"What did you just do?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Don't ask too many questions about adult matters." Naruto said without thinking, sounding like a seasoned veteran, "Knowing too much won't do you any good."

In truth, with his combined experiences from both his past and present lives, Naruto was technically a bit older than Koyuki. It's just that he had messed up his chance to officially secure a stable job back then.

When he first opened his eyes after crossing over, his immediate thought was that despite having died, he had really lost his job, not his life.

People are like this, they always crave what they lack.

Originally, he had been content just lying around, but at some point, he found himself forced to plan ahead. According to his own plan, once he killed Pain and Obito, he could enjoy at least ten years of peace.

Naruto's personality was like that. When faced with overly complex or troublesome problems, he preferred the simple and decisive approach, cutting down obstacles head-on. If his head hurt, he treated it, and if his foot hurt, he dealt with that.

Life is short. After Pain, there was Obito, and after Obito, there was Madara Uchiha, the Ōtsutsuki clan, and an endless string of enemies. Who wants to save the world every day? Naruto is not the savior.

If the sky falls, he'll just let someone taller hold it up.

For now, all he needed to do was find a way to deal with the two unfilial students, Pain and Obito. As for Black Zetsu, that minor troublemaker couldn't stir up much chaos. Once Naruto killed him, he could go home and relax.

As for everything after that, he'd deal with it when he was an adult. Clear short-term goals make life more enjoyable, but long-term goals often make things a mess.

"Who's the kid here? You're the one…" Koyuki suddenly realized she was still being carried in Naruto's arms, so she immediately grumbled that Shinobi grew up too fast.

"Once we find a safe spot, we'll try it again." Naruto panted and said, "Space jump."

Koyuki looked at him incredulously, "Am I heavy?"

"No, I'm slightly injured." Naruto explained, "The wound on my abdomen reopened just now."

"Do all Shinobi have it this hard?" She thought of Naruto's age and asked with some pity, "Does it hurt?"

"It's just a job. I get paid." Naruto replied, still rushing ahead, "And don't ask me if it hurts. I won't ask you if you're scared about going home soon either."

"Now that you mention it, I'm really starting to get nervous." Koyuki replied with a dry laugh, though she wasn't really too scared if she could joke about it.

She glanced at Naruto and asked, "Are you really just a child?"

"I'm not that young anymore. I'll be an adult in a few years." Naruto said, "Shinobi are different from ordinary people. Graduating at the age of twelve is pretty much adulthood for us."

He paused before continuing, "And as far as shedding blood and killing enemies are concerned, I'm already an adult."