Chapter 85 (Patreon)

Time flew by, the fierce dispute between Konoha and Kiri was slowly subsiding.

But neither side was going to back down.

The Hokage just held Konoha until Kakashi woke up. He was also surprised by the lack of real action on Kiri’s part, despite all the loud words and determination to stand his ground to the last.

This made Hiruzen constantly feel internal discomfort.

He wouldn't be as worried as he is now if he made excessive demands on Kiri...

Sighing heavily, the Third Hokage rubbed his temples.

Recent events still had an impact on Konoha, albeit not as significantly.

But.

Then a sparkle appeared in his eyes. The Chuunin Exams are approaching!

The upcoming exam is intended to serve as a demonstration of Konoha's strength and stability in order to smooth over some of the recent problems.

In the middle of the forest.

Iruka watched with concern as the trio of Genin searched for and collected herbs for the mission.

Team 7's problems were deeper than he thought.

And to partially understand them, it’s enough just to observe from the outside.

The fact is that Sakura tried to stay close to Sasuke. And although it might seem that everything was the same as before, now she not only stayed closer to the Uchiha, but also deliberately avoided Naruto.

The uncontrolled transformation of Uzumaki into the Nine-Tails, of course, could not take place without consequences for Sakura, but over time it will pass.

And in general, this problem paled in comparison with the others.

But here's Sasuke.

Iruka frowned at the Uchiha. Although it might seem that the Genin was diligently collecting herbs, in fact, his thoughts were not at all here.

It was as if he was on a team, but didn't feel like he was part of it.

Apparently Sasuke had no affection for his comrades, and this is a real problem.

A simple mission to collect herbs is not an indicator at all, because if they find themselves in a combat situation, the Uchiha will most likely completely forget about teamwork.

And lastly, Naruto.

Iruka's face showed great concern.

Outwardly, Naruto could seem to be the same carefree boy as before.

But he, as one of the few people who knew Uzumaki well, understood perfectly well that the boy was restless, very restless in his heart.

Is it because of Hatake Kakashi, or because of the Nine-Tails?

In fact, Iruka understood everything perfectly well, but he couldn’t raise these questions, so he simply tried to console Naruto.

Unfortunately this is not so effective.

“I invite everyone for ramen after the mission,” he soon smiled at the Genin, who continued to collect medicinal herbs nearby.

- Wow, really? – a little confused, Naruto exclaimed joyfully under a large tree.

On the other side, Sakura simply nodded, without much enthusiasm.

“I won’t go, I need to train more,” Sasuke answered indifferently and immediately returned to collecting medicinal herbs for the mission.

As he continued to gather herbs, he stole a glance at Naruto nearby and clenched his fists tightly as the memories of that chakra came flooding back.

Is there really such power hidden inside this idiot?

With such thoughts, Sasuke ground his teeth and buried his eyes in the grass. He needs to train and get stronger, not waste his time on such idiotic missions!

“It’s a pity, of course, but okay, and you shouldn’t overwork yourself, there must be moderation in everything,” Iruka helplessly scratched his head in response to the Uchiha’s sharp refusal, thinking that he needed to find something that could attract the attention of the entire team and push them to cooperate .

In the evening of the same day.

Naruto returned to an empty and cold house.

Iruka said a lot in Ichiraku Ramen, but almost all of it fell on deaf ears.

Of course, from time to time he wanted to ask the teacher about his parents and the notorious demonic fox inside himself.

But he remained silent, because how would Iruka know?

The teacher himself would have told him long ago if he had known...

Lately, Naruto had seen the demonic fox behind a huge cage several times and was already beginning to understand some things on his own.

Unfortunately, every time he came to that strange dark space, the demonic fox inside his body invariably slept like a dead man behind the cage.

So he just watched.

And I didn’t even imagine that their frequent meetings were deliberately provoked by the Nine-Tails himself.

Kurama could not defeat the First Mizukage and did not know why he was looking for a meeting with Uzumaki Naruto, but was only happy to spoil him by any means available.

But when absorbing chakra, Yudao installed one special seal on the body of the Ten-Tails, which he spent many days searching for and mastering during the Age of Warring States, and all for the sake of one thing only - so as not to be afraid of damn Genjutsu anymore.

Unfortunately, in practice, this sealing technique was not all that good at countering genjutsu, but instead did an excellent job of protecting shinobi from any mind invasion techniques.

The main effect of this technique was that only one consciousness could be the guide and leader in the body of a shinobi.

Therefore, as soon as Naruto appeared in his subconscious, this technique would automatically activate and put the Nine-Tails to sleep.

It was for this reason that the Bijuu slept like a log during every Uzumaki visit.

Well, of course, the technique was automatically canceled, and the Nine-Tails immediately woke up as soon as Naruto left his subconscious.

Result: Naruto arrived → The Nine-Tails fell asleep → Naruto left → The Nine-Tails woke up... in short, it turned out to be a vicious circle.

At first, Kurama blamed it on his forgetfulness, or just a coincidence, but after several unsuccessful attempts he realized the problem.

And he became even more imbued with hatred for Yudao.

It should also be noted that during this time Naruto felt a significant improvement in circulation and even easier chakra control.

For example, now he could easily use the same Cloning Technique, which was never given to him at the Shinobi Academy.

And although the reason was unclear, these changes only had a beneficial effect on Naruto.