A week flew by in a flash. The Five Kage Summit called by Konoha was about to begin, and Tsunade was ready to depart.
This time, the summit happened a bit earlier than it did in the original story. Not much else had changed. The meeting would still take place in the neutral Land of Iron. Since they had to guard against Obito's ambush, Sasuke stayed behind in the village. Madara also had to be kept in check by Hashirama.
Sakura would take over Tsunade's duties at the Konoha hospital, while Shizune would go with Tsunade to the Land of Iron.
The paperwork for the Hokage position would temporarily be handled by Kakashi, and Tobirama would also go to the Land of Iron—partly because of his strong political skills, and partly to prove that the Edo Tensei technique wasn't just made up.
Naruto also went with them, mostly as backup in case of a surprise attack from Obito or other powerful Edo Tensei summons.
Tsunade, Tobirama, Naruto, Shizune, along with Gaara and Kankuro—these six made up the entire group heading to the Land of Iron.
Everyone else stayed behind to help protect the village and keep rebuilding. Another reason was that Tobirama's Flying Thunder God technique allowed him to return quickly if anything went wrong.
On the road, everyone walked in silence. Tsunade and Gaara led at the front, while Naruto lingered at the back.
Maybe the trip was getting a little too boring. Tobirama slowed down and walked beside Naruto.
"You and Sasuke have been acting weird the past few days."
Naruto sneaked a glance at Tsunade in front, then whispered,
"A few days ago, Sasuke and I got into a fight with Kurama. It got a little too intense and almost hit Konoha... Granny Tsunade gave us detention... and made me copy the ninja handbook a hundred times..."
Tobirama had sensed that chakra too, though he didn't pay much attention to it at the time.
He nodded.
"So Sasuke got the same punishment?"
"No, his was different," Naruto hesitated a bit before explaining.
"I had to copy the ninja handbook, but Sasuke had to help take care of kids for the civilians in Konoha."
Tobirama froze.
"If his personality is anything like Madara's... that doesn't seem like a good idea."
Someone like him, taking care of kids? He'd probably scare them into tears.
"Yeah, they're pretty similar, but not exactly the same... That's not really the point."
Naruto had a weird expression on his face.
"But what you said isn't wrong..."
No, that guy really did scare those kids to tears. I heard from Sakura it had something to do with the Rinnegan."
Sasuke couldn't turn off his Tomoe Rinnegan for some unknown reason—it had been active the whole time.
But unlike Kakashi, it wouldn't keep draining his chakra all the time. The eye would only use chakra when Sasuke actively used its power.
"Interesting." Tobirama smiled. "So, have you finished copying the Ninja Handbook?"
Naruto pulled a long face. "The handbook has even more words than one of Pervy Sage's *Make-Out Paradise* books. How could I finish it in just one week…"
Even though it's just a small book, every page is packed with text. Most of it is knowledge passed down from older ninja and details about the ninja system. It's not super long, but copying it a hundred times in seven days? No way.
He hadn't even finished copying it once yet.
Tobirama casually asked again, "What about the Nine-Tails?"
Naruto answered without thinking too much, "A few days ago, Grandma Mito dragged him off and scolded him real hard. Ever since he came back, he's been staring blankly at the wall like he lost his mind. Sometimes he just randomly freaks out. But Grandma Mito said he's fine, so I guess he's fine."
So yeah, Naruto was pretty curious too.
Can you explain it, Kurama?
Kurama looked pale. "Don't ask. Just… don't. The kid's mentally broken."
Naruto threw up his hands, totally helpless. "So yeah, that's the situation."
"I see." Tobirama looked like he understood and didn't press any further. After that, he stayed quiet and just walked beside Naruto.
Fine by Naruto. It wasn't a big deal anyway.
What could be scarier than having to copy the Ninja Handbook ninety-nine more times?
Nothing.
Naruto didn't feel like talking anymore either. He just wanted to enjoy a few moments of peace without having to copy anything.
The Land of Fire and the Land of Iron weren't that close. Going across the sea would be faster, but most of the trip would still be over water. If they chose to travel only by land, they'd have to pass through the Land of Lightning.
Since things were already tense during the Five Kage Summit, they chose to take the sea route. Ninja move way faster than any boat around today, so instead of taking a ship, they—
—just ran straight across the ocean.
At full speed, elite ninja really are fast. By the fourth day, the six of them had already covered a distance equal to twice the width of the Land of Fire. That's way faster than normal ninja travel.
The Land of Snow was like Earth's polar regions, so it was always covered in ice and snow. But they weren't at the South or North Pole—just nearby.
Cold winds blew non-stop through the white snow and ice. Even with the sun out, it didn't feel warm like in the Land of Fire. Instead, it felt like someone dumped cold water into hot oil—harsh and jarring.
But no one was in the mood to enjoy the scenery. They gave their names to the Land of Iron and handed over the ID scroll. A few minutes later, the six of them were allowed into the Land of Iron.
Inside the building, a big fire basin was burning. The warm air instantly wrapped around them, chasing away the cold from outside.
Before the six of them could get a good look around the room, a rough voice came from inside. "Lord Hokage, Lord Kazekage—I've been waiting a long time for you."
They turned to the source of the voice, and a big, muscular man suddenly appeared in front of them.
Tsunade snorted softly, then walked right in. "Now's not the time for small talk, Lord Raikage."
That's right—the one speaking was the Fourth Raikage, A.
Naruto looked at the Raikage in surprise and whispered, "This guy looks just like that reanimated Raikage from before…"
"Long story short — they're father and son." Kurama curled up into a ball, his voice buzzing slightly.
"Really? They're father and son?" Naruto was surprised, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "But this Raikage's chakra feels weaker than the reanimated Raikage's…"
Then suddenly, something hit Naruto. "Wait—don't tell me he's that Fourth Raikage from a few years ago? The one who slapped you so hard it nearly killed me from the pain?"
Kurama: …
Nope. Don't know. Don't ask.
"Kurama!" Naruto yelled instinctively. "Are you pretending to be dead again?!"
Kurama looked annoyed. "That happened ages ago. Can we not keep bringing it up?"
"Nope." Naruto replied firmly. "That was the worst time you ever screwed me over."
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