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By the side of the great bridge, Kakashi stood guard. He kept one eye on the situation on the bridge and the other on Sasuke and Sakura's tree-climbing exercise.
The so-called tree-climbing exercise involved focusing chakra to the soles of one's feet, allowing one to walk up a tree trunk using only the adhesive force of their feet.
This training was primarily designed to improve chakra control. For Sakura, it was a novel but not overly difficult exercise. But for Sasuke...
'Tch, I can't believe I lost to this woman in this area.'
Watching Sakura succeed and sit perched on a branch, Sasuke, who had failed and fallen midway, thought grimly to himself.
'And that guy Naruto... instead of training properly, he's off doing who-knows-what with that Son Goku.'
'Whatever. Why am I thinking about him? Training is what's important. I can't lose to a girl; otherwise, how will I ever get my revenge on that man!'
At this thought, a shadow crossed his eyes, but it was instantly replaced by the fiercely burning flames of his fighting spirit.
Watching the two train so diligently, a look of gratification flashed in Kakashi's eyes, which was quickly followed by a thought about Naruto.
'Naruto, I wonder if you'll succeed in training that so-called ki?'
In the forest.
Naruto had dark circles under his eyes, but his spirit was exceptionally high.
He continuously guided ki out, retracted it, guided it out again, and retracted it again in front of Goku.
From his performance, it was clear he was much more skilled than he had been the day before.
"Goku, look! Aren't I a lot better now?" After repeating the process countless times, Naruto grinned, revealing a mouthful of pearly white teeth.
He had spent nearly the entire previous night practicing ki control, all for the sake of getting stronger as quickly as possible.
It was precisely because of this dedication that he was able to perform so well now.
"You're amazing, Naruto," Goku said. When it came to the younger generation, Goku never held back his praise.
"Hehe~" Hearing Goku's validation, Naruto broke into a goofy smile. "So, does this mean I can block a sword with a single finger, just like you?"
After his silly grin, Naruto seemed to remember something and asked with a look of anticipation.
"About that... I'm afraid not yet," Goku said, rubbing his nose.
"Your ki isn't very strong right now. You need to keep training to make it stronger. Once your ki becomes powerful, then you'll be able to do it."
"Huh?" Hearing this, Naruto's face fell, but he quickly perked up again.
"Make it stronger, right? I, Naruto Uzumaki, am the man who will be Hokage! How can a little thing like this stop me!"
While both groups were busy with their own affairs, an uninvited guest arrived nearby, hiding in the shadows and quietly observing Kakashi and his team.
'They're... not together?'
Haku, who considered himself Zabuza's tool, had received his orders and set out at dawn to gather intelligence on the enemy.
After discovering the targets were not in the village, he came here. However, the situation was different from what he had expected.
The mysterious man who called himself Son Goku was not present. Furthermore, one of the Konoha genin was also missing.
'Where did those two go?'
Earlier in the village, through some subtle inquiries, he had learned that Goku and Naruto were with Kakashi's group in the morning.
But now, they were nowhere to be seen. After observing for a while longer, Haku left the area.
He had to find out where the missing duo had gone to provide Lord Zabuza with a complete intelligence report. So, he began to search the vicinity, trying to find their tracks.
When he reached a place far from the bridge but relatively close to the village, he suddenly heard a sound from nearby.
"85, 86, 87..."
In a clearing, Naruto was doing frog jumps in a circle with a large, half-meter-wide rock on his back.
His face was beet red, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and his legs were trembling.
But his eyes were filled with determination as he gritted his teeth and pushed on.
Finally, when he reached one hundred, he dropped the rock and collapsed onto the ground in a starfish position with a loud thud.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!" He panted heavily, feeling an intense soreness in every muscle of his body.
"Go-Goku... is this... is this really going to work?" He turned his head to look at Goku, who was leaning against a tree, munching loudly on some fruit.
Earlier, Goku had told him that to strengthen his ki, he had to temper his body.
To that end, Goku had found a large rock for him to carry on his back while doing frog jumps. He had just completed ten sets, each consisting of one hundred jumps.
"Of course it will," Goku said, swallowing the fruit pulp and casually tossing the core aside.
He continued, "This is how old Master Roshi trained me back in the day. Thinking about it now really brings back memories!"
As he spoke, a nostalgic look crossed his face, as if he could see a vision of himself and Krillin training together under Master Roshi as children.
"Master Roshi is...?" Naruto asked curiously.
"He's the one who taught me martial arts. A really amazing old master."
When speaking of Master Roshi, Goku pictured a quirky old man with a turtle shell on his back, standing on a sea turtle and flashing a peace sign.
It was because of his teachings that he has achieved what he has today.
"Oh, oh, well of course! You're so strong, Goku, so your teacher must be amazing too," Naruto said with a grin, rubbing his head.
He then flipped himself up, clenched his fists, and declared with soaring spirits, "I'm going to become strong too! That's the only way I'll be worthy of becoming Hokage!"
With that, he heaved the large rock onto his back again and continued his frog jump training.
Seeing him resume his training, Goku smiled slightly. He then glanced toward a specific direction in the forest before scratching his head and paying it no more mind.
Swoosh!
In the forest, Haku leaped from branch to branch, a hint of confusion on his face.
'Did he spot me just now, or not? If he did, why didn't he give chase?'
A moment ago, he had followed the sound and discovered Naruto doing frog jumps in the clearing.
At the same time, he had also found one of the mission's primary targets: Son Goku.
He had hidden himself in the woods to observe their movements, finding it strange that Goku was training Naruto.
'Isn't this person a Konoha genin? Why would he leave his teammates to train with this mysterious man?'
Just as he was about to continue observing to gather more information, he suddenly saw Goku glance in his direction.
Believing he had been discovered, he turned and fled without a second thought. He had expected the other to pursue him, possibly leading to a difficult fight.
But to his surprise, there was no sound of pursuit from behind; the man hadn't followed him at all.
'Whatever. I should get back and report this to Lord Zabuza as soon as possible.
If they are separated like this again tomorrow, Lord Zabuza will have a very high chance of completing the mission.'
It was now past noon.
By the time he returned, reported the intelligence to Zabuza, and they both set out again, it would likely be getting dark, and the targets might have already returned to the village.
Therefore, today was not a good time to attack. If they came together early tomorrow morning and the enemy was separated just as they were today, it would be the perfect opportunity to complete their mission.
Soon, the third day arrived.
Naruto, dragging his sore body, continued his training under Goku's instruction.
Kakashi, meanwhile, once again took Sasuke and Sakura to the bridge to protect Tazuna.
At the same time, Zabuza, guided by Haku, arrived near the bridge and looked at Tazuna with a cold smile.
'Today, I'm going to take your head and complete this mission!'
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach the top 100)
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