While Shigure was enjoying the warmth of a home-like ramen shop and the joy of his own strength increasing, Naruto's situation was the exact opposite.
Team 7's first official mission day was not as exciting and challenging as Naruto had imagined.
What awaited them were various trivial D-rank missions.
Helping a lady find her lost pet cat…
Weeding a farmer's overgrown field…
Walking a neighbor's dog…
Painting the fences on Konoha's streets…
…
After a whole day, Naruto felt like a handyman, not a Ninja.
In the evening, when Kakashi announced the end of the day's missions, Naruto finally couldn't hold back and exploded.
"Kakashi-sensei, are these even Ninja missions? Catching cats, weeding, walking dogs, painting fences… This is too boring, believe it! I want to do more amazing missions, the kind… the kind that lets me show off my skills, protect everyone, and become a hero, believe it!"
Sasuke, unusually, expressed agreement; he leaned against a nearby tree trunk and said coldly, "Hmph, these low-level missions are no help to my training. They're just a waste of time."
Though Sakura was also very tired, she habitually echoed, "Exactly, exactly, Kakashi-sensei, when can we get higher-level missions?"
Facing their complaints, Kakashi remained his usual lazy self, giving a chuckle: "Well, well… As new Genin, gaining experience is very important. These basic missions are also part of Ninja training. Step by step, step by step."
He casually brushed them off, then immediately found an excuse: "Ah, right, I suddenly remembered I have some personal matters to attend to. Tomorrow's meeting time and place remain unchanged. Everyone, go home and get some good rest. Dismissed!"
With that, without waiting for Naruto or the others to say anything more, Kakashi vanished on the spot with a puff, using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!!"
Naruto stomped his feet in anger, looking at the empty space.
Sasuke and Sakura also looked helpless.
Finally, the three physically and mentally exhausted Genin could only say goodbye to each other and drag their heavy footsteps home.
…
However, Kakashi didn't actually go home.
He didn't even bother to eat dinner, using the Body Flicker Technique to go directly to a heavily guarded secret location in Konoha Village—the Anbu's exclusive archives.
The archives were deep underground, guarded by two Anbu Ninja wearing animal masks at the entrance.
Upon seeing Kakashi appear, one of the Anbu members immediately stepped forward and said in a deep, respectful voice, "Kakashi-senpai."
Kakashi nodded, his expression unusually serious, without a hint of his usual laziness: "I need to go in and look up some information."
Seeing Kakashi's serious expression, that Anbu member dared not delay, immediately stood up, and opened the heavy iron door leading into the archives: "Yes! Please enter, Senpai!"
Although Kakashi had publicly left the Anbu and become a Jonin leading a team,
everyone knew that he was still one of Third Hokage's most trusted confidants, often accepting and completing various secret missions.
Therefore, he still had permission to enter and exit the Anbu archives at any time.
Kakashi said nothing more and walked straight into the archives.
It was exactly as he remembered, the air filled with the scent of old scrolls and ink, and rows of huge bookshelves were crammed with countless scrolls and documents, recording most of Konoha Village's confidential information, Ninjutsu data, and… the unknown darkness since its establishment.
Kakashi, familiar with the place, walked to the section of shelves marked "Genjutsu" and began to carefully examine the scrolls one by one.
He had only one purpose for coming here.
To find clues related to that bizarre dream from last night.
He firmly believed it was definitely not a simple dream.
It was very likely a sophisticated and rare… special Genjutsu that affected the mental plane!
Or a similar forbidden Jutsu!
He meticulously searched for records of various Genjutsu and forbidden Jutsu related to mental attacks, dream invasion, memory reading, shared perception, and even the soul level.
However…
Time passed minute by minute, and it was already completely dark outside.
Kakashi had almost gone through all potentially relevant scrolls, but still found nothing.
In the Anbu's archives, there was no known Jutsu that could silently pull multiple consciousnesses into the same space, accurately display, or even alter the dreams of specific individuals, and even materialize images that the dreamer himself didn't know existed, as it did last night.
"How could this be… not a single clue…"
Late at night, Kakashi, dragging his even more weary body, left the Anbu archives and returned to his empty room.
He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his heart filled with distress and unease.
Even in the vast amount of information in the Anbu archives, he couldn't find any similar records.
Did this mean that the Jutsu user's ability had exceeded the scope of what ordinary Ninja could understand?
And what worried Kakashi even more was that
the mysterious Jutsu user's target… seemed to be Naruto!
What exactly did the other party want to do to Naruto?
Was it for the Nine-Tailed?
Or was there some other deeper purpose?
Amidst endless fatigue and unresolvable doubts, Kakashi's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and his consciousness… began to blur again…
…
A familiar sensation of weightlessness came over him.
When Kakashi opened his eyes again, without surprise, he was once again in that dim and bizarre projection hall.
"Sigh…" He let out an almost inaudible sigh.
It came again, as expected.
This time, he wasn't as flustered as the first time, nor was he in a hurry to explore the environment.
As the saying goes, "first time is unfamiliar, second time is familiar." With last night's experience, he was slightly calmer.
He looked around, and indeed, Sasuke and Sakura had arrived before him, both still in their pajamas, sitting in seats not far from him, with expressions of resigned helplessness and a hint of curiosity.
It seemed they also realized that this didn't appear to be a dangerous trap, but rather a kind of "rule" that was difficult to defy.
Kakashi greeted them, found an empty seat, sat down, relaxed his body, and directed his gaze towards the huge, dark screen in front, waiting patiently.
According to last night's pattern, the screen would light up shortly after he arrived.
It should be similar today.
Sure enough.
Less than half a minute after he sat down.
Shhh—
The screen, once again, lit up without warning.
The scene still featured Naruto as the protagonist.
But…