The team had been jumping and running through the forest for an entire day towards Taki, only stopping for half an hour for lunch and making two other 15-minute breaks to rest and drink water, though they varied the pace at which they traveled so they wouldn't feel exhausted, in case they had some bad encounters on their way.
Once the night got too dark to see much of anything ahead of them, Yamato and Guy nodded to each other, and Guy held his fist up, stopping the group behind him.
"We'll be resting here until daybreak. Let's scout around 40 meters in each direction from here, then reconvene here. I'll go to the river to the east to fill our water bottles, so pass them to me. Yamato will take care of our camp and the fire."
All shinobi nodded at Guy's instructions and passed him their bottles, some gulping the rest of them, before they all separated in different directions. Naruto immediately made three clones to finish faster, then began placing detection traps that he was used to using when camping with his old perverted teacher.
These were a series of detection traps that made use of his Kage Bunshin. He'd scatter them sparsely and then link those traps to each individual clone, making them all connected to each other. They served both to detect movement and to communicate. However, the threads and other tools were mostly a diversion. A shinobi would think he was relying on them for detection, but Naruto's clones were just using Senjutsu passively while completely immobile, and because of that, they were fully aware of anything around them for a couple of meters.
This was why he'd scatter them evenly around the space, already too used to this.
Once he returned to the gathering point in the forest, the other young shinobi were looking at him curiously, probably having run into his clones spreading through the place when they went scouting.
"I've been traveling all around the Elemental Nations, fighting and hiding from the most powerful shinobi around while constantly sleeping out…" He explained to the others, shrugging his shoulders. "So, of course, I have a failsafe way to keep myself guarded at all times."
"How 'failsafe' is this?" Yamato asked from his place by a new fire, getting interested.
"Well, safe enough to keep even Jiraiya-sensei out or to find out immediately if he tried getting in, save possibly if he used his Sage Mode." He looked directly into the Jonin's eyes, getting serious. "And he's specialized in infiltration, as you probably know."
The man's eyes, which were usually pretty dead and didn't project much emotion, were clearly impressed and a bit alarmed that a boy this young could get to that point. Then he narrowed them, trying to sense for some bluff or boast in the blond's eyes. But Naruto didn't relent; he just stared for a couple more seconds before shrugging his shoulders and walking to a tree, resting his backpack on the ground and sitting with his back to the cold bark.
"Try it for yourself, but be sure to alert who you are once you get caught. Jiraiya-sensei learned the hard way not to go unannounced for long."
The trio from Team Guy glanced at one another curiously but elected to say nothing, fanning out to find a good place to sit themselves. Interestingly enough, Tenten was closest to him on the left, while Lee was on the other side on a thick branch, and Neji found a somewhat hollowed tree to get snugly in.
"So, Naruto-kun… How strong did you get…?" Tenten began, stealing glances at the boy.
Ah, so she's the curious type, Naruto thought, as he turned his body to her to look open for conversation.
"I got plenty strong, honestly. I found a… method… to speed my training in various fields. Really, even Ero-sennin got baffled by my methods and gave up trying to keep up with the new things I learned every week." The teen smirked, reverting to his more informal way of addressing his teacher once he was just making casual talk.
"Wow, really? A Sannin did?" Tenten got excited and moved closer on her knees, getting away from the tree she was preparing to use as her resting point to another tree just beside Naruto's.
"Yep. He spent the first year drilling me on a lot of concepts, and we did a whole lot of basic training, strengthening my foundations. Which, you should remember, were pretty damn brittle." He sighed, still shocked at his previous self, as he lay with his head on his backpack for comfort. "But once I found this method, I just… went off."
"Then I began to get strong for real. You know, even though he was training me, Ero-sennin still received plenty of missions from Konoha." Naruto went into his storytelling persona, captivating even the people far from the pair, who, despite not having moved, were listening attentively. "At first, he'd leave me with some ridiculously hard training to do somewhere hidden and disappear for a week or two."
Untying the sash around his midsection, Naruto folded the cloth neatly beside himself, not taking his eyes off the brunette across from him. That resulted in him noticing how her eyes involuntarily traced the inside of his kimono for a second, drinking in the sight of his muscles through the brief window of opportunity his movements provided.
"But after a while, by the second year, he began to bring me along. Some were infiltration missions, some were to capture some dude or find someone. Some were to get rid of some nukenin." His voice drifted off, remembering all his 'field experience' with the old sage. "After a while, though, he began to just… send me alone on those. And I never failed."
"Wow, that's so cool…" She smiled, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement. "So you're strong enough to do missions in place of a Sannin; that's kind of awesome, really."
"I guess. That's why I can tell you, I'm not going to lose to anyone. Even if I were to face the Akatsuki, the most they'd be able to do is go down with me." Naruto's voice was filled to the brim with his determination and fighting spirit, and his eyes showed just as much, if not more, of it.
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