Foundation

The cold night wind swept across the sea.

An eerie silence has fallen over Cado's mansion.

"Please... I'll do anything... money! I'll give you all my money!"

Kado lay sprawled in front of the vault, his obese body curled up like a pile of discarded rotten flesh, trembling.

Naruto did not kill him immediately.

Instead, he slowly adjusted his glasses, picked up a stack of accounting documents from the vault shelf, and began to look through them intently.

After a while.

"Mr. Kado, I've reviewed your accounts for the last three years."

Naruto squatted down, speaking in a gentle tone as if he were catching up with an old friend.

"Although you are a disgusting cancer, I must say that you have a good eye for shipping networks and resource monopolies."

You could even say it's very precise.

"Yes! Yes! I'm still useful!"

Kado, as if grasping at a lifeline, frantically tried to demonstrate his value.

"I can help you make money. I can be your subordinate, managing accounts, laundering money, developing shipping routes... I can do anything!"

Naruto looked at him, his tone filled with pity, but his eyes were devoid of warmth.

"If you had any chakra, even just a little bit... with your abilities, you might actually be qualified to be my dog."

"What a pity."

Naruto stood up, let out a sigh, and lightly touched Gato's forehead with his index finger.

"No! I'm still useful! I..."

puff.

The raging chakra instantly destroyed Gato's brain.

Without any pain, this overlord who had roamed the land of waves lost all signs of life in an instant.

This is to give him the last bit of dignity.

Naruto remained expressionless, rubbing his fingertips against Gato's expensive suit.

Bai Jingjing stood quietly behind him, the struggle and sorrow in her eyes had disappeared.

Instead, absolute obedience prevailed.

The chains did not erase his memory.

On the contrary, he possesses all the memories of Zabuza and still respects him.

He even knew perfectly well that Naruto was manipulating him through some means.

Even so, he couldn't feel a trace of hatred towards Naruto.

That kind of admiration and attachment that comes from the soul made him even willing to die for a single glance from Naruto.

Naruto's body was stained with other people's blood.

Haku immediately stepped forward, took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully wiped Naruto's face.

His expression was humble yet focused, as if he were polishing a rare treasure.

Zabuza lay amidst the ruins, watching Haku, who had been as loyal as a dog to Naruto, and the last vestiges of his dignity and pride shattered completely.

The heart is ashamed.

"Zabuza-san, put away your pathetic emotions."

Naruto took the white handkerchief, wiped his hands, and casually tossed it onto Gato's corpse.

"It was clearly you who brought people to kill me, but you were not strong enough and were killed by me instead."

"But... I can give you a chance."

"Now, offer your loyalty, and I may grant you a chance to live."

"After all, you all risked your lives to prove your worth tonight."

Zabuza glanced at Haku, who was kneeling at Naruto's feet, calmly straightening Naruto's clothes.

This infamous demon, renowned throughout the ninja world, finally lowered his head, which had never yielded before.

"...Yes, Master."

Naruto waved his hand in satisfaction, and more than a dozen shadow clones instantly dispersed to begin first aid for the wounded.

Naruto has always been quite generous to his own people.

Zabuza.

As Naruto walked out of the mansion, he turned back, the firelight illuminating his profile.

"Starting tomorrow, Kado's assets will be taken over by the newly established [Wave Country Mutual Aid and Development Foundation]."

"You and your men are in charge of security. Bai is my acting executive officer."

"You will all work together to manage the affairs of the Kingdom of Waves for me."

"Mutual assistance...for development?"

Zabuza chewed on the name, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "What a hypocritical name."

"The name is not important; what matters is the correctness it embodies."

Naruto pushed up his glasses, and the lenses flashed with a glint of light.

"People are always more willing to believe gentle lies, aren't they?"

Then, Naruto launched several explosive tags into the mansion behind him:

"Since Kado died in an internal conflict, then this house and the evidence inside are naturally no longer necessary."

boom!!

A towering burst of flames erupted behind Naruto, completely engulfing the sinful building.

[Crush the enemy to dust (10/10)]

…………

Two days later.

Early morning, at the Tazna family home.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura were extremely anxious.

Zabuza's mysterious disappearance is far more unsettling than his frontal attack.

Just then, Naruto walked into the yard humming a little tune, carrying two bags of fresh vegetables and fish.

"Naruto! Where have you been? Running around like this will get you killed!"

Sakura was so anxious she almost jumped up and down.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I saw some people selling off cheap ingredients at the market, so I joined the queue."

Naruto adjusted his glasses, revealing a harmless smile:

"And I heard that the wealthy man named Kado had a fight with his subordinates, and his estate was burned to the ground. What a misfortune."

Kakashi's eyes sharpened instantly: "Internal strife?"

"Yes, everyone in the village is talking about it now."

"It seems that an organization called a mutual aid fund has taken over the docks and is still distributing food."

"It seems Zabuza probably won't be coming back, since his employer is gone."

Naruto walked into the kitchen as if nothing had happened and began preparing the ingredients.

……

In the following days, the situation in the Land of Waves underwent a dramatic change.

Just as Naruto had predicted, peace arrived with extraordinary speed.

The villagers never saw Kado again, nor were they harassed by his wandering warriors.

It was as if that group of people had completely evaporated overnight.

Only then did Kakashi finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the crisis was over, he decided to fulfill his duty as a teacher and give special training to his three subordinates.

In the woods.

During tree-climbing training, Naruto could easily hang upside down on the tree without even being able to stop reading.

During water-treading training, Naruto walked as if on flat ground, with the ripples under his feet barely perceptible.

Kakashi looked at Naruto, a bead of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.

He discovered that whenever he thought he had seen Naruto's potential, the kid always managed to pull off a surprise.

"Naruto, your chakra control has surpassed that of most Chunin."

"You have a lot of opinions. Tell me, what do you want to study?"

Kakashi asked tentatively.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm a rather greedy person. I want to learn anything that can protect me."

Naruto pushed up his glasses.

"I've heard you know thousands of ninjutsu techniques and are known as the Copy Ninja? I'm very interested in your extensive knowledge."

When Kakashi heard this, he felt like his head was three times bigger.

"That statement is an exaggeration... Most of them are actually quite similar, and there's no need to know them all."

"In battle, the key is not how many techniques you have mastered, but how you use them."

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked:

"By the way, Naruto, what are your chakra natures?"

"all."

"all?"

"Yes, it seems like we're in luck."

Naruto smiled in a way that made him look completely harmless.

Kakashi's eyes lit up.

It possesses lightning attribute, a vast amount of chakra, and top-tier sensory abilities...

"If that's the case, I might be able to teach you my signature ninjutsu."

Kakashi stretched out his hand, and a piercing bird cry erupted from his palm as violent lightning appeared.

"This technique is called Chidori, and it requires extremely high dynamic vision."

If an average person were to study like this, their vision wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed, so they usually need the Sharingan as an aid.

"But you have top-notch perception... so perhaps you can do it too."

"Great! I love studying the most!"

Naruto smiled, a thirst for knowledge flashing in his eyes.

Sakura, who was practicing wading in the water nearby, watched with shining eyes, filled with envy.

Sasuke, on the surface of the water, clenched his fists.

Lightning Release... is also an attribute he possesses.

He once thought that once he opened his eyes, he would be able to catch up with Naruto's back quickly.

But why...

Why does it feel like the gap is widening?

"It's not over yet... I need to work even harder!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and started running on the water, not even caring that his clothes were getting wet.

Naruto looked at Sasuke's hard-working figure and smiled slightly.

"Keep going, Sasuke, my mental energy is running low again..."