On the way back to Tazuna's house, Haruto and the others ran into a crowd of armed villagers.
It turned out that Gato had indeed sent men to capture Tazuna's family. But when they couldn't find them, they began threatening the villagers—going door to door and killing anyone who refused to talk.
They didn't expect what came next.
The villagers, furious and driven to desperation, rose up and fought back. Gato's hired thugs were overwhelmed and slaughtered by the people they once underestimated.
Originally, Haruto had intended to cast illusions, stir the villagers into fear and anger, provoke them into rebellion by staging resistance. He thought all it would take was one spark.
He hadn't expected the fire to ignite on its own.
As for why Gato didn't send forces after me directly, Haruto thought, I suppose that's the butterfly effect.
He didn't yet know that Gato had indeed come down in person—with a force behind him—but had turned back in panic after witnessing the terrifying celestial phenomenon caused by Raiga's last technique.
Back at Tazuna's home, Haruto noticed something was off. Naruto wasn't bouncing around. No yelling, no pranks. He just sat in silence.
Sasuke, too, was quieter than usual. Cold—not in his usual aloof way, but like someone shutting himself off. The atmosphere was heavy, unnatural.
This won't do.
Haruto walked up to the rooftop, where Naruto sat alone, staring at the horizon, the wind tousling his hair.
Haruto climbed up behind him and casually patted his shoulder.
"Naruto, You haven't been yourself lately. You're not the kind of guy to sit around sulking. This isn't like you."
Naruto forced a crooked smile. "I'm fine."
Haruto narrowed his eyes. "You know that doesn't work on me. What's going on? If something's bothering you, just say it."
Naruto was silent for a long moment.
Then, slowly, he spoke.
"I trained really hard, Haruto... I fought with everything I had. But in the end, I was still a burden. When you stood in front of me... protecting me like that... it hurt."
Haruto stood still. He looked at Naruto quietly. This boy who always smiled.
Who never gave up. Who always got back up, no matter how many times he was knocked down.
But Haruto knew—even Naruto is just human. He hurts, he cries, he bleeds inside where no one can see.
Maybe soon, Naruto would smile again. He'd laugh like nothing happened. He'd pretend the wound never existed.
But a scar is still a scar.
And if Naruto had to carry every wound by himself...Then what was the point of being his friend?
Haruto clicked his tongue, then stood up and looked down at Naruto.
"Tch. You're sulking over that? I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not going to say some soft crap like 'you did your best. Because I know you're not the kind of guy who wants pity."
Naruto blinked up at him.
Haruto's eyes burned with quiet intensity. "You want to get stronger? Then stop sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. Train harder. Fight smarter. Push further."
He extended his hand to Naruto.
"Next time, you stand in front of me." Naruto looked at Haruto in surprise.
Haruto smirked faintly. "The Naruto I know—""—doesn't need comforting when he falls down."
He tapped Naruto's chest with two fingers.
"Remember this pain. Engrave it in your heart. Let it burn."
"Then go train. A hundred times harder. A thousand times harder.""Make sure that next time... it's you standing in front of me."
Naruto stared at him, stunned.
Haruto grinned and extended his fist.
"This... is a man's promise."
Naruto's eyes welled up for a second—just a flash—but the fire came back to them. He slammed his fist forward and knocked it against Haruto's.
"Just wait, boss! Next time, I'll be the one protecting you!"
Haruto paused for a moment, chuckling to himself. Huh. That was kind of out of character. But seeing Naruto's bright, determined smile... Well... there are just some people you're willing to be cheesy with.
Some people, you'd walk through hell for without thinking twice.
Two weeks earlier...
Naruto had collapsed from exhaustion again—out cold, sleeping in the woods after another overzealous training session.
A hunched figure with a shady smile crept out of the shadows and knelt beside him.
"Tsk tsk... this kid."
The figure brushed his hand over Naruto's abdomen.
"Sloppy. This seal is loosening..."
His fingers glowed faintly with chakra as he reinforced the seal over the Nine-Tails.
"If I hadn't caught this early, things could've gotten bad. Can't let him break too soon..."
The figure vanished into the trees again.
At the same time, Sasuke was still training—ignoring the bandages, ignoring the pain.
Haruto, watching from afar, sighed.
Problem children. All of them. Now I'm their bodyguard, team leader, therapist... babysitter.
He watched Sasuke grimace in pain after a misstep.
"You're not healed yet, idiot."
Sasuke didn't respond.
His eyes were locked on a memory—burned into his soul.
The night of the massacre.
The blood.The screams, His brother's eyes.
And now... the feeling from that last battle.
He had been helpless again. Just like back then.
Sasuke clenched his fists and shot a look at Haruto.
Haruto defeated Jonin. But I—I couldn't even protect my own team. I need power.
"At all costs."
His voice was cold, Determined.
Haruto crossed his arms, watching Sasuke grind through another punishing round of training.
"If you keep this up," Haruto warned, "your body's going to collapse before you even grow up."
"I said I know my own body," Sasuke snapped, not even turning to look at him.
Haruto sighed.
"Sasuke... life's not just hatred. You've got people who care about—"
"But I live for hatred!" Sasuke shouted, cutting him off mid-sentence.
Haruto paused, lips tightening.
"But—"
"You're annoying today, Haruto!" Sasuke roared.
Silence.
The words stung more than Haruto expected.
Sasuke turned, packed up his ninja tools, and walked past Haruto toward the deep forest. Just before the trees swallowed him, he stopped.
"...Sorry."
Without turning around, he kept walking.
Haruto stood there, staring at the ground, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Tch... so it's not universal, huh? Looks like my 'Talk no Jutsu' needs work."
He chuckled to himself bitterly.
"Even Naruto couldn't get through to him. Why did I think I could?"
But he clenched his fists.
"Still... I can't just let him go down that path alone. Not again."
A few days later...
Haruto sat cross-legged with Kakashi, surrounded by reports and scrolls.
"So what's the status on Gato?" Haruto asked.
Kakashi exhaled through his mask. "Slippery rat. He's caught wind of something. Changed hideouts, surrounded himself with bodyguards. He's in deep cover."
Haruto narrowed his eyes.
"Fine. We flush him out."
Kakashi continued, tapping a scroll.
"His property is the real issue. He's transferring funds through shadow brokers, and a lot of it's off the books. Hidden even from underground contacts."
"Then we follow the money."
"Harder than it sounds." Kakashi's tone turned grim. He's got ties to Wave Country's criminal networks. You cut one head, two more pop up."
Haruto leaned back, thinking. "So we don't just cut the head. We burn the whole nest."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "I assume you have a plan?"
Haruto's eyes gleamed. "Of course. But I'll need help from both Leaf and Wave."
"There's no need to look it up. Mr. Kakashi, there are many ways to deal with people like him and let him tell where his wealth is hidden."
A few days later, in Gato's secret stronghold, Gato cried and begged not to kill him, but Haruto didn't talk nonsense to him, and directly threw him to Kakashi, and Gato explained everything after an hour.
"Haruto, the situation is not good. Behind Gato is the high-level officials of the Fire Nation."
"So what, they don't dare to do anything, the plan continues."
After that, Haruto used the transformation technique to turn into Gato's appearance and got back a lot of Gato's assets.
In order to let the country gain courage and develop better, Haruto used illusion to manipulate several people to take the lead in rebelling against Gato, and soon all Gato's lackeys and accomplices were caught and executed one by one. In the end, Haruto threw Gato out.
"Kyoko, what are you still hesitating about? Didn't you say you wanted to kill him yourself?"
Looking at Gato who was tied up, her hands trembled a little.
"If you don't do it, I will do it."
Countless pairs of eyes looked at Gato who was tied to the pillar with hatred.
"Ah—" Kyoko slashed at Gato's body like crazy, until Gato couldn't die anymore. Haruto held down Kyoko, "Okay, he is dead."
In the next few days, Haruto was busy using Gato's money to help the Land of Waves buy a lot of supplies. Haruto distributed the unspent money to Kyoko and Tazuna to help the poor.
With the completion of the final bridge, it was finally time for a few people to leave.
Unlike in the original book, when there were only a few people leaving, when Haruto and the others left, almost all the people from the whole Land of Waves came, and there were dense crowds of people standing on the bridge.