Naruto Gojo

5

Chapter 5: The Demon and The Honored

One month later

The Hokage’s office had become a familiar waiting room for Team 7. D-rank missions—catching cats, pulling weeds, painting fences—had been their monotonous reality. Sasuke stewed in his frustration, Sakura complained, and Naruto’s Henge-persona played the part of the enthusiastic idiot. Kakashi, as always, was late.

Flashback

Hiruzen Sarutobi used the time to study the new Naruto.

"Kakashi was not exaggerating," the old man said, his voice laced with curiosity as he puffed on his pipe. "Your appearance has changed drastically, Naruto-kun. How do you navigate with that blindfold on?"

"I channel a small amount of chakra to my optic nerves," Naruto replied, the lie smooth and practiced. "It allows me to perceive my surroundings through the fabric."

"I see," Hiruzen said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "A dōjutsu, then?"

Naruto offered a slight, sheepish grin. "Heh, can't fool the Professor, can I?"

The word hung in the air. Dōjutsu.

He has a dōjutsu? was the simultaneous, thunderous thought of both Sasuke and Sakura.

"What does it do?" Hiruzen pressed, his interest piqued.

"It helps me regulate my chakra expenditure with extreme precision," Naruto explained. "Beyond seeing through the blindfold, that's its primary function for now."

So it's just for chakra control? Sasuke thought, a wave of arrogant relief washing over him. Useless. The Sharingan is infinitely superior.

Finally, after a month of tedium, Naruto used his clone's connection to the Hokage to secure a C-rank mission: escorting a bridge builder named Tazuna to the Land of Waves.

"This is the team of bodyguards I'm paying for?" Tazuna slurred, reeking of sake as he sized them up. "A blindfolded brat, a useless-looking pink-haired girl, and a kid with a duck's ass for hair. They don't look like much."

Sakura bristled, ready to tear into the old man, but Kakashi held up a placating hand. "Rest assured, Tazuna-san. I am a Jonin. Any trouble we encounter will be handled."

(The Road to the Land of Waves)

The journey was uneventful until Kakashi’s sharp eye spotted it: a puddle shimmering on the sun-baked road. It hadn’t rained in weeks. A blatant, amateurish trap. Let's see how they react, he thought, feigning ignorance.

Naruto noticed it too, a faint flicker of amusement playing on his face, but he said nothing.

As they passed the puddle, two figures erupted from the water, chains with razor-sharp gauntlets flashing in the sun. They wrapped around Kakashi in an instant, and with a sickening rip, tore him to shreds.

"One down!" one of the Demon Brothers cackled.

Sakura screamed. Sasuke froze, his eyes wide with shock. As the two rogue ninja bypassed the terrified Genin and lunged for Tazuna, their path was suddenly blocked.

Naruto stood before them, his expression unreadable. Before they could react, brilliant golden chains erupted from his back, lashing out like sentient vipers. They coiled around the Demon Brothers, binding them completely. The moment the chains made contact, the two assassins felt their chakra seize up, their connection to their own power severed.

From the trees, the "dead" Kakashi watched, his Sharingan eye wide. The shredded body on the ground poofed into a log. Those chains... Lady Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains. He's awakened them.