Human beings are incredibly adaptable. No matter how devastating a disaster might be, as long as it doesn't wipe them out entirely, life will always return to normal sooner or later.
And in this case, the Nine-Tails hadn't even touched the gates of Konoha before being resealed.
So it took only a few days for the whole incident to fade into the background, leaving behind only the fierce reputation of Sora, Jiraiya, Minato, and the others.
Soon, word of Konoha's recent events spread across the entire Shinobi World.
With Konoha's advanced technology, many had been tempted to make a move. But after hearing about this, they immediately backed off.
All except for the stubborn and brainless ones in the Hidden Cloud Village, who still seemed eager to test their luck and crash headfirst into a wall.
In the Raikage's office, Hidden Cloud Village—
"Lord A, should we reconsider our plans?" Samui asked, arms full of documents, gazing helplessly at the fresh hole in the wall recently made by A's fist.
She had lost count of how many times this had happened. A third of the village's budget now went to renovations.
A just waved it off with a smirk. "No need. Proceed as planned. If we succeed, we'll get the Byakugan. If we fail, we'll force them to hand over their tech."
They had long coveted Konoha's kekkei genkai and their advanced technologies.
Even though Konoha had agreed to trade, it was obvious that their core technologies were still being closely guarded.
As for Konoha's strength? Please, give him a break.
A seven- or eight-year-old child supposedly knocked out the Nine-Tails in a one-on-one fight? Not even Uchiha Madara could've done that.
Sure, he was strong, but did they really think he'd buy into a story that insulted his intelligence like this?
A didn't believe a word of it.
Even if Konoha had subdued the Nine-Tails, they must've paid a heavy price.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Cloud had both A and Killer Bee—this was the perfect time to take advantage of the chaos!
With that thought, A urged, "Send the diplomatic envoy immediately. We can't give Konoha time to recover!"
"Yes, sir." Samui could only sigh and leave to arrange the delegation.
///
In the nearby Land of Rain, the Akatsuki had also received news of Konoha's recent battle. Upon seeing the photos, both Konan and Nagato were stunned.
They knew that boy—wasn't he the little orphan they had taken in together not long ago?
Wasn't he from the Land of Rain? How did he become a Leaf ninja, and even defeat the Nine-Tails?
No wonder Konan had returned from her mission, but the boy never came back.
They exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
"Didn't you say he was a Rain orphan?" Nagato asked cautiously, trying to gauge Konan's mood.
She had likely been tricked. And if she snapped… well, even he, the almighty "god," was scared of an angry woman—especially one with six hundred billion explosive tags.
"How should I know?!" Konan huffed in frustration, stomping her foot. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
It hit her—Sora had never actually said anything. She had made all those assumptions herself.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. With an icy glare, she stormed off to her room and buried her face in her bed.
Holding back her shame, she made a vow—next time she saw Sora, she'd definitely teach him a lesson.
After all, she was just a nineteen-year-old girl right now. If she'd been her older, more composed self from the canon timeline, this wouldn't have happened.
After she left, Nagato turned his thoughts back to the organization. Should he eliminate Sora to prevent leaks?
But considering Sora didn't seem to know anything—and they had once gotten along—perhaps it wasn't necessary.
Right now, the more pressing matter was turning those six corpses into puppets and boosting his fighting power.
Shaking off his doubts, he gently retrieved Yahiko's body and got to work.
///
Meanwhile, Sora knew nothing of any of this—and wouldn't have cared even if he had.
He had no plans to go to the Land of Rain any time soon. By the time he did, his strength would far surpass Nagato's.
And if not… well, he could always bring the Legendary Three with him. With a 4-vs-1 setup and full intel, how could they possibly lose?
///
After a few days of rest, Sora had also warmed up to baby Naruto—at least enough that Naruto didn't cry every time he saw him.
Kushina had recovered and returned home with Naruto in her arms.
Watching her casually toss Naruto onto the bed like she was throwing a shirt, Sora silently prayed for the little guy.
Honestly, given Kushina's total lack of childcare skills, maybe Naruto would've been better off growing up as he had in the original story.
At least then he'd live a safer life.
But watching Naruto sleep, Sora began to consider moving out.
He was just a few days away from turning eight. Though he'd been taken in by Minato and Kushina, they weren't related by blood.
Now that Naruto was born, the three of them formed their own little family—and it didn't feel right for him to keep living there.
Sora knew Minato and Kushina saw him as family, and he felt the same toward them.
But sometimes, feelings didn't change the facts.
"It's time I lived on my own."
Once he'd made up his mind, he waited until Minato got home that evening to discuss it.
At first, both Minato and Kushina objected strongly. Kushina flat-out declared there was nothing wrong with the current arrangement.
Seeing her hair lift slightly even without wind, Sora trembled inwardly—but stood his ground.
Borrowing the full power of netizens from his past life, Sora finally convinced them to agree.
After spending one last night in the house, he set out the next morning to find a place to live.
But with his current fame, walking around Konoha meant instant crowd-surround.
So living inside the village wasn't an option. But going too far from the village wasn't good either—he wasn't a rogue ninja, and he needed to stay close in case anything happened.
After searching high and low without success, he finally decided to invite Kakashi and Might Guy out for a meal and ask if they knew any quiet spots.
Upon hearing Sora's question, Kakashi carefully tucked away his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, scratched his silver hair, and said, "Nope."
Surprisingly, it was Might Guy who grinned wide, his sparkling teeth flashing. "I know a spot! Right above the Hokage Rock—almost no one goes there. The view's great, and there's even a little lake!"
Munching on some grilled meat, he added, "I found it while training. No one else ever goes up there!"
The place Guy mentioned was above the Hokage Rock—much higher and farther than most would travel, so it remained mostly undisturbed.
If Guy hadn't spent his days running laps around the entire village, even he wouldn't have discovered it.
Sora's eyes lit up instantly—this place sounded perfect.
He hurried the two of them to finish their meal quickly so they could go check it out.
After stuffing themselves, the three headed straight toward the hidden retreat Guy had described.
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