After Kakashi finished explaining the situation to Yuna and Anko, the group made their way towards Tazuna's home. Tazuna told the group that they could stay there while he finished building the bridge. While they were walking, Sasuke was constantly glaring at Naruto, but Naruto completely ignored him. Naruto himself couldn't help but frown. He knew something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"What's wrong, Naruto? You seem to be unhappy about something."
"I don't know, nee-san. I just feel like something was off about the situation with Zabuza, but I don't know what."
"Oh, I see. You probably think so, because there really was something off. Kakashi said that the hunter-nin took Zabuza away with him, but why would he do that? He could dispose of Zabuza's secrets right there. I guess that shinobi was Zabuza's ally and Zabuza is actually still alive."
As soon as Yuna finished her explanation, the whole group, except for Yuna, froze in place. Yuna, on the other hand, only chuckled a little and continued speaking like what she just said wasn't a big deal.
"What? You hadn't figured that out yet?"
Kakashi could only groan and facepalm.
"Yuna is right, probably. Why not just dispose of the body right there? Why use a senbon to kill him? This whole thing is very suspicious. Zabuza is, very likely, still alive."
While everyone was still in shock, the group reached Tazuna's house and were greeted by a young woman in her late twenties.
"This is my daughter Tsunami. Tsunami, these are the shinobi that were sent to protect me."
Tsunami gave everyone a polite greeting which was returned by the group. They made their way to the living room and sat down.
"We should start preparing for the next battle against Zabuza. I have no doubt that he will have some more reinforcements during the next battle. That hunter-nin will probably be there and maybe even more people. If another jonin appears, things will get really dangerous. Luckily, we got some reinforcements as well. Anko is a jonin just like me and Yuna…"
"No need to worry about her strength. We spent last week raiding bandit camps and hunting missing-nins, so no worries."
"*Cough* What Anko wanted to say was that we patrolled the border and, completely out of coincidence, got into a few combat situations that couldn't have been avoided."
"AH! Yes! That totally is what happened. I… misspoke just now. Just forget about it. What Yuna said is 100% the truth."
Kakashi repeatedly looked from Anko to Yuna and after contemplating some more he simply decided to forget what he just heard. His instincts were telling him that, for the sake of his sanity, he shouldn't ask any questions.
"A-Anyway. It will take some time for Zabuza to be back on his feet, so we should get some training in while we have time."
"""""Training!?"""""
Even Anko couldn't help but wonder what kind of training could help someone get stronger in just a few days.
"Indeed. It might not make a difference if your enemy is someone like Zabuza, but it might give you an edge against other enemies we might face. "
"That sounds really stupid."
All eyes in the room locked onto the little boy who just said that.
"Inari! You can't speak to our guest like that. They are here to protect your grandpa. This is Inari, my son. Please forgive what he just said."
"Mom, these people are just going to die, anyway."
"INARI!"
"Oh my? Why don't you tell us why we are all going to die? You got me really curious."
Kakashi immediately got nervous when Yuna was the first to speak. He always had difficulties reading her intentions and never really understood her goals. He doubted that Yuna would actually attack a child that said something stupid, but he would rather be a little bit more cautious than to regret it later.
"Because there is no way you can win against Gatou."
Although Inari said that with confidence, Yuna only looked at him with confusion. She turned her head and looked at Kakashi.
"Could you give me a little reminder of who Gatou is? Wasn't it Zabuza?"
""""…""""
"Err… He is the guy that hired Zabuza."
"Haa? Doesn't that mean he is just a moneybag?"
Yuna looked back at Inari and was still completely confused by the situation until she finally understood what was going on.
"No way, you actually think Gatou is the threat? Pfft haha, you can't be serious."
Inari, naturally, got angry at how easily she dismissed Gatou's threat.
"OF COURSE, HE IS A THREAT! HE HAS BEEN TERRORIZING THIS LAND FOR A LONG TIME NOW!!!"
"Haha, *phew* sorry about that, but you seem to have a little misunderstanding of how this world works. Gatou is a threat to you. Civilians. We shinobi don't give a shit about him. If Zabuza wasn't following his own code of honor, he would simply kill Gatou and all of his goons and take all the money he wanted. That would probably result in him being hunted with much more fervor than he currently is, but it could still easily be done. Remember this well, kid. Might makes right. No matter how much money or worthless goons you have, it takes only one powerful shinobi to take it all away."
Inari was completely stunned by that. In his mind, Gatou was invincible, but now, someone, who doesn't even see him as a threat, appeared. His eyes scanned the shinobi in front of him and stopped at Kakashi, who seemed to be the leader of the group.
"Is this true?!"
Kakashi was a little stunned by him suddenly becoming part of this conversation. He threw a glare at Yuna, but she somehow seemed to have managed to get into a very deep and interesting conversation with Naruto since she finished her speech, three seconds ago. Kakashi could only awkwardly scratch his head and answer the question.
"Well… truth be told, I don't really care about Gatou either. If I wasn't unsure whether there was another jonin level guard I would probably sneak into his base and get rid of him in a day or two."
Inari was completely shell shocked by that revelation. The invincible image he had of Gatou slowly started to crumble. He unsteadily walked up the stairs of the room and disappeared into the next floor.
Yuna could see the worried look on Tazuna and Tsunami's faces, so she decided to reenter the conversation.
"Don't worry about him. The first step to getting rid of a demon is to stop believing that it is invincible. Inari is currently taking that step and needs some time to think things through."
Everyone was looking at Yuna in disbelief after that explanation.
[And you are calling me a big softy?]
'I have already mentioned it rather early, but I dislike seeing children suffer. Inari is different from Sasuke. He might act tough, but he is probably crying every night due to whatever he has experienced. If a few words can help him get out of that, then why not?'
[Yeah, that might be, but I am still calling you a big softy.]
'Fine, whatever.'
Kakashi was the first one to regather his wits.
"Yuna, did you…do that on purpose?"
Yuna only looked at him with confusion in her eyes.
"Did what on purpose? I only told the stupid brat how the world works. Power over money, that's how it is."
Kakashi noticed how dismissive Yuna was about all that just happened and actually started to think that this was a coincidence as well.
'There is no way that is actually the case. She even analyzed the situation for Tazuna and Tsunami after all. It is really impossible to get a read on her.'
While Kakashi was still thinking Yuna stood up and stretched a little.
"I am going for a wal… *cough* I mean I am going to scout out the terrain around the house. See you later."
"Sure, have fun, Yuna."
"See you later, nee-san."
"Yup, see you soon, Anko, Naruto, and the rest of you as well."
After giving her farewells, Yuna casually walked out of the house while everyone except for Naruto and Anko looked at her completely dumbfounded.
"W-wait a moment, Anko. Is it really okay to let Yuna leave like that?"
"Mhh? Yeah? Why wouldn't it be okay, Kakashi? She knows what she is doing."
"Nono, that is not what I am talking about. Aren't you supposed to be her sensei? Why do you allow her to leave just like that?"
"Oh! Now that you mentioned it, I was indeed supposed to be her sensei, huh? Since we spent the last week having fun together, I totally forgot about that. By the way, did you know that Yuna can spit out a senbon needle hard enough to pierce through two bandits at once? And I am not talking about the squishy parts. Nope. Straight through the head."
Naruto's eyes immediately shone in excitement.
"Ohh, I know about that one. Once while we were sparring against each other nee-san actually managed to hit both me and Hinata with the same senbon. It took me quite a while to realize where that senbon even came from."
Anko's eyes also started to become excited.
"You are her little brother, right? I bet there are a ton of abnormal stories about her. Come on, tell me a few and in return, I will tell you how our… uhh… border patrol mission went."
"Haha, that's a deal. Guess I will just start. So, there was this one time…"
While Naruto and Anko started to exchange stories, Kakashi had no idea what to do about the situation. While Anko and Naruto didn't seem to be worried about Yuna at all, he couldn't help but feel worried. Naruto actually noticed that and couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"Hehe, what are you so worried about, Kakashi-sensei? Nee-san has been fighting everything around her pretty much from the start. Even if she gets trapped in a dangerous situation, she will just escape it."
Although Kakashi was reluctant to admit it, he could only nod his head in agreement. Someone who could escape from an ANBU at the age of three, naturally, wouldn't be caught easily.
The remaining people in the room, meanwhile, looked at the people currently talking in disbelief. Naruto and Anko's stories about Yuna were already unbelievable enough, but Kakashi actually seemed to acknowledge them as well, while basically admitting that, even if a jonin were to appear, she would survive the encounter.
The most affected by all of this was actually Sasuke, who clenched his fist again and again.
'How did she get this strong? No. It isn't just her. Naruto also got much more powerful after he left the academy. What kind of secret do they have? Did they discover something? Some kind of secret power. A secret way to increase your strength, maybe? I need to know. I absolutely need to find out about it and use it myself. This and my hatred should be enough to finally surpass Itachi.'
....he will never believe they were just faking the entire time, it was already said he doesn't believe naruto's sudden power gain, and will probably think its the same for yuna and hinata
I wonder what his reaction will be when he learns there never was a big secret method...
@ARFitS well there was Yuna's hellish training for several years backed up with jinchuriki chakra
@QQundeadwolfQQ The training is just training, no matter how hellish, it's no "Big Secret Technique that makes you stronger in an instant"
As for the Bijuu chakra, I remember it was mentioned that having large amounts of chakra is meaningless if you can't control it properly. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if Hinata is also stronger than the current Sasuke and she's not even a Jinchuuriki...
a@ARFitS because they were training control, combat experience, etc for several years....
@QQundeadwolfQQ Exactly, YEARS. They didn't just suddenly gain that power like JP profagonists, they instead trained for years to get to their levels. The only difference with Sasuke is, they did it right, no doubt cause they had someone to teach them and others to spar against, unlike Sasuke who was alone, partly by his own choice. That can't be called a Big Secret Method...
@ARFitS as yuna put it earlier "more teammates = better chance to kill brother" or something along those lines....
@QQundeadwolfQQ And this is why I want Maerry to have Sasuke humiliated enough to snap that pride of his in half, knock him off that ridiculously high horse, burn down the pedestal he put beneath his own feet. All of that in a way that shows him how weak he is and, if possible, that he's falling further behind. Only then will he learn to quit trying to do it all alone.
Also, I remember Sasuke fought against Naruto once before and after he went to join Orochimaru's group. In the former, he crushed him with a bit of difficulty, in the latter, he nearly killed him one-sidedly, had Yamato not intervened. It might be a good wake up call for him if he loses both of those fights, wouldn't it? It'd force him to acknowledge that he's not almighty.
Then there's several other things that Yuna can do just to mess with him...
@ARFitS I bet Sasuke will think all of their power comes from the Bijuu, and then Sasuke will try and steal the nine tails for himself (committing attempted murder)
@ARFitS Isn’t that the plot of the first Kung Fu Panda? There is no hidden method, just hard work and belief in yourself.
@Bornwithoutaname Yeah, now that I think about it, it is...
It's not wrong though. In fact, it's not even a message for children, it's genuine life advice. You can't cheat your way into an easy life, you can only build up the strength to handle a difficult one...
@ARFitS He will never learn. They will tell him, and he will not believe them. The Uchiha are really good at denying reality after all.
@ARFitS but they do have a big secret method, a msthod that nobody else has in why they gaines such power at a young age, that method is.... Goddess Wisdom
@Kdv210 Wisdom is not a method, it's experience...
@ARFitS in their case it's a method, cause they are using someones wisdom to grow stronger... thats their method