The next morning, Naruto woke up groggily, gncing outside at the bright sun hanging high in the sky. His face twisted in distress.
"Oh no! I overslept!"
Last night, he had been too excited about Bulbasaur, staying up way too te.
Scrambling out of bed, he quickly washed up and gnced at Bulbasaur, who was still snoozing peacefully.
"Bulbasaur, wake up! We have a mission today! If we're te, Kakashi-sensei will punish us!"
At the thought of punishment, Naruto instinctively clenched his butt cheeks in fear.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Gane~"
Bulbasaur ignored Naruto’s shouting, rolling over and continuing its nap.
Since Naruto had been too excited to sleep st night, it had also been kept awake. Now that it was finally dozing off, there was no way it was getting up so easily.
Seeing this, Naruto’s face twitched. Without wasting any more time, he scooped up Bulbasaur from the bed and dashed out of his home.
"Gane! Gane~!"
Bulbasaur snapped awake in an instant, angrily protesting as Naruto carried it away at full speed.
But Naruto had no time to listen—his legs pumped as he sprinted toward the meeting point.
Meanwhile, on the Other Side of the VilgeAt the training ground, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke stood waiting for their chronically te teammate.
"Ugh, where is that idiot Naruto?! Why isn’t he here yet?!"
Sakura clenched her fists, clearly annoyed.
Kakashi remained calm, absorbed in his book, while Sasuke stood with his usual cold expression.
Suddenly, a distant shout echoed through the training ground, making all three turn their heads.
Naruto was barreling toward them at full speed, clutching something tightly in his arms, his teeth gritted in effort.
"Huff—huff—"
Panting heavily, Naruto skidded to a stop before them, fshing an apologetic grin.
"Sorry! I—I overslept!"
BAM!
Sakura’s fist nded on his head without hesitation.
"You idiot, Naruto! Why are you so te?!"
"Hehe—"
Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "I stayed up too te st night."
"Gane!"
Bulbasaur, still in Naruto’s arms, was completely confused.
What just happened? Why did Naruto get hit and then… ugh about it?!
"Huh?"
Hearing the unfamiliar cry, Sakura blinked and turned toward the object Naruto was holding.
The moment she saw Bulbasaur, she instinctively stepped back.
"Naruto, what is that thing?! Why is it so ugly?!"
"GANE!"
Bulbasaur’s eyes fred with rage.
Did she just call me ugly?!
UNACCEPTABLE.
How dare she insult such a handsome Pokémon?!
Bulbasaur immediately began struggling in Naruto’s grip, trying to break free.
Naruto panicked. "Bulbasaur, calm down! Sakura didn’t mean it!"
He had no idea why everyone kept reacting like this. First Kiba, now Sakura.
Sakura, realizing she may have upset the creature, quickly stepped back and hid behind Kakashi.
Kakashi, however, was now eyeing Bulbasaur curiously.
"Naruto, what exactly is that?"
"Huh? You mean Bulbasaur? It’s my partner!"
"Partner?"
Kakashi’s gaze grew sharper.
Sasuke, who had previously been indifferent, also turned his attention to Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah! Bulbasaur is my partner! Don’t underestimate it just because it looks a little different—Bulbasaur is actually really strong!"
"Gane!"
As if in agreement, Bulbasaur’s vines shot up from its back—before giving Naruto a light smack.
Naruto had just called it “a little different.”
How dare he.
The sight of Bulbasaur’s vines made the three onlookers stiffen.
"W-Wood Style?"
Sakura shot a questioning look at Kakashi.
Even Sasuke’s expression turned serious.
Kakashi, however, ignored their reactions and instead narrowed his eyes at Naruto.
"Naruto, where did you get that Bulbasaur?"
Naruto, still rubbing the spot where he’d been smacked, replied without thinking.
"Oh, my big bro Ryo gave it to me!"
Kakashi’s eyes flickered toward Bulbasaur before he turned to his team.
"You three, train on your own today."
And with that, he disappeared in a blur.
"Huh? HUH?!"
Naruto was dumbfounded. "What happened to our mission?!"
He had rushed over in a panic, and now there wasn’t even a mission?!
Sakura sighed. "Let’s just train on our own, Naruto."
She gnced at Sasuke, who had already started practicing, and quickly followed after him.
Naruto pouted but nodded. He then turned to Bulbasaur.
"Alright, Bulbasaur, let’s train too!"
He hadn’t forgotten what Ryo told him—if he trained Bulbasaur well, it could one day surpass even the Hokage in strength.
"Gane~"
Bulbasaur nodded in agreement.
And so, Naruto took Bulbasaur and joined in the training session.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage’s OfficeKnock, knock, knock—
"Come in."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, was leisurely smoking his pipe when Kakashi walked in.
The old man greeted him with a kindly smile. "Ah, Kakashi, I assume you’re here about Naruto’s new summon, the one capable of using Wood Style?"
Kakashi’s expression shifted slightly.
"You already know?"
Then again, he realized it wasn’t that surprising.
Naruto was the vilge’s Jinchūriki—of course, the Hokage would be informed immediately about anything unusual.
Hiruzen put out his cigarette and nodded. "I’ve been informed."
Kakashi hesitated for a moment before giving a slight bow. "Then I won’t take up any more of your time, Lord Hokage. I’ll take my leave."
Just as he turned to leave—
"Wait, Kakashi."
Hiruzen stopped him. "If possible, I’d like you to look into this Ryo. Try to get a read on his stance toward Konoha… but don’t make it obvious."
Kakashi remained silent for a moment before nodding.
With that, he left.
Hiruzen sighed, pulling out his lighter and relighting his cigarette.
He exhaled a long stream of smoke, staring at the document on his desk.
It was a file containing Ryo’s background information.
It listed every single detail of his life.
And that was exactly the problem.
It was too clean.
Everything written down about Ryo was completely ordinary—almost as if he were a different person entirely.
And that, more than anything, was what worried him.
