They read the scroll. It was written in cipher, which was immediately solved by Naruto and Shikamaru. At first, it all looked like a jumbled mess of shapes. So their first thought was of a replacement cipher, where characters are just replaced with a new character.

But the frequency of characters in the whole text didn't match the word distribution. So it was probably a shift cipher as well. They were ruling out any keyed ciphers since they weren't given any extra information and had to solve the whole thing just by reading the scrolls.

After a few times, they found the shift and then replacements. Now they had a readable text. It was a long text that looked like an ordinary school assignment that children did to improve their literature.

It told a story about Konoha, describing the scenery and the forest around. There was nothing particular in the text to catch their attention. Even the information didn't point to anything.

It could be any location. It talked about rivers, forests, plants, mountains, and buildings. Similar to what you expect an average person to answer when talking about their hometown

Upon more inspection, they found that by counting the words in each sentence of the paragraphs, they get coordinates. They found a map and found the location. It was one of the training grounds usually reserved for Jonin. They were going there carefully, trying not to rush things.

They got there soon. Three Jonin were standing there, ready to test them. They weren't hiding or anything. Behind them, there was a forehead protector hanging from a tree. The three Joninn were standing lazily, not really doing anything.

Naruto volunteered to go. Even though his chakra was sealed, he could still fight. Sasuke also volunteered. Choji as well. So Kiba and Shio, and Akamaru could take the last test. They were trackers, after all, and it was their specialty.

They talked for a few minutes to strategize; Naruto knew the Jonin. It was Genma, Hayate and Raido. Realistically they had no chance to beat them. But it was apparent that they would hold back. Their best strategy was for Naruto to fight Hayate, Sasuke to fight Raido, and Choji to take care of Genma.

Hayate was the best Kenjutsu master among the three. And Since Naruto couldn't use chakra, he was best suited to handle him. Raido used a combination of ninjutsu and kenjutsu, so Sasuke was better suited for that.

And lastly, since Genma mostly used senbon and ranged fighting, Choji could use his family jutsu to defend and get close, not allowing him the advantage. Either Sasuke or Naruto had to finish their fights early, so they could get the headband.

Naruto didn't have his sword on him. It was sealed, and he needed his chakra to access it. Sasuke had his, so that was ok. Naruto went to Kakashi. He mustered up the best version of puppy eyes he could. "Mmmm. Kakashi-nii-chan." Naruto said in a very childish voice, acting like a shy small kid.

Kakashi was visibly shocked. He didn't know what to do or how to react. Thankfully most of his face was hidden, minus one eye. "Y-Yes?" He asked. This was so easy.

"Kakashi-nii-chan. I don't have my sword. Can I please borrow your tanto?" Naruto asked, making sure his eyes were a bit teary. His acting lessons were paying off. He knew Kakashi wasn't supposed to help them, but there was no way he could resist.

"Aaaaah… sure?" He said his voice between a question and an answer. He unstrapped the tanto from his back and handed it to Naruto. Naruto gave him a very bright smile. Hugging him. Kakashi just stood there frozen.

"Thank you, nii-chan. You are the best." Naruto said. Poor Kakashi was blushing and went into a cuteness overload. He melted like a puddle.

"Ok, guys, let's do it." Naruto turned toward his friends, who were in varying degrees of shock.


Choji rushed in; first, he turned into a human boulder, going towards the Jonin full force. Hayate and Raido jumped to the sides, while Genma, who was in the middle, jumped back. Naruto and Sasuke were right behind them, going to their targets.

Naruto had his tanto unsheathed. Their swords clashed, which sent sparks flying. Hayate was a master. The best in Konoha. Naruto never had a chance in Kenjutsu, only battles. But he had to do his best. Hayate's movements were so fluent.

It was as if he was dancing. He was in total control of each move and the battle. There were no openings to take advantage of. Naruto was at a disadvantage. After getting an evaluation of Naruto's skills, Hayate picked up the battle's speed and difficulty.

Naruto was soon on the defensive. It was hard to fight without his chakra. He had to make some distance and catch his breath. When the next strike came, instead of blocking, Naruto dodged. He then jumped back a few steps.

He couldn't risk taking his eyes off his opponent. He tried listening to his friends. He could still hear sounds of crashing and destruction from Choji and sword clashes from Sasuke. Everything was ok. Hayate didn't charge at him.

He waited for Naruto to make the move. Probably trying to give him a little rest. Usually, when Naruto trained for fighting without his chakra, he turned off his weight and gravity seals. But he had them on now.

Naruto had to make a plan. He charged in again. Their swords clashed over and over. Never giving either an advantage. When Hayate tried to make a swing at Naruto's shoulder, instead of blocking, Naruto maneuvered his body around, making the sword only slightly graze his hipbone.

Naruto used the opportunity to at the same time get closer and aim for Hayate's leg. Hayate jumped out of the way, avoiding the hit. Naruto quickly threw kunais with his free hand. Hayate had to get further back to avoid getting hit.

He was now near where Sasuke was fighting. Naruto charged in, giving a whistle to Sasuke, which was their sign. Sasuke jumped out of the way. They didn't have much time. Naruto sent more Kunai their way before Sasuke took out some seals.

Naruto was so lucky. He had them on hand instead of sealing them away. They were some trap and explosion seals. Naruto ducked from behind Sasuke and went straight for the tree. He felt senbons coming for him from behind.

Genma probably beat Choji, and this was not good. Naruto ran faster and grabbed the forehead protector, just as a few senbons lodged into his leg. He fell down. Others stopped fighting since they already won.

Genma came to his side to safely remove the senbon. Apologizing. Since Naruto tried to dodge, some of the senbons didn't hit the intended area, which would only make him numb and instead hit some painful nerves. So his leg was burning.

"It's ok, Genma-san. When the tests are finished, I will have my chakra back, and it will heal in a few minutes." Naruto assured. He was telling the truth. Such minor injuries would take Kurama minutes to heal if he was pushing for it and, if not, an hour.

"Still, try to keep your weight off it in the meanwhile," Genma said. He was famous for being a mother hen taking care of those around him. Naruto knew better than to argue.

"May I have a look?" Hinata asked. Genma motioned for him to go on. Others were also gathering around others, checking everyone for injuries.

Hinata turned on her Byakugan. After a few seconds, she turned it off. "There is no serious damage. I'm still in training, so I'm not allowed to use healing jutsu without supervision. But I can give you some numbing cream."

"The wound on your side needs to be bandaged. I will stop the bleeding with some herbs." She said quickly, taking control. Kakashi came to help her. He took the cream to apply to his leg while Hinata took care of his side.

They were done quickly. Hayate came back with a stick for him to use as a temporary crutch. Others were also done. Sasuke had some mild scraps and burns, which Ino insisted on helping him with. Choji was just roughed up.

The three Jonin congratulated them before leaving. They spent a few minutes to freshen up before leaving for the next phase.


Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru were going to track the headband. They talked amongst themselves. And started going. Kakashi and others were going to wait for them in the training ground they started at. Kakashi kept an eye on Naruto in case he needed help.

They were also watching Shino and Kiba progress at the same time. There was some scent on the headband, which Kiba was following, but it went into the village. With so many people in Konoha and many civilians using heavy perfume, it would be hard to track the person.

So after Kiba and Akamaru got them as close as possible, Shino would use the residual chakra on the forehead protector to find the person. Kiba would then also confirm the scent. It was a straightforward plan.

They were going as fast as possible since they didn't have much time. Shino could have helped Kiba in the initial search, but in that case, he would have less chakra for the final part. They were standing there watching and cheering.

Naruto turned towards the new presence in the clearing. Kakashi was alarmed as well, quickly moving in front of everyone. Naruto was calm since it was Torune. He was in a suit and had his mask on. He quickly exchanged a few unique ROOT hand signs with Naruto before turning to leave.

This was not good at all. They were in danger. Naruto turned towards Kakashi and his now silent friends. "Everyone, you all need to get back to the village. It is not safe here. Kakashi, an ANBU team, will come to escort you. Please take care of everyone. I will take care of the rest." Naruto said as he exchanged normal ANBU signs with Kakashi.

"Danger. Unknown. Forest. Close. Already sent a team. I will assist. Protect others." Naruto signed. Kakashi knew the situation was complicated. He nodded before having everyone run for the village. Naruto knew Torune and the team with him would follow them to ensure their safety.

He quickly undid the seal on him. he had to go. It took him a few seconds to get over the disorientation of having his senses and chakra back. He unsealed his sword and undid his seals. This was not a fight to hold back.

Torune told him that some of his safety barriers were triggered. After the Jashinists attacks, he worked a lot on implementing more and more safety measures into the village and surrounding perimeter.

Some of them were simply to make them aware of trespassers, but some were made for specific people. His current trigger was as such. One made to make him aware of an opponent he was not ready to face yet.

But there were no options. He had to face him. he ran faster. He couldn't risk him getting away or hurting anyone. He was close enough now. He made a few clones to set a special barrier. He knew he wouldn't be able to defeat him yet.

He was not ready. He had to make him run away. He had to reveal his skills as a seal master. There was not much time as well. He knew that as soon as Kakashi got others to safety, he would tell the Hokage and a team would be sent after him regardless of his lying about a team already being there.

Naruto could only hope for the delay to be enough for him to wrap things up. He jumped into a clearing. The man was waiting for him.

"So you are finally here. I've been waiting for you, Uzumaki Naruto." The man said.