It's better to be a rebel ninja than to be a Hokage

Naruto once considered whether to win over Bai to become his helper. After all, once he became a rebel ninja, the protection brought to him by the big tree of Konoha would disappear.

The ninja world is full of crises, and his identity as a Jinchūriki is destined to be pursued by the Akatsuki organization.

It's always good to have an extra helping hand.

But Naruto quickly gave up this unrealistic assumption.

Bai is kind by nature, but that doesn't mean he is naive.

Bai had already completely brainwashed himself into becoming Zabuza's tool, and those who were protecting Dazna could only be enemies with Zabuza.

Relying on the advantage of knowing the original plot and using the intelligence gap to kill Haku and Zabuza is the safest choice.

The time when Kakashi is unconscious is Naruto's best chance to deal with these two people.

Naruto doesn't have to worry about Kakashi discovering his disguise, and Naruto only needs to deal with Haku. As for Zabuza, it's just a fake death that turned into real death, so Naruto will have much less pressure against the enemy.

Compared to Haku, who has already chosen Zabuza and is a bloodline limit ninja who can find a replacement at any time.

Naruto has always been clear about the most critical purpose of the Wave Country incident to him.

The purpose is to let Kakashi judge through this extraordinary mission whether the current level of Team 7 is sufficient to participate in the Chunin Exam.

Allow yourself to have reasonable contact with Karin, who comes to Konoha to take the Chunin Exam.

Karin, who can help Naruto control the Nine-Tails and has a high possibility of becoming Naruto's companion in his rebellious ninja career, is the one that Naruto values ​​most and is irreplaceable.

And this goal has already been achieved.

If you weigh the pros and cons a little, any normal person will know how to make the trade-offs.

Naruto quickly abandoned the ridiculous idea of ​​winning over Bai.

If he tried to win over Shiro, he might end up losing the big picture and lose the ability to contact Karin again.

It is also possible that in the process of winning over Bai, he accidentally exposed his disguise of the past two years.

But choosing to kill Haku and Zabuza is much easier than winning them over.

The possible problems mentioned above will disappear in an instant.

There is no need to worry anymore about Zabuza being released back into the wild and suddenly emerging from the fog with Bai one day.

After all, no one would waste energy to be afraid of the "dead"——

——Even Kakashi is the same.

Kakashi didn't know that Zabuza and Haku had already been secretly dealt with by Naruto.

A week later, Kakashi recovered and faced Cardo who personally led a group of samurai to attack the bridge builders, but there was still no sign of Zabuza.

Kakashi was wary of Zabuza's comeback, but in the end, nothing came of it.

As for Cardo, the culprit who brought poverty to the Land of Waves, he was also dealt with by Kakashi during the attack.

As soon as the financier who paid for the crime died, the wandering warriors scattered like birds and beasts in an instant.

The mission to protect Dazna was thus returned from B-rank to C-rank, which was what he reported to the village when he first commissioned the Konoha ninja.

The news that Cardo was dealt with by the Konoha ninja quickly spread throughout the Land of Waves.

Without the oppression of the abuser, the popularity that Dazna had accumulated in the Country of Waves was revealed at this time.

The cross-sea bridge connecting the islands of Wave Country was completed earlier than expected.

Although Naruto's rare free life without surveillance in the Land of Waves ended early, he still felt a little unsatisfied.

But there are also benefits...

After Cardo's death, the workers who came to help build the bridge all looked forward to a bright future for the Wave Kingdom, and most of them worked for free.

This saved Dazna the cost of building a bridge. Although the commission for this ninja mission was officially recorded as a C-level difficulty, the settlement amount was calculated based on the B-level standard.

The specific amount was negotiated by Kakashi and Dazna. After all, Kakashi, as a senior ninja, had rich mission experience, so his offer was naturally reasonable.

But even so, the construction of the Wave Country's cross-sea bridge was not completed until mid-June.

There are only a few days left until the Joint Chunin Exams begin in July.

Team 7 completed the mission in Wave Country and returned to Konoha Ninja Village.

……

June 24th, Konoha.

Naruto looked at the calendar in front of the window, lost in thought.

A week had passed since returning from the Land of Waves. Kakashi disbanded Team 7 on the day he returned to the village, allowing the three members of Team 7 to move freely.

Naruto guessed that Kakashi should be reporting his mission experience in Wave Country to the Third Hokage.

After all, it is a mission with a real difficulty of B.

Although the mission in Wave Country ended happily for everyone, all necessary procedures were still followed after the mission was completed.

Moreover, among the three members of Team 7, there is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the last Uchiha of Konoha. The process of Kakashi's report will become more complicated than that of an ordinary ninja team and will consume a lot of time.

Just as Naruto guessed, after letting Team 7 move freely, Kakashi did not gather everyone again until the next day after returning to the village.

After Kakashi assembled Team 7 again, Naruto used the Wind Caressing Dawn Technique to retcon the members of the "Root" organization who were spying on him in the village.

Danzo did not send additional surveillance personnel, which meant that the preventive measures Naruto left for Kakashi in the Land of Waves had taken effect.

Next, Team 7 returned to their daily routine before heading to the Land of Waves, carrying out ninja work of D-rank missions.

The morning of June 24th arrived in an ordinary and boring manner.

But Naruto knew very well that today would definitely be an interesting day.

Naruto still remembers that in the original "Naruto", the third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen clearly revealed the time when the Chunin Exam would begin.

That is July 1st.

And today happens to be the day when foreign ninjas enter Konoha for the joint Chunin Exam hosted by the Fire Country Konoha Ninja Village and participated by ninjas from many countries.

"The day of defecting from Konoha is getting closer."

Thinking this in his mind, Naruto secretly reminded himself that the more critical the moment, the more cautious he should be.

In order to defect to Konoha, Naruto has been preparing for this since he traveled through time.

This Chunin Exam ended with the death of the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage. The forces involved included Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Danzo... and the Akatsuki organization that appeared in Konoha shortly after the Chunin Exam.

Facing these guys, if Naruto is not careful, all his preparations may turn into foam phantoms in an instant and all his efforts will be in vain.

But the dangers and opportunities are equal.

It is in this complex crisis that Naruto has the possibility to completely break free from Konoha's shackles.

“Opportunities always hide in danger.”

Naruto made up his mind. He put on the forehead protector that represented his identity as a Konoha ninja and walked out of his house.

……

Same day, noon, Hokage's office.

Although the Hokage has busy work every day, he can complete it in an orderly manner by himself.

There were rarely any days like today when all the Chunins, Special Jonins, and Jonins from the village gathered in the office.

The ninjas in the village all came in response to the call of the Hokage.

"It seems everyone is here."

The Sandaime reached out and straightened the Hokage hat on his head, and took a quick glance at the people standing in front of him.

The ninjas of Konoha were summoned to the Hokage so urgently, but they did not show any anxious or worried expressions.

"Looking at your expressions, you should already know why I called you here, right?"

The third generation asked back.

In response to the Sandaime's rhetorical question, the ninjas gathered in the Hokage's office, in order of ninja rank from high to low, elected a representative to answer from among the jonin standing in the front row.

A jonin with long silver hair, a Konoha forehead protector covering his left eye, and a black mask hiding half of his face - took a step forward.

"It's about the Chunin Exam, right? After all, many daimyo have come to the village recently. I guess you invited them here—"

Kakashi answered, but he still had doubts: "But when is the exam?"

"In a week, on July 1st, Konoha will officially begin the Chunin Exams."

The third generation's words stunned all the ninjas.

“I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

Among the jonin, there is a man with a black watermelon-shaped haircut, extremely thick black eyebrows, and wearing a green tights that looks like a strange costume.

He expressed surprise at how close the Chuunin Exams were.

"Kai!"

Next to this peculiarly dressed jonin, there was another Konoha jonin, a man with a beard and a cigarette dangling from his lips, who spoke up to remind Kai that his remarks were inappropriate at the moment.

"It's alright, Asuma."

Sandai stopped the man with the cigarette from making a fuss.

"It's normal for Kai to have doubts. After all, according to my thinking, the Chunin Exam will probably take another month or two."

The three generations expressed their thoughts.

"In that case, Third Hokage, why did you hold the exam early?"

This time it was the female jonin standing next to Asuma who spoke. She had long black hair, a pair of eye-catching red eyes, and lipstick on her lips.

"This is the request from the Fourth Kazekage."

The third generation spoke up and explained the reason.

After he finished speaking, he looked at the four jonin who had just spoken: "So, what do you four think about this Chunin Exam? According to the rules, as long as the Genin completes a sufficient number of tasks, you, as the jonin in charge, can recommend them to participate in the Chunin Exam."

Among the four, the Jonin in green tights spoke first: "I, Team 3 led by Might Guy, will recommend Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten to participate in this Chunin Exam."

Kai's choice did not surprise everyone. The three Genin in Team 3 led by him had graduated from the Ninja School last year and were already qualified to take part in the Chunin Exam.

But the remaining three people, and the Genin they led, just graduated from the Ninja Academy in March of this year.

It has only been more than three months since I became a Genin.

Just when everyone thought that this time only Kai would let his ninja class take the exam.

Kakashi also chose to let his ninja team take part in the exam: "I, Team 7 led by Hatake Kakashi, will recommend Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura to participate in this Chunin Exam."

Then, the jonin in charge of Team 8, Kurenai Yuhi, also recommended three genin under her command: Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka.

Asuma Sarutobi, the jonin in charge of Team 10, also recommended Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino from his own team.