In Naruto: Reborn with a Chat Group-Chapter 143 - 142: Scaring The Shit Out Of Tazuna

Kakashi thought for a moment, weighing his options before letting out a sigh. "Well, I guess we have no choice. We'll protect you at least until you get back to the Land of Waves."

The moment he said that, Tazuna's eyes lit up. He quickly bowed his head. "Thank you so much! Konoha's ninjas really are the best..."

"Wait a second." Makoto's voice cut through the conversation like a blade.

Everyone turned to look at him, curious about what he had to say.

Makoto crossed his arms and smirked. "If I remember correctly, you just said that if you die, your daughter will hate the Leaf ninjas for the rest of her life. In other words... your daughter will become our enemy, right?"

Tazuna felt a shiver run down his spine.

The grin on Makoto's face sent a deep sense of unease creeping over him.

Makoto turned to Kakashi and casually asked, "Mr. Kakashi, how do we usually deal with our enemies?"

Kakashi knew exactly where this was going, but he answered anyway. "Kill them, of course."

Makoto nodded thoughtfully. Then, with the same easygoing smile, he turned back to Tazuna.

"So, since your daughter will be our enemy... wouldn't it be better to eliminate her now?"

Tazuna's face paled instantly after hearing his words.

Makoto continued, his tone still disturbingly casual. "Not only did you lie about the mission details, but it also looks like Gato is filthy rich. What if he hires ninjas way stronger than us? Even if we die protecting you, your daughter is going to hate us anyway."

He shrugged. "In that case, wouldn't it be smarter to nip the problem in the bud and just head back to the village?"

Tazuna never imagined that a child like Makoto could say something so cold and heartless.

He had been sure that guilt-tripping these ninjas would work and that they'd protect him out of sympathy.

'But why...why isn't this kid falling for it?!'

"But... but if you kill her mother, and if I die... my eight-year-old granddaughter will be left all alone! She'll cry herself to sleep every night! She'll be an orphan!"

Makoto simply shook his head. His expression remained indifferent. "Doesn't matter. I'll just reunite your family in the afterlife."

Tazuna's blood ran cold. His body shrank back in terror. 'This... this isn't a ninja...'

'This kid is a demon!'

Kakashi frowned slightly.

He couldn't understand why Makoto was being so hostile toward their client.

From his perspective, even if the mission was upgraded to A-rank, Makoto alone would be more than enough to handle it.

Sasuke was momentarily stunned but as usual, he kept his emotions hidden. Naruto, however, immediately spoke up, his face full of confusion.

"Hey, Makoto! How can you say something like that?! Tazuna's obviously in trouble! Can't we just help him?! Why are you so against him?"

Sakura nodded slightly, agreeing with Naruto's words.

The next moment, Makoto pulled out his sword and asked a question. "Naruto...what's your dream?"

Naruto blinked in confusion. 'Huh? Why's he asking me about my dream all of a sudden? Weren't we just talking about Tazuna?'

Even though he was puzzled, he still answered without hesitation.

"Of course, my dream is to become Hokage! You already know that, Makoto!"

Hearing Naruto's response, Makoto smiled slightly and shook his head. "Naruto, since you want to be Hokage, tell me, doesn't the Hokage have a responsibility to protect the ninjas of the village?"

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah... but what does that have to do with old man Tazuna?"

Makoto's gaze sharpened as he continued.

"The Hokage is the one who assigns missions. Ninjas complete these missions and receive rewards based on their difficulty. That's how the system works."

He took a step forward. "But what happens if everyone starts doing what Tazuna did? If people start lying about mission ranks, hiding crucial details, and sending ninja into unknown danger?"

Makoto's voice grew colder. "If that happens, do you know what follows?"

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"Casualties. Endless casualties."

Naruto's expression stiffened.

"Take today as an example," Makoto continued.

"If our team wasn't this strong, if Mr. Kakashi and I weren't here, and if another team had been sent instead, a team made up of one Chunin and three Genin, do you really think they would've survived against the enemies?"

"They'd be dead, Naruto. Dead."

"All because of a lie"

Naruto swallowed, his fists clenching.

"If you were Hokage, would you really allow that? Would you let your own ninja walk into death just because someone didn't want to pay the right price for protection?"

Makoto's eyes locked onto Naruto's. "You want to be Hokage? I respect that. I support you. We're friends. But if you want that title, then you need to understand, rules exist for a reason. If you ignore them, people die."

Naruto stood frozen, his brain struggling to fully process everything Makoto had just said.

He wasn't the smartest, but he could understand one thing.

Makoto was telling him that missions needed to be handled fairly for the sake of ninja safety.

'So...' he thought to himself. 'The harder the job, the bigger the risk... and the bigger the risk, the more they need to pay...'

It was the first time he had ever thought about things from the Hokage's perspective.

Thinking about it, Naruto realized that what Makoto said actually made sense.

But something still felt...off.

'Wait a minute...' he thought, frowning slightly.

'Shouldn't I be the one convincing Makoto? How did things flip around and now he's the one convincing me instead?!'

[Senju Tobirama: That's right! Boy, why don't you just become the Fifth Hokage? If you take the position, our village will definitely flourish! I swear, you already sound more competent than Hiruzen!]

[Uzumaki Kushina: Tch! I still don't understand what's so great about being Hokage! When I was a kid, I kept saying I wanted to be Hokage like some big idiot! Then Minato actually became Hokage! And now my Naruto is the same!]

[First me, then Minato, and now Naruto?! This must be some kind of CURSE!!!]

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Sparky's Note: Alright, folks, we're just 80s power stones away from the next bonus chapter.

Let's smash that goal in the next 30 minutes, yeah?