In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

Jiraiya's words halted abruptly. He jumped off the railing, quickly moved to in front of Naruto and lifted up his shirt to see his belly.

"The Four Symbols Seal is gone?" Jiraiya broke into a cold sweat as he looked up at Naruto, "Are you alright?"

"Do I look like I'm not?" Naruto replied, pulling his shirt back down with a hint of annoyance, "It's just Kyubi. Not all Jinchuriki are weaker than their Biju."

Jiraiya was stunned for a long time, then looked at Naruto's expression, and was rendered speechless. He had too many questions to ask, but he didn't know where to begin.

"When did it happen?"

"It's been a while." Naruto said, rubbing his nose, "I wasn't sure how to tell anyone. But basically, I'm no longer the Kyubi's Jinchuriki."

"Where's the Kyubi?"

Naruto wanted to say, 'In my living room,' but felt that answer might be too shocking, so he changed his answer.

"Not sure. Maybe it ran away."

Hearing this, Jiraiya began to doubt his life. He even felt that the scene before him was almost surreal.

'The Kyubi had run away?' His understanding of everything was turned upside down at this moment.

"How did this happen? Who took out the Kyubi from you?"

"No idea. I woke up one day and the seal was gone." Naruto lied casually, "The fox in my belly was gone too, but luckily, I seem to still be able to use a portion of the Kyubi's Chakra?"

"Are you really okay? I need to have Tsunade check on you later." Jiraiya circled around Naruto, examining him repeatedly until he was finally convinced that the Kyubi was indeed gone.

"A portion of the Chakra? Approximately how much? Have you tried using it?" Jiraiya asked.

'Approximately one and a half Yang Kyubi worth of Chakra… Well, there's no way I can say that. A portion that exceeded 100%. This wasn't just 'a portion', it was clearly an overflow.'

"Haven't really tested it, but there's quite a lot anyway," Naruto explained, "Overall, it's probably a good thing. I just haven't told anyone about it yet."

"What about Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked suspiciously.

"Nope, I haven't mentioned it to Tsunade-sama either." Naruto firmly denied, "If the higher-ups wanted to develop the Kyubi's Jinchuriki, they're bound to be disappointed."

"But you still expressed the desire to enter the rank of higher-ups?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. At this moment, he realized that Naruto had really grown up.

"Naruto, you're a bit sneaky, aren't you?"

"Cough, cough, Pervy Sage, I don't understand what you're talking about." Naruto replied, "I only told you, so don't go spilling the beans."

Jiraiya glanced at Naruto a few times, then became increasingly convinced that this kid was becoming more like a little monster.

Naturally, he had learned about what had happened in the village during this period, and he also knew that the higher-ups had the idea of developing the village's Jinchuriki.

Tsunade's stance was the same as his, and they would never agree to the higher-ups' plans. In the higher-ups' eyes, Naruto was just a Jinchuriki, but to Jiraiya, Naruto was his disciple.

As long as he and Tsunade disagreed, it didn't matter how hard the higher-ups pushed. But he couldn't be certain that Danzo and the two old Advisors wouldn't come up with other strategies, like using village public opinion to apply pressure.

It was out of concern for these uncertainties that, after communicating with Tsunade, Jiraiya abandoned his plan to infiltrate the Land of Rain for intelligence gathering and returned early.

It was all to solidify Naruto's seemingly far-fetched idea, to enter the rank of higher-ups as the Clan Head of the Uzumaki Clan.

Since Gaara had already secured the Kazekage's position at a young age, it wouldn't be surprising for Naruto to become a higher-up. Even though Konoha hadn't had anyone so young in such a position before, precedents are meant to be broken.

The situations of Konoha and Sunagakure are similar, as both experiencing a generational gap in leadership.

Kakashi's generation had experienced war, and the Shinobi who survived were indeed outstanding. But those who surpassed Kakashi were few, and the village would almost certainly rely on Kakashi's generation to support it.

There are no qualified talents among the generation below Kakashi's, so Konoha's future rested almost entirely on this batch of children trained by the Sandaime Hokage. Since it's like that, when truly exceptional talent appears, why not break precedents?

Jiraiya was almost seventy to eighty percent certain that the higher-ups would give in.

Because the development of Jinchuriki has been firmly blocked by Tsunade and him, so if the higher-ups still want to gain benefits from Jinchuriki in the future, they'd have to agree to Naruto's proposal.

This was the compromise that both he and Tsunade hoped to see. Naruto would contribute to Konoha as a higher-up, but would retain his autonomy and no longer be just a weapon of the village.

Soon, Uzumaki Naruto would be the head of the Uzumaki Clan, a disciple of the Sannin, and the youngest high-ranking member of Konoha.

But now... everything had changed.

The unaware higher-ups might still agree, but Naruto was no longer the Kyubi's Jinchuriki. Konoha had lost its Biju and gained a young higher-up.

The idea of the Konoha's higher-ups to continue to seek benefits from the Jinchuriki is doomed to fail, and they may even lose a higher-up position to Naruto.

Jiraiya could already imagine how green the higher-ups' faces would be when they learned the truth.

A bit sneaky, but beneficial for Naruto.

Jiraiya's only concern was: Where had Kyubi gone? After all, if it ended up in another village's hands, it would be a major threat to Konoha.

Looking at Jiraiya who was slowly falling into deep thought, Naruto spoke up first, casually saying, "Pervy Sage, I'm heading back first. Remember, keep it secret."

Jiraiya didn't know what to say. He instinctively wanted to call Naruto back to get to the bottom of this, but after a moment's thought, he dismissed the idea.

He felt that it's a good thing for Naruto to lose the Kyubi. Jiraiya decided it was better to find a tavern and calm down, to sort through everything himself.

"So troublesome." Jiraiya muttered.

He let Naruto leave just like that, and as he watched Naruto's retreating figure, Jiraiya felt an inexplicable sense of relief, 'That kid had already borne too much. Perhaps it was good for him to be a bit more carefree.'

'As for what remained, let me be the one to shoulder it.'

Step by step, Naruto descended the stairs with his hands in his pockets, but he's feeling far from calm inside.

'Finally, this day has come. From now on, Konoha is Konoha and me is me. The Kyubi's Jinchuriki was no more, and the shackles on my body are gone.'

Here's a joke: A guy from another world went through hell for a pile of garbage, rising to prominence over thirty years, crushing his rivals and sweeping through enemies. He finally reached the pinnacle of power, only to take a bite of that garbage.

Isn't that just disgusting?

The so-called peace in the Shinobi World, the redemption of villains, and everyone's personal salvation… it was all trash to Naruto. He didn't care what others wanted, he only knew what he wanted.

He took it easy because taking it easy got him stronger faster than working hard.

This world was never so kind, the dead crawled from graves, and the strong were reincarnated. Bloodline reigned supreme, and the power of the Otsutsuki caused all order to collapse. The Shinobi World became a ranch for the Otsutsuki Clan, and humans became mere livestock.

Naruto harbored a small ambition in his heart: If the system didn't fail him, he hoped to one day rip off the robes of the Shinigami and peel away the mask of the Jashin, then see how they could stomach letting a few Otsutsuki continue to jump around.

'To revive the glory of Uzumaki Clan and rebuild the order of the Shinobi World, I, a stranger in a strange land, have to rely on myself!'