Gaara didn’t die, so Granny Chiyo didn’t have to sacrifice herself to revive the Kazekage of her village.

Although Sasuke and Kakashi were a bit drained, they recovered quickly. Kakashi’s condition looked serious, but in reality, it had no lasting effects, and after a few days of rest, he would be nearly fully recovered.

After a simple two-day rest in the Sand Village, the Konoha group quickly began their journey back.

Once they left the Sand Village, they were finally able to ask the questions they had previously found inconvenient to bring up.

"Kakashi-sensei, has Sasuke been training with you for the past two years?"

Kakashi could now walk normally, which was much better than being carried by Guy like in the original timeline. Back then, he had only used Kamui a few times, while this time, he had used the Perfect Susanoo.

Regardless, Kakashi’s combat strength had surpassed that of an ordinary ninja. As some fans in his past life would say, he was definitely at Kage-level.

Sasuke could also be considered to have reached the threshold of Kage-level. As long as he could fully master Susanoo, his strength would definitely be recognized as Kage-level. Even with a slightly relaxed standard, his current strength already qualified.

By comparison, although Naruto was strong and far from Genin-level, the gap between him and the other two was still significant.

He had also noticed this large difference in power and was eager to know how Sasuke had trained to grow so strong.

"No, for most of the past two years, Sasuke has been receiving guidance from Ethan."

Occasionally, he also received advice from Itachi, but Itachi’s instruction mainly focused on the use and experience of Mangekyo Sharingan techniques. He didn’t offer many suggestions regarding specific ninjutsu or taijutsu. The only area he gave more input on was genjutsu, but Sasuke had limited interest in it, and his talent in genjutsu was far inferior to Itachi’s, so he hadn’t put much effort into that area.

"Because of Ethan?"

Naruto suddenly felt that this made perfect sense. Ethan had also guided him before, and during that time, his strength had indeed improved rapidly.

Unfortunately, the time had been too short, and most of his training was still with Jiraiya.

It wasn’t that Jiraiya’s teaching was lacking. His training over the past two years had indeed improved his strength significantly. However, Sasuke’s progress was so astonishing that Naruto couldn’t help but wonder—if he had trained with Ethan for more than two years, would he have become even stronger?

With Naruto’s personality, he wouldn’t dwell on this thought for long. The idea only flashed through his mind. Soon, he began thinking: once they returned to Konoha, could he ask Ethan for guidance?

This mission had made him fully realize how lacking his current strength was. Those two Akatsuki members were incredibly strong, and he wasn’t able to handle either of them. Meanwhile, Sasuke could hold his own against both at once.

He didn’t want to return to being a burden on the team again.

Just as Naruto was trying to figure out how to bring it up, Ethan suddenly stopped. Then, as if he had just remembered something, he smacked his right fist into his left palm.

"I’m such an idiot. Why are we walking back to Konoha?"

"???"

The group looked at him in confusion. Before anyone could ask, Ethan suddenly called out to the side, "Itachi, stop hiding. I’ll take you back to Konoha directly."

Under Sasuke’s surprised gaze, Itachi stepped out from the shadows. He hadn’t expected his brother to be here this time too.

"I thought you were planning to use this opportunity to relax a bit."

Itachi had already thought of this, but didn’t say anything, assuming Ethan wanted to spend some time wandering outside. He didn’t expect Ethan had simply forgotten he could use the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"We’ll talk more after we get back."

Kakashi also felt it was better to wait until they returned to Konoha to talk. Although the Sand Village was an allied country, caution was still necessary while outside. It wasn’t a good environment for casual conversation.

"Put your hands on my shoulders."

Everyone placed their hands on Ethan’s shoulders. In the next moment, they felt a sudden weightlessness. When they regained their balance, the scenery around them had changed.

"I didn’t go straight into the village. This place is just a half-hour walk from Konoha’s gate."

The group looked around. They were all familiar with this area. It was the forest near the main road leading to Konoha’s gate. Walking a few dozen meters to the side would bring them back onto the main path.

"Let’s go!"

Everyone was thrilled to be back so quickly. The Sand Village’s environment was far too harsh, with wind and sand everywhere. The fine sand was particularly uncomfortable for those accustomed to Konoha’s pleasant conditions.

Now that they were back, all they wanted was to return home, enjoy a hot bath, wash off all the sand, and then think about what to do next.

Itachi changed back into his Anbu uniform and returned to Konoha via a more covert route to report to the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

Kakashi took the younger ones to submit their mission report, while Ethan strolled home first. After taking a bath and changing into loose, comfortable clothes, he headed over to the Hokage’s office.

"I thought you weren’t going to come."

"How could I not? I still have great respect for Hokage-sama."

"Well, at least you didn’t wait until tomorrow to show up."

Only Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Ethan were in the office. From this setup, Ethan immediately understood what they wanted to ask.

"What do you think of those two Akatsuki members’ strength?"

Kakashi had already submitted a detailed report. Based on his information, the two Akatsuki members they encountered this time were Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara.

Both were well-known rogue ninja and considered extremely dangerous in the ninja world.

From Kakashi’s description, the two of them were indeed formidable and lived up to their reputations.

Yet such powerful enemies were easily killed by Ethan. This left Tsunade speechless. Ethan’s strength seemed even more terrifying than she had previously thought.

Jiraiya was even more shocked. After spending over two years outside the village, he returned to find Konoha had changed drastically. The biggest reason for that change was Ethan.

"Not much..."

Ethan casually found a place to lean against. Originally, there had been a desk prepared for him in the Hokage’s office, but after Tsunade completed the internal restructuring of the village, she no longer needed an assistant. Naturally, the extra desk had been removed.

"Within the Akatsuki organization, the only ones who are truly dangerous are their apparent leader, Pain, and... the mastermind who calls himself Madara Uchiha."

This wasn’t a spoiler, because Itachi had returned to Konoha and brought back a large amount of intel on the Akatsuki. This included the fact that Obito, who was impersonating Madara Uchiha, was the mastermind. Since Itachi knew, it meant the higher-ups in Konoha also knew. They even had a decent grasp of the current Akatsuki members, though they still lacked detailed knowledge about the abilities of some.

However, the powers of Madara Uchiha and Pain were already clear: the mysterious Mangekyo Sharingan techniques and the legendary Rinnegan.

When Jiraiya learned that the Akatsuki leader possessed the Rinnegan, he had wanted to go investigate the Hidden Rain Village. But he had some loose ends to tie up first, which was why he hadn’t gone yet.

However, he now realized there was a more pressing issue.

"Ethan..."

"Hmm?"

"Who exactly are you?"

No matter how he looked at it, Ethan couldn’t be just an ordinary civilian kid. Especially with how fast his strength had grown, it was terrifying. Not even the two powerful Akatsuki members could withstand a single move from him.

With that kind of power, he could easily knock out everyone in Konoha. Maybe only the legendary God of Shinobi, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, could be compared to him.

Could someone from an ordinary civilian background, not even seventeen years old yet, really achieve that?

"Oh, you finally asked. I thought you’d never bring it up."

As he grew more uninhibited, even without showing godlike power, his strength had far surpassed what others could imagine.

Especially when he casually dealt with powerful enemies because he found it troublesome, it was just too shocking.

Tsunade had also told Jiraiya that Ethan had an extremely deep understanding of ninjutsu and chakra, and could even freely combine kekkei genkai, including the Sharingan, based on his understanding of chakra. At that point, Jiraiya had already been convinced that Ethan’s background wasn’t simple.

"Have you heard of reincarnation?"

"..."

Tsunade had remained silent, quietly listening to their conversation. She also wanted to know the answer, but at the same time feared hearing the answer she didn’t want. Her emotions were conflicted.

Suddenly hearing the word "reincarnation," she was stunned.

"You’re not about to tell us you’re the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths, are you?"

Jiraiya didn’t really believe it, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a reasonable explanation. Other than the Sage of Six Paths, who else could possibly understand chakra to this extent?

"I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m not the Sage of Six Paths..."

That old ghost hasn’t reincarnated at all. He’s probably still hiding somewhere, smugly observing this world he deeply influenced.

"However, I do know who the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths have reincarnated into."

"The Sage of Six Paths’ sons?" Tsunade frowned. Although she didn’t believe it, she still asked curiously, "Who are they?"

"Naruto. And..." Ethan said two names that were incredibly familiar and left them both stunned, "Sasuke."

(To be continued.)

◇◇◇

◇ One bonus Chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.

◇ You can read the ahead Chapter on Pat if you’re interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)