In the endless yellow sand, Naruto, wrapped in a thick cloak, and a group of five were struggling to move forward in the desert under the scorching direct sunlight.

If it had been according to the original plan, Naruto and his party would have successfully arrived in the Sand Hidden Village three days ago...... The reason why it took so much extra time along the way, in addition to taking a detour to the Grass Ninja Village, was also the reason why he deliberately slowed down in order to take care of Xiangri's mother and daughter.

After all, under the inhuman abuse of Kusano Ninja Village for a long time, although the mother and daughter of Kaori gave complete trust to Naruto and his party, who had the grace to save their lives, they still had a deep fear and vigilance towards others after all. So much so that when Naruto proposed that elite members from the Root Organization would be selected to join and pick up the mother and daughter to return to the village first, the mother and daughter would rather endure the arduous hike of trekking through mountains and rivers than go to the Konoha Ninja Village without relatives. After several attempts of persuasion failed, Naruto had no choice but to reluctantly agree to take the two of them on the road and set off for Sand Hidden Village together.

Of course, agreeing to follow the mother and daughter will inevitably require two additional supplies. But firstly, because the mother and daughter had just escaped from the Grass Ninja Village, in order to avoid extraneous branches, Naruto and his party chose to avoid the Grass Ninja Village and all the villages around the Grass Ninja Village, and secondly, on the way to the Sand Hidden Village, due to the treacherous geographical environment, there were almost no villages on the way except for the destination of the Sand Hidden Village. As a result, Naruto had to find an excuse to leave temporarily so that he could use the Flying Thunder God technique to go home and get the supplies he needed directly from the Konoha Ninja Village.

It was also at this time, because Naruto was like the blue fat man in the crew next door from time to time, and he was able to bring back a lot of urgently needed supplies after only a short period of time, so that Naruto and his party did not have to worry about getting supplies at all, and it also aroused the curiosity and suspicion of his fellow travelers.

For the mother and daughter who have just joined the team, because they have lived in the grass ninja village for a long time, they have no chance to go out hiking, so the mother and daughter have no idea about the distribution of the villages in the outside world. In addition, although they were curious about how Naruto could always find a large number of urgently needed supplies, the mother and daughter themselves knew nothing about Naruto's abilities, and they were rescued from Kusano Village by Naruto and his party, so they were psychologically embarrassed to ask Naruto's secrets too much. And these supplies are only good for their own group, and there is no harm in it. As a result, Naruto simply said, "My luck was that I found a small village nearby that wasn't marked on the map." The lame reason was easily appeased and fooled.

But for Shisui, who clearly understands the identity of the new head of the root organization that Naruto secretly has now, and as he gets along with Naruto day by day, he increasingly believes that Naruto can't be regarded as an ordinary child, but he is not as easily fooled by Naruto as he is like the mother and daughter......

First, it was because the three generations of Hokage accepted Naruto's proposal a few years ago, and took advantage of the attention of his group of elders to focus on the imminent conflict between the three generations of Hokage and group of elders, as well as the opportunity of Naruto, who was a descendant of heroes, but was regarded as a humanoid weapon by them because of his human pillar force, and quietly arranged Shisui into the shadows under his command, and secretly carefully trained and cultivated. Although Zhishui is immature and his cultivation has not yet been completely completed, he does not have the experience of leaving the village too many times to carry out tasks. However, in order to not lose the map and not find the north when he goes out on a mission in the future, Zhishui also took time to read the content of the memory world map during the rest time of his practice!

Although the content on the map is too complicated, and there are a lot of courses that need to be learned on weekdays, Zhishui does not have much thought and energy to deliberately memorize, so Zhishui only remembers seven, seven, eight or eight so far. But at least, Zhishui's heart knows very well that along the way, even if there are one or two small villages that have been left out, there shouldn't be so many? Otherwise, this so-called world map will be of no use at all.

Besides, in Shisui's mind, Naruto, who was immature, should have left the village for the first time like children of the same age. Aside from the map guidance, Naruto may not have as much knowledge of the distribution of villages outside as the mother and daughter. In other words, if it wasn't on the map, he wouldn't have been able to find a village that could be resupplied in such a short period of time.

Second, because of the large number of supplies needed, when Naruto hurriedly replenished them, he didn't notice that he had committed a fatal little detail - that was the taste of food.

When he returned home with the Flying Thunder God Technique and finished eating the ice drink, Naruto had brought back some chilled red bean paste cooked by Mikoto himself for the sake of convenience. In the same way, when he took advantage of the Flying Thunder God's technique to collect the necessary materials several times in a short period of time, Naruto didn't realize that many of the food he brought back was also from Mikoto's craftsmanship. So much so that Zhishui, who is a close friend with Itachi, has long tasted this common characteristic in his own mouth.

Just like Naruto said, the source of supplies was a small village that wasn't marked on the nearby map...... The taste of the food, which is exactly the same as the food cooked by Mai Trin herself, appears once or twice, but it can be barely explained by coincidence. But if it becomes a common phenomenon, it is worth intriguing.

Although because he didn't know anything about Naruto's hole cards and life experience, let Zhishui not think about the Flying Thunder God technique at all for a while. But from the familiar taste of the food, he vaguely sensed that Naruto had some kind of special ability to travel quickly between his current location and the village. So much so that it would probably only be a matter of time before Shisui could perceive the tip of the iceberg of Naruto's hidden secrets.

As for the ferret...... Instead, he was the first in the team to understand the origin of the supplies.

After all, as early as when Naruto was three years old with him, he took the opportunity to get close to Itachi, deliberately relaxed his mind and allowed Itachi's consciousness to invade, so that Itachi could have almost all of Naruto's secrets and memories. Naturally, he had long known that Naruto had his father, the fourth generation of Hokage Wave Feng Shui Gate's famous stunt, the Flying Thunder God Technique. In this way, in this place where birds don't in front of the village and no shop in the back, why Naruto can always find a large number of supplies, and they are all urgently needed by the group, and there is no excess waste in the kind, isn't it obvious?

It's just that although Itachi knew it, he didn't reveal the truth to his best friend...... In addition to the important reason why he chose to respect Naruto's privacy in order to repay Naruto's trust in him. Because he has all the memories of Naruto's three-year-old period, Itachi already knew that the reason why his best friend Shisui was suddenly favored by the three generations of Hokage and personally recruited into the shadows controlled by the three generations of Hokage was because Naruto recommended Shisui to the three generations of Hokage in person.

In other words, Itachi knew in his heart that just as Naruto trusted himself, Naruto actually trusted Shisui...... The reason why he didn't reveal his secret to Shisui as openly as he did with himself, Naruto must have his own intentions. When the time comes, Naruto will definitely tell Shisui one by one.

Because of this, in Itachi's opinion, instead of disrespectfully revealing it directly to his best friend, thus disrupting Naruto's deployment. It's better to temporarily wronged your best friend, and let Zhishui temporarily be a cutie who is kept in the dark.

In addition, if there is any good news during the journey of Naruto and his party, it is the physical health of Kaori's mother.

During the days of hurrying, Xiangri's mother, who was originally as alive as a candle in the wind, had turned a lot more rosy due to Naruto's regular and uninterrupted treatment every day. Not only was the vitality almost completely restored after receiving Naruto's healing, abundant food supplements, and adequate sleep and rest. Even the various hidden diseases in his body that have survived due to the long-term abuse and torture of the Kusano Ninja Village have been cured by Naruto. And the remaining parts are completely cured only a matter of time.

In other words, now that I have officially set foot in the desert and headed for Sand Hidden Village. Xianglian's mother's body has recovered to the same extent as ordinary people. Even because of the innate huge vitality of the Uzumaki clan in Naruto's healing, it was reactivated by the chakra of the same ancestor and similar nature between Naruto and Xiangri's mother, and it became far healthier than ordinary people! So much so that even if you are now in the scorching desert full of yellow sand, after a long time of going deeper, your face is not red or panting, and you are full of energy as if you are nothing. Coupled with the fact that she was born in the Uzumaki clan and retains a certain ninja background, Xiangriu's mother followed closely behind the leader Naruto while holding Xiangriu's steps, although due to the scorching temperature of the baking, and in the process of body instinct heat dissipation, she inevitably became covered in sweat, but she still walked forward quickly!

"Mom, are you okay......"

From beginning to end, because of being firmly held in her mother's arms, although the young Xianglin was also sweating profusely from the heat, her physical strength was not consumed much. But even so, Xiang Li, who has been dependent on her mother since she was a child, saw that her mother was hot and became a sweaty person, and subconsciously opened the lid of the kettle full of water and handed it to her mother's mouth. While feeling distressed and worried about his mother, he pursed his lips and bit it, pulled the corner of his mother's clothes, and asked in a low voice tentatively.

"Mom has been carrying me for a long time, or ...... The rest of the road today, let me come down and walk by myself, right? ”

"Goo-goo...... Huh...... Don't worry, Xianglian, don't worry about your mother. ”

When the mouth was a little dry from the high temperature, Xianglian's mother didn't say anything polite to her daughter's kindness. Aim at the spout and drink freely, letting the cool water flow through your throat, moisturizing your throat as if it has a tendency to smoke. While chuckling and lowering his head, he kissed the remnants of his baby daughter's soft face with baby fat, and gently pampered and soothed.

"Mom is just a little hot, but she is far from feeling tired~ With Mom's current awesome body, even if she walks for another day and a night with Xianglin, there will be no problem."

"Really...... Can...... But ......"

"Good, obedient...... Besides, after staying in that village for so long, my mother has not sweated like she does now, after exercising enough. Therefore, my mother is not only not tired now, but she is becoming more and more energetic~ If you don't believe it, you see, Xianglian, my mother can walk a little faster. ”

At the same time, Naruto, who was walking at the front of the team, holding a compass in one hand and a map in the other, was correcting the direction of the team from time to time, and with the help of his own keen perception, he inadvertently listened to the conversation between the mother and daughter of Karuo. Immediately, through the deliberate exploration of her perception, she confirmed that the life breath of Xianglian's mother was indeed as she said, and there was no trend of deterioration and decay, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise slightly, revealing a gentle smile of satisfaction.

"Huh...... It seems that after the hidden injuries in the body are healed and recovered, there is no need to worry too much about whether my aunt can keep up with the team......"

Muttering to himself, he used the shadow clone to stay in place with the help of a short distance, using the shadow clone as a reference object, plus the accurate positioning of the compass in his hand. While allowing the team to keep moving in a straight line as much as possible in this vast desert, Naruto had a general understanding of the remaining distance with the accurate marking of the map in his hand, and then nodded slightly to decide.

"Well, let's speed it up a bit. Otherwise, according to the current schedule, I am afraid that I will have to sleep in the desert for another night tonight, and I will not be able to arrive at Shayin Village until tomorrow morning......"

It's not that Naruto and his party would have had any tricky problems if they camped in the desert...... But in Naruto's opinion, the temperature difference between day and night in the desert changed so much, it was nothing to them ninjas whose physique was far beyond ordinary people. But for Xianglian's mother, who is still recovering from her physical injuries, and Xianglian, who is still young, if she can still avoid camping in the desert, she will try to avoid it.

In addition, given that when rescuing Xiangri's mother, it was no more and no less just right time to appear, so that Naruto didn't dare to delay any longer after treating Xiangri's mother's body...... After all, God knows if he delays a little longer, will he miss the best opportunity to pacify and tame the young Yakura, and even because of the deviation in arrival time, he is powerless to change the death of Yakshamaru, causing Ara, like the development in the original book, to completely become a cold-blooded and ruthless monster?

This is not Naruto's unfounded thoughts, but the experience that his father Bo Feng Shuimen has exchanged for the lesson of blood......

If nothing else, if Father had been able to reach Kakashi and them a little earlier in the morning during the Battle of Kamino Bihashi...... Now, in the calculation and bewitchment of Madara Uchiha, hidden in the shadows, controlling the movements of the Akatsuki organization behind the scenes, and quietly brewing a crisis that is enough to subvert the entire ninja world, will it not appear at all?

"Well, after all, as a father with a golden glitter of Konoha and a golden flash, he always drops his chain at various critical moments...... In order to prevent me, as a son, from making the same mistake as Lao Tzu. I can't waste any more time in the rest of my time......"

Muttering to himself, the figure of Naruto and his party faded away after leaving a series of footprints of different shades. It gradually changed into a few small black dots in the desert, and finally disappeared completely into the endless yellow sand.

And the footprints they left behind quickly disappeared under the cover of the heat waves that blew from time to time and the yellow sand rolled up in the sky. After a short time, it was restored to its original condition, and no matter how closely Rao looked at it, he would never be able to see the traces of someone walking here......

(End of chapter)