They ducked into an alleyway three blocks away, out of sight from any patrolling Anbu.
"Y-You defeat Kurenai-sensei?" Yakumo gasped, leaning against the brick wall as she tried to catch her breath. Her dark eyes were wide with utter disbelief. "She's a Jonin master of Genjutsu! How did you..."
"Simple," Naruto said, leaning his hands behind his head as his loud, cheery grin returned. "People who spend all their time mastering illusions forget that the mind is just another battlefield. You push where they expect a wall, and they trap themselves."
Sai took a step closer, his empty black eyes fixed entirely on Naruto. The pale boy pulled a small scroll and an ink brush from his pouch, casually twirling the brush between his fingers.
"Fascinating," Sai remarked, his voice lacking even a trace of natural cadence. "You feigned incompetence during the physical evaluation yesterday to mislead the observers in the trees. Yet, today, you openly displayed elite-level Genjutsu casting to defeat a Jonin. Your behavioral pattern is entirely illogical, Naruto-kun. Which version of you is the lie?"
Naruto's grin didn't fade, but his blue eyes turned ice-cold for a fraction of a second.
"Both of them," Naruto replied smoothly. "Or neither. Depends on who's asking."
Deep in the mindscape, Kurama chuckled-a low, reverberating rumble that shook the damp sewer pipes. "The kid is playing with fire. Danzo's little doll is going to report every word of this."
Naruto ignored the fox, turning his full attention back to the trembling girl beside them. "Anyway, Yakumo. A bet's a bet. You promised to get ramen with us, right?"
Yakumo looked between the chaotic, unpredictable blond boy and the hollow, smiling pale boy. For the first time in years, the suffocating darkness inside her own mind felt just a little bit quieter. A faint, genuine smile touched her lips. "R-Right. Let's go."
Later, as they arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, the fragrant smell of broth instantly caught their attention.
Naruto: "Hello, Teuchi-san, Ayame-nee chan."
"Hi there, Naruto." Teuchi smiled at Naruto. "Brought friends here today?"
"Yep." Naruto nodded. "Three special order, please!"
"Coming." Ayame said as she began making the ramens.
The three sat down. Sai instantly turned to Naruto and asked. "You know, don't you?"
Naruto: "Know what?"
"That I'm one of them, those guys that observed you everyday." Sai said as he narrowed his eyes. "Why did you show your abilities?"
Hearing this, Naruto only smiled faintly.
Sai: "What? What's so funny?"
"The moment you saw it, you asked why I did it instantly, not amazed by it like any other kids." Naruto turned to him slightly. "They must have damaged you very badly, huh?"
Sai's hand froze as he reached for a pair of chopsticks. The empty, practiced smile on his face flickered-just for a microsecond-before snapping back into place.
"Damaged?" Sai repeated, his voice perfectly flat, though his dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I am an operative of Root. We have no names, no feelings, no past, and no future. We exist only to serve the Leaf from the shadows. There is nothing to damage."
Naruto picked up his chopsticks, breaking them apart with a quiet snap. He didn't look back at Sai, keeping his gaze fixed on the steaming bowl of ramen Ayame had just placed in front of him.
"Yeah, that's what they made you believe," Naruto said softly, blowing on the hot broth. "They cut away everything that makes you a person until you're just a puppet holding a sword. But a puppet doesn't ask why, Sai. The second you asked me why I showed my power, you proved you still have a mind of your own. Your 'master' can erase your name, but he can't erase your curiosity."
Beside them, Yakumo listened in silence, her hands trembling as she held her spoon. She looked at Naruto, then at Sai, realizing both of these boys were carrying heavy, silent burdens of their own.
Sai stared at Naruto, his mind racing to process the statement. Root's training was absolute; emotion was supposed to be completely eradicated. Yet, Naruto's words pierced through his mental conditioning with terrifying ease.
Sai: "Danzo-sama does whatever it takes to keep the village safe. He is the Root that keeps the tree survive."
"Really?" Naruto titled his head. "From my perspective, he only serves himself. For example, he has tried to assassinate Old man Hiruzen multiple times to take control of Konoha, he always tries to seize power all to himself. Hell, he is doing it right now by sending you to approach me. And the most important thing? He's a coward."
"What did you just say?" Sai turned serious instantly.
"You heard me." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "He tried to assassinate the Hokage multiple times just to gain power. If he thinks he's worthy of being the Hokage, why hasn't he gained the title with his true abilities? Not to mention, he built his own faction hidden from even the Hokage to do many dirty works."
Sai: "As I said, Naruto, Danzo-sama needs to do whatever it takes, even becoming the necessary evil, to defend the village."
"Defend from what?" Naruto snapped. "It's no longer war times anymore, you know? And besides, there are many ways to maintain the village's military forces without hiding in the shadow. I mean, have you seen Kumo? They don't have any dark organizations, yet they still have the most sustainable and they are amongst the most powerful military forces in the Elemental Nations."
Sai: "But is Kumo the strongest?"
"Apparently, yes." Naruto closed his eyes. "From what I know thanks to the rumors, and in the news, Kiri is unstable right now, Suna only has the One-tail, Iwa is still struggling in politics, not to mention the potential of a civil war like in Kiri. As for Konoha, the Yondaime and the Uchiha clan are dead. Orochimaru defected from Konoha, the other two of the Legendary Sannins, along with the Sandaime, are getting old. We don't have many S-class shinobis. The game-changing element is the Jinchuriki. But I'm just a kid without the ability to control the Kyubi, so I can't beat a perfect Jinchurikis like Killer B or Yugito Nii from Kumo."
Sai's empty expression completely collapsed, replaced by a rare, genuine stun. His mind rattled through the archives of ROOT's high-level intelligence reports, cross-referencing every single word Naruto had just spoken. The kid wasn't just rambling-he was dropping raw, ruthless geopolitical analysis that most Jōnin didn't even grasp.
Yakumo sat frozen, her spoon hovering halfway to her mouth. The sheer weight of Naruto's words felt far heavier than any Genjutsu she had ever encountered.
"You..." Sai swallowed, his voice losing its artificial edge entirely. "How can an eight-year-old child know the internal military standings of the Five Great Nations?"
Naruto took a calm sip of his soup, letting the silence stretch before setting his bowl down with a quiet clatter.
"Because while Danzo keeps you locked in a dark room painting targets, I actually read," Naruto said, his eyes locking onto Sai with terrifying clarity. "Information isn't secret if you know where to look, Sai. The Leaf is living on borrowed time and past glory. Danzo isn't 'protecting' anything-he's cannibalizing our own village from the inside, crippling potential, and turning kids into empty shells because he's too paranoid to trust anyone he can't leash."
Naruto then turned his gaze slightly toward Yakumo, his tone softening just a fraction.
"And it's the same with you, Yakumo. They treat your power like a curse and try to lock you away because they're afraid of what they can't control. But running away or letting them seal you up won't make the pain go away."
Yakumo gripped her spoon tightly, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as her inner darkness stirred, yet somehow felt contained by Naruto's sheer presence. "Then... what are we supposed to do?"
"Simple," Naruto grinned, the heavy aura vanishing instantly as he picked up a pair of chopsticks and dug into his noodles. "We get strong enough that nobody can decide our lives for us. Not Danzo, not the elders, and not some clan rulebook."
Sai stared at his untouched bowl of ramen, the ink-black core of his ROOT foundation cracking just a little bit more. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to write in his report.