In Naruto: Reborn with a Chat Group

After some discussion, Team 7, Makoto, and the less-than-1.5-meter-tall Tazuna agreed to meet at the village gates the next morning.

The next day, as the group gathered at the gate, Naruto stood at the front, practically bouncing with excitement.

"We're finally heading out on a mission outside the village!" he shouted, grinning ear to ear. "Sasuke! Makoto! This is awesome!"

Sasuke smirked slightly but said nothing.

His expression alone made it clear that he was just as eager as Naruto. Sakura, on the other hand, sighed as she watched Naruto hopping around like an overexcited monkey.

"What are you so worked up about?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "C'mon, Sakura! I've never left the village before! This is the first time since I was a kid! Same for you, right?"

He grinned and looked at the rest of the group. "This is the first time for all of us, Sasuke and Makoto!"

Sakura ignored him and instead tucked her hands behind her back, stealing a glance at Sasuke. "It's my first time too," she admitted with a small smile, "but I'm just happy I get to go on a mission with Sasuke!"

Sasuke's smirk instantly disappeared. He turned away, pretending she didn't exist.

Meanwhile, Makoto raised a hand and waved lazily at Kakashi. "Yo! Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi gave a half-hearted nod in response, barely looking up from his book

Makoto clicked his tongue. 'Man, this guy is so damn indifferent.'

Technically speaking, Makoto's seniority was much higher than Kakashi's. But since he was tagging along on missions with different teams, he had to address Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai as "sensei" like any other genin. Honestly, Kakashi should be calling him Grandmaster.

Makoto scratched his head before strolling over to Kakashi with a grin. "Kakashi-sensei, I heard your teacher was the Fourth Hokage, right?"

Kakashi gave him a confused glance but nodded anyway. "Yeah, that's right." His eye flickered to Naruto for a split second before returning to Makoto.

Hearing the confirmation, Makoto smirked and held up a hand, folding his fingers one by one as he spoke. "Alright, Your sensei was the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage's sensei was Jiraiya. And Jiraiya's sensei was the Third Hokage."

He then pointed to himself. "My sensei is also the Third Hokage."

Kakashi suddenly had a very bad feeling. His eye twitched as Makoto continued.

"So, by that logic, that puts me in the same generation as Jiraiya." Makoto's grin widened, flashing his white teeth.

Kakashi sighed. "...Where are you going with this?"

"Simple! Let's keep things professional from now on! I'll call you Mr. Kakashi, and you... well, you can call me Grandmaster or just Master. Sound fair?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes at him and let out a sigh. "Oh, shut up, you brat. Just because you've gotten stronger and I might not be able to take you down doesn't mean you get to act all smug."

After spending so much time together, Kakashi had gotten a good grasp of Makoto's strength. At this point, he wasn't even sure if he could beat him anymore.

But what Kakashi didn't realize was that Makoto's true power had already far surpassed him. No one had ever seen Makoto go all out and he had never revealed the full extent of his abilities.

What he had shown so far was impressive enough. His vast chakra reserves, his mastery of multiple elemental Ninjutsu at a Grandmaster level, and his overwhelming dominance in Fire Style techniques.

On top of that, he had even displayed several Forbidden Techniques, hinting that his power ran far deeper than anyone suspected.

It was as if there was nothing he couldn't do.

[Senju Hashirama: You know... Makoto actually has a point. If we're talking seniority, Kakashi really should be calling him Grandmaster.]

[Senju Tobirama: Huh. That's true. Most of us here are his elders, yet somehow, Kakashi has ended up a full two generation below him. Interesting.]

[Hatake Sakumo: ....Uh. You know what? I think committing suicide would be easier than calling a kid 'Master.']

[Uchiha Madara: Why are you so obsessed with dying? What, are you addicted to it or something?]

[Hatake Sakumo: .....]

[Might Duy: Sakumo, calm the youth down. It's just a matter of seniority, not the end of your YOUTH!]

Back in the real world, Tazuna frowned, eyeing Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Makoto with clear dissatisfaction.

He turned to Kakashi and grumbled, "Hey, is this really okay?! I paid real money for this mission! And yet Konoha sends a bunch of kids? Especially this short one! No matter how you look at him, he just seems useless. Does he look smart to you?"

Naruto's brow twitched at the insult. "Oh yeah?! Well, you're the dumb one! You're just a short, drunk, annoying old man!"

Sasuke frowned slightly. Tazuna's words left a bad taste in his mouth, but he held back.

Makoto, on the other hand, had zero tolerance for the old man.

He hadn't liked him from the start, and knowing how things played out in the original timeline only made his irritation worse.

In an instant, Makoto drew his sword, his figure vanishing with a Body Flicker Technique.

Before Tazuna could even react, the cold steel of the blade was pressed against his neck from behind.

Makoto's voice came from behind, calm but dangerously sharp, just like the blade resting against the old man's neck. "You don't seem to understand something, old man, we are ninjas. In this world, age means nothing when it comes to strength."

His grip tightened slightly on the hilt. "And let me give you some advice... You'd better start showing some respect to the people risking their lives for you."

Makoto leaned in just a little closer. "Because if you had said that to the wrong kind of ninja... you'd already be dead."

He let those words sink in before pulling the sword away, stepping back with a smirk.

"Consider this a warning. Remember it well."

________________________

Sparky's Note: If you're getting sick of Minato ranting about pain, trust me, you're not alone.

He says this every chapter.

[Namikaze Minato: Good boy! Well done! That's it! Let him feel the pain!!!]

[How many flights of stairs do you have to climb while carrying a sack of rice? You haul it up to the second floor. Then you give me too much rice. I'm sick of washing rice. There's so much dirt on it. Now my mouth is full of mud. And who's gonna give you rice oil? This is pain!!!]

[My pain is far greater than yours!!! It hurts! It hurts so much!!!]

I've already cut out a bunch of this nonsense, trimmed the fluff, and turned it into a gag instead.

[My pain is greater than yours!]

And when I say every chapter, I mean every single chapter.

Honestly, just assume there's another Might Duy.

Also, we just hit 5 MILLION VIEWS! LET'S GOOOO!!!