The subterranean air of the Interrogation Division was thick with the copper stench of fresh blood and the sharp, acrid smell of ozone and charred flesh.
Standing amidst the wreckage of the cell, Naruto looked down at the unconscious, trembling form of Sasuke Uchiha. Blood pooled beneath the broken iron chair, wetting the soles of Naruto's sandals. His breathing had finally evened out, but the faint, golden-yellow eyeliner of his Sage Mode still flickered slightly around his eyes—a sign that his deep, subterranean fury was merely resting beneath a thin surface.
Behind him, Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyūga stood in stunned silence. Ino's face was pale, her fingers still trembling from the raw, terrifying display of physical and elemental violence she had just witnessed. Hinata, though visibly shaken, kept her lavender eyes fixed on Naruto's back, her heart aching at the sheer level of pain and rage that had driven him to such a brutal act.
Without another word, Naruto turned on his heel and strode past them toward the open steel door.
Ino snapped back to reality, taking a shaky step forward and shouting over her shoulder to the Anbu guards frozen in the corridor. "Get the medical squad in here immediately! Put him on a chakra-suppression stretcher and get him to the underground intensive care unit!"
By the time the medical shinobi rushed into the corridor with their gear, Naruto had already vanished into the shadows of the stairway, leaving no trace of his presence behind.
Fifteen minutes later, inside the Hokage's executive office, the morning light filtered through the broad windows, illuminating a scene of tense anticipation.
Tsunade Senju sat behind her desk, listening in stony silence as Ino, Hinata, and Shizune—who had just hurried into the room holding a freshly sealed medical scroll—finished relaying the events of the interrogation chamber.
CRACK!
The heavy mahogany pen in Tsunade's right hand snapped cleanly in two. Her face was dark, a dangerous vein pulsing at her temple as she tossed the splintered plastic onto her desk.
"That absolute idiot," Tsunade growled, her voice dropping into a low, terrifying register. "I should have just ordered his execution weeks ago and saved us the headache."
"Tsunade-sama..." Hinata spoke up softly, her hands clasped tightly against her chest. "What... what should we do now? Naruto-kun was... he was completely consumed by rage."
Tsunade leaned back in her high-backed leather chair, closing her eyes and letting out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to drain the immediate tension from her shoulders. "Let the brat cool down. He's carrying a mountain of pressure on his shoulders, and that Uchiha pushed every single wrong button."
"Do you know where he went, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked anxiously, hugging the medical scroll against her chest.
"Most likely the Forest of Death," Tsunade replied without opening her eyes.
Shizune blinked, startled. "The Forest of Death? How can you be so sure?"
Tsunade opened one hazel eye, pointing a thumb toward the glass window behind her. "Because I can feel the massive bursts of localized chakra rippling from that direction, and I can literally see high-level elemental Ninjutsu tearing up the sky above Sector 44. There is only one person in this entire village right now who can spam that many S-rank techniques into the open air without breaking a sweat or getting winded."
She turned her gaze back toward the three younger women. "You three go down there and help him bring his mind back to reality before he flattens half the forest."
Before they could turn, Tsunade paused, looking at Shizune. "What's the official damage report from the medical team on the Uchiha?"
Shizune opened the scroll, reading the quick medical evaluation sent up from the emergency bay. "From what the attending surgeons reported... Naruto completely obliterated his lower anatomy. The localized lightning discharge burnt his reproductive nerves to a cinder. Furthermore, the physical impact fractured his lower spine—specifically the L3, L4, and L5 vertebrae. The nerve damage is absolute. In effect, he has permanently eradicated the remaining Uchiha bloodline."
Shizune swallowed hard before continuing. "Due to the sheer psychological trauma and extreme pain, Sasuke Uchiha has fallen into a deep, shock-induced comatose state."
Tsunade let out a dry, ruthless hum, a faint smirk touching her lips. "Well, at least some good came out of this disaster. With his conscious defenses down and his mind in a shock coma, the Yamanaka squad can finally perform a seamless mind-walk and pull every secret out of his head without any resistance."
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. "Leave the paperwork here. The three of you head out immediately and calm Naruto down."
"Right!" Ino and Hinata bowed, turning toward the double doors alongside Shizune.
However, before their fingers could touch the brass handles, the heavy double doors were violently shoved open from the outside.
Stepping into the office with rigid, unyielding postures were the three grand elders of Konoha's Council: Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzō Shimura. Behind them, several personal Root guards hovered in the shadowy doorway.
Koharu was the first to speak, her thin lips set in a permanent, bitter scowl as she strode toward the Hokage's desk. "Tsunade. We need to speak with you immediately regarding an urgent security breach."
Tsunade merely raised an eyebrow, leaning her elbows onto her desk with a cold, unbothered expression. "I'm listening."
Homura glided forward, glancing sharply at the younger women near the door. "In private, Tsunade. Dismiss your apprentices."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed into slits. "If you have something to say to me, say it right here in front of my apprentices and my division heads. If you don't like it, you can turn around and walk back out that door."
"Tsunade! Princess!" Koharu snapped, her voice rising in shrill irritation. "This is not the time for your characteristic stubbornness! We have just received a grave report that the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki—"
BOOM!
A sudden, suffocating wave of pure, murderous intent exploded from Tsunade, slamming into the room like a physical shockwave. The air grew heavy, and the wooden floorboards beneath the Elders' feet creaked dangerously under the pressure.
"His name," Tsunade said, her voice dripping with lethal coldness, "is Naruto Uzumaki. Speak it properly, Koharu."
Koharu flinched slightly under the oppressive killing intent but quickly recovered her composure, her face hardening. "Fine! Naruto Uzumaki entered the Interrogation Division's maximum-security block and launched an unsanctioned, barbaric assault on a key political prisoner, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Ino stepped forward instantly, her head held high, refusing to back down. "He did not attack him without reason! Sasuke provoked him with treasonous threats against the village leadership!"
Homura turned his cold, calculating gaze onto Ino. "That is not what the official guard reports state, Yamanaka-san. We were informed that Uzumaki Naruto entered the interrogation facility in a violent, volatile mood, bypassed protocol, entered the prisoner's cell, and brutally crippled him without an ounce of provocation."
"That is completely false!" Hinata declared, stepping up beside Ino, her veins pulsing around her lavender eyes as her Byakugan subtly activated under the stress. "Naruto-kun went to the Interrogation Division peacefully! He spent an entire hour in the lounge speaking with us before he ever stepped near Sasuke's cell! We were standing right there with him!"
Danzō Shimura, who had remained silent until now, leaned heavily on his wooden cane. His single exposed eye was cold, unreadable, and devoid of emotion as he looked down at Hinata.
"Hyūga-san," Danzō spoke, his voice dry and raspy like dragging stone over gravel. "I understand your emotional inclination to protect your friend. However, the facts remain absolute. Naruto Uzumaki committed a grave, treasonous mistake by brutally assaulting a high-value asset inside a village facility. Furthermore, he entered the Interrogation Division without proper authorization."
"He had my full authorization, Danzō!" Tsunade slammed her fist onto the desk, fracturing the heavy wood down the center. "I personally ordered Jonin Naruto Uzumaki to proceed to the cell! Sasuke Uchiha's mind was actively resisting our deep-dive techniques, continuously projecting Naruto's presence as a mental wall. I sent him there to clear the block!"
Danzō didn't even flinch at Tsunade's outburst. He took a slow step forward, his cane clicking against the floor. "You cannot shield the brat from the consequences of his actions this time, Tsunade. He has gone entirely too far. His volatility proves he lacks the discipline required of a shinobi."
"Why don't you come say that to my face, you three old cripples?" a voice suddenly echoed through the room.
The air in the office instantly plummeted in temperature.
The broad glass window behind Tsunade's desk swung open with a sharp, howling gust of wind. Standing on the outer ledge, framed against the bright blue sky, was Naruto.
His upper white jacket was dusted with dirt and pine needles, his spiky yellow hair slightly disheveled. His blue eyes, however, were burning with an unholy, brilliant gold—the absolute, perfected pupil-slits of Sage Mode painting his skin with vibrant orange pigmentation.
He stepped off the ledge, his sandals landing soundlessly on the hardwood floor as he walked straight into the center of the office.
"Naruto..." Ino gasped quietly.
Naruto completely ignored everyone else, his gaze locking directly onto the three Elders with an aura so dense that the Root guards hovering outside the door subconsciously drew their short-swords.
"I said," Naruto repeated, his voice low, steady, and terrifyingly calm, "why don't you say those words right to my face?"
Homura's face flushed with indignation. "You will show respect to this council, brat! We are the honorable Elders of the Hidden Leaf!"
"Respect you for what?!" Naruto barked, taking a sharp step forward that caused the floorboards to groan under his reinforced physical density. "Respect you for being an annoying, parasitic pain in the ass to every single person in this village?! Respect you for the fact that you should have been buried in the ground decades ago, but you're still standing here acting like arrogant assholes to everyone—and specifically to me?!"
"Tsunade! Control your shinobi!" Koharu shrieked, her hands trembling with rage. "Teach this boy some manners! Teach him how to address his superiors!"
Naruto's golden eyes snapped toward Danzō, stepping directly into the old war-hawk's personal space until they were standing eye-to-eye.
"Don't push me, Danzō," Naruto whispered, the pure kinetic force of his voice causing Danzō's robes to rustle. "Don't make me do to you what I just did to the Uchiha. I am currently in a very, very bad mood. I won't even bother killing you—I'll use Sage energy to turn your old, decaying body into a literal stone statue."
Koharu recoiled in absolute horror. "How dare you?! How dare you threaten a member of the council?!"
"Get the fuck out of this office right now," Naruto growled, turning his head slightly toward Koharu, "before I throw all three of your ancient asses out of that window myself, you useless piles of old bones."
"You do not have the authority to speak to us in such a manner!" Homura shouted, looking desperately at Tsunade. "Tsunade, restrain your subordinate immediately!"
Danzō finally narrowed his single eye, his jaw tightening as he stared up into Naruto's glowing Sage eyes. "You have completely broken your leash, boy. Hiruzen was far too soft on you. He should have handed you over to me years ago. Had you been raised in the darkness of Root, you wouldn't possess the reckless arrogance to open your mouth to your elders like this today."
A sickeningly dark smile spread across Naruto's face. "Oh... so that's how you want to play it, huh?"
WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Without a single hand seal, the atmospheric pressure in the room detonated.
In Naruto's right hand, a blinding, razor-sharp sphere of pure, concentrated chakra materialized instantly—a high-density Rasengan spinning with such immense velocity that it generated a screaming vacuum draft in the center of the room.
Simultaneously, Naruto's left hand blurred behind his back, drawing the heavy, blackened blade of his custom trench knife—the Ninth Cutter. He channeled a dense stream of blue Lightning-attribute chakra through the metal, causing jagged, white-hot arcs of electricity to dance across the steel with a deafening screech like a thousand birds.
The Elders gasped, taking an instinctive, frantic step back as the sheer physical heat and pressure radiating from Naruto's dual weapons forced them to cover their faces.
"Let's talk then, Danzō," Naruto purred, extending his right hand until the screaming, brilliant orb of the Rasengan was hovering less than two inches from the old man's nose. The wild wind currents whipped Danzō's facial bandages wildly around his cheeks. "You want to say something else to me? Speak up. I dare you."
Naruto's golden eyes burned with absolute, unyielding lethality. "I promise you... your ashes won't even be remembered by the time I'm done with you. So open your mouth very, very carefully, 'Shinobi of the Darkness.' Or should I say... Konoha's rotting shadow?"
The room was deathly quiet, save for the screaming roar of the Rasengan and the crackle of lightning. Danzō stood frozen, his single eye wide, a single bead of cold sweat rolling down his weathered cheek. For the first time in his long, ruthless life, Danzō Shimura was staring directly into the face of absolute, unmitigated death.
"Naruto. Enough."
Tsunade's voice broke the silence, steady and absolute. She stood up from behind her ruined desk, her hazel eyes fixed on the Elders.
"And as for the three of you," Tsunade added, her tone dropping into a icy, uncompromising threat, "get out of my office. Get out right now... before I order Jonin Naruto to finish exactly what he just started."
Homura and Koharu didn't wait for a second warning. Their faces pale as sheets, the two ancient Elders turned and rapidly scrambled out of the office, their traditional robes fluttering as they practically fled down the hallway. Danzō lingered for a fraction of a second, his teeth clenched in silent, impotent fury, before backing away into the shadows of the corridor alongside his Root guards. The heavy double doors slammed shut behind them.
The moment the Elders vanished, Naruto let out a long, exhausted breath.
With a simple flick of his wrist, the screaming Rasengan vanished into thin air, its compressed chakra dissipating harmlessly into the room. He sheathed the Ninth Cutter back into its sealing holster at his waist, his Sage Mode markings fading as his blue eyes returned to their normal, ocean-like depth.
Walking heavily toward the leather sofa in the corner of the office, Naruto collapsed onto the cushions, running a hand through his messy yellow hair.
Shizune quickly stepped forward, pouring a fresh glass of cold water from a crystal decanter on the side table and handing it to him. Naruto took it with a nod, draining the entire glass in one long, desperate gulp before setting the empty tumbler onto the wooden coffee table with a soft clink.
He looked up at Tsunade, who was still standing behind her desk. "Told you this was going to happen," Naruto muttered, leaning his head back against the sofa. "You shouldn't have sent me to deal with that Uchiha bastard in the first place."
Tsunade let out a long sigh, walking around her shattered desk and taking a seat on the armchair opposite him. "Sometimes we are forced to do things we don't like for the greater good of the village, Naruto. You need to understand that."
"Well, I honestly hated every single second of looking at his face again," Naruto grumbled, staring up at the ceiling. "And now those three ancient idiots are back on my back, trying to dig my grave."
Ino and Hinata walked over, sitting down on the long sofa beside Naruto. Shizune sat on the adjoining chair, leaving the entire group gathered in a quiet, protective circle around the exhausted young Sage.
Ino looked at Naruto, her voice gentle yet firm. "You really need to calm down a bit, Naruto. You weren't thinking rationally back there."
Naruto turned his head to look at her, a bitter scoff escaping his lips. "What is there to even be rational about, Ino?! That arrogant bastard sat in that chair and explicitly threatened my family! He threatened my mother, my aunt, and my loved ones!"
At the casual, unhesitating inclusion of the phrase "my loved ones," both Ino and Hinata froze. A sudden, deep crimson blush burst across Ino's cheeks, her eyes widening as she quickly looked down at her lap. Beside her, Hinata's face flushed bright red, her fingers twirling nervously in her jacket hem as her heart did a frantic somersault in her chest.
"And then," Naruto continued, completely oblivious to the romantic chaos he had just sparked between the two girls, "those three decrepit Elders have the nerve to march in here and blame me! They claim I walked into his cell unprovoked, beat him senseless, and that I'm the criminal who needs to be held responsible!"
Naruto leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his jaw set in a hard, resolute line. "Honestly... I'm more inclined to drag those three Elders down to the hospital and throw them into the exact same ward as the Uchiha. They all share the exact same rotting brain cells anyway—they might as well share a room."
Tsunade couldn't help the faint, genuine laugh that escaped her lips, shaking her head as she looked at her adopted nephew. "Don't tempt me, kid. Don't tempt me."
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