Moonlight spilled like water across the forest.
Naruto stood atop a tall tree, staring at the brightly lit skyline of Konohagakure in the distance, momentarily lost in thought.
No matter how messed up the place was, it still carried all his memories since transmigrating here. If it weren't for the "heartwarming" treatment from the Third Hokage and the lovely villagers who treated him like a walking biohazard, would he really have chosen to leave?
He let out a soft sigh.
Then he looked toward the vast, dark forest ahead—and immediately felt better.
Compared to the politically constipated mess that was Konoha, this dog-eat-dog ninja world was a much better stage for someone with ambition.
While Naruto was enjoying the moonlight like a dramatic protagonist, a certain one-eyed fossil had already surrounded the area.
Leaning on his cane, Danzō Shimura stepped forward, ROOT operatives emerging from the shadows.
"Since you're reluctant to part with the village," Danzō said coldly, "why defect?"
Naruto glanced at the bandaged old man and the fully armed ROOT elites behind him.
No need to guess.
Shimura Danzō. Leader of ROOT. Professional backstabber. Part-time patriot, full-time asshole.
Naruto jumped down from the treetop and curled his lip.
"Old man, you're practically in the grave. Shouldn't you be at home drinking tea instead of stalking children at night? I'm leaving because I want to. That's it."
Danzō frowned.
In his mind, the Third Hokage had clearly failed. The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki should've been raised as a weapon from birth—no emotions, no bonds, just obedience and a curse seal leash.
Friendship? Love? That's how you get rebellion.
He waved his hand.
ROOT operatives closed in.
He planned to subdue Naruto quickly and drag him back underground. As for explaining things to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage?
Easy.
"If you can't raise your Jinchūriki properly, I'll take over."
And if Hiruzen resisted, he could always drag Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane into it for political pressure.
Naruto, however, didn't look worried.
Through his shadow clones' memories, he already knew Danzō had been tailing him. If he wanted to leave Konoha cleanly, he had to crush these pursuers here.
Long before Danzō showed up, Naruto had hidden dozens of shadow clones in the forest.
As ROOT approached—
The clones burst from the bushes.
"Wind Release!"
Multiple gusts merged into a roaring mini-hurricane, dragging ROOT operatives toward Naruto's position.
A Rasengan formed in his palm—
And slammed forward.
BOOM.
Several ROOT ninjas were blasted over ten meters away, smashing into tree trunks and leaving human-shaped craters.
Danzō's expression changed.
When he ran into Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy earlier, he assumed Kakashi had gone soft and let Naruto escape.
Now?
It was obvious.
Kakashi probably would've gotten folded too.
Instantly defeating ROOT elites meant Naruto was already at least elite jōnin level.
What the hell had Hiruzen been doing? Sending this monster to the Academy to learn how to throw paper shuriken?
Still—
The stronger Naruto was, the happier Danzō became.
Once shackled with ROOT's curse seal and ideology, Naruto would become a weapon rivaling the Sannin. And that would make Danzō's campaign to become Fifth Hokage much smoother.
He signaled his two guards.
One from the Yamanaka clan.
One from the Aburame clan.
The Yamanaka ninja formed seals.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
At the same time, the Aburame jōnin unleashed a cloud of poisonous insects.
The insects surged forward—only to be blown away by Naruto's wind.
The Yamanaka's consciousness invaded Naruto—
Naruto froze.
Blank eyes. Puppet-like.
But half a second later—
The Yamanaka ninja screamed, clutching his head.
"My spirit—! The Nine-Tails— it swallowed—!"
Before he could finish, he collapsed.
Inside the seal, Kurama belched lazily.
"A little brat dares invade my Jinchūriki? That snack barely had flavor."
Naruto rolled his eyes internally.
"If I didn't bait him, how were we supposed to deal with Bandage Grandpa properly?"
Regaining control, Naruto formed seals, blasted away the remaining insects, and punched the Aburame jōnin in the stomach.
CRACK.
Ribs shattered.
But the Aburame ninja smirked.
He was a walking hive of poison. The moment Naruto touched him, insects had invaded Naruto's arm.
Ten seconds. That's all it would take.
Except—
All his insects died instantly.
Naruto's arm was covered in a crimson chakra cloak.
The Tailed Beast Cloak.
Poison? Cute.
Danzō's expression darkened.
Chūnin dead. Jōnin neutralized.
Fine.
He tossed aside his cane and removed the bandage covering his right eye.
The Sharingan beneath it glowed red.
Naruto raised a brow.
"Yo, Danzō. Since when did you join the Uchiha fan club? That eye looks stolen."
Danzō's face twitched.
"Jinchūriki. Stop acting like a child. Come back with me."
Naruto answered with action.
A massive Wind Style: Rasenshuriken formed in his hand and tore through the forest toward Danzō.
Trees split apart.
Danzō dodged mid-air, infused his kunai with Wind Release, and slashed—
Invisible wind blades sliced through the darkness.
Naruto quickly put on goggles and activated his Sharingan—yes, Sharingan—to track the nearly invisible blades.
Landing on a rock, he formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Dozens of clones swarmed.
Danzō inhaled deeply.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
A massive gust obliterated the clones instantly.
Then—
"Vacuum Bullets!"
Dense, finger-sized air bullets shot out like a damn machine gun. Trees and rocks were shredded apart.
Naruto ducked behind cover, stunned.
Compared to the previous Kazekage who just played with sand magnets, Danzō looked like the real Wind Release monster.
Inside the seal, Kurama muttered, "That old fossil's Wind Style is almost on par with Shukaku's."
Naruto snorted. "Too bad he put all his stat points into civil war."
Kurama chuckled darkly.
Naruto grinned.
"Alright. Let's crank it up."
"Fine," Kurama said. "I'll lend you power."
Their chakras connected.
A dark, bubbling chakra cloak enveloped Naruto.
He frowned slightly.
Not golden.
Still unstable.
Probably the Eight Trigrams Seal restricting full synchronization.
No time to care.
Naruto stepped out and tanked several Vacuum Bullets head-on. Bruises formed—but he endured.
Then he charged.
Danzō retreated several meters, shocked.
A nine-year-old using Tailed Beast chakra this smoothly?
Absurd.
Unless he used Kotoamatsukami, he wasn't fully confident of winning.
But Kotoamatsukami was on cooldown.
Damn it.
He signaled a tactical retreat.
Delay. Wait for reinforcements.
Naruto, however, leapt to higher ground.
He began compressing chakra.
A small, dark spiral sphere formed in his palm.
Then it grew.
And grew.
Kurama raised a brow.
"Well damn. That's not a Tailed Beast Bomb… but it's close."
Naruto grinned.
"Dark Rasenshuriken. Let's see how you like this, Bandage Grandpa."
ROOT ninjas stared in horror.
"That's basically a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"We're dead…"
Danzō didn't hesitate.
He fled toward the village.
Naruto hurled the attack.
The spiral sphere tore through the forest and detonated.
The explosion lit up the night.
The earth shook.
Trees flattened outward.
When the smoke cleared—
Molten ground bubbled at the center.
Naruto walked forward.
At the edge of the blast zone—
He found half an arm.
Danzō's arm.
Naruto stared at it thoughtfully.
"Killing him that easily? Yeah right."
No Kage-level ninja dies that simply.
Especially one who knows Izanagi.
This was probably misdirection.
Danzō playing dead.
Naruto picked up the severed arm.
"Hey Kurama," he said casually, "that was pretty badass, right? Stronger than Rasenshuriken? At least average Tailed Beast level?"
Kurama rested his chin on one hand.
"Better than Shukaku. Not better than me."
He smirked.
"My Tailed Beast Bomb once erased a small island."
Naruto looked at the smoking crater.
"You destroyed half a block."
"Still cute though."
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