Chapter 47: Kushina's Confession Interrupted, Nawaki vs. Kakuzu, and Orochimaru's Realization
At that moment, Hisa, lying on the hospital bed, watched the nurse Miya finish her routine healing ninjutsu but not leave—instead, she was lingering and touching him here and there. Beside her, the clueless kid Nawaki was staring openly without any restraint.
Hisa decided to break the awkward atmosphere. He said to Miya: "Miya, I'd like some water!"
In truth, Miya knew this uncle usually poured his own water. He must have noticed her unconscious lingering earlier. Miya quickly went out to refill the kettle.
When Nawaki also tried to go fill the kettle, Hisa called out: "Nawaki, kid! Don't go! Come here—I have something to say to you."
Nawaki was puzzled why Hisa stopped him and asked: "Uncle Hisa, what's up?"
Hisa put on a mysterious expression: "Do you like Miya?"
Nawaki was completely stunned by the direct question. He fidgeted with his fingers for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence.
Hisa spoke seriously to Nawaki: "As long as you follow my instructions, winning Miya will be easy as pie! Don't look at me now like I'm nothing special—back in my youth, I was the most handsome guy in the whole neighborhood for miles!"
Nawaki scratched his head: "Uncle Hisa, haven't you always been single?"
Hisa's thirty-year-old face couldn't withstand Nawaki's critical hit. He could only argue: "I'm not willing to give up the whole forest for one tree! Do you even understand what a playboy is? Look at the expression on Miya's face when she just left—you're only one confession away from dating her! If not for your decent character and enough strength, I wouldn't be teaching you this ultimate technique!"
Nawaki nodded, looking at Hisa expectantly for more.
After milking Nawaki's anticipation, Hisa said: "Miya loves tulips and the moon the most. Tonight, invite Miya out. Under the witness of the moon, give her tulips and confess seriously—that should be enough."
Though Nawaki was a bit doubtful about how simple it sounded, he still nodded in agreement. After expressing his thanks, he seriously went off to prepare.
...
That night, the moon was exceptionally round. Miya stood there shyly. Nawaki mustered all his courage and said to Miya: "I like you! Miya! Will you be my girlfriend?"
As he spoke, Nawaki brought out the tulips he had prepared long ago from behind and handed them to Miya.
Miya was just about to answer when—
"Ah!"
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Quick—report to Lord Orochimaru!"
Distant screams completely shattered the peaceful moment.
Nawaki knew this was a critical time. He and Miya exchanged a glance, and Nawaki prepared to rush toward the center of the fighting.
But Miya grabbed Nawaki's hand and said seriously: "Nawaki, I like you too. When you come back, we'll be boyfriend and girlfriend! Promise me—you must come back alive!"
Nawaki turned back confidently: "I'll definitely come back—I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"
Seeing the Iwa ninjas slaughtering Konoha's logistics personnel, Nawaki roared: "Incursio!"
A giant armored figure appeared behind Nawaki. The armor's mask instantly cracked open, revealing a terrifying, ferocious maw!
It quickly enveloped Nawaki. Nawaki raised his long spear and killed an Iwa chūnin in an instant.
Because of Nawaki's dramatic transformation, he immediately drew the enemies' attention.
Kakuzu instantly locked onto his target and flickered in front of Nawaki with a Body Flicker.
At the same time, Kakuzu swiftly detached his black threads, separating his wrist from his arm. Dense black threads shot out from his arm toward Nawaki.
This tentacle fist struck Nawaki's heart position hard. Nawaki was blasted backward by the tremendous kinetic force.
Kakuzu wasn't happy about the successful sneak attack. Normally, this punch could pierce straight through an opponent's heart—but against Nawaki's armor, Kakuzu felt his own hand bones had fractured.
And he hadn't even sensed his palm passing through the armor.
Nawaki looked at the slight dent in the armor over his heart and realized how terrifying Kakuzu's previous strike had been. He began to take this enemy seriously.
Kakuzu slowly said to Nawaki: "Heh heh, so you're Senju Hashirama's grandson? I once had the honor of fighting your grandfather! I have to say—you're far too inferior compared to him. And compared to me as well!"
Nawaki knew a little about his grandfather's strength and immediately spoke the truth: "I've never heard Grandpa mention an enemy like you! The only one who could fight Grandpa on equal terms was Uchiha Madara! You must be one of Grandpa's countless defeated opponents!"
Kakuzu felt he couldn't reason with this kid, but he still needed to protect his own information. For a ninja, losing information could easily mean death!
And Kakuzu didn't trust Iwa at all—he didn't want Konoha getting his information either!
Kakuzu coldly said to Nawaki: "Kid, I was originally thinking of sparing your life. But now it looks like your heart is mine to take! Kid—you don't want these small fry around us to die meaningless deaths during our fight, right?"
Afterward, Nawaki and Kakuzu attacked each other while gradually moving away from the core battlefield. For Nawaki, he didn't think he could defeat this enemy. But if he could draw the enemy away by himself, that was absolutely a win.
The two fought while moving into a small, sparsely populated grove!
...
On the other side, Orochimaru was fiercely fighting on the battlefield, but he felt something was wrong. The enemies in front of him were too disorganized—compared to the previously strong-willed, professionally coordinated Iwa ninjas.
These current enemies felt more like a mix of mercenaries and cannon fodder!
Most importantly, there wasn't a single familiar Iwa commander among them.
With Orochimaru's battlefield instincts, he instantly sensed something was off.
Orochimaru began recalling what he might have missed. On the surface, this was a complete win—Konoha had suffered almost no casualties and killed a large number of enemy fodder.
In the end, Orochimaru thought of Nawaki in the logistics unit. After all, in Orochimaru's view, no matter how strong Nawaki was, he was still just a promising new-generation ninja with average strength.
Iwa shouldn't launch a small-scale war specifically for Nawaki. But Orochimaru really couldn't think of any other motive Iwa might have. Right now, the logistics unit—plus Nawaki—seemed worth Iwa's trouble!
Seeing that few enemies remained alive, Orochimaru immediately ordered: "Cease pursuit! One person from each squad stay to care for the wounded. Everyone else—with me to the logistics unit!"
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