Chapter 59
"This is the place." Hinata whispered.
Her Byakugan pierced through space, clearly seeing the scene inside: "Yuta… is tied to a chair, with two adults beside him."
At the front of the ventilation duct, Shikamaru cautiously peered through the gaps in the grille to confirm the situation outside.
After turning back and signaling the group behind him,
he wrapped his right hand around his left index and middle fingers, forming a peculiar hand seal.
His shadow on the ground rapidly extended like living black tendrils, instantly connecting to the feet of the two Anbu.
"Shadow Imitation Technique! Success!"
The two Anbu froze in identical standing postures, rigid and immobile, their bodies unable to move.
Shikamaru had no intention of controlling the Anbu's actions—that would consume too much chakra. For now, just immobilizing them was enough.
The rest exchanged glances, pushed open the ventilation grille, and slipped out from the duct.
"Wow! Shikamaru, you're amazing!" Kiba couldn't help exclaiming once they were out.
"He actually restrained Anbu…" The others stared in stunned silence.
Ino teased with her mouth open: "Were you hiding your strength in school all this time?"
Shikamaru grinned, a hint of pride in his tone: "This is all stuff my old man forced me to practice. It actually can't hold for long!"
Everyone immediately snapped back to reality and rushed toward Yuta, who was tied to the chair in the center of the room.
Yuta was hanging his head silently crying. Suddenly he heard familiar voices.
He looked up, saw those familiar faces, and instantly felt both shock and joy.
"Everyone…"
"Don't be scared—we came to save you!" Naruto said while he and Chōji worked together to untie the ropes binding Yuta.
At that moment—
Snap!
The lights in the entire interrogation room suddenly blazed on!
The massive shadowless lamp on the ceiling erupted with blinding light, instantly illuminating every corner of the room and dispersing all shadows on the floor.
"Damn it!"
Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique failed the instant the shadows vanished.
The two immobilized Anbu immediately regained movement.
At the same time, two more Anbu appeared in a flicker, silently materializing behind Naruto and Chōji.
Four Anbu completely surrounded the group of children and Yuta.
An oppressive pressure instantly enveloped the entire interrogation room.
"You actually came to help this person? This guy might be a spy sent by an enemy village!" one Anbu said, voice carrying a chilling edge: "He could also pose a threat to the village's safety."
"Why would you say that about Yuta!" Kiba retorted indignantly.
"Anyone not a Konoha villager is not permitted to live around the village without authorization." Another Anbu responded coldly: "You've already had far too much contact with him."
Facing the tangible oppressive aura from the Anbu, Sakura and Ino couldn't help shrinking closer together in fear.
"What a joke!"
Naruto straightened up, standing protectively in front of Yuta.
"Yuta has never intended to harm the village—he's innocent!"
One Anbu seemed to lose patience. His figure blurred as he reached out to grab Naruto's shoulder.
But in the instant he moved, Naruto's body slid sideways at an eerie angle.
His footwork shifted unpredictably, effortlessly dodging the grab.
The Anbu was stunned.
He attacked again, several consecutive grabs, yet each was dodged with the same method.
The footwork looked chaotic yet orderly, always evading at the most critical moment.
"We're definitely taking Yuta out of here!" Naruto declared again, his attitude resolute.
The moment his words fell—
Centered on Uzumaki Naruto, thick, dense fog suddenly erupted around them, instantly enveloping the entire interrogation room.
This was natural energy from the weather that Naruto had deliberately absorbed outside the building before entering.
He had originally thought it might come in handy—now it proved that preparation really was better.
Heavy fog generated directly indoors.
"Mist Hidden Technique?"
From within the thick mist came a slightly surprised murmur from an Anbu, but the tone held no panic.
The entire room was quickly shrouded in impenetrable fog—unable to see one's own hand in front of one's face.
Naruto strained to control this power that didn't fully belong to him.
He thinned the mist slightly around his companions—at least enough for them to barely see each other.
"Quick! Take Yuta and go!"
Taking advantage of the moment, they fully untied Yuta's ropes and pulled him toward the original escape route.
However, the instant they reached below the ventilation duct—
Buzzz——
A massive roaring sound erupted. The room's ventilation system suddenly kicked into high speed.
Powerful airflow rapidly sucked the indoor fog completely clean.
A ventilation duct large enough for children to crawl through naturally existed for a reason.
The children's traces were once again fully exposed to the four Anbu's vision.
"You think this is some playground?"
One Anbu said gravely: "If not for the fact that you're village children, do you think you'd still have the chance to stand here?"
No choice left—time to fight?
Naruto's heart sank.
Fox Sage had told him that before he entered the academy, Anbu had always been protecting him.
On the day he saved Hinata at age three, he had even briefly encountered one of them.
After the Mizuki incident a few days ago, he had also seen Anbu come to clean up.
So unlike the other children, he didn't know nothing about Anbu or fear them blindly.
He had always felt these Anbu members weren't much different from ordinary village ninja—just different duties.
He had only wanted to avoid direct conflict with them as much as possible while rescuing Yuta.
But now, there was no other choice.
He didn't want conflict—but he wasn't afraid of it either!
"Subdue these children first!"
The four Anbu moved simultaneously, their targets clear: neutralize the troublesome kids first.
They didn't even draw weapons—just bare-handed attacks.
Even so, the gap between elite Anbu ninja and academy students was like heaven and earth.
"Ah—"
Losing the advantage of his secret technique, Shikamaru was struck in the back of the neck by a hand chop and collapsed to the ground, gritting his teeth and opening one eye to look toward Yuta.
Kiba, Chōji, and Akamaru were quickly taken down by another Anbu in just a few moves.
Sakura, Ino, and Hinata couldn't even mount effective resistance before being forced back into a corner.
Only Naruto—relying on strength far beyond his peers—was still stubbornly resisting.
For a moment, he even gave the Anbu assigned to him a headache.
The kids on their side were clearly not on the same level!
Yuta stared blankly at everything.
Watching them fall one after another to protect him—taken down by those terrifying masked ninja.
Tears once again blurred his vision.
"Why… why…" he choked, unable to understand why things had turned out this way.
Naruto—who was dodging attacks—heard his crying and still had the presence of mind to glance over.
He shouted toward Yuta: "Because you're our friend!"
"Friend…"
Hearing that acknowledged title, Yuta's body shuddered violently.
Tears still wet on his face, his whole person seemed frozen in place.
He looked at Naruto fiercely resisting.
Then at his fallen companions—who still watched him with worried eyes even as they lay on the ground.
The timidity and sorrow on Yuta's face slowly faded, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.
He lowered his head. His small body seemed to be gathering something.
The next second, he jerked his head up and let out a heart-rending scream with all his strength.
"They—are my friends!!"
BOOM—CRACK!
--------------------------
Support us on Patreon and gain access to 100 chapters in advance!
patreon.com/inkshield