Chapter 71
"Hey, Naruto, are you okay?" Sako asked with concern.
"I'm fine." Naruto, wearing goggles, nodded, his eyes now back to blue.
"I'm really bothered by what that guy just said..." The Nine-Tailed wasn't surprised that Narutocould defeat a few small fries.
After all, he had borrowed its power and cultivated Yin Release; it would be strange if he couldn't handle a few mere weaklings.
"That's just a classic villain line," Naruto replied to the Nine-Tailed internally.
They walked for about five or six minutes in the direction of Konoha.
As they gradually returned to the back mountain, Naruto suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sako asked.
"There's movement ahead..." Naruto extended his hand, signaling Sako to stop.
From behind the bushes, they could hear human gasps and smell blood.
Was it an enemy?
Naruto picked up a small branch and pushed aside the bushes.
"Uzumaki... Naruto..." A young man with dark circles under his eyes sat leaning against a tree trunk.
His breathing was faint, his entire body drenched in sweat, and his pale cheeks showed a certain determined will.
"Yūgao-nee-san's childhood friend... Gekkō Hayate..." Naruto's expression changed in a second.
His tone also became much more naive.
Seeing him clutching his abdomen, bleeding continuously, Naruto knew.
Gekkō Hayate... had been cut again... A few minutes later... "Listen to me, Uzumaki Naruto... The enemy is lurking nearby..."
Gekkō Hayate scanned his surroundings with vigilance.
Sako, meanwhile, tore off a section of his sleeve to bandage him.
Sako had practiced such basic medical knowledge.
Watching this Konoha Ninja discuss things with Naruto, Sako became even more curious about Naruto.
"Naruto actually knows a Ninja from the Village..."
It sounded strange, but generally, given their age difference, it was unlikely they would be very familiar.
Yet, the two seemed like old friends who had known each other for years.
In fact, this was Naruto's first official meeting with Gekkō Hayate.
At other times, Gekkō Hayate, in the role of a protector, had adopted various disguises and only exchanged glances with Naruto from the shadows.
"If I'm not mistaken, the enemy used a wide-range genjutsu... the Fox's Heart Technique..."
The Fox's Heart Technique is a very common, widespread, general-purpose C-rank genjutsu.
This technique can distort the local scenery, causing human eyes to misjudge and thus create a phenomenon like a 'ghost wall' that makes people walk in circles.
Sako recalled this knowledge and asked, "Can't you break it?"
"..."
Gekkō Hayate shook his head.
"The enemy is..."
He thought for a moment and decided not to mention Biwa Jūzō, as speaking it would only bring despair to the two children.
"In any case, Yūgao has already gone for reinforcements, just wait a little longer... Hold on for a bit..."
Don't run around.
The Fox's Heart Technique, this genjutsu will only make us needlessly expend stamina.
"..."
Hearing his words, Sako became even more confused.
She and Uzumaki Naruto coming to the back mountain could be explained as hunting wild boars.
But this guy, and that Yūgao he mentioned... why were they both here?
Was it because they detected traces of the enemy and were performing their normal tracking duties?
"Stop talking for now."
Naruto reached out and poked Gekkō Hayate's bandaged wound.
The latter immediately began to twitch, showing a pained expression.
"Naruto, what are you doing!" Sako was startled. He was so severely injured, and you're poking his wound...
"Ugh... ugh..."
Gekkō Hayate, rolling his eyes, quickly passed out.
Sako: "..."
"The enemy is here."
Naruto didn't answer Sako's question, but instead gazed at the thick fog that began to rise again around them.
Clearly, the real enemy had appeared.
Gekkō Hayate was a Special Jonin, and a Ninjawith the Swift Release Bloodline Limit.
To injure Gekkō Hayate like this proved that the opponent was at least a Jonin, or even an elite Jonin like Gaara's Jonin Instructor, Baki.
Chapter 12. Your friend is a monster, haha!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of air being cut came.
Flying Kunai shot towards Naruto.
Such a simple killing move would be easy to dodge.
But when combined with the Hidden Mist Technique, it would create a scene where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, and then suddenly, Kunai shot by the enemy would appear.
From Sako's perspective, flying projectiles simply emerged from the mist.
And the targets of these Kunai attacks... were precisely Naruto.
Seeing this familiar killing method, Naruto knew it was the same guy from the beginning.
He moved his feet, swayed his body, dodging the incoming projectiles.
"Oh?"
From within the mist, a man's mocking voice came.
"How about this?"
Three Kunai flew again.
This time, they were arranged in a 'pin' character formation.
More importantly, three exploding tags were trailing behind the Kunai! And the target was Sako!
Once hit head-on, she would inevitably be blown to pieces!
"Eh...?"
Sako watched this scene, and to protect her, Naruto pushed Sako away.
However, the exploding tags did not explode.
The burnt-out paper eventually turned to ash.
—The exploding tags were fake.
"Indeed, as long as I attack your companion, you will act..."
A figure emerged from the mist.
To the two children, the adult's height was tall enough to be imposing.
"..."
Naruto squinted, carefully staring at the image in the mist.
That figure carrying a large sword... could it be... "Bastard!!" Sako, having been played, immediately threw a shuriken, but it was easily dodged by the opponent.
"I'll deal with you later," the opponent said to Sako.
"First, I'll get rid of this blond brat who's protecting you..."
From beginning to end, Juzo never put Sako in his eyes.
With running footsteps, the heavy greatsword swung over.
Naruto wouldn't directly resist such a heavy attack.
So, Naruto dodged, beginning to evade Juzo's attacks.
However, Juzo was no ordinary weakling.
When Naruto clearly saw the opponent's face, he immediately realized he had encountered the greatest crisis since his transmigration.
After all, the Biwa Jūzō before him was a truly fierce man.
The 2.1-meter long, heavy sword swung in his hand as easily as a cleaver.
After a few rounds, Naruto was hard-pressed and in constant danger.
"Naruto!"
Sako intended to rush over to help, but the appearance of another Juzo blocked her.
This Juzo had a faint watery sheen on his body and a completely different form from the original.
"Lie down!"
With a horizontal slash.
In Juzo's eyes, the blond brat before him was about to be cut in half.
However, the next moment, he retreated rapidly like a startled bird.
"You..."
Juzo, with a look of surprise, watched the red glow in Naruto's eyes.
Those vertical pupils, and the face that had become fanged and sharp-toothed.
In an instant, he understood.
"Heh... hehe... Hahaha! I didn't expect... it would actually be a Jinchuriki..."