Konoha Ninja Academy.
After school, Naruto was ready to be the first one to run out and train, as usual.
At that moment, a shout came from behind: "Naruto, wait!"
Naruto stopped in his tracks.
"Iruka-sensei?"
"Naruto, wait a moment. I'll walk you home and stay for a bit; I have some things I want to talk to you about."
Iruka said.
Naruto nodded immediately: "Okay!"
With a faint smile on his face, he watched everyone leave one by one, not feeling the least bit anxious.
Naruto didn't quite understand why Iruka suddenly wanted to walk him home, but he really liked the feeling of being escorted, as if someone cared about him.
Naruto hummed a little tune, his heart filled with joy.
Suddenly, he paused.
Has Hinata not left yet today either?
He took a few more glances and, seeing her strange expression, withdrew his gaze.
"Let's go."
Iruka walked out of the classroom.
Naruto was still a bit puzzled.
"Iruka-sensei, why are you suddenly walking me home today?"
"Your Taijutsu has improved a lot lately, but why has your Ninjutsu gotten even worse?"
Iruka scanned the area outside the academy, secretly observing his surroundings while asking casually.
Naruto's expression immediately turned dejected.
"I don't know. I've been working hard—but my Clone Jutsu has become even weirder!"
"What about your Academic Classes and Ninja Tool Classes? I heard you skipped class again yesterday?"
Iruka asked in a gentle tone as they walked.
Hearing this, Naruto immediately shrunk his head back and fell silent.
Iruka began to nag about the importance of academics and Ninja Toolss. It wasn't until he saw Naruto all the way home that he felt a slight sense of relief.
"Iruka-sensei, you're so talkative today!"
Naruto interrupted Iruka's nagging. "Let's just get upstairs quickly. I have something good here! Hehehe!"
Iruka couldn't help but smile and ask, "What kind of good thing?"
"Something to make you stronger. Sasuke gave it to me, you should try it too!"
Naruto excitedly ran upstairs with a series of thumps.
Iruka followed helplessly from downstairs to upstairs, along the corridor to the door, where Naruto used his key to open it.
He turned back and pointed into the Room, showing off: "Come and look quickly, those hanging sandbags, Sasuke—"
Before he could finish, Iruka's pupils shrank, and he shouted in terror: "Naruto! Watch out!!"
At the same time, Iruka used Body Flicker to lunge forward, trying to save Naruto.
However...
Naruto was immediately grabbed by the opponent.
Just as Iruka flickered to Naruto's side—
He didn't see how the opponent moved; he only felt a massive force strike him in an instant, sending him flying out from the second floor.
Boom!
A loud crash rang out.
Iruka slammed into the ground, unable to move for a moment.
At that moment, a woman's voice came from above: "Don't waste time, they're coming soon."
"Mm."
""
After the soft response, Iruka sensed Naruto's Chakra rapidly moving away.
He was frantic with worry, desperate to stand up, but found that the opponent's punch carried the power of Lightning Release, leaving his entire body paralyzed.
If the opponent had pursued him just now, he would likely be dead already.
But now...
What about Naruto?
Iruka was extremely anxious, his internal Chakra constantly refining and fighting against the paralyzing sensation.
One second, two seconds—
Suddenly his fingers twitched, and then, ignoring the intense pain throughout his body, he grabbed the Signal Flare at his waist.
Swoosh~
With a sharp whistle, the Signal Flare soared into the air, but before it could explode, several figures had already rushed toward Naruto's direction.
In his daze, Iruka saw someone land in front of him.
"Iruka?!"
It's Masahiko—
The next moment, he lost consciousness.
On the road leading out of the Village, the unconscious Naruto was being carried by a Ninja dressed as an Anbu, moving at high speed.
Suddenly, a blast!
A massive fireball came rolling out from the side nearby.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
However, boom!
Sasuke, with his Sharingan active, had a look of deep shock flash across his face.
With Lightning Release Chakra spread across their entire body, the opponent actually used Taijutsu to slice through his Great Fireball directly, passing through the vast flames.
Incredible!
He followed behind, only to see the opponent strike back with a hand-sword, a terrifying air vibration cleaving out from between their palms.
Bang!
A thick tree was sliced clean in half at the trunk, toppling over with a crash.
Sasuke quickly dodged, and in the blink of an eye, the opponent had vanished without a trace.
"Just who on earth is this guy?"
Sasuke's heart was full of fear and a sense of powerlessness. At this moment, a thought actually surfaced in his mind:
Fortunately, the target wasn't him.
Otherwise, he would probably be dead by now.
First Uchiha Itachi, and now another one—
Too weak!
He set off a Signal Flare.
A moment later.
"Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked up and saw only a beard and a face that looked somewhat weathered.
He immediately said: "I was running in this area. Naruto was taken and they ran this way."
"Mm."
""
The figure vanished in a flash.
A moment later, a powerful Chakra aura emanated from the distance, followed by a loud boom.
Asuma's expression was grim.
It's Guy!
To make Might Guy open the Gate of View without hesitation, the opponent's strength was extraordinary!
He increased his speed.
Sasuke was deeply discouraged. Seeing that he couldn't help, he had no choice but to slowly run back toward the Village.
The current situation was chaotic.
As a member of the Uchiha Clan, he didn't seem to be safe either.
Back in the Village, the moment the Signal Flare rose—
Several squads arrived at the entrance of the Embassy.
Afterwards, Mitokado Homura walked to the door with a serious expression.
Tutai opened the door, looking completely bewildered.
"Everyone, what has happened?"
"Tutai-Jonin, some incidents have occurred in the Village. Therefore, I need to verify the whereabouts of the four of you to avoid any accidents or misunderstandings involving your party in Konoha."
Mitokado Homura replied.
After getting over his initial confusion, Tutai quickly gasped as he realized—
Was what that scroll said true?
His eyes widened in shock.
Tutai's mind was in a state of chaos for a moment, but he didn't stop his movements. He stepped aside and said, "Please come in and talk. Our people are all here."
"Mm."
Mitokado Homura led his people inside, and after investigating each one, they exchanged glances.
These four were not Shadow Clones.
Cee rubbed his chin and said, "What happened? Perhaps we might be able to help."
"No need. This is an internal Village matter. Please do not go out. We will provide further notice after we have resolved the issue."
After Mitokado Homura finished speaking, he gave a slight nod and turned to leave.
However, the Ninja squads did not leave.
"Tutai-sama—"
"This is bad!"
Tutai muttered to himself.
Although he had already shown the scroll to Konoha to clear part of their suspicion, he still couldn't resist his greed and had sent someone to verify the status of Hinata and Naruto.
Whether they could clear their name now depended entirely on Konoha's attitude.
In other words—
Konoha might follow their old playbook and capture them to threaten Kumogakure.
Of course.
The best outcome would be—
Something truly happened in Konoha, and those who took action were not their people.
Tutai was restless but unable to go out and gather information. After pacing back and forth, he could only sit down again.
Cee set up a barrier and then said, "We still need to discuss what to do next."
"Sama, we previously sent out information through our channels regarding Hyūga Hinata and Hyuga Hanabi. Our people might think we're the ones taking action—"
Darui spoke up.
Tutai said, "The moment I left the Hokage Building, I immediately sent word through spies for them to stop all operations, but I'm worried now that they might not receive the reply."
If all of this was planned by the opponent, his message wouldn't be so easily delivered to the hidden squad.
Even the content of the message might be altered.
Then, everything would be over!
Tutai thought for a moment and said, "Fortunately, the action plan itself is relatively covert—no matter what, we are safe."