"Scout the surrounding area. Find the source of the earlier Chakra burst!"
The man with two painted lines on his face and purple spiky hair ordered the Rogue Ninjas behind him.
"Yes, Fudo-sama!"
Several Rogue Ninjas bowed to him, then scattered to search the outskirts around the capital.
Meanwhile, right in front of these men stood Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi, plain as day.
"Wh-what's going on?"
Naruto was both curious and fearful. Finally, he gathered his courage and waved his hand in front of the man, but there was still no reaction.
"Just a bit of Genjutsu and a bit of 'presence', that's all."
Sakura winked at Naruto, raising her hand to pinch her thumb and index finger together.
At most, it was just using precisely controlled, powerful spiritual pressure to force weak individuals to actively relinquish their perception of a great danger, then concealing their figures with Genjutsu.
Having said that, she stepped forward, a blue electric arc lighting up at her fingertip as she pressed it against the purple-haired man's chest.
"Hmm? Not good!"
By the time Fudo glimpsed the smiling face of the girl beneath the Genjutsu, it was already too late.
The tiny electric currents, given life by Yang Release Chakra, poured into his body, causing him to tremble violently. After a series of convulsions, a strange 'heh heh' sound came from his throat, and a large amount of white smoke billowed from the top of his head.
"Wow, I didn't know you had this kind of hobby, Sakura..."
Naruto watched Fudo's fate, wrapping his arms around himself and taking a few steps back, shivering.
"This is my first time doing something like this! I'm still a bit unskilled!"
Two red spots appeared on the girl's delicate cheeks as she retorted irritably.
"So, if you weren't intending to torture him, what were you originally planning to do?"
Kakashi stroked his chin, examining the man before him. He had also heard the name Fudo.
He'd heard Asuma mention over tea that this man was a member of the radical faction among the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
'So, this disturbance in the Land of Fire... were those people acting again?'
"Take us inside the barrier, then find a safe place!"
Sakura snapped her fingers in front of Fudo's face. Immediately, the man, who had been rolling his eyes back and looking up, lowered his head.
He walked to the barrier in a stiff manner, formed hand seals to open a passage, then gestured for Naruto and Kakashi to enter like a marionette.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, don't you think Sakura like this is a bit scary?"
Naruto leaned close to Kakashi, covering his mouth with the back of his hand and whispering.
"Naruto." Kakashi patted his shoulder, a smile reaching his eyes as he gave him a thumbs-up. "You're on your own."
"Huh?"
Naruto was stunned. His usually unreliable Observation Haki detected a cold feeling behind him.
The blond boy turned around, offering a sheepish smile.
'Uhh... can we talk this out?'
"Brat, no more words. Take my [Iron Fist of Love]!"
A fist dyed black by Armament Haki smashed onto Naruto's head, pounding him to the ground.
Several minutes later, Fudo, carrying a bruised and swollen Naruto, led Sakura and Kakashi to a temple within the capital.
"Hey, hey, the number of Ninjas here... are you sure this is a safe place?"
Stepping into the temple square, Kakashi sensed the ninjas stationed inside the temple. Shocked, he even raised the forehead protector covering his Sharingan.
The entire temple was surrounded by dense clusters of Chakra Points. A rough estimate put their numbers in the hundreds… a force large enough to start a Ninja War. No wonder the controlled Fudo, acting on instinct, would consider this the safest place.
"So troublesome. Was the command too vague?"
Sakura pondered for a moment, then helplessly spread her hands. "I'm really not suited for this type of Ninjutsu!"
"Is now the time to be saying that?"
Kakashi leaped up, snatching Naruto from Fudo's shoulder.
Simultaneously, the Ninjas in the temple noticed the abnormality of Fudo's group and began to surround them.
"Fudo, what are you doing here? State the password!"
A woman in a light purple short-skirted kimono descended from above. When she saw Fudo's state, her pupils constricted.
"Enemy attack—!"
A sharp cry pierced the temple's quiet night sky. Instantly, the entire temple was brightly illuminated by lit torches.
"Troublesome..."
Sakura glanced at the densely packed Ninjas surrounding them.
If she took action and eliminated all these forces, the mastermind behind this incident would escape.
But now, with them already exposed, how could they stabilize the situation?
Of course, by showing weakness to the enemy.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura looked up and exchanged a glance with Kakashi. Both saw a glint of cunning in each other's eyes.
Kakashi immediately pulled a smoke bomb from his pocket and slammed it onto the ground. Then, 'Sakura' charged out from the smoke to face the numerous Ninjas alone.
"Hmph, covering for your comrades' escape? Since you like being the rear guard, we'll let you have your fill."
The woman in the purple kimono snorted coldly, waving at her subordinates. "Surround her. Use long-range Ninjutsu. Keep draining her stamina and Chakra!"
For a moment, lightning and firelight flew everywhere in the temple.
While these Rogue Ninjas besieged 'Sakura' above, underground in the temple, Kakashi and the other two were swiftly moving through a tunnel.
"Mmm, Sakura, you're something else!"
Naruto, whose facial injuries had been healed by the Yang Release Chakra in his body, gave a thumbs-up to the pink-haired girl ahead.
"Of course!" Sakura proudly wiggled her eyebrows.
"Ahead is the end of the underground passage. Let's see what they're guarding so heavily!"
All obstacles along the way were easily cleared by Kakashi using Earth Release. Finally reaching the tunnel's end, the three barged into a massive altar.
The damp, musty underground altar was very spacious. Torches placed around emitted weak light, barely illuminating the altar's center where a robed boy was bound by sealing chains.
"Hey, are you okay?!"
Naruto, who couldn't stand such scenes the most, rushed forward. The moment his fingers touched the other's body, a resonance originating from Chakra erupted between the two.
The electric shock-like sensation made Naruto instinctively step back, his foot slipping as he tumbled down the altar steps.
"This is the attire of a Fire Temple's monk. But logically, that place should have been destroyed recently." Kakashi walked around the boy once, analyzing the intel from his clothing.
"It's not that simple. Naruto should have sensed it too, right?"
Sakura stepped forward, grabbing the sealing chains. Armament Haki flowed in her hand as she crushed them, causing the tightly bound black-haired boy to fall to the ground.
"Ah, of course! That evil Chakra... I'll never forget it in my life!"
Naruto stood up, his gaze sharp. He pressed a hand against his own abdomen. "Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, this guy also has the big fox's Chakra!"
"Big fox... the Nine-Tails? How is that possible?"
Kakashi's eyes widened, looking at the boy before him in disbelief.
Sakura carved Flying Thunder God's markings around the altar, then stood up and clapped her hands.
"However the enemy managed it, let's just take this guy away first!"