Minutes ago.
Although his mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts he wanted to complain about—like that golden-haired brat's outrageous strength, or why his old acquaintance who suppressed him was attacking the Jinchuriki of the stinky fox, or the perplexing Nine-Tails Chakra simultaneously present in three individuals—Shukaku had no time to ponder.
He frantically channeled his Chakra to repair his damaged body, while moving his heavy steps, desperately fleeing in the direction away from the battlefield.
To hell with all grudges and animosities! If he just had a little more time, once his Chakra recovered to a certain extent, he could use Ninjutsu to escape a thousand li! This time, he absolutely had to escape back to his vast desert! True freedom was already within his grasp!
This was the sole obsession supporting Shukaku's actions at this moment.
However, just as he was fleeing with all his might, the space in front of him suddenly underwent an unnatural distortion. Immediately after, a figure appeared out of thin air directly in front of him without any warning, his body floating lightly, slowly descending.
It was a strangely dressed person, wearing an orange, spiral-patterned, one-eyed mask on his face. He slowly retracted a sharp wooden spike into his palm.
"Get out of the way! Don't block this great one's path!"
Shukaku only wanted to escape at this moment; how could he bother with this sudden obstruction? He didn't even think, raising his giant claw and slamming it down hard on the masked man!
However, the expected sensation of crushing the opponent into a meat paste did not come. His giant claw actually seemed to pass through a void illusion, completely "penetrating" the masked man's body without any obstruction?!
"Wh-...?!".
Shukaku was stunned again, his brain unable to even process this incredible scene.
In this moment of paralysis, behind the single hole in the mask, a strange, crimson light suddenly flared! The red instantly invaded Shukaku's entire vision, carrying a chilling power that pierced deep into his soul.
The next moment, Shukaku's pupils were forcibly twisted and deformed, transforming into the ominous three-tomoe Sharingan, symbolizing absolute dominance.
——
Within Konoha Village, the flames of war had completely spread.
Accompanied by alarms and the sharp clang of Ninja tools, the long-ambushed Otogakure and Sunagakure forces surged in from outside the Village like a tide, engaging in fierce clashes with the patrolling, hastily resisting Konoha Ninja.
Multicolored Ninjutsu blasts exploded in the air, creating dazzling fireballs and thick smoke, and the roar of explosions rose and fell, continuously ascending above Konoha. For this surprise attack, Sunagakure and Otogakure had almost committed all their Jonin forces, making their offensive exceptionally fierce.
And on the outskirts of the Village, an even greater threat was approaching—a giant three-headed serpent, summoned forth, was twisting its massive body, violently crashing into Konoha's protective wall!
"You absolutely cannot enter!"
A Konoha Ninja patrolling the outer area, seeing this, leaped up without hesitation, throwing several Kunai wrapped with explosive tags with all his might at the foremost head of the giant serpent.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Continuous explosions erupted on the serpent's head, but after the smoke cleared, only charred marks were left on its hard scales, unable to hinder it in the slightest.
The giant serpent was enraged by this provocation, and its middle head suddenly opened its gaping maw, carrying a foul-smelling wind pressure, and fiercely bit down on the Ninja, who had no leverage in mid-air!
Companions on the distant watchtower witnessed this scene, their eyes splitting with rage, but they were too far to help, only able to let out angry shouts.
"Rasengan!"
A golden figure flashed like lightning! Accompanied by a low shout and a huge roar, a highly compressed sphere of Chakra was slammed fiercely into the side of the giant serpent's open jaw!
"Boom—!!"
The violent rotational force instantly tore through the hard serpent scales, destroying its internal structure. The giant serpent let out a painful hiss, its massive head was forcefully smashed to one side, falling heavily to the ground, no longer moving.
"You...you are..."
Although the savior was enveloped in dazzling golden Chakra, his iconic blond hair and face still allowed the shaken Ninja to recognize him at a glance—after all, the various negative rumors about this boy were too widespread in the Village.
However, Naruto's Shadow Clone merely glanced at him quickly, confirming he was not injured, then continued without stopping. With a flash of golden light, his figure had already vanished from his original spot, rushing to the next battlefield needing rescue.
Naruto's Shadow Clones, upon reaching the Village, were like streaks of golden light, immediately plunging into the fierce resistance as soon as they entered the Village, intercepting the invading Otogakure and Sunagakure forces everywhere.
An Otogakure squad had targeted a group of villagers who were fleeing in panic. The leading Otogakure Ninja grinned, single-handedly gripping the neck of a Konoha Chunin responsible for escorting them, and slammed him hard against a wall.
Those responsible for guiding the evacuation were mostly Chunin and Genin, with limited strength, and what shocked them even more was—the war had just begun, and these enemies were already attacking civilians without any qualms?!
This was not surprising, as Otogakure was established by Orochimaru himself, and he had no interest in instilling any "Ninja ethics" or "rules of war" in his subordinates.
The civilians, surrounded by the Otogakure Ninja, watched in horror, some trembling, some even sobbing softly from the fear of facing death directly.
"Die, Konoha scum!" The leading Otogakure Ninja raised his Kunai, aiming directly at the Konoha Ninja's throat!
"Bang—!"
A giant golden Chakra fist appeared out of nowhere, slamming hard into the side of that Otogakure Ninja's face!
The immense force instantly erupted; that Otogakure Ninja didn't even have time to scream, his entire body flew backward like a broken kite, his body embedding heavily into the wall of a roadside house, seemingly dead.
"Who?!"
The other Otogakure Ninja were scared out of their wits by this sudden turn of events, immediately backing against each other, becoming vigilant, some even instinctively reaching out to grab nearby civilians as hostages!
However, their movements were too slow.
Only a flash of golden light passed before their eyes, and the golden figure had already appeared among them. Immediately after—
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Several golden Chakra arms burst from the ground, accurately gripping the neck of each Otogakure Ninja, then ruthlessly slamming them downwards!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
After several dull thuds, all the Otogakure Ninja were slammed hard into the ground, completely losing consciousness.
"Are you alright?"
Naruto turned around, looking at the shaken Konoha Ninja and the trembling civilians, his gaze quickly scanning, confirming there were no severely injured individuals needing treatment.
After confirming the situation was temporarily stable, the golden light around him flickered slightly, and he prepared to immediately rush to the next location where a distress signal was coming from.
"W-wait a moment!"
Suddenly, a man among the villagers mustered his courage and stepped forward. Naruto found him somewhat familiar, seemingly a shop owner he had seen on the street before.
"You...why did you save us...?" The man's voice trembled slightly from fear and excitement, asking a question that perplexed Naruto.
"Why?" Naruto looked back at him, his tone carrying a hint of confusion, "Does saving people need a reason?"
Before he finished speaking, the golden figure had already vanished from his original spot, leaving behind the villagers looking at each other in bewilderment and the Konoha Ninja, slumped on the ground, having survived the ordeal.
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