Chapter 55: White Is Truly Gender-Ambiguous, Naruto's Bold Idea
Sasuke's expression was dazed, and within that daze lay deep unwillingness!
He was dazed because—how could Naruto be this strong?!
If he had Naruto's level of power,
wouldn't revenge against Uchiha Itachi finally be within reach?
As for the unwillingness—
it stemmed from constantly remembering how, back in the academy,
his peers and teachers had labeled him the genius ninja.
The academy's genius.
The top choice in the eyes of countless girls.
He didn't care about the rest.
But that title of "genius"!
He refused to let anyone take it away!
This had to go back to when Sasuke was little.
Uchiha Itachi—the genius of the Uchiha clan!
Praise from peers, admiration from teachers, approval from Father.
All kinds of halos surrounded him.
From childhood, he had been draped in glory.
Sasuke saying he wasn't envious would be self-deception.
That's why, in the academy,
he had deliberately shown excellence.
To experience the same feeling of being called a genius like Itachi.
Until today—taking on a real mission, leaving the village,
and experiencing the assassination attempt by Hidden Mist ninjas!
Only then did Sasuke suddenly realize
how laughable he had been before.
Showing off at the slightest achievement.
Meanwhile Naruto?
He had been silently building strength in the shadows.
Then he shocked everyone in one move!
Or rather—everything Naruto showed before
was just to hide that he was a true, undeniable genius.
Sasuke even thought—
Naruto had deliberately acted like the dead-last.
Every time someone praised him—Sasuke—as the academy's genius ninja,
Naruto must have been secretly laughing in the dark.
Thinking of this…
Sasuke's face flushed red with anger. He gritted his teeth, fists clenched tight.
"Damn you, Naruto! You've been secretly mocking me all along, haven't you?"
After witnessing the massive gap between them,
Sasuke's mind became chaotic.
Anger, helplessness, unwillingness…
all mixed together.
In the end—it turned into confusion…
confusion about life.
For the first time—besides his burning need for revenge—
Sasuke fell into existential confusion.
Rustle rustle…
Deep in the woods, leaves stirred.
Two thin senbon—oh wait, no—two senbon needles flew out.
They struck Zabuza's neck perfectly.
In an instant, blood sprayed.
Zabuza's pupils widened. With a thud,
his body collapsed to the ground.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly. In the next instant, he gripped a kunai tightly.
"Who's there?!"
A slender figure emerged from the distance.
Wearing a mask, about the same height as Naruto and the others.
"Hidden Mist's tracker ninja?"
Kakashi immediately recognized the type.
Though he didn't have free style,
his experience was vast!!!
This was thanks to his time as a tool in ANBU
and the eye-opening missions he'd done.
The newcomer showed no surprise.
"As expected of Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha—you saw through my identity at a glance."
Naruto curled his lip and muttered:
"The headhunter dog has appeared."
Knowing the plot as he did,
of course he knew why Haku was here.
To fake Zabuza's death.
Then sneak him away right under their noses!
The plan was perfect—seamless.
Nothing suspicious or abrupt about it.
A tracker ninja from the Hidden Mist
comes to eliminate a rogue ninja from their own village.
No problem, right?
Completely reasonable.
Taking the body back to report the mission complete.
Textbook procedure.
Haku was betting that Kakashi and the others wouldn't closely inspect the corpse.
Then he could quickly take Zabuza away.
By the time they realized—
the person would already be gone.
A flawless grand plan.
Unfortunately—he ran into Naruto, the cheat-code transmigrator.
Transmigrated was bad enough—bringing a system too.
Naruto grinned. He didn't interrupt the commercial mutual-flattery session between Kakashi and Haku.
Instead—he prepared to launch a sudden attack.
Since you delivered yourself to the door,
might as well stay!
Honestly—he was quite curious about Haku's true gender.
In the original story it was male, but looked female.
Whatever—why bother guessing.
Just strip and check?
cough cough…
Give the other party some dignity—do it when no one's around.
If it were a sword fight, that'd be different.
Naruto had no strange hobbies in that direction.
Sword fighting master?
That was something Jake liked.
Naruto's orientation was perfectly normal!
No matter how pretty or prettier-than-girls a boy looked,
he felt zero attraction.
Just as Naruto prepared to capture,
the system's cold notification rang again in his mind.
Ding—Triggering choice mission!
Choice 1: Let Haku take Zabuza away. Later go collect him as your dog!
Reward: Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique (no hand seals version)
Choice 2: Acting in front of me? Tired of living? Everyone stay right here!
Reward: Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique (no hand seals version)
...
--------------------------
Support us on Patreon and gain access to 100 chapters in advance!
patreon.com/inkroxx