As the group leaves Konoha behind, they begin their journey toward the Land of Waves.
"I've never left the village before! This is so exciting!" Naruto shouts, practically bouncing with joy.
"Sigh, this brat is useless! This is not a vacation!" Tazuna complains, unable to tolerate Naruto's childish behavior.
"I'll become the Hokage! You better shut up!" Naruto snaps back angrily.
Tazuna's face darkens with anger. "The Hokage is the mightiest ninja of the village.
No way someone like you will ever become one — and even if you did, you wouldn't be respected by anyone!"
"TAKE THAT BACK!" Naruto angrily marches toward Tazuna, but Kakashi calmly holds him back, a slightly annoyed look on his face.
Finally, the group starts their long walk toward the Land of Waves, keeping a rather brisk pace.
"You're going pretty fast," Tazuna says, slightly out of breath.
"Normally, we wouldn't need long to reach the Wave Country," Kakashi explains, "but you're slowing us down. I want to spend as little time on the road as possible."
"Should I just carry him and we jog?" Alex offers casually.
"No, it's still early. As long as we keep up this speed without taking too many breaks, we'll be fine," Kakashi answers calmly.
As they continue, Alex notices something glinting under the sun up ahead. He narrows his eyes, quickly using Gyo to confirm it.
Jewel... I actually see it—the suspicious puddle... exactly like canon. I honestly can't believe it. Remember, while we don't want too many changes, we still want to profit as much as possible.
These scummy missing-nin won't be captured today. We kill them!
Understood, Soulmate! Queen Jewel and Menchi will stay ahead, far away from the strange masked man.
After their peasant surprise attack, which is utterly pathetic compared to Soulmate's beautiful surprise attacks using his magnificent grenades, we will kill them!
Menchi nods at Alex, signaling that she understood the plan.
Damn, this is so convenient! Thanks to Jewel, we can communicate telepathically.
Even if I can't speak directly to Menchi, Jewel can just relay my thoughts! This is incredible!
Walking calmly at the very front, Alex and Menchi act like nothing is wrong, while Jewel uses Zetsu and slips quietly into a nearby bush, ready to pounce on any attacker.
En! If they target Tazuna or Menchi, I'll have to act immediately. Also, I'd rather take them out before they even manage to attack Tazuna—otherwise, there'll be questions about the mission I'd rather avoid! I can't be sure everything will be the same as the canon events.
As they pass the puddle, Alex senses two individuals suddenly bursting out of it, rapidly approaching Kakashi with a nasty-looking shuriken chain.
The attackers grin nastily as they circle the chain the chain around Kakashi, wrapping it around his body numerous times.
A moment later, their faces twist with vicious glee as they yank on the chain—Kakashi's figure is torn apart, shredded into multiple pieces.
Without hesitation, Alex draws his [Enchanted Runeblade], channeling his magic through it to boost his spell power by an additional 20%. "Thundara!" Alex shouts, targeting both enemies as they charge toward Naruto.
Nimbus Cloak effect activates - Increasing Evasion by 5% and Movement Speed by 40%
You have dealt 45 damage to Gōzu.
You have paralyzed Gōzu.
You have dealt 47 damage to Meizu.
Meizu flinches, clearly shaken by the unexpected attack. Seeing Gōzu slow down, barely able to move, Meizu hesitates, refusing to let go of the chain but unable to press forward.
Spotting an opening, Alex draws his mighty, newly ranked up [Magoroth's Legacy R2], conjures a Magorian's Rage Arrow lvl 5, and activates Fira Arrow, a superior version of Fire Arrow, also injecting a good amount of aura into it via Shu.
DIE!!
Nimbus Cloak effect activates - Increasing Evasion by 5% and Movement Speed by 40%
The arrow flies like a burning comet toward the paralyzed Gōzu.
Meizu reacts quickly, lifting the chain to shield his comrade, but the arrow pierces through it effortlessly, slicing the chain in two before continuing its deadly flight.
Gōzu manages a desperate sidestep, but the arrow still tears through his shoulder, setting his clothes ablaze with searing fire.
You have dealt 78 damage to Gōzu.
You have crippled Gōzu.
You have ignited Gōzu.
Meanwhile, Meizu darts towards Naruto, who stands frozen, doing absolutely nothing, not even defending himself.
His claw rips into Naruto's hand, which he barely manages to lift in time to protect himself, deeply piercing it.
Sakura immediately rushes to Tazuna, drawing a kunai and standing protectively in front of him.
As Meizu prepares to deliver a deadly blow to the wounded Naruto, Sasuke appears behind him, landing a flurry of strikes to Meizu's head with precise taijutsu combinations.
Meizu staggers—but before he can react, his body suddenly splits apart, cleaved straight down the middle.
Menchi appears behind him, her knives dripping with a sinister aura, a wicked grin lighting up her face. Sasuke freezes, unable to process what just happened.
Meizu's two halves collapse to the ground with a heavy, wet sound, dying the dirt red with a growing puddle of blood.
Meanwhile, Gōzu struggles to get up and extinguish the flames—only to be ambushed by Jewel, who strikes with an enhanced Thornback Bite lvl 5, pouring a massive amount of Aura into the attack and mangling Gōzu's neck, instantly killing him.
Another fresh puddle of blood forms as his body stops moving.
Jewel has dealt 81 × 3 = 243 damage to Gōzu.
Jewel has killed Gōzu.
That was easy. And they didn't even have a chance to target Tazuna! This went almost too good. Also I saw 2 glowing chests, dyed into a sweet-looking green light!
Alex yawns, nodding toward Menchi and Jewel, who have completed their tasks flawlessly.
Menchi steps towards the corpses with a smile.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screams, rushing toward Kakashi's torn-apart corpse—only to realize it's just a pile of tiny wood fragments.
Kakashi appears calmly on a nearby tree, clapping lightly, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Not bad," he says as he gracefully jumps down.
"Thanks... though, as the strongest one here, you could have helped out a little. Naruto got hit—he's probably poisoned," Alex comments, slightly annoyed.
"You seemed to be doing just fine without me," Kakashi replies calmly. "Still... I've realized something from watching you from high above. Those ninjas were skilled. If it hadn't been such an obvious trap, we might've gotten into real trouble. Despite you quickly defeating them, their focus was clear—they were trying to create an opening to get to our client.
This makes me wonder... why would famous missing-nin target our client? I fear this situation is different from what I was originally told."
"Interesting... I didn't see them target Tazuna directly. They went after you, Naruto, and then Sasuke," Alex says, voice calm but firm. "By the way, Naruto's been poisoned."
Kakashi immediately approaches Naruto, inspecting his injury.
"Yeah... this isn't good. We better turn back. Also, this mission isn't what we were hired for—we were supposed to protect you from normal threats, not hostile ninjas. Those two were former Kirigakure ninjas... they even tried to assassinate the Mizukage once. This mission is without a doubt beyond the original scope. Naruto, I'll carry you back. Honestly, I didn't expect you to freeze like that."
"FORGET IT!" Naruto roars, stabbing a kunai into his already injured hand. Blood drips from the wound, dripping onto the ground.
"N-Naruto... this is too much," Sakura says, still visibly shaken.
Meanwhile, Sasuke stares at Menchi and Alex, clenching his fists. "I don't want to give up either. I need to get stronger. So what if this mission's a little more dangerous?"
Kakashi's eyes narrow as he watches Naruto's hand—the wound is already beginning to heal, slowly but steadily.
"Fine… However, Tazuna, you will tell us everything. Only then will we continue."
"I told you the truth! I'm being targeted by a certain man... Gatō."
"The shipping magnate?" Kakashi asks, visibly surprised.
"Yes... he appears to be just a businessman, but he's involved in drug trafficking and smuggling. Thanks to him monopolizing the shipping routes, he's isolated the Land of Waves, ruling over it like a tyrant. If the bridge gets completed, foreign trade will return, and his reign will end. That's why he's targeting me. I didn't expect him to send ninjas."
Naruto looks furious, clenching his fists. "We have to help him! That guy's pure evil!
Saving the Land of Waves... that's what a future Hokage would do!"
"Fine," Kakashi says after a brief pause. "However—if a strong ninja shows up, you stay behind me and focus only on protecting the client. Understood?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto says with a wide grin. Sasuke nods too, his eyes burning with determination. Only Sakura looks hesitant, clearly still rattled by the idea of continuing.
"Thank you..." Tazuna says, his voice thick with emotion. "You're probably saving my grandson from growing up without a male figure... and my daughter from falling into despair.
If you had abandoned me, everyone in the Land of Waves would've ended up hating Konoha. But because you chose to stay—these things won't happen. Thank you, my saviours!!"
"..."
"...We already agreed to continue. You can stop with the emotional speeches, you are terrible at them by the way, I feel no sincerity in your voice," Kakashi says dryly.
Damn, Tazuna is vicious. A pretty mean way to make them feel guilty. Though it looks like it failed.
"Let's keep going then," Alex says with a smile, glancing at Menchi—catching the sight of two green chests quietly disappearing into her inventory.
Nice! Looks like it's time to pull off our plan… I just hope nothing unexpected happens.
Kakashi quickly bandages Naruto's hand, and the group resumes their journey—this time, moving more cautiously, tension thick in the air.
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