"Are you an idiot?!" Kiba shouted in a panic. "We're infiltrating! In-fil-tra-ting!"
"That's right! I said that earlier," Naruto replied, spreading his arms nonchalantly. "As long as we kill all the enemies, isn't that the perfect infiltration?"
"You bastard…" Kiba was completely speechless.
"Stop arguing and come look!" Hinata suddenly called out. Everyone turned toward her voice and saw her pointing at the patch of land Naruto had recently disturbed.
Their eyes widened in shock at what she had uncovered—a pile of mutilated corpses lay before them.
"How brutal…" Hinata murmured, covering her mouth in horror.
"Back!" Naruto suddenly warned, and instinctively, everyone took a few steps back.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Naruto shouted, forming hand seals quickly.
Boom! A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, engulfing the corpse pile in an explosion of heat and flame.
"STOP!!" Everyone screamed in unison, watching the fireball crash into the already gruesome scene.
"Huh?" Naruto turned around, confused. "What's wrong with you guys?"
Kakashi gave him a deadpan look. "I seriously want to know what you've been learning all these years."
He pointed to the scorched remnants. "Did you just help the enemy destroy their own corpses?"
Naruto chuckled nervously. "Heh… don't sweat the small stuff…"
Everyone: "Shut up!"
Naruto: "Okay… my bad."
By the time Akamaru managed to pick up a faint trail from the leftover remains, it was already three days later.
"I've got it!" Hinata said, activating her Byakugan. "This chakra signature… it feels like a shinobi's."
"Danger!" several voices exclaimed in alarm.
Suddenly, a burly man dropped down from the sky, smashing into Kakashi with immense force.
"You must be the leader of this squad," the man growled, glaring at Kakashi.
His fist expanded unnaturally, and he hurled a massive punch at the Copy Ninja.
"Sensei!" The others shouted, as Boom!—Kakashi was blasted backward, dust erupting in all directions. The attacker didn't pause and immediately chased after him.
"Naruto!" Hinata and the others looked at him in alarm.
Naruto waved casually. "Don't worry. He's not a big problem. There's a few more up ahead."
They turned their eyes forward and saw three figures emerge from the smoke and debris.
"Tch, missed him?" the man in the middle said. "Well, never mind. Thanks to the ox-head for leading your captain away, dealing with the rest of you should be easy."
On the far left stood a rubbery man, looking like a knock-off version of Monkey D. Luffy. On the right was someone wearing a gas mask. The man in the middle had a sharper, more refined appearance—clearly the leader.
"You've got decent tracking ability," the leader said mockingly. "But it's a shame you're using it for the wrong cause."
Hinata narrowed her eyes. "Could they be the ones connected to the stronghold?"
"Yeah," Kiba growled. "They definitely don't look like they're here to talk. Be on guard!"
"There are three of them. What's the plan?" Hinata asked calmly.
"I'll team up with Akamaru to ambush one and reduce their numbers," Kiba responded, already positioning himself for a pincer move.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" Naruto roared.
A tsunami of fire surged forward, engulfing the path ahead and sweeping toward the enemy trio.
"No way!" the three screamed in shock. "Run!"
BOOM! The forest ahead was scorched into blackened earth and cinders. Before they could even properly introduce themselves, the trio vanished from Naruto's view.
Hinata Squad: "…"
"Oi oi," Kakashi suddenly appeared behind them, his hair tousled and uniform singed. "That's a bit much…"
"Wait, what about the guy that punched you?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Ran off…" Kakashi muttered, clearly irritated.
Naruto scoffed. "Tch. What a drag."
Kakashi: "…"
Somewhere deep in the forest…
"Tch, all those fools were useless," Guren said coldly, standing before a cliff overlooking the scorched remains of the battlefield.
"At least we confirmed some of their abilities," sneered a red-faced henchman. "But the blonde one… he's a problem."
"We need to trap him somehow," Guren muttered. "If we can isolate him, the others won't pose much of a threat. We can't let them disrupt Orochimaru-sama's plans."
Guren stepped forward, surveying the crystal seeds buried in the earth. "Fortunately, the trap is intact. The octagonal crystal seeds I implanted within the Eight Trigrams have already begun to sprout."
"Bloom and bear fruit… Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Labyrinth Technique!"
She formed a long series of hand seals. Immediately, the crystal seeds deep in the ground exploded with life, rapidly growing and forming a massive crystal dome that encapsulated the entire forest.
Guren leapt into the heart of the dome and formed more seals. "Crystal Release: Crystal Mirror Technique!"
Several crystalline, snowflake-like mirrors materialized around her.
"Crystal Clone Jutsu."
From each mirror, reflections of Guren emerged—perfect copies stepping forward in unison.
Meanwhile, inside the barrier…
Shino's kikaichū insects swarmed through the air, bouncing off the invisible walls of chakra.
"We're trapped inside some kind of barrier," Kakashi muttered, brow furrowed.
"They're trying to seal off my insects," Shino confirmed. "It's a countermeasure against my tactics."
Hinata: "…"
"Watch out!" Akamaru barked suddenly.
Naruto spun, startled. "The hell's with this dog barking in human language? You scared me!"
WHAM! Akamaru retaliated with a sad bark.
"Hey, bastard!" Kiba snapped. "That's my dog!"
Naruto casually swatted aside a crystal shuriken flying toward them. "Not my fault. Maybe try feeding him properly."
"You bastard…!" Kiba growled.
Suddenly, a cluster of crystal shuriken exploded mid-air, fragmenting into a storm of crystal kunai that rained down on them.
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven Flow Formation!" Hinata shouted, spinning and deflecting the incoming projectiles with a fluid burst of chakra.
Under Naruto, Akamaru transformed into a massive three-headed dog. One of the heads exhaled a violent hurricane that blew the crystal kunai away.
"Damn it! Give me back my dog!" Kiba yelled, darting around frantically.
From the chaos, one of the flying kunai transformed—revealing Guren mid-air.
"Crystal Release: Crystal Blade!"
Her right arm crystallized into a shimmering sword, which she swung viciously at Kiba.
"Look out!" Shino's insects surged forward, yanking Kiba to safety as the blade cleaved the air.
Naruto patted Akamaru's back. "Take care of that newbie, alright?"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A NEWBIE?!" Kiba roared.
Guren retreated, stepping beside a charred stump. She sneered. "I'm done playing around. My barrier spans a kilometer. Just sit tight and wait for Lord Orochimaru's plan to unfold."
"She's a clone," someone muttered.
"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi rushed forward, slamming a Raikiri against the crystalline wall.
BOOM! The lightning cracked—then fizzled out. Not even a scratch.
"It's incredibly durable," Kakashi noted grimly.
"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba and Akamaru burst from underground, colliding with the barrier—and bouncing off it painfully.
"There are crystal foundations deep underground too," Kiba groaned.
Kakashi shook his head. "This formation is built for durability. Any direct attacks are distributed across the structure. It'll take something much more powerful… Something on a large scale…"
Ting~
Everyone turned.
Naruto was standing beside the barrier, tapping it lightly with a finger.
Cracks began to splinter out from the point of impact, spreading like spiderwebs.
CRASH!
With a deafening shatter, the entire barrier collapsed into a storm of pink crystal dust, falling like snow around them.
Kakashi: "…"
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