Tazuna, who was far away, saw Naruto healing Zabuza and Haku and immediately ran towards their direction with a desperate expression on his face.
"Naruto! Help my friends. Their lives are in danger," Tazuna said while pointing his index finger to his friends who are lying on the ground.
Naruto just takes a glance before speaking in a calm tone, "They are alright. They just got knocked unconscious."
Tazuna was about to convince Naruto to heal his friends when Naruto just gave him a glance, stopping Tazuna in his tracks and making his body tremble slightly.
Naruto coldly looked at Tazuna, and this made Tazuna realize the person he was talking to. The person who cruelly ended Gato's and his men's lives.
It was clear to Tazuna that if he didn't stop disturbing Naruto, Naruto would definitely kill him just like what he did to Gato and his subordinates.
Just as Naruto was about to walk, Hinata suddenly spoke, attracting his and others' attention.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Hinata asks in a soft voice. She gathered all the courage she could to talk despite the fear she felt towards Naruto.
"To Gato's base," Naruto responds before continuing his walk.
Satsuki and Hinata stared at each other before their eyes landed on Fugaku, who had been staring at Miguel or what should be his previous location.
Miguel already left the area while Fugaku and others weren't paying attention. The only person who notices his movements is Naruto, but he didn't stop Miguel from the action he takes.
Seeing this situation, Fugaku feels slightly disappointed by the fact that he is unable to use Miguel to gather information about Naruto, especially given the fact that the two of them clearly know each other.
Fugaku focuses and returns back to his daughter and student, who are looking at him.
"If you wanted to follow him, you can go. I will remain here and guard Tazuna, but I doubt that will be necessary." Fugaku's eyes look at the corpse of Gato before turning towards the two girls.
Fugaku had already guessed the thoughts of Satsuki and Hinata but was unable to take action on their desires, as the fear they felt from Naruto was still fresh in their minds.
This fear clouded their judgement, and this is something Fugaku had to solve as soon as possible, or else the almost flawless teamwork these three had will definitely deteriorate if not solved properly.
It's just that Fugaku wasn't the best at psychological issues and had to make a request to his friend once they returned back to the Leaf.
Satsuki and Hinata once again look at each other before simultaneously nodding at each other and quickly following Naruto.
They are afraid of him, but at the same time they are curious about his action and the mystery around him.
Right now, though, they were curious about the mission he mentioned. It was clear to the two girls that the mission Naruto was talking about wasn't about the mission they take as a team—protecting Tazuna until he finishes building the bridge—but something else.
Their memory about the summoning animal that appeared that day appeared in their minds. The content behind the scroll is clearly the reason why Naruto agrees to continue the mission they take despite knowing the dangerous nature of the mission.
While Satsuki and Hinata follow Naruto, Fugaku, on the other hand, turns his attention to Zabuza after watching his daughter and student back for a few moments.
"What are you planning?" Fugaku asks, voice full of curiosity.
"I... I'm planning to return to the Village Hidden in the Mist," Zabuza answers truthfully, surprising Fugaku.
Fugaku thought that Zabuza would ignore his inquiry since his actions clearly show anyone he is trying to gather information about Zabuza's next move.
Zabuza knows this, but he doesn't care.
Zabuza's mind currently thought about the message Naruto informed him about. Zabuza already had a thought of returning back to the Village Hidden in the Mist after hearing the news of the death of the Fourth Mizukage and the end of the Village Hidden in the Mist Civil War.
Zabuza wasn't against the idea of Mei Terumi becoming the Fifth Mizukage. In fact, he was satisfied to hear such news since, in his opinion, she was the ideal person to lead their village.
The only reason why he didn't return back throughout these years is because of Haku. He feared what she experienced back then would haunt her for the rest of her life; that's why he decided to continue being a rogue ninja, hiding himself and Haku's whereabouts despite the numerous ways Mei tried to contact him.
This mission he takes also made Zabuza realize that he needs to settle down, especially because Haku needs to interact with her peers.
It didn't escape Haku's eyes about the look she had when staring at Satsuki and Hinata.
It was clear to Zabuza that what he currently does right now wouldn't help Haku but hinder her instead.
"That's surprising," Fugaku honestly said.
"I'm tired of running away. It's time to settle down now," Zabuza responds while looking at Haku.
While Fugaku and Zabuza had small talk with each other, Naruto, Satsuki, and Hinata arrived at a specific location within the Land of Wave.
It was deep in the forest but with signs of human activities nearby and the eye-catching tower erected. This tower was the first thing that attracted Hinata and Satsuki's eyes.
Naruto halts his movement and surveys the area, looking for something specific. Naruto knows that Satsuki and Hinata are following him, but he ignores their presence and tries to complete the mission he has.
While Naruto was surveying the surrounding area, he also created Shadow Clones to kill all of Gato's henchmen inside the tower.
It was clear that Gato left some people to protect the tower, which should house all the valuable possessions Gato possesses.
The clone quickly makes a move, and one can hear the loud screams of people dying inside the tower. This made Hinata and Satsuki unconsciously tremble.
Hinata didn't dare to activate her Byakugan in fear of seeing the thugs dying. While she didn't have good feelings about the thugs, ending someone's life is still hard for Hinata.
Satsuki consciously ignored the scream and focused all her attention on Naruto's movement.
She thought that the reason why Naruto made his way towards Gato's base was to steal or, in this situation, collect all of Gato's valuable possessions, but with his action, it was clear to her that Naruto wasn't after Gato's possessions but something else.
"It wasn't here, huh? Did I misjudge its location?" Naruto whispers, but it still wasn't unnoticed by Satsuki and Hinata.
They felt confused but still didn't voice it out and only observed Naruto's movement. Surely with careful observation they can learn the reason behind his action.
After a few moments of thinking, Naruto decides to search for another area and swiftly jumps in the tree branches and traverses once again, which Satsuki and Hinata quickly follow.
After traversing the forest for less than a minute, Naruto suddenly stopped, and a small smile appeared on his face.
Satsuki and Hinata, who follows Naruto, are confused by the reason behind Naruto's sudden stop.
"Finally I found it," Naruto said with a big smile on his face.
In front of Naruto there was a large dark cocoon the size of a large house suspended in the air, and the reason behind it was thanks to the black silks that attached to the trunks of the few trees.
This cocoon had a twisted expression of a human face around its surface. The expression of this face ranges from rage to helplessness.
The dark cocoon was about the size of a regular adult human but wasn't the butterfly one usually witnesses but was twisted as if it was the creation of a demon.
The eye-catching part of the 'butterfly' was the twisted human expression on their wings.
"What the hell is that?" Satsuki whispers.
This was the first time she saw such things, and she had the urge to vomit right here and right now.
Satsuki wasn't the only one, but Hinata also shared a similar feeling.
Hinata was also the first time seeing this, and for the first time in her life, she felt an incredible level of disgust within her as if she were staring at something far worse than a piece of feces.
After staring at the cocoon and the large butterfly, an idea suddenly appeared in their mind.
'...Could it be a Genjutsu? 'Satsuki and Hinata thought in unison as they stared at Naruto's back.
They believe Naruto was the one who created such an incredibly twisted illusion and immediately try to disturb their chakra flows in order to break free from it.
Yet after disturbing their chakra, they still see the same thing.
Hinata and Satsuki decide to activate their doujutsu to try to break free from genjutsu, but they immediately discover a surprising thing.
They weren't under any genjutsu. With Sharingan, it should be easy for Satsuki to see and free herself from genjutsu, but she didn't see that she was under genjutsu.
Hinata, who sees her flow of chakra, notices that nothing is influencing her and Satsuki's chakra.