Naruto paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth.
"But if we don't, Danzo will just get worse and worse..."
Hatake Satoru looked at Naruto's determined expression and immediately said something Naruto couldn't refute.
"If you rush to stop Danzo impulsively now, then Sasuke will definitely never come back!"
While everyone was discussing, Danzo also took action.
He called Sai over.
"I'm sending you to keep an eye on Naruto. If there's any unusual situation, you must report it to me immediately!"
Sai, a confidant Danzo had raised since childhood, nodded at once.
"Yes! Lord Danzo!"
"But may I be so bold as to ask you a question?"
Danzo frowned slightly.
"Ask whatever question you have!"
Sai immediately lowered his head and asked in a deep voice.
"At this moment, how do you plan to deal with Naruto?"
Danzo raised his head and pondered for a moment.
"Well... he's practically a great hero in the village right now. The villagers' trust in him far exceeds mine. I won't do anything to him!"
Sai nodded when he heard this.
"I understand..."
Danzo closed his eyes indifferently.
"Then you may go."
As Sai left Danzo, he happened to run into Sakura and Naruto.
Sakura immediately greeted Sai.
"We were looking for you!"
Naruto, unlike his usual impulsive and reckless self, spoke as calmly as possible.
"We have something we'd like to discuss with you..."
"We hope you can tell us in detail about Lord Danzo..."
Sai's expression didn't change when he heard this.
He slowly uttered two words.
"Cannot."
These two words pierced Naruto and Sakura like sharp knives.
Naruto still didn't give up hope.
"Sai! We have no one around us who understands Danzo. We can only rely on you!"
Sai said expressionlessly, as before.
"I can't."
Naruto was full of confusion.
"Why! Why!"
Sakura said even more agitatedly.
"Are you standing with Danzo too?"
Sai's face remained expressionless, but he explained.
"It's not like that. The reason I can't tell you anything about Lord Danzo is because of this!"
As he spoke, Sai opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.
On his tongue were seven horizontal marks resembling the Eight Trigrams.
Seeing what was carved on his tongue, Sakura's emotions immediately calmed down a lot, and she then looked puzzled.
"Is that a curse mark?"
Sai nodded.
"Yes, this is a technique Lord Danzo cast. If I say anything about Lord Danzo, I will immediately fall into paralysis, unable to speak or move. It's like this for everyone in the Root organization."
Sakura and Naruto exchanged a look.
"Danzo is truly cautious!"
Sai continued to explain.
"Lord Danzo and the Root organization are very mysterious. They've done many dirty deeds in secret to protect the village, so they absolutely cannot allow any information to leak. Not a single word can be revealed, even if captured!"
Sakura frowned immediately upon hearing this.
"Even so... to put curse marks on your own subordinates, I simply cannot accept that!"
Sai said very calmly.
"But it's precisely because of this that we can protect the Hidden Leaf Village from the very bottom. The methods may be a bit harsh, but this is all for the sake of protecting the village!"
Sakura became agitated upon hearing this.
"Sending ninjas to hunt down Sasuke, using the Hokage's orders to put a bounty on ninjas within our own village – is all this also for protecting the village?"
A slight expression appeared on Sai's face.
"Is that so? I'm completely unaware of what has been done!"
He was about to continue speaking,
when suddenly, a leaping sound came from beside them.
The cold gleam of metal reflected on the faces of the three.
Karui lightly flicked the tip of her sword and said to the three with a hint of provocation,
"You were talking about Sasuke, so tell us about it too!"
Sakura immediately turned her head and glared at Karui.
"So, you're his friends!"
In that exchange, a boundless fighting spirit erupted from her eyes.
Sai crouched down slightly, his next move ready to strike.
However, Naruto moved faster. He reached out and grabbed the sword behind Sai, then raised his hand to deflect Karui's sword.
Clang!!
The sharp samurai sword made a piercing collision sound.
Naruto's move caught Karui completely off guard.
Her sword was deflected by Naruto, instantly revealing an opening.
Naruto raised his leg and didn't charge forward, preparing to launch his next attack.
Just then, Omoi also moved.
He moved at the same time as Naruto, lunging forward.
Their arms collided with a thud.
Karui had also reacted by this point, swinging her sword down with force.
Upon seeing this, Omoi quickly added,
"Don't actually cut him!"
Karui looked nonchalant.
"I know!"
Her sword immediately changed direction, slashing horizontally through the air.
This direction was controlled perfectly, ensuring that all of Naruto's forward paths were blocked, and the blade could pressure Naruto without harming him.
However, Naruto had already formed a hand seal in mid-air the moment he made his move.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A clone immediately appeared in front of Naruto's real body.
The clone's angle of appearance was also perfectly controlled. It reached out and grabbed Karui's sword.
Karui snorted in displeasure and raised her hand to snatch the sword back.
But at this moment, Sakura and Sai were already flanking from left and right.
However, Omoi had foreseen their intentions.
Using Karui as a pivot, he swung his entire body around.
Using the centrifugal force of the circle he drew with his legs, he violently kicked Sakura and Sai away.
Naruto became anxious when he saw this.
"Sakura!"
He shouted and retreated to catch Sakura.
At this point, his clone could no longer be bothered with and was struck by Karui, dissolving into a cloud of smoke.
Naruto caught Sakura and immediately asked with concern,
"Are you okay, Sakura!"
At this moment, Sakura's attention was drawn to the headbands worn by Karui and Omoi.
"Their headbands... they're both ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village!"
Sai also took the opportunity to withdraw and regroup with Naruto and Sakura.
The two from the Hidden Cloud Village immediately flipped back and landed in the river behind them.
Naruto shouted,
"What do you two want!"
Karui said without any politeness.
"Weren't you just talking about Sasuke?"