Within the narrow ventilation shaft, Neji led Sakura forward with purposeful steps, his Byakugan fully activated.
The Byakugan was unmatched in reconnaissance. Even while crawling through air ducts, Neji could clearly follow the two women ahead of them without being noticed.
"If my guess is right, those two are Haido's knight-commanders," Neji said, his gaze piercing the obstacles between them as he watched the two women below.
"They're both carrying Grell Stones. I could take them down now," he murmured, narrowing his eyes. Only five individuals in the fortress possessed Grell Stones. With his strength, taking all of them wouldn't be a challenge.
But in the end, he abandoned the idea. Now wasn't the time to alert the enemy. Even though Shikamaru was clever, it was unlikely he'd be able to extract the location of the Grell Stone vein from the merchant caravan. That was where someone like Neji had to step in and play the villain.
"Like a mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
Soon, light appeared at the end of the shaft. They reached another vent opening, and through it, Neji spotted a middle-aged man in a monocle seated in the main hall, listening to reports from his subordinates.
"Haido…" Neji murmured. That outfit made his identity obvious at a glance.
Below, Haido sipped his tea and smiled calmly. "Heavy casualties, I see. But such sacrifices are necessary to build a utopia."
He then turned to one of his knights. "Timoci still hasn't returned?"
"No, Lord Haido. Would you like me to go look for him?" Windwa asked respectfully.
"No need. That child would never disappoint me," Haido replied with a smile.
And just as he finished speaking, Timoci entered through the doors with Naruto following close behind.
"What the why is Naruto with them?" Sakura whispered, alarmed.
"He got here fast," Neji muttered, surprised. Naruto wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow.
"Wait… could it be?" Neji activated his Byakugan again but didn't see any significant injuries on Naruto or Timoci.
"As I thought. Because of me, they never fell off the cliff. I already told Naruto Haido's real intentions. There's no way he'd be acting friendly with Timoci."
Timoci stepped forward, knelt on one knee before Haido, and said respectfully, "Lord Haido, I've discovered a unique power within this one."
"A unique power?"
"Yes, Lord Haido. Please observe."
Without warning, Timoci drew his sword. A faint green-blue glow appeared on his chest before a powerful sword slash erupted toward Naruto.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto flipped backward to dodge, fuming.
"Reveal that power inside you," Timoci demanded. In a flash, he surged forward again and slashed, seemingly cutting Naruto in half only for the image to dissolve into smoke.
A real Naruto appeared behind him, grabbing him from behind. "Heh. I'm gonna be Hokage one day! And today, I'm stopping you with my own hands!"
As soon as he said that, dozens of shadow clones burst into the hall, filling every inch of the room.
"This is where it ends for all of you," said every Naruto in unison.
The sight left Haido and his subordinates stunned. They had never dealt with ninja before and were quietly awed by the overwhelming display of power.
"Shadow clones, huh… So he infiltrated the fortress during the chaos. I have to admit, Naruto's gotten smarter. Must be thanks to Jiraiya's training," Neji thought, unable to suppress a smirk.
However, Naruto had clearly overestimated himself. Even now, he couldn't possibly take on all five of Haido's elite on his own.
"Windwa, Kamira, Ranke," Haido said calmly to the three women beside him.
At his words, the women grinned wickedly. In an instant, their bodies began to change. One transformed into a werewolf, another into a bat-like creature, and the third into a hulking brute. Their monstrous forms were grotesque and terrifying.
"What are they?" Sakura gasped.
"One of the Grell Stone's many uses," Neji replied coolly. "It allows the user to mutate their body into another species to enhance combat abilities."
"And Naruto?"
"He'll be fine." Neji sounded certain. "Haido's still wearing the mask of righteousness. He won't dare kill Naruto not yet."
Sure enough, the clones quickly fell under the trio's overwhelming power. Timoci broke free from the real Naruto's grip and pressed his sword to his throat.
"How dare you insult Lord Haido!"
"Enough, Timoci," Haido said gently, stepping forward and moving the sword aside. He gave Timoci a fatherly look. "Violence isn't the answer. That was rude."
Timoci knelt instantly. "Yes, Lord Haido."
Haido then extended a hand to help Naruto up and led him to the window, launching into a speech full of passion and false idealism. But Naruto had already been warned. There was no way he'd believe a word of it.
"You bastards! 'Utopia'? You think you can call it noble sacrifice when people die for your cause? I'll never accept that. To me, comrades are everything. I'll never let their deaths be in vain!"
With a roar, Naruto shattered the glass in front of him with a punch and leapt out the window, but his voice rang clearly through the hall.
"I'll stop all of you!"
"Lord Haido, he-" Timoci began, but Haido waved him off.
"It's alright, Timoci. Building a perfect world is never easy. People don't understand at first. In time, he'll come around."
"Yes, Lord Haido."
"Now then, I have a task for you," Haido said, patting Timoci's shoulder. "There's a merchant caravan nearby. They know the location of the Grell Stone vein. I want you to find them."
"Yes, Lord Haido. I won't let you down," Timoci replied solemnly before taking his leave.
Once he was gone, Haido's kindly expression twisted into a grim, bone-chilling sneer. He turned to the knights and said darkly, "Find that brat and kill him."
Watching all of this unfold, Neji smirked and led Sakura away from the fortress.
The Grell Stone… had just delivered itself.
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