58: Chapter 58 Absolute Dominance and Dividing the Force into Two RoutesThe air in the ward seemed to have solidified into a colloid.
Everyone remained frozen in their positions, looking at the boy on the hospital bed whose chest was heaving powerfully, and then at the blond figure who was casually tossing a handkerchief into the trash can.
There were no cheers, no applause.
Because everything happening before our eyes was so illogical, the human brain's protective mechanism temporarily shut down the neural circuits that express joy.
Instead, there is a tremor of fear of unknown forces that comes from the depths of the soul.
Chiyo leaned on her cane, her cloudy old eyes fixed on Naruto.
She had lived for over seventy years and witnessed countless storms in the ninja world, believing she had long since seen through life, death, and the limits of ninjutsu.
But today, in just those few dozen seconds, her proud edifice of empiricism collapsed.
This is not ninjutsu at all.
This is defying fate and changing one's destiny.
The old woman took a shaky step forward.
Instead of checking on her disciple's condition, she faced Naruto and slowly bent her once straight back.
He bowed deeply.
"I apologize for my rudeness just now."
An aged voice echoed in the deathly silent room.
The Sand Village ninjas around them gasped in shock.
Granny Chiyo, a living fossil of Sunagakure, a figure even the Kazekage had to show respect to, actually bowed down to a Konoha genin?
[Ding!You have received 32,000 of Chiyo's ultimate [Awe]!]
[Ding!You have received 45,000 units of "Group Submission" from the Sand Village!]
Naruto stared at the numbers flashing wildly on the system panel, his heart completely unmoved.
He didn't help the old man up, and didn't even bother to say a polite "it's okay".
He simply pulled up a chair, sat down with an air of authority, and crossed his legs.
"No need for an apology."
Naruto glanced around at the silent Sand Village officials, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather.
"I need something more substantial than these empty formalities."
He extended a finger and tapped lightly on the armrest of the chair.
"First, I have absolute command over this operation."
No one objected.Even Chiyo lowered her head, acknowledging the fact.
After displaying such miraculous power, no one here anymore regarded him as an ordinary genin.
The strong are respected; this is an eternal and unchanging iron law in the ninja world.
"Second," Naruto said, fixing his gaze on Chiyo, "tell me everything about your precious grandson, Sasori of the Red Sand, without missing a single detail."
Chiyo's body stiffened abruptly.
She looked up at the young man before her, who, despite his young age, exuded an imposing aura, and gave a bitter smile.
"It seems.you already knew."
Chiyo sighed, a deep weariness and regret appearing on her wrinkled face.
"That happened twenty years ago."
Over the next ten minutes, Chiyo peeled back the ugliest scar on Sunagakure.
The story revolves around the genius puppeteer named Scorpion, his madness in transforming himself into a human puppet in pursuit of eternal art, and the "Crimson Secret Technique: Hundred Machine Manipulation" he wields, a technique capable of conquering even nations.
Kakashi listened from the side, his brow furrowed.
Turn yourself into a puppet?
This kind of madman is indeed someone that "Xiao" would recruit.
"I know where he is," Chiyo said finally, her tone resolute."That child… Sasori, he has a secret base in the canyon of the River Country on the border of the Land of Wind."
She paused, then suddenly looked up and stared directly at Naruto.
"Take this old woman with you."
"Grandma!" Ebizo exclaimed in surprise, "Your health."
"Shut up!" Chiyo snapped at her brother, then turned to Naruto, her voice earnest, "That's the sin I committed.I won't rest in peace until I finish him off myself."
Naruto looked at the frail old man.
He is evaluating.
It's not about assessing her combat abilities, but rather evaluating how much emotional value this "Avenger" character can extract from this grand drama.
Grandparents and grandchildren turned against each other.
The clash between flesh and blood and puppets.
The system should really like this kind of performance.
"Okay." Naruto nodded, stood up, and said, "Let's get ready to go."
Half an hour later, at the border of the Land of Wind.
The yellow sand was whipped up by the strong wind and stung my face.
A small dog wearing a vest was lying on the ground, sniffing and carefully identifying the scent molecules remaining in the sand.
Parker.
Kakashi's most trusted ninja dog.
"How is it?" Kakashi asked.
Parker looked up, a hint of human-like confusion appearing on his wrinkled dog face.
"The scents diverge here." It raised its paw and pointed in two completely different directions."That kid playing with clay, carrying a strong smell of blood, went in that direction.He must have taken Feng Ying with him."
It then points to the other side.
"And that guy who smelled strongly of preservatives walked this way.It was very faint, but I'm sure it was the smell of a scorpion."
They split up.
A typical tactic of luring the enemy.
"It seems they've noticed the pursuers too." Kakashi quickly analyzed the situation."Deidara is with Gaara; we must catch up with them as soon as possible.Sasori is responsible for covering the rear or drawing away some of the fire."
He looked at Naruto and offered the safest solution.
"We must split up.Sakura and I will be in one group, and you and Advisor Chiyo will be in the other.This way, the fighting force will be most balanced.With your sensory abilities combined with Chiyo's experience, dealing with Sasori shouldn't be a problem.Sakura and I will go after Deidara."
This is a textbook tactical arrangement.
However, Naruto shook his head.
"No."
He denied it decisively.
Kakashi paused for a moment: "Naruto, now is not the time to be impulsive."
"Kakashi-sensei, you take Sakura to chase after Deida.""Pull!" Naruto interrupted him, issuing an order that left everyone speechless."Granny Chiyo, go after Sasori."
The air was silent for a second.
"And what about you?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.
"I'm going with Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said matter-of-factly.
"What a joke!" Chiyo was the first to get angry, slamming her cane heavily on the ground."You want me to deal with Sasori alone?Do you want me to go and die?"
Although she was prepared to die, that meant mutual destruction, not being killed in a meaningless one-on-one fight.
She was well aware of her current strength; even if she risked her life, she could not possibly be a match for a member of Akatsuki in their prime.
Kakashi frowned, and his usually dead-fish-like eye turned serious.
"Naruto, this joke isn't funny.Letting Granny Chiyo act alone is tantamount to abandoning that lead.And once she's defeated, Sasori will flank us from behind, leaving us vulnerable on both sides."
"Who said she went alone?"
Naruto put his hands in his pockets, turned to the side, and looked at the old woman with a face full of anger.
"I'll send you an assistant."
helper?
Besides the four of them and a dog, who else could they possibly help?
Naruto offered no explanation.
He slowly withdrew his hands and formed a simple mudra in front of his chest.
At this moment, in Naruto's hands, this basic hand seal stirred a grand resonance between heaven and earth.
The earth began to tremble.
It wasn't an earthquake, but some enormous energy surging wildly underground, eager to break through the soil.
"Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique".
There were no smoke effects whatsoever.
Suddenly, the sand beside Naruto rose up, and countless dark brown wood fibers burst out of the ground, rapidly intertwining, entwining, and shaping themselves in the air.
Just two seconds.
A figure that looked exactly like Naruto stood before the crowd.
The same blonde hair, the same orange clothes, even that cold, aloof expression was exactly the same.
If it were just a regular shadow clone, no one present would be surprised.
But this.
Kakashi instinctively took a half step back, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.
It's so heavy.
The amount of chakra contained within this clone is like a volcano compressed to its limit.
That suffocating sense of oppression was even more terrifying than the physical forms of many Jonin.
"This.this is a clone?" Sakura stammered, feeling as if her senses were screaming.
Naruto patted his clone on the shoulder.
"Go.Keep an eye on the old woman, make sure she doesn't die."
The clone nodded without speaking, but turned its head and glanced at Chiyo with its emotionless blue eyes.
Chiyo felt as if she were being targeted by an ancient, ferocious beast.
"This thing." She swallowed, her throat dry."Will it work?"
"If he can't handle it, then your going will be a waste of time," Naruto said calmly."There's half of my chakra in here, and a little bit of… special 'rules'."
He injected a trace of the [No Limit Technique] rule into his clone.
While not as free as the original body, it's a game-changer when used to defend against physical attacks like those from a scorpion.
"Alright, no more nonsense."
Naruto glanced at the sky.
"action."
Without any hesitation, the clone flashed and transformed into an orange streak of light, rushing towards the direction where the scorpion had disappeared.
It moved so fast that it left a long afterimage on the sand.
Chiyo gritted her teeth; she knew she had no other choice.
"You brat, if I die, I will haunt you even as a ghost."
After uttering these harsh words, the old woman, leaning on her cane, unleashed astonishing speed and chased after the terrifying clone.
Watching the two disappear into the sandstorm, Kakashi withdrew his gaze and took a deep look at Naruto beside him.
Half of the chakra?
Can a clone created by splitting half of one's chakra possess that monstrous sense of oppression?
Just how powerful is the original form now?
"Let's go too, Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto interrupted Kakashi's thoughts.
He turned around, facing the direction Deidara had fled, and smiled slightly.
"Don't keep our prey waiting too long."
The three people and one dog set off again.
The wind and sand howled.
Naruto ran at the very back of the group.
He glanced back in the direction his clone had gone, a cold glint flashing in his azure eyes.
Dual-line operation.
On one hand, there is the ethical tragedy of grandfather and grandson killing each other.
On one hand, there's the thrilling drama of close friends chasing down a criminal.
He wants all the emotional points from both sides.
As for danger?
In this world, nothing that can pose a threat to him has yet been born.
"This will be a.bumper harvest."
He whispered to himself.
The camera lingered on his profile, which was calm to the point of being cold.The wind and sand swept by, but could not stir up even a ripple in his eyes.
Only the endless abyss silently gazes upon this world about to boil over.
Prev Next