Chapter 28: The Nine-Tails Emerges
But after Naruto had only walked a few steps, two masked figures stood before him.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama wishes to see you. Come with us!"
Hearing the tone of the newcomer and seeing the attitude of the two, Naruto realized they clearly weren't Anbu; they were more like members of Root.
Hiruzen Sarutobi always came to see him in person; he had never sent anyone to deliver a message.
Only a rat in the shadows like Danzo would constantly put on such a high-and-mighty act.
Just as Naruto was hesitating over whether to take action, he suddenly remembered that Kakashi was nearby.
Naruto let out a cold laugh, looked at the two, and said, "And what if I don't go?"
"If you don't go, don't blame us for being forceful."
"I'd like to see just how 'forceful' you can be."
The Root ninja wasted no more words with Naruto. He immediately used the Body Flicker Techniqueto appear in front of Naruto, intending to take him away.
Naruto, however, crossed his arms over his chest, watching the two hands about to touch him while waiting for Kakashi to appear.
To Naruto's surprise, both Root ninja had already grabbed him, yet Kakashi still hadn't appeared.
Just as Naruto was debating whether to strike back...
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stepped out from the darkness.
"Danzo's reach has extended too far. Go back! Tell Danzo I will be coming to see him."
The Root ninja saw Hiruzen Sarutobi appear, but since they already had Naruto in their grasp, how could they abandon the mission?
After a moment's hesitation, one Root ninja picked Naruto up and bolted.
The other Ninja stood in front of Hiruzen Sarutobito block him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened as he looked at the Ninja blocking his path. He hadn't expected Root to completely ignore his orders. He secretly decided that once the Uchiha Clan matter was handled, Root would be the next to be dealt with.
Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored the Ninja in front of him entirely and strode toward the Root base.
Just as that Ninja was about to stop Hiruzen Sarutobi, an Anbu Ninja appeared and immediately began fighting the Root ninja.
Meanwhile, Naruto was being carried along at a dead run by the other Root ninja.
Naruto felt a sense of shame being carried like this, and he desperately wanted to slaughter this Root ninja right now.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it. This was clearly a power struggle between Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi. If he acted now, it might work against him. For now, he could only endure the humiliation of being carried.
Just as they were about to reach the Root base, Kakashi finally appeared, blocking the path of the Root ninja carrying Naruto.
"Put the boy down! Then you can get lost."
Seeing Kakashi, the Root ninja pulled out a Kunai, prepared to fight Kakashi to the death.
Kakashi also lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan, intending to end the fight quickly.
At that moment, more Root members arrived and surrounded Kakashi.
Kakashi realized things were bad; he could only try to find a way to stall for time.
Suddenly, Naruto said to Kakashi, "You should leave! I'm about to do something drastic."
Kakashi frowned at Naruto and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Naruto gave a cold laugh and, without saying a word, closed his eyes to seek out the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails felt a bit helpless when it saw Naruto, because it had witnessed everything Naruto had done over the past year or so.
It was now certain that the memories Naruto had given it were real, but Naruto's lack of belonging to this Ninja World left the Nine-Tails with no way to influence him.
"What are you here for?"
Naruto smiled and said, "To let you out, of course."
The Nine-Tails stood up and looked at Naruto. "You're truly willing to let me out?"
Naruto pointed outside. "You should know what the situation is out there. I don't want the next few years of my cultivation to be disturbed. You understand what I mean, right?"
The Nine-Tails looked at Naruto with a dark expression. "I can lend you my power!"
"I don't need it! What I want is for you to go out and cause a massive scene."
After speaking, Naruto walked to the seal, tore off the sealing tag attached to the iron bars, and then released the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.
The Nine-Tails hadn't expected Naruto to be so decisive, and it had no time to contain its overflowing Chakra.
This caused the Chakra outside Naruto's physical body to expand rapidly, forming a Tailed Beast Shroud, and four Chakra tails sprouted behind Naruto.
Naruto didn't care about any of that. He looked at the Nine-Tails and said, "Go! Go cause a scene. Let's have another Nine-Tails Rampage."
Whether the Nine-Tails wanted to help Naruto or it had simply been suppressed for too long, it directly took control of Naruto's body and increased the Chakra output.
The Nine-Tails had appeared!!!
"Roar!"
Kakashi hadn't expected that the 'drastic' thing Naruto mentioned would be this. The Nine-Tails was not something he could handle, so he hurriedly used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
Neither Hiruzen Sarutobi nor Danzo Shimuraexpected the Nine-Tails to appear at this time.
The people in the Village also heard the Nine-Tails' roar and fled their homes one after another, heading for the shelters.
The Great Clans were also on high alert, having their clan Ninja lead the younger generation to the shelters.
Kakashi quickly found Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "Root ninja captured Naruto and released the Nine-Tails."
Kakashi intentionally hid the fact that Naruto had released the Nine-Tails on purpose. After all, he was certain that anyone who knew Naruto did this intentionally probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a dark face, "What does Danzo think he's doing!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi set off the Anbu assembly flare, summoning all Anbu Ninja.
When Danzo saw the Nine-Tails appear, he began to curse loudly.
"Useless! You're all useless! What good are you to me? Gather everyone and head to the Uchiha Clan Compound. Subdue everyone in the Uchiha Clan."
After being forced out by Naruto, the Nine-Tails was also full of rage. Seeing those few Ninjafleeing in the distance, it angrily fired a small Tailed Beast Ball.
Watching the Nine-Tails rampaging outside, Naruto smiled and said, "Keep it up! After being locked up for so many years, you must have a lot of resentment. Feel free to let it all out."
"Shut up, brat!"
After the Nine-Tails spoke to Naruto through their mental link, it began to destroy everything around it.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi rushed over, the Nine-Tails swiped at him with a claw.
After Hiruzen Sarutobi dodged using a Substitution Jutsu, he asked Kakashi, "When will the Sealing Team arrive?"
"It will take at least ten minutes for them to get here. To have everything fully prepared, it will take at least twenty minutes."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the Nine-Tails with a grim expression. If the Nine-Tails only caused destruction here, he could hold out for twenty minutes.
But the Nine-Tails was clearly running all over the place; how could Hiruzen Sarutobi possibly keep it contained?
Furthermore, for the Sealing Team to set up a Sealing Formation, they needed the Nine-Tails to be fixed in one location.