Chapter 20: First Meeting with the Nine-TailedWhile Near Death
"Don't struggle anymore, you can't escape!"
The Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegationswung his blade repeatedly, blocking all the Shuriken. Seeing Naruto running far away with Hyuga Hinata in his arms, he threw his ninja swordwithout a second thought.
The sharp ninja sword, glinting coldly, cut a straight, icy line through the air. It hit Narutosquarely in the back, its momentum undiminished, plunging through to the hilt while the tip of the blade protruded from his chest.
Under the immense force, Naruto stumbled and fell flat on the ground, pinned firmly by the long ninja sword.
Despite such a severe injury, Naruto still didn't forget the purpose of his trip. At the last moment, Naruto threw Hyuga Hinata from his arms once more, ensuring she wouldn't be harmed.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
At the moment he threw Hyuga Hinata, Narutoused his last Kunai to cut the ropes binding her. As Hinata landed, he spoke with extreme urgency.
"Run! Run as fast as you can! Go to the Village and find Hokage Grandpa to save me, hurry!"
"I'm not leaving!" After landing, Hyuga Hinatanimbly flipped up and stood in front of Naruto to protect him. "Naruto-kun, this time it's my turn to protect you!"
Although Naruto hoped for a companion before dying, especially such a cute girl...
...now was not the time for pessimistic talk, let alone acting. Since returning to his original body, Naruto cursed for the first time.
"Are you an idiot?!" Naruto roared with all his might, veins bulging on his neck. "If you run now, only one of us has to die, and you can buy time for a rescue! If you stay here to die now, won't all my efforts be in vain?!"
"I'm not leaving!" Hyuga Hinata took a Gentle Fiststance and even temporarily activated her Byakugan. "I will not leave Naruto-kun behind and run away alone!"
Hyuga Hinata turned her head and gave Naruto, who was protected behind her, a radiant smile. "Last time was the last time I ever selfishly abandoned Naruto-kun to run away alone. That was the last time!"
"What truly enviable talent!"
The Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegationwalked up not far from Hyuga Hinata. "You're only three years old this year, right? To think you can already use the power of the Byakugan!"
Only after the Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegation mentioned it did Naruto, pinned to the ground by the ninja sword, realize. He suddenly remembered the bulging veins around Hinata's eyes when she turned to look at him.
"So that's how the Byakugan looks when it's being used? What an enviable Bloodline..." Narutomuttered to himself, already on the verge of shock. "Hyuga Hiashi, if you don't show up soon, not only am I going to die, but your daughter's eyes won't be safe either..."
As if hearing Naruto's murmur, Hyuga Hiashi's shout came from the distance. This gave the nearly unconscious Naruto a jolt of spirit, and Hyuga Hinata also showed an expression of relief after a narrow escape.
"Even though my goal is about to be achieved, I still feel unwilling witnessing the rise of another Geniusin Konoha!" The Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegation began to form hand seals rapidly. "Let me do one last thing for the Land of Lightning!"
"Lightning Release: Earth Flash!"
The Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegationfinished his rapid hand seals, and arcs of electricity, winding like venomous snakes, rapidly spread toward where Naruto lay.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Just as the lightning was about to hit Naruto, an Anbu member with silver hair, wearing an animal mask with four red whisker markings and a short sword on his back, stood in front of Naruto.
A fierce gale, no less powerful than the Lightning Release: Earth Flash, blocked the electricity's advance. The two collided and canceled each other out, completely neutralizing the attack of the Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegation.
Just as the Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegation intended to attack again, the slightly late Hyuga Hiashi struck with hatred. He used the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm from the Gentle Fist Art at a distance, accurately hitting the delegation leader.
"A bit of a pity..." The Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegation spat blood, clearly not going to survive. "But it was worth it..."
After uttering those two final sentences, the Leader of the Land of Lightning Delegation died with a smile.
Hyuga Hiashi rushed forward. First, he observed the lifeless delegation leader on the ground, then he pulled Hyuga Hinata into his arms. While softly comforting her, he looked toward Naruto, who was pinned to the ground.
"Father, I'm fine! Save Naruto-kun first!"
Hyuga Hinata's grief-stricken cry rang out. Hearing this, Hyuga Hiashi put Hinata down. Seeing the Anbu member already treating Naruto's wounds, he also went over to help.
As for Naruto, after being saved by the Anbu, he immediately fell into a state of shock. His consciousness should have drifted into sleep as well, but unexpectedly, it was pulled by a mysterious force into a place resembling a sewer.
"Is anyone there?!"
"Where is this?!"
"Hey...!"
Naruto shouted loudly while fumbling through the dark sewer alone, trying to alleviate the deep fear in his heart.
"Am I dead?" Naruto's heart pounded. He clearly remembered that someone had stepped in to save him just before he lost consciousness.
"But if I'm not dead, where is this?!" Naruto was baffled. "Is this the start of another life experience game?"
"No, that's not right..." Naruto quickly dismissed his guess. "If a new life experience game were starting, the System should have given a prompt. This shouldn't be the case."
Just as Naruto was completely perplexed, a massive beastly roar echoed out. The powerful voice made Naruto's eardrums throb with pain.
Naruto didn't think much of it and ran toward the direction of the sound.
"This..." When Naruto reached the end of the sewer, a huge iron cage appeared before his eyes. Inside the cage, a massive Nine-Tailed fox was imprisoned.
"Roar! Come and peel off that Sealing Tag on the cage for this old man, or I'll eat you!"
"You can't get out, so how are you going to eat me?" Naruto asked back, steadying himself.
"..."
The Nine-Tailed fell silent for a moment, but following the silence, Naruto was met with an even louder roar than before.
"Roar!"
"Once you peel off the Sealing Tag, you'll find out how I'll eat you!" The Nine-Tailed glared with its massive beastly pupils, staring intently at Narutothrough the gaps in the iron cage. "Brat, don't make me say it a third time!"
"Then I'll let you say it a third time; I want to see the consequences!" Naruto did the opposite of what was expected. It was just a seemingly fierce and terrifying Nine-Tailed fox, and it was locked in a cage. To Naruto, the threat was practically zero.
"Aren't you afraid of me?!" The Nine-Tailedsuddenly became interested. In all its long life, it had never seen such a sharp-tongued little thing!
"Why should I be afraid?" Naruto stepped forward and patted the iron cage holding the Nine-Tailed. "You're just a big fox locked in a cage. What's the difference between you and a toothless tiger?"
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