Chapter 35
The fragrant aroma of roasted meat drifted through the air, interrupting everyone's thoughts.
Rustle~ Rustle~
Outside, several unusual sounds came—mixed with what sounded like footsteps.
"There's firelight ahead. Probably people. Let's go check it out."
"Maybe we'll find something good."
The two sentences floated in with the night breeze. Naruto and the others all turned toward the cave entrance.
Moments later, three Sand boys and two Sand girls appeared at the mouth of the cave.
The leader took one look at the situation inside and burst out laughing: "Five against four! We've already won!"
Behind him, a girl with lines painted on her face stared seriously at Naruto, as if she'd seen him somewhere before.
Suddenly, her expression changed drastically. She whispered urgently to the leader: "Iwa-kun, stop talking. Let's leave!"
But the one she called Iwa-kun paid no attention. Instead he spoke to Naruto's group:
"Alright then."
"I now declare—this place belongs to us. Put down your roasted fish, leave your warm, dry bedding, and hand over all your special kunai…"
"And then you're free to go. Yeah! That's it!"
"Otherwise… heh heh heh~"
Iwa-kun didn't notice how strange the looks from Naruto and the others had become.
After a long pause, Naruto finally spoke: "You… are you seriously challenging the four of us by yourself?"
Iwa-kun frowned. "What do you mean 'by myself'?!"
He turned around—and froze in shock. His four teammates had already run more than a hundred meters away, leaving him completely alone!
From far off came the faint voice of the Sand girl: "We'll avenge you another day!!!"
Iwa-kun: "?????"
He looked back at Naruto in terror and suddenly realized… this face looked familiar…
This… wasn't this the Konoha jinchūriki who'd gone berserk during the day?!
Panic hit him instantly. He stumbled backward, stammering: "Y-you… you're the jinchūriki??"
Naruto silently set down the roasted fish in his hand and walked toward him: "Yeah. What, are you one too?"
Because of the massive shadow Gaara had left in Iwa-kun's heart, he didn't dare resist at all. He could only let Naruto approach.
Compared to Gaara, Naruto seemed somewhat normal… but those whisker marks on his face screamed "monster"!
As Naruto got closer, Iwa-kun trembled all over. If this wasn't an act, he had basically lost all fighting spirit.
"Bro, are you really this cowardly?"
Naruto teased the boy who looked like he was about to cry, then held out his hand: "Hand it over."
Iwa-kun swallowed hard. "Y-you… you're not going to kill me?"
Naruto gave a friendly nod: "Of course not. I'm not some psycho who enjoys killing people, right?"
"Let me ask you a question—how many special kunai do you have?"
Iwa-kun stared blankly for a moment, thought hard, then answered: "Uh… I have three. I worked really hard to collect them."
Naruto smiled warmly—looking completely harmless and gentle.
He nodded and said to Iwa-kun: "Good job. Hand them over."
As he spoke, Naruto extended his hand. At the same time, his other hand gathered Wind-style chakra and suddenly smashed it into a nearby tree.
The tree was instantly torn to shreds by the explosive wind release, scaring Iwa-kun half to death…
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