Chapter 69: Pursuit
With that, he shunshined away from the spot.
Kurenai stood there, watching Naruto's departing back, a complex expression on her face.
At that moment, another figure emerged from the hospital, just in time to see Naruto leaving. She was about to call out to stop him, but Naruto had already vanished from sight.
"Huh? Sasuke! What are you doing here too?" Seeing Sasuke appear, Kurenai was somewhat surprised, but also a little relieved. Good thing she didn't see Naruto and me together on the road earlier, or she'd definitely misunderstand! While slightly relieved, she also felt a strange sensation.
Sasuke was also somewhat surprised and amazed to see Kurenai's mature appearance in casual clothes. She was momentarily stunned before noticing the bandages wrapped around Kurenai's leg. She couldn't help asking, "Was that Naruto just now? Kurenai-sensei, what happened to your leg?"
...
After leaving Kurenai, Naruto first wandered around the village, not heading to the village gates until evening.
Under the setting sun, Naruto saw Jiraiya's figure.
"Pervy Sage! I kept you waiting!" Naruto greeted him.
Jiraiya turned and glared at him. "I told you not to call me that! Have you eaten?"
Naruto smiled slightly, automatically ignoring the first half of his sentence, and nodded. "I ate before coming."
"Alright, let's go!" Jiraiya didn't hesitate. With a wave of his hand, he led Naruto out of the village.
Before dark, the two reached a small town, found an inn, and settled in. Jiraiya said he was going out for a while, telling Naruto to stay in the inn and not go out.
To this, Naruto cast him a very disdainful look. He wanted to ask him some training questions but gave up.
And just before Jiraiya left the inn, two men in black robes with red clouds arrived at the establishment.
Naruto was sitting in the room, sensing the natural energy. He was trying his utmost to rediscover the power he'd grasped within Itachi's Tsukuyomi space, but unfortunately, he made no progress. He could only feel the natural energy within the Curse Mark.
Suddenly, he noticed two powerful auras approaching—auras that felt very familiar!
Kisame Hoshigaki and Uchiha Itachi!
Although Naruto couldn't comprehend that immense power, he had done much research on the natural energy within the Curse Mark. While sensing the surrounding nature, his perception was greatly enhanced, making him extremely sensitive to the environment and auras nearby. Thus, he noticed Itachi and Kisame the moment they approached the inn!
As expected, after seeing me leave the village, these two have been following me like ghosts!
Naruto wasn't afraid. He stood up directly and went to the inn's corridor to wait for them.
At that moment, Itachi and Kisame were also searching for Naruto. Turning a corner in the corridor, their eyes fell upon Naruto's figure!
Naruto leaned against the wall, twirling a kunai in his hand. When the two appeared, he turned his head and smiled. "You two really are persistent!"
Itachi frowned and said lightly, "Were you waiting for us? You knew we'd come for you?"
Naruto smiled without answering, tightening his grip on the kunai. He turned and said, "You're both here to capture me. Come at me if you dare!"
Seeing Naruto's arrogance, Kisame beside Itachi shouted, "Arrogant brat! Since you knew we were coming, not running sooner was your biggest mistake! We won't let you off this time!"
Kisame swung his Executioner's Blade and approached Naruto.
Naruto wasn't afraid of Kisame's advance. In the narrow corridor, wide-sweeping techniques like Kisame's couldn't be used effectively. In contrast, he was small, using kunai, and his methods were more flexible. Combined with speed surpassing Kisame's under the Curse Mark's power, Kisame had no chance of defeating him.
However, just as Naruto was about to charge forward, a sharp cry suddenly rang out from behind Itachi.
"Uchiha Itachi! I finally found you!"
"Sasuke!" Naruto was startled. Sasuke actually found this place? This coincides with the original plot again. But this time, without Kakashi and Guy's involvement, how did she know Itachi was here?
But Sasuke paid no attention to Naruto. At this moment, she was overwhelmed by monstrous hatred and rage. Her Sharingan instantly activated, fixed on Itachi. The moment she saw Itachi, noticing the two were about to attack Naruto, she yelled, "What are you going to do to Naruto?!"
Hearing Sasuke's voice, the corner of Itachi's mouth twitched slightly. His expression seemed to change, yet it didn't. Only after Sasuke's loud question did he slowly turn, looking at Sasuke with a calm, detached face. "It's none of your concern. Don't interfere."
Kisame, to the side, looked at Sasuke curiously. "Itachi, I never expected you to have such a beautiful little sister. But her Sharingan looks quite immature."
Itachi ignored Kisame's remark, simply gazing lightly at Sasuke.
Sasuke couldn't stand Itachi's expressionless face and said angrily, "I will never allow you to harm Naruto!"
Sasuke's expression was noted by Itachi, but when he saw her Sharingan with only two tomoe, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes.
"Sasuke, are you determined to protect this boy?" Itachi said flatly.
"I said, I won't allow you to hurt Naruto!" Sasuke enunciated each word clearly. Simultaneously, a cold aura emanated from her body as her hands rapidly formed seals!
"Chidori!" In an instant, Sasuke gathered a large amount of lightning in her hand. With a short cry, she charged forward with all her strength, still shouting, "Naruto, get out of here!"
Itachi was surprised upon seeing this but inwardly shook his head at Sasuke's charging speed—it was far too slow! Although she had mastered the powerful ninjutsu Chidori, with her current strength, she was still too immature. In this regard, she was far inferior to Naruto.
The next moment, Sasuke rushed at Itachi with Chidori, aiming to defeat him with her strongest strike.
However, after a bang, two figures slowly became visible through the smoke.
Sasuke's right wrist, holding the Chidori, was gripped by Itachi with one hand, immobilized!
And the fierce Chidori had been caught by Itachi's wrist at that moment and pressed against the corridor wall!
A large hole exploded in the wall, but Itachi remained completely unharmed. Sasuke stared blankly at being subdued by her brother, struggling briefly but remaining motionless!
At that moment, a trace of fear rose in Sasuke's heart. He's too strong! Unbelievably strong! I thought I'd become much stronger, but I never expected to still be so helpless against my brother!
On the other hand, Naruto frowned. In truth, with Sasuke's strength, she shouldn't have been subdued by Itachi so quickly. It was just that after seeing the brother who slaughtered their clan again after so many years, her heart was already in turmoil, her mind lost its calm. How could she possibly defeat Itachi?
"You're too weak," Itachi said, applying pressure. Sasuke instantly felt as if her wrist were clamped by iron pliers, her bones on the verge of breaking.