After Gyōja's explanation, Kakashi and his companions understood the situation.
"So, it's not that your Tsuchigumo clan is in danger," Kakashi said, eye-curve visible even behind his mask. "You just need help finding someone?"
The Tsuchigumo clan possessed a powerful ninjutsu that had once obliterated a small town. Because of that, Hiruzen Sarutobi—still in power at the time—listed it as a forbidden jutsu and barred the clan from using it. However, the Third Hokage had made a promise: if the Tsuchigumo clan were ever in genuine danger, they could seek help from the Hidden Leaf.
Although Hiruzen had stepped down and was no longer Hokage, his promise had been made in Konoha's name. The village couldn't ignore it, so they sent a team to investigate and resolve the situation.
Thus, Naruto and Sakura—both of whom had been training for a long time—were dragged along by Kakashi for what was essentially a mission and a break from routine. As for Yamato, he was now Naruto's personal bodyguard, specifically tasked with monitoring the Nine-Tails' chakra within him and suppressing any signs of a rampage.
Hearing Kakashi's question, Gyōja nodded somewhat awkwardly. Behind him, Hotaru nodded frantically.
"Utakata is missing! Lords of Konoha, please help me find him! He must be in trouble, otherwise he wouldn't have been gone so long!"
Naruto curled his lip. "What? It's just a search mission? I thought after all that training, I'd finally get to show off my skills…"
Naruto had successfully mastered the Rasengan and fused it with Wind Release: Nature Transformation. Now, he was itching to find a powerful target to test his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken on. The fact that the mission had turned into a simple retrieval job left him thoroughly unimpressed.
"If I knew it'd be this boring," he muttered, "I would've stayed in the village and waited for the Perverted Sage to come back and take him to Mount Myōboku for Sage Mode training."
Thanks to Menma, Naruto was the only chunin to pass the previous Joint Chunin Exams. As a result, he hadn't accompanied Jiraiya to the exams in Sunagakure this time. Sakura, meanwhile, was training the Yin Seal with Tsunade and couldn't participate either. She wasn't out here because she'd succeeded, but because she'd failed and needed a distraction.
"Lord Utakata? What's that?" Sakura asked, looking at Hotaru with curiosity.
"He's Lord Utakata! He blows lots of bubbles and attacks with them!" Hotaru gestured with her hands. "He has brown bangs, wears a blue haori, and carries a bubble-blowing device. He's both aloof and cool!"
Naruto glanced sideways, confused. He scratched his head and pointed uncertainly. "Are you talking about that weird guy who doesn't wear his shirt properly, showing his chest?"
Hotaru's eyes widened. "Huh?!"
She immediately turned and spotted Utakata, the Six-Tails jinchuriki, leaning casually against a tree trunk in the distance, blowing bubbles.
"Lord Utakata!"
She barely finished the exclamation before Utakata stood up indifferently and walked away.
"Lord Utakata, wait!"
Hotaru moved to chase him, but Gyōja grabbed her arm. "Miss Hotaru, something's not right. Let the Konoha adults check it out."
"Something's definitely not right," Kakashi agreed, his lone eye fixed on Gyōja. "Someone who's been missing for over a month suddenly shows up right when we arrive… and leaves right after. It's like he was waiting for us." He paused. "Heh, just kidding."
Seeing Gyōja's expression remain unchanged, Kakashi looked away and headed after Utakata. "Yamato and I will check it out. Naruto, you guys stay put."
"Huh? I have to go too?" Yamato hadn't expected to be included. He scratched the back of his head and reluctantly followed. "Kakashi-senpai really knows how to order people around…"
The moment the two left, Naruto rubbed his eyes. "Sakura, look! That guy called Bubble is back! This time, he's over there!"
Before Sakura could respond, Hotaru looked over. Sure enough, Utakata was waving in their direction.
"Lord Utakata!"
"He's waving at me?!"
Hotaru wasn't stupid—Utakata's repeated appearances made her realize something was off. But before she could say anything, Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm.
"Stay put."
Naruto didn't hesitate. He broke free, bent low, and charged after him.
"Haha, this kind of mission is way more fun! Sakura, you stay here and protect Grandpa and the others. Watch me go catch that charlatan!"
Meanwhile, high above—
Deidara stood atop a giant clay bird, observing the scene below through a miniature telescope embedded in his right eye. Seeing Kakashi, Yamato, and Naruto all move away, a satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Lord Sasori, the plan worked! Your puppet trick did the trick—they took the bait and left the target behind!"
Beside him, Sasori—hidden within the Hiruko puppet—spoke in his low, hoarse voice.
"This is the power of intelligence. It saves us effort."
A month ago, Sasori and Deidara had captured the Six-Tails jinchuriki, Utakata. Afterward, Sasori used the puppet to investigate the Tsuchigumo clan here. He hadn't expected to use that intel so soon.
"The target appeared on the first try and was successfully isolated. We should attack together and finish this quickly. My puppet clones won't last long—we need to grab the target before the jinchuriki returns."
Following Menma's embellishments, Naruto had been portrayed as a terrifying Nine-Tails jinchuriki, even more powerful than Menma himself. Sasori, not wanting another beating, just wanted to finish and escape.
"Understood!"
Deidara, equally unwilling to be on the receiving end of a beating, urged the clay bird to swoop downward.
"That's—" Sakura felt the wind pressure overhead and looked up. What she saw was a rapidly enlarging white bird.
"Get out of the way!"
Without time to react, she lunged at Gyōja and Hotaru, pulling them aside.
BOOM!
The heavy object slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of yellow dust. Coughing, Sakura covered her nose.
"Cough cough… Who are you?! Are you here for the Tsuchigumo Gyōja's forbidden technique?"
There was no answer. Instead, a steel scorpion tail pierced through the dust at lightning speed.
Whoosh!
Hiruko's back stinger!
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