Chapter 63:
"Sasuke, come here!"
When there were only two trees left between them, Naruto suddenly shouted at Sasuke.
"Catch!"
Sasuke leaped upward. The arrow from his bow flew straight toward Naruto.
"Perfect! I'll pull you up!"
Naruto dodged to the side to let the arrow pass, then reached out and grabbed the rope.
The other end of the rope was tied to Sasuke's arm. With this jump, he perfectly avoided the two trees that had been tampered with.
But the rope was the only weak point. If it broke before Sasuke could climb up, he would fall straight into the wolf pack below.
The rope had been strong enough to drag the wild boar earlier — how could it snap just from pulling one person? Unless…
Snap!
A light cracking sound suddenly rang out. The originally sturdy rope was grazed by a single water droplet. The spot that was touched instantly corroded, and under the pulling force, the damage spread rapidly in both directions.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto cried out in horror as the rope in both their hands broke completely in the middle.
Seeing this scene, the two hidden Root members already had smiles on their faces.
But at the same moment, a crow flew past their eyes. The only thing left in their consciousness was that blood-red eye.
"Idiot!"
Sasuke grabbed the rope with his fingers and quickly climbed up from below.
The rope had snapped, but inside it was the steel wire he had prepared earlier.
It was originally meant to control the trajectory of his shuriken. Because it was so thin, it was usually hard to notice.
"Scared me to death… Good thing you're okay…"
Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and helped him stand on the branch. At the same time, he picked up the broken rope to examine it.
The broken spot no longer showed signs of continued corrosion, but the problem was still obvious.
"We'll deal with this rope when we get back. I'm leaving it to you later…"
Sasuke put the rope away and gave Naruto a quick instruction before looking down at the wolf pack below.
The chakra he had saved was just enough for one Fire Style jutsu. He hoped nothing would go wrong.
"Don't worry. Leave everything after this to me!"
Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gave him a light smile. In the next instant, he grabbed Sasuke and jumped to the lowest branch of the tree.
"Okay!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
With a pale face, Sasuke nodded and released Konoha's most iconic basic Fire Style jutsu toward the branches below.
'Leave it to you. I can't see him right now…'
Before losing consciousness, Sasuke still remembered to tell Naruto in his mind.
Whether from fear or grievance…
In short, he really couldn't see that person right now. Just thinking about him made some unwanted emotions surge up.
So it was better to leave it to Naruto. When he woke up, everything should have passed, right?
'Nothing will happen. As long as I don't die, you'll definitely be fine…'
Naruto tightened his grip and held Sasuke as he jumped back up into the tree.
Standing there, he watched the flames he had started spread below. His chakra was almost completely depleted, and his swaying figure made the hidden observers feel a pang of heartache.
Not far away, on another tree, two corpses were hanging. The shattered masks still showed their identities…
Above the corpses, a crow tilted its head, staring at the swaying Naruto.
On the other side, a silver-haired Anbu was hurriedly carrying two more corpses. Looking at the rising flames and the wolf pack trapped within them, he hesitated about whether he should step forward…
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