Chapter 46 (Patreon)

“Naruto… it’s you!”

In a small room, Gaara pressed a hand to his aching head and stared in disbelief at the grinning Naruto.

Naruto took a seat and watched him with interest.

“Where are we? How did you bring me here?” Gaara demanded, his expression dark and his voice cold.

“This is where I used to live.” A mocking glint appeared in Naruto’s eyes.

He had moved after his old home was blown up, but the building had been quickly rebuilt.

“Why did you bring me here? What’s your connection to that masked woman with red hair?”

Gaara’s patience was wearing thin. He kept asking two questions at a time, and Naruto only bothered answering one.

“Why else? So you can do your part.”

Naruto stood up, done with the conversation. His Mangekyō Sharingan flashed briefly. Before Gaara could even make out the pattern in his eyes, the genjutsu forced him into sleep.

Sunagakure’s crude seal left Gaara vulnerable. With his consciousness forced into sleep, Shukaku could seize control of his body and manifest at his full, enormous size.

Boom!

In the next instant, Shukaku, the One-Tail, appeared with a wild cackle. The house was crushed into rubble beneath him.

Naruto had chosen this place because it stood at the heart of Konoha, and the nearby residents were the villagers who had bullied him the most.

He hadn’t forgotten. He had simply waited for his chance.

Naruto chuckled.

The sudden appearance of an enormous tailed beast in the village center threw Konoha into chaos.

“Hahahaha! Finally! I’m free!”

Shukaku laughed wildly and unleashed powerful Wind Style attacks in every direction.

He had been trapped inside Gaara for so long. Restless and unruly by nature, he intended to enjoy himself now that he was finally out.

The surrounding homes were reduced to ruins. More and more villagers were killed or gravely injured.

To Naruto, their screams sounded no different from the jeers and insults they had once hurled at him. Their voices were just as harsh and grating as ever.

Yet this time, he didn’t find the sound annoying. He found it soothing.

Relief spread through his body and mind, and a low, involuntary groan escaped him.

Then he felt a stir from the Nine-Tails sealed inside him. It seemed to be trying to get his attention.

Naruto turned his mind inward and entered the seal space, finding the fox behind the enormous gate.

“Let me out, brat. I’ll take your revenge for you. How about I destroy Konoha completely?”

The Nine-Tails’ voice was still full of temptation.

Naruto looked at the fox, still tightly bound by the Immortal Binding Rope, and snorted.

“You think you can bargain with me?”

“If you’re willing to cooperate and make me a perfect jinchūriki, so I can freely use your power, I’ll give you some freedom. I’ll even talk to you from time to time. But don’t ask for anything more, and stop bothering me.”

He withdrew before the Nine-Tails could answer. Back outside, he surveyed the surrounding ruins with satisfaction.

His double, disguised as a masked woman with red hair, appeared silently beside him.

“Is the explosive clay in place?” Naruto asked.

“Yes. The arena, the area around the three-headed snake, and here—everything’s ready. We’re just waiting for a large number of Leaf shinobi to arrive.”

She nodded with a cold sneer. Her eyes were indifferent, as though the destruction to come were an ordinary task.

“Hahaha! I can’t wait!”

Naruto turned in the Third Hokage’s direction and raised a hand.

“Start with the arena, where Kakashi is. There are a dozen Leaf elites there, Kakashi included, and dozens of Sound shinobi led by Kabuto.”

“All right.”

The masked woman formed a seal with one hand and raised it to her lips.

“Art is an explosion!”

Back at the arena, masses of clay spiders suddenly emerged from beneath the seats and sprang at everyone still on their feet.

Kabuto and the Sound shinobi were among their targets, along with Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yūhi, and the other Leaf elites.

The sudden attack and the spiders’ powerful leaps left almost no time to react. Only a few shinobi managed to dodge or kick them away.

The spiders had been created using the double’s god-level Explosion Release kekkei genkai. They could be controlled remotely or seek out their targets on their own, and their explosive power was immense.

Boom!

The arena shook as explosions erupted one after another.

Dozens of Sound shinobi and several Leaf ninja were killed outright. The blasts also caught large numbers of Konoha’s villagers lying asleep in the stands.

Kakashi, Kabuto, and several other elite shinobi survived, but they were seriously wounded.

They looked at one another, all reaching the same conclusion: a third party had entered the battle.

But who had attacked them?

Kakashi and the other Leaf shinobi suspected another shinobi village, particularly Iwagakure, whose shinobi were known for using Explosion Release.

Kabuto, however, suspected Akatsuki. Sasori of the Red Sand, whom he had also served, was partnered with Deidara, who used similar explosive clay ninjutsu.

That possibility frightened him enough to flee. He even abandoned his current master, Orochimaru.

Kakashi and the others lay helpless on the ground, their faces tense with worry.

Naruto was about to rush over and finish Kakashi off when he sensed a group of ANBU arriving at his side.

Neither Naruto nor his double could defeat those ANBU directly. Even another explosive clay attack would come too late. He could only sigh and abandon the attempt.

Still, even that small explosion had yielded enough points to make him grin. Asura Field mode had doubled the reward.

…

Konoha had an emergency plan for dealing with surprise attacks.

First, the shinobi guarding the village would do everything they could to halt the invasion, buying time for the evacuation.

Next, the Leaf shinobi within the village would move civilians to safety, protecting the elderly, the infirm, women, and children to preserve the village’s future.

Finally, all available Leaf shinobi would launch a counterattack.

Konoha had used this plan during the Nine-Tails’ attack years ago. Back then, the young Kurenai Yūhi and the other children had been protected and evacuated by her father, Shinku Yūhi.

Now the plan had been activated again.

It would also be used during Pain’s future invasion, though it would not prevent his massive Shinra Tensei from reducing the entire village to a crater.

This time, however, Shukaku had appeared directly in the village center. Countless civilians had already been killed, leaving the emergency plan little chance to serve its purpose.

The shinobi evacuating the residents had to divert some of their forces to contain the rampaging One-Tail.

If they couldn’t stop him, Shukaku would destroy Konoha before the evacuation could be completed.

The destructive power of a tailed beast was enough to drive its defenders to despair. Even the One-Tail could wreak devastation on that scale.

Naruto and his double watched with smiles as the Leaf shinobi trying to contain Shukaku fell one by one. They slipped through the chaos, taking every opportunity to finish off the wounded without hesitation.

The points on his system panel rose rapidly, every reward doubled by Asura Field mode.