"I see," Kakashi said, nodding thoughtfully, though inwardly perplexed. "But why would Maki do something like this?"
"There are many reasons," Sai's clone explained. "Please believe us—we have not betrayed Konoha. We did this to protect you—we hope you understand. Right now, Naruto doesn't want anyone to know where he is, so we had no choice but to take these measures."
"Why wouldn't Naruto want us to find him?" Sakura asked in confusion.
Sai's clone looked at Sakura, his smile slowly fading, he spoke seriously,
"Because he must face this alone. I believe he has his own reasons."
He then mentioned how Sakura had encountered Sasuke before.
"Now please, return to Konoha immediately. We have a more important mission to complete."
"You bastard!" Kiba and Akamaru growled in unison, then lunged at Sai's clone in fury.
"Kiba, stop!" Kakashi quickly shouted to stop him.
"Naruto will find you all," Sai's clone said, even as Kiba's claws tore through him.
In the next second, Sai's clone dissolved into a cloud of ink, engulfing them all.
"Cough… cough! What the hell is this? It stinks!" Kiba complained while coughing.
"My eyes—I can't see a thing!" Neji cried out painfully, covering his eyes. Sakura rushed forward and used clean water to wash his eyes.
"That girl… she's genuinely terrifying," Shikamaru muttered fearfully. "She planned everything in advance—using our fight with Sai as cover, vanishing without a trace."
Kakashi scratched his head helplessly as he said,
"You really shouldn't underestimate Naruto and his allies… escaping the way they did. We were completely fooled. Sai used clones and genjutsu to hold us back while Maki took Samehada and ran off. That guy Sai—he understood his comrades' minds so precisely, disguising Maki so flawlessly that none of us had a clue." He sighed and continued, "It's too late to chase them now. They've definitely gone far away."
...
Elsewhere, Kisame stood alone, staring at his empty hands, his expression darkening.
"Are you messing with me? Making me search for even a tiny bit of chakra inside my body—it's like looking for a needle in a haystack!" He snarled at Samehada in his grip.
"Vum..." Samehada pulsed faintly, as if responding to his words.
"Cut the crap! Help me break this genjutsu—now!" Kisame impatiently urged.
Just then, a man in an orange Uzumaki mask stepped from behind the tree, grinning widely,
"Hey hey, isn't that Senior Kisame? What, you're all alone out here?"
"Hmph, got tricked by a few brats, fell for a genjutsu and let them slip away," Kisame muttered bitterly.
Then, as if he had just remembered something, he pointed in a certain direction and said:
"One of them ran that way. I don't know if there are others or where they might have gone."
"I understand," the masked man nodded and said, "I'll go after them. Senior Kisame, you should return and rest for now."
With that, he turned and started walking in the direction Kisame had indicated.
"What a bunch of strange brats…" Kisame muttered while watching the masked man's back, "Still… I like it."
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he slapped his forehead hard and said, "Almost forgot—I'm still trapped in this Genjutsu!"
Muttering to himself, he trudged forward.
"Damn Genjutsu… Samehada, feed on my arm all you want—just wait 'til it hurts like hell!"
...
##Sai and Maki##
The two were riding atop a massive ink crow flying high in the sky.
This ink crow was Sai's summoned beast, boasting exceptional flight and stealth capabilities.
Upon discovering Naruto's location, Sai immediately changed his plan—he had Maki lead the Konoha ninja in the opposite direction while he made his way alone to Naruto's location.
"Boom!"
A sudden massive noise came from the distant sky, followed by an enormous lightning bolt tearing across the night, illuminating the earth as bright as day.
"That's... [Heavenly Lightning]!" Sai stared at the stormy area filled with thunder and instantly realized what it was.
"It seems Naruto is in a fierce battle..." Maki murmured softly.
Neither spoke again, silently watching the heavily clouded sky far away.
******
"This... is my strength?" Sasuke gazed at the ruined battlefield, ravaged by the lightning, disbelief flooding his heart.
The power of [Heavenly Lightning] he had unleashed exceeded his expectations—it had flattened entire hills, even completely obliterating secret hideouts hidden underground.
"Koff... koff..." A faint coughing sound suddenly came from nearby.
Sasuke quickly turned around and saw Itachi lying motionless on the ground, unconscious.
"Itachi!" Sasuke rushed over and lifted him up gently.
"Sasuke…" Itachi weakly opened his eyes, gazing at the boy before him, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "You've finally… grown up…"
A sharp pain surged through Sasuke's chest as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"No, Itachi! You can't die! I haven't even... not yet!"
Before he could finish speaking, a powerful chakra presence suddenly surged from afar, bringing with it a suffocating pressure.
"How is this possible…? He actually survived?" Shocked beyond belief, Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto standing atop scattered rubble, utterly unscathed.
Naruto stared at Sasuke, surprise and confusion flashing in his eyes.
"Did I really… survive this?" He whispered in disbelief, as if unable to accept the reality before him.
His clothes were torn to shreds, his body scorched and burned—but somehow, miraculously, he had survived.
Sasuke looked at Naruto standing before him, speechless with shock.
"How is this possible? Why are you still alive?" he demanded, disbelief lacing his voice. Then, as if realizing something, he bellowed in fury, "Tell me now! How did you do it?!"
Naruto paid no heed to Sasuke's furious outburst. He simply stared at his hands and murmured under his breath,
"It's the Nine-Tails... It saved me..."
"The Nine-Tails?" Sasuke fixed Naruto with a puzzled stare, silently urging him to explain.
"I don't know... I just remember..." Naruto struggled to recall what had happened earlier and spoke haltingly, "All I remember is... I was dying... and then... the Nine-Tails appeared..."
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