"Humph," Tazuna said coldly. "What makes you think these two ninjas are here to assassinate me?"
"We've accepted the mission to escort you," Naruto shouted. "If these two ninjas aren't here to assassinate you, are they here to assassinate me?"
"That's hard to say," Tazuna said with a gloomy face. "You ninjas make enemies all the time. Maybe they really are here to assassinate you, and I almost got dragged into this because of you."
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance later!" Naruto angrily pointed at Tazuna. "Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. You just didn't seize it."
"..." Tazuna didn't say a word. He didn't understand what Naruto meant.
Just then, the two Mist ninjas who had been subdued by Kakashi suddenly burst into action. Working together, they pulled out a Chain saw and launched an attack on Kakashi. Since it was a sneak attack, even Kakashi didn't react in time and was directly entangled by the Chain saw.
"Teacher Kakashi!" Naruto shouted, his voice trembling.
With Naruto shouting loudly, Kakashi was cut in half by the sharp Chain saw blade. He was cut in the waist and died instantly.
The two Mist ninjas succeeded in their sneak attack. After taking care of Kakashi, they quickly attacked Tazuna.
"Teacher Kakashi! You died so miserably!" Naruto was still in grief and seemed to have forgotten about the escort mission.
Since Kakashi was dead and Naruto was in an abnormal state, there was nothing they could do. At this time, only Sasuke stepped forward.
Sasuke faced the two Chunin alone. Knowing that his chances of winning were slim, he could only resort to harassing attacks, throwing Kunai from a distance to distract the opponents.
The two Mist ninjas easily dodged the Kunai Sasuke threw. They changed their strategy. One of them held Sasuke back, while the other attacked Tazuna.
Sakura bravely stepped forward and stood in front of Tazuna, holding a Kunai horizontally in her hand and vigilantly eyeing the approaching enemy.
The Mist ninja attacking Sakura showed no mercy. He also took out a Kunai and stabbed directly at Sakura, intending to kill her on the spot.
The Kunai pierced Naruto's body, and blood spurted out. Sakura still held the Kunai in her hand, while the Mist ninja's Kunai had pierced Naruto's body.
Naruto gritted his teeth and stood in front of Sakura. He used his body to block a Kunai attack for Sakura. At this moment, the Mist ninja's Kunai was sticking out of Naruto's chest.
"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Ah!" Sasuke also showed a shocked expression. The battle situation was very unfavorable for them at this time.
"Tazuna!" Blood trickled from the corner of Naruto's mouth as he spoke in a solemn tone. "I'm right, aren't I? These two ninjas really are here to assassinate you. What else do you have to say!" Naruto almost roared the last sentence.
"Since you deceived us and hid the information, we were ambushed by the ninjas. Now Teacher Kakashi is dead, and I'm seriously injured. What else do you have to say!" Naruto shouted, blaming Tazuna.
"It's all my fault," Tazuna knelt down behind Naruto, begging for his forgiveness. "I didn't have enough money. I couldn't afford to post a B - rank mission, so I had to lie and post a C - rank mission. It's because I'm poor that I've harmed you."
"Hehe," Naruto said with a smug smile, then turned around and said, "You could have just admitted it earlier."
"What?" Tazuna gaped at Naruto with an incredulous look. He was stunned by the situation in front of him and didn't know what to do.
Sakura and Sasuke were equally shocked and couldn't make sense of the situation right away.
"Teacher Kakashi, you can come out now." Naruto shouted.
Just then, Kakashi walked out of the grass, holding a rope with two Mist ninjas tied to the other end.
"What's going on?" Sakura was completely confused.
Sasuke looked around. Kakashi was alive, holding two subdued Mist ninjas. And there were two active Mist ninjas here, making a total of four.
Sasuke instantly understood what was going on. He threw a shuriken at one of the Mist ninjas. That Mist ninja neither dodged nor evaded and was directly hit by the shuriken. Immediately, white smoke billowed from his body and he vanished into thin air. This was the Kage Clone Jutsu.
It turned out that Tazuna refused to admit that the Mist ninjas were here to assassinate him, so Naruto and Kakashi pulled off a clever ruse.
First, Naruto stepped forward to accuse Tazuna, diverting everyone's attention while Kakashi secretly hid with two Mist ninjas.
Then Naruto quietly used the Kage Clone Jutsu to create two clones, which then used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise themselves as Mist ninjas.
Just like that, the ruse was staged. The Mist ninjas impersonated by Naruto's clones "killed" Kakashi, but the "killed" Kakashi was just a clone, and the real Kakashi had been hiding in the grass.
The two Mist ninjas impersonated by Naruto's clones. One held Sasuke back while the other attacked Sakura. At this time, Naruto rushed out to block a kunai and directly used the strategy of feigning injury to deceive Tazuna into admitting everything.
Naruto explained all this with a smug look, pointing at Tazuna and laughing, "Old man, you were so scared you knelt down. I told you when I give you a chance, you don't know how to take it. You were so stubborn. Are you regretting it now?"
"Well, I, Naruto Uzumaki, will be the Hokage in the future. I'm big - hearted and don't want to quibble over this little money," Naruto said arrogantly. "As long as you are sincere and tell me the truth, I'm willing to escort you back to your country even if I suffer a bit. But now I'm very disappointed in you."
Tazuna lost his previous overbearing manner. He was completely convinced by Naruto. He couldn't help but admire this shortest ninja; he never thought Naruto was so powerful.
Sakura walked over and asked, "Naruto, why is there blood on you?"
"This isn't blood." Naruto took out a bottle of ketchup from his pocket and said, "This is just some ketchup I prepared in advance. Just a little bit of ketchup deceived you all. Looking at how nervous you were just now, I find it so funny. Hahaha."
Sakura got angry. She'd really been worried about Naruto. She never thought it was a self - directed and self - acted play by Naruto, which made her worry for nothing. Sakura fumed inwardly: Naruto! You're really too despicable!
At this time, Sasuke began to doubt himself deeply. When did Naruto collude with Kakashi to put on this act? Why did Naruto and Kakashi cooperate so well, while he himself seemed like an outsider, completely unaware of the inside story?
Sasuke thought to himself: Naruto can cooperate so well with a Jonin, which proves that Kakashi has already recognized Naruto. Although Jonin are powerful, they wouldn't team up with a useless person. Since Kakashi can cooperate with Naruto, doesn't that mean Naruto's abilities surpass mine...
Sasuke felt a great deal of pressure. Just a few days ago, Naruto was the last-ranked underdog in the class, but now he can cooperate with a Jonin. Naruto's progress was really hard to accept.
At this time, Kakashi walked over and said, "Naruto, you're really being relentless. After all, he is our mission client. Can't you be more polite?"