When Naruto saw Sasuke use Chidori, he realized that Sasuke wasn't really stronger than the original timeline's Sasuke.
And the chaos was about to begin.
"You actually taught Sasuke that jutsu? That's going too far, Kakashi!"
"You might have a right to criticize me, but you don't, Guy~"
Just as Naruto returned to his seat, he saw Kakashi and Guy already arguing.
"Naruto, you're back!"
"Yeah."
Naruto nodded and answered Sakura, then sat back down to watch the match.
Only a short while later, Sasuke had already injured Gaara.
Looking around, he noticed eight Anbu in the stadium, and one of them was secretly forming hand signs.
'It's starting...'
The next moment—
Feathers started falling out of nowhere from the sky. Even some nobles and weaker ninjas in the crowd started dozing off.
Nirvana Temple Technique!
A large-scale A-rank genjutsu!
"To hit this many people with a genjutsu at once… that's pretty impressive."
Naruto looked at the falling feathers with a thoughtful expression.
"Genjutsu: Release!"
Sakura quickly made hand signs and broke the genjutsu. Seeing so many people around them passed out, she got a little nervous. "What's going on?"
"Sakura, go wake up the others," Naruto said.
Sakura froze for a second, then quickly answered, "O-okay!"
Boom!
Just then, an explosion came from the VIP area where the Hokage was watching the match.
Everyone's eyes turned in that direction. The Konoha invasion plan had officially begun!
"Protect the Hokage!"
A group of Anbu shouted as they rushed toward the viewing platform—but were blocked by a sudden barrier that appeared out of nowhere!
One Anbu who didn't notice the barrier tried to rush through and was burned badly, screaming in pain.
Gaara, who had been hurt, was taken away by Kankuro and the others, while Sasuke went after them alone.
The Sand Jonin Baki was locked in a tough fight with Genma Shiranui.
A group of Otogakure ninja stood in Kakashi and Guy's way, stopping them from helping Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Naruto just quietly watched it all unfold, not planning to step in.
It wasn't until a Otogakure ninja moved toward Sakura—who was helping others break free from genjutsu—that he fired a laser to take him out.
He couldn't just stand there doing nothing, but stepping in to protect Sakura gave him a decent excuse.
"Kakashi, I've got things handled here. You two go ahead."
After taking down one of the Otogakure ninja, Kakashi looked at Naruto and said, "Actually, I'm more worried about Sasuke. You take Sakura and the others and go help him."
Naruto hadn't expected Kakashi to trust him with that job.
Given his current strength, wouldn't it make more sense to leave him here?
Or did Kakashi just not think the old man Hiruzen was in danger?
As the strongest Hokage in history, maybe Kakashi had that much faith in him.
Either way, this worked out for Naruto.
He agreed, and once Sakura woke up Shikamaru and the others who had been pretending to sleep, the group left the area and chased after Sasuke.
Guy watched them leave and couldn't help but ask, "Are they really going to be okay?"
"If it's just a few Jonin, Naruto can handle it," Kakashi said calmly.
"A few Jonin?" Guy's face twitched. "That kid's really that strong?"
"Yeah. Stronger than you or I thought," Kakashi said as he took down another enemy with a kunai.
"Then why not leave him here? There are still plenty of enemies inside the arena," Guy asked, punching an enemy ninja hard enough to send him flying.
Kakashi glanced toward the Third Hokage in the distance. "We old guys can handle things here. But over there with Sasuke… if Naruto doesn't go, I won't feel at ease."
"I see..."
At this point, the whole Leaf Village was a mess. Sending only a bunch of Genin to chase down enemies would likely get them all killed.
But the Jonin were too busy to help, so the only option was to send Naruto—still technically a Genin, but with strength equal to or greater than theirs.
...
"Naruto, do you know where Sasuke and the others went?"
They had already left the arena and gone deep into the forest. Charging in blindly wouldn't help anyone find Sasuke.
"Just a sec."
Naruto stopped and summoned a glowing golden mirror into the air.
"What's that?"
Back in the Forest of Death, Shikamaru and the others had seen Naruto use this jutsu before.
But back then, they were too shocked by his strength to ask how the technique worked.
This time, even though they asked, Naruto didn't tell them.
"Found them."
He said it flatly, then rushed off in one direction.
Shikamaru and the others weren't too happy that Naruto ignored them. They clicked their tongues in annoyance but didn't say anything more.
They already knew Naruto wasn't the same person they used to know. Asking him stuff now was just asking to be brushed off.
They weren't moving that fast, though.
To keep up with the slowest runners—Sakura and Ino—Naruto held back and moved at their pace.
Because of that, a few Otogakure ninja caught up to them.
"Anyone want to warm up a bit?" Naruto asked, looking at Shikamaru and the others as they were surrounded.
He didn't make a move himself—he could've ended the fight in a few seconds if he wanted to.
This didn't match his plan of just slacking off.
"If you can handle it, then hurry up and do it. I'm not getting involved, it's too much trouble~" Shikamaru refused.
Ino and Sakura had no strong opinions and weren't good at direct combat.
Shino stayed silent, and it didn't seem like he planned to make a move either.
As for Kiba, Chouji, and Tenten, they were all in the medical room taking care of the injured Neji and Hinata, so they weren't here.
Seeing this, Naruto was about to step in himself, but that group of Otogakure ninja suddenly let out screams.
A swarm of leeches somehow appeared from the trees above them and swallowed them whole.
"Bloodsucking leeches?"
Naruto looked at the fat leeches, each as big as a loaf of bread, feeling a bit queasy.
If he'd known, he would've just done it himself.
A few beams of light shot out, killing all the Otogakure ninja. Then Naruto said, "Alright, let's keep moving."
"Naruto."
Just as Naruto was about to lead the way again, Sakura suddenly said, "Why don't you go after Sasuke first? We're slower, so we can just follow behind you!"
She was worried about Sasuke's safety and knew she was slowing them down.
Hearing Sakura, Ino added, "Yeah, Sakura and I will follow behind slowly. You guys go support Sasuke first!"
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