Chapter 267: Qualifications of a Protagonist
Several minutes earlier.
Though its mind was full of complaints it wanted to voice—like that blonde brat's absurd strength, like why those old acquaintances who used to suppress it were attacking the stupid fox's jinchuriki, or like the baffling Nine-Tails chakra simultaneously existing in three separate entities—Shukaku had no mind to think carefully right now.
While frantically mobilizing chakra to repair the damage on its body, it moved its heavy steps, desperately fleeing in a direction away from the battlefield.
Who cared about grudges and enmities! As long as it got a bit more time for its chakra to recover to a certain degree, it could use ninjutsu to flee thousands of miles! This time, it would definitely escape back to that vast desert that belonged to it! True freedom was already within reach!
This was the sole obsession supporting Shukaku's current actions.
However, just as it struggled to flee, the space ahead suddenly produced an unnatural distortion. Immediately after, a human figure appeared without warning directly before it, body floating lightly as it slowly descended.
It was someone dressed strangely, wearing an orange single-eyed mask with spiral patterns on his face. He slowly retracted a sharp wooden spike into his palm.
"Get lost! Don't block my path!"
Shukaku only wanted to escape right now—how could it bother with this sudden roadblock? Without thinking, it raised its giant claw and viciously slapped down at the masked man!
However, the expected sensation of crushing him to pulp didn't come. Its giant claw was like swinging through an insubstantial phantom, passing completely "through" the masked man's body without any obstruction?!
"What...?!"
Shukaku was stunned again, its brain unable to even process this incomprehensible scene.
In this frozen instant, behind the mask's sole opening, an eerie, crimson light suddenly blazed! That red instantly invaded Shukaku's entire vision, carrying a cold power that stabbed straight into its soul's depths.
The next moment, Shukaku's pupils were forcibly twisted and deformed, transforming into the ominous three-tomoe Sharingan symbolizing absolute domination.
---
Within Konoha Village, the flames of war had completely spread.
Accompanied by alarms and the sharp sounds of ninja tools clashing, Sound and Sand ninja forces that had been lying in ambush for so long surged into the village from outside like a tide, engaging in fierce combat with patrolling Konoha ninja who hastily entered battle.
Multicolored ninjutsu clashed in the air, exploding into clusters of blinding fire and thick smoke. The roar of explosions rose one after another, continuously ascending above Konoha. For this surprise attack, the Hidden Sand and Hidden Sound had invested almost all their jonin combat power—the offensive was exceptionally fierce.
Outside the village perimeter, an even greater threat was approaching—a massive three-headed giant serpent summoned through the Summoning Jutsu twisted its huge body, viciously crashing toward Konoha's protective walls!
"I absolutely won't let you in!"
A Konoha ninja patrolling the edge area saw this and leapt up without hesitation, hurling several kunai wrapped in explosive tags with all his might toward the serpent's foremost head.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Continuous explosions blossomed on the snake head. However, when the smoke cleared, they'd only left a patch of scorched marks on the hard scales, completely unable to halt it in the slightest.
The giant serpent, enraged by this provocation, suddenly opened the gaping maw of its middle head. With a foul-smelling wind pressure, it viciously bit down at the ninja in midair with no leverage!
Comrades on the distant watchtower witnessed this scene, eyes splitting with rage, yet too far away to help, only able to release angry shouts.
"Rasengan!"
A golden figure swept past like lightning! Accompanied by a low shout and tremendous rumbling, a highly compressed chakra sphere was viciously slammed against the side of the serpent's opened jaw!
BOOM—!!
The violent rotating power instantly tore through the hard snake scales, destroying internal structures. The giant serpent released a pained hiss, its massive head forcibly hammered to one side, crashing heavily to the ground and moving no more.
"You... you are..."
Though the savior was enveloped in dazzling golden chakra, that signature blonde hair and features still let the shaken ninja recognize him at a glance—after all, various unfavorable rumors about this youth had spread too widely in the village.
However, Naruto's shadow clone only quickly glanced at him, and after confirming he wasn't injured, didn't linger. With a flash of golden light, the figure had already disappeared from its original position, rushing to the next battlefield requiring rescue.
After Naruto's shadow clones arrived at the village, like streaks of golden light, they immediately threw themselves into intense resistance upon entering, intercepting invading Sound and Sand ninja everywhere.
A Sound ninja squad targeted a group of villagers fleeing in panic. The lead Sound ninja grinned savagely, single-handedly gripping the throat of a Konoha chunin responsible for escort, slamming him hard against a wall.
Those responsible for guiding evacuation work were mostly chunin and genin with limited strength. What shocked them even more was—the war had just begun, yet these enemies were already attacking civilians without scruple?!
This wasn't particularly strange, after all, the Hidden Sound Village was established single-handedly by Orochimaru. He had no interest in instilling any "ninja morality" or "rules of war" in his subordinates.
The civilians surrounded by Sound ninja watched this scene in terror. Some trembled, some even sobbed quietly from facing death's fear directly.
"Die, Konoha trash!" The lead Sound ninja raised his kunai, stabbing straight for the Konoha ninja's throat!
BANG—!
A golden chakra giant fist appeared from nowhere, viciously hammering the Sound ninja's face!
Tremendous force instantly exploded. That Sound ninja didn't even have time to scream before his entire body flew back like a kite with cut strings, his body heavily embedding into a roadside building's wall. He seemed somewhat dead.
"Who?!"
The remaining Sound ninja were scared out of their wits by this sudden turn of events, immediately standing back-to-back on alert. Some even instinctively reached out wanting to grab nearby civilians as hostages!
However, their movements were too slow.
Before their eyes was merely a flash of golden light—that golden figure had already appeared among them. Immediately after—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Several golden chakra arms burst from the ground, precisely gripping each Sound ninja's throat without error, then mercilessly slamming downward with tremendous force!
THUD! THUD! THUD!
After several dull impact sounds, all Sound ninja had been viciously smashed into the ground, completely losing consciousness.
"Are you alright?"
Naruto turned around, looking at the shaken Konoha ninja and trembling civilians, his gaze quickly sweeping to confirm there were no seriously wounded requiring treatment.
After confirming the situation was temporarily stable, golden light flickered slightly around him, preparing to immediately rush to the next location where distress signals came from.
"Wait, wait a moment!"
Suddenly, a man among the villagers gathered courage to step forward. Naruto found him somewhat familiar—seemingly some shopkeeper he'd seen on the street before.
"Why... why did you save us..." The man's voice trembled slightly from fear and agitation, asking a question that left Naruto baffled.
"Why?" Naruto looked back at him, his tone carrying a trace of confusion. "Does saving people need a reason?"
Before his words finished, the golden figure had already vanished from its original position, leaving only the civilians staring at each other and that Konoha ninja collapsed on the ground, having survived the disaster.
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