At the border of the Land of Fire,
"Are you sure this information is correct?"
A masked bandit holds a scroll as he asks a figure clad in black robes.
"Why do you want to cooperate with us and why should we trust you? For us, every Konoha shinobi is an enemy and we won't rest until we lay waste to that entire village." The bandit leader clutches his fists in deep hatred.
Kuku… Haha…
The black-robed man burst out in laughter.
"Do you think you can down a behemoth like Konoha with your paltry powers? Even the Akatsuki hailed as the biggest criminal organization of the shinobi world suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the Konoha village?"
"Then why do you think you can help us achieve our desire to destroy Konoha?" The masked bandit grits his teeth and glares at the cloaked figure.
Hehe…
"If you promise to cooperate with me, then I can guarantee to deal a major blow to Konoha." The cloaked figure's tone deepens.
"Also, I am aware that you people are planning to release the Forbidden jutsu of the Tsuchigumo clan to destroy the Konoha village. Seems like you are already aware of the upcoming Kage Summit. Gathering intel about the Kage Summit isn't a particularly arduous task since none of the hidden villages actively hid this information. You are planning to this opportunity to attack Konoha when most of its shinobis are distracted by the Kage Summit, aren't you?"
The expression of the bandit leader changes slightly.
"How… how did you know about our plan?"
"Hehe… A group of simpletons like you can only make such obvious plans. It didn't take a genius to figure out your motives."
The cloaked figure blatantly mocks the bandits.
"YOU!!"
Crack… Crack…
Sound of snapping bones rings in the surroundings as the masked bandit clenches his fist in fury.
The cloaked figure ignores his temper and continues.
"It might have been a viable plan if it was the Konoha of the past. However, against the current Konoha; forget about blowing the village; you people can't even level the outer walls of Konoha."
The cloaked figure turns around and prepares to leave.
"Even if we didn't end up cooperating; I have a friendly reminder for you. There is a very powerful barrier around Konoha capable of withstanding almost all sorts of attacks. The Akatsuki members used all of their powers, but all they only managed to do was leave a few cracks in the barrier."
The cloaked figure slowly disappears into the forest.
"WAIT!"
The masked bandit shouts.
Hmm…
The cloaked figure turns around.
"I was waiting for your response." The cloaked figure flashes a smile at the masked bandit.
"We will cooperate, but we have some conditions."
"Very well! Then let's discuss our cooperation."
The cloaked figure shakes hands with the masked bandit.
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Swoosh… swoosh…
A group of shinobis flickers through the forest.
Clang… Clang… Ding… Ding…
Hanabi deflects a kunai and turns around.
"Behind you, Ayaka-chan." She warns Ayaka.
Ding…
Ayaka blocks a kunai behind her back and slashes her sword at her right side.
Whoosh… Ding…
The figure blocks her sword and retreats.
"I won't let you!"
Ayaka takes out multiple shurikens and kunais from her storage. She launches them toward the escaping figure.
"Uchiha Style: Scatter Shurikens,"
She throws five shurikens and five kunais toward the escaping figure.
Ding… Ding…
The shurikens and kunais ricochet against each other and follow an unpredictable path.
"That's cheating!" Naruto complains as the kunais and shurikens overwhelm him.
Ding… Ding…
He hastily blocks all kunais and shurikens with his kunai.
"I got you!"
Whoosh…
Ayaka appears behind Naruto with a sword in her hands. She places the sword around Naruto's neck.
"Oh, really!"
Naruto smirks.
Poof…
He disappears in a cloud of white smoke.
"Ayaka-chan, you lost!"
Another Naruto appears behind Ayaka and places his hand against Ayaka's spine.
"Hehe… Nii-san, you fell for my trap!"
Ayaka smirks and makes a hand sign.
Shiing…
A glowing Fuinjutsu seal appears beneath Naruto and restricts his movements.
"How?" Naruto's eyes widen.
Hmm…
He notices the kunais and shurikens lined in a formation around him.
"I see!"
Naruto raises his hands and surrenders.
"It's my loss Ayaka-chan!"
"Hehe… I won!" Ayaka has a cheeky smile on her face as she recollects the kunais and shurikens.
"That's a brilliant move, Ayaka!" Minato praises her.
"You have already carved a Fuinjutsu formation on your kunais and shurikens beforehand. During the battle, you guided the tempo of the battle in such a way as to activate and trap your opponent in your fuinjutsu formation. I am quite impressed by your planning. Also, that's not the end, right?"
Minato stares at the faintly visible curse marks on Naruto's arm.
"Hehe… you found them out!" Ayaka sticks out her tongue.
"What… what are you guys talking about?" Naruto cluelessly stares at Ayaka and Minato.
"Naruto… take a close look at your right hand!"
"My right hand!" Naruto lowers his hand and glances at his right hand.
"What… what's this?"
He notices a faint black mark slowly dissipating on his hand.
"Hehe… this is a small curse seal of mine. I enchanted my blade with this curse seal. I came up with this seal to counter your shadow clones. Your shadow clones are also a part of your chakra. When your shadow clones dispel, a part of its chakra returns to the main body. My curse seal latches on that chakra and travels to the main body. Once enough stacks of the curse seals are accumulated, this seal will manifest itself and drain a large amount of your chakra and stamina. Once enough chakra is accumulated, I can use that stolen chakra to detonate the seal and deal a devastating blow to the target. That means I will blow them up with their own chakra. The more chakra someone possesses, the higher the power of the detonation."
Brrr…
A chill runs through Naruto's spine.
"Ayaka-chan! That's scary."
Naruto shivers in fear.
"But that's an ingenious idea." Minato nods in approval.
'Still, to think that she can already design such a powerful curse seal at her age. Her Fuinjutsu talent is even greater than Izuna-kun.'
"You did well!" Mei and Tsunade clap and praises her.
"Alright, it's dinnertime." Sakura waves at them.
"Let's go. I am hungry, Dattebyo!"
The group returned to their temporary camp to eat dinner.
The adults converse with each other while the kids talk among themselves.
"The frequency of attacks has increased significantly," Kakashi mutters.
"Those foolish people will never learn their lesson. They think it's an opportunity for them to exact their revenge or earn some fame by defeating a Kage. Do they really think the title of a Kage is a joke?" Ao scoffs.
"Well, there are always some reckless fools seeking to soar heights in a single step." Mei shakes her head.
"But things sure are troublesome!" Kakashi remarks.
"Well, it will serve as training for these kids. It's an important part of their journey to gain some experience." Tsunade argues.
"Soon, we will reach the border of the Land of Fire. Our next destination is the Land of Waterfall. Konoha has some relations with the leader of the waterfall village Takigakure. It will be a pleasant opportunity to reinstate our relationship and enjoy a vacation in Takigakure village. It has several famous scenic spots and we can enjoy ourselves in one of Izuna's resorts." Tsunade stretches her arms.
"It has been a while since I got to enjoy a vacation. There are still two weeks before the start of the Kage Summit."
Mmm…
Mei agrees with her.
"We will travel the later part of the journey through the polar sea. We already have reserved a ship at the estuary of the Land of the waterfall. It will be a three-day journey to the Land of Iron." Minato reveals the schedule.
"Alright, it's pretty late. Let's go to sleep. I will keep watch for the night." Kakashi takes the night guard duty.
Yawn…
The teen group yawns and returns to their tents.
After a few minutes,
"Looks like they are gone!" Minato mutters as he glances at his surroundings.
"Do they think we don't know about their plans?" Tsunade scoffs.
"These remnants of roots were hidden deep within the village. Now is the opportunity to clean them all in a single swoop." Minato glances in the direction of the retreating spy.
"We will see who will fall for whose plan!"
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A/N:- My new Naruto fan-fic, 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' is out.
Also, check out my pat reon www.pa treon.com/ForgottenLife to support my work and get a sneak peak at the latest chapters of both series in advance. Read upto 60+ chapters from both series combined in advance.