"Tayuya couldn't even stop them?" Jirobo looked back in surprise. The chakra of those little brats was getting closer and closer, and they would probably catch up soon. "Sakon, what should we do?"
Sakon's face darkened slightly. "Don't worry, they're just kids."
He focused and sensed the presence behind them, then turned around. "There are four kids left, leave them to me. You keep going. We're almost at the Konohagakure border, Kimimaro-sama will meet you there."
When he mentioned Kimimaro, there was a complex expression on Sakon's face. Although Kimimaro wasn't part of the Otogakure Four, it had to be admitted that Kimimaro was very strong, at least stronger than the four of them. As long as Kimimaro was there, even if all the little brats caught up, there would only be one outcome.
Jirobo seemed to realize this too, and he nodded seriously. "Understood."
Meanwhile, Naruto and his team were still moving forward. Almost at the same time, Naruto looked up at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, one enemy is coming."
"Not again." Shikamaru felt a bit tired. What's wrong with these guys? Why do they insist on attacking one by one? Why not just come at us together?
Naruto also felt the same way. "Yeah, it's like the story of the Calabash Brothers saving their grandpa. They could beat the enemy if they worked together, but they insist on coming at us one by one."
"Calabash Brothers saving their grandpa? What's that?" Ino asked, looking very curious.
"Oh, it's a story Kurama told me. It's quite interesting," Naruto casually replied, but now wasn't the time for stories.
He looked at Shikamaru and asked, "You guys are handling this guy?"
"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded. "Our job is to stop the enemy for you, the rest is up to you."
"No problem," Naruto said, giving a thumbs-up.
As they moved forward, Sakon's figure appeared in front of them. It was clear that Sakon wasn't approaching them on his own; he was just waiting here. And after less than two minutes, the enemy showed up, indicating that the two sides were really close to each other now.
Naruto estimated that if he picked up the pace a bit, he could catch up to them in five minutes.
Sakon's face was dark as he stared at the four of them, especially focusing on Naruto. "Konohagakure's Jinchuriki, you sure have guts. A bunch of Genin chasing after us?"
Naruto was about to say something.
but Shikamaru stopped him.
Shikamaru shook his head slightly, signaling Naruto to ignore him. Then, he turned to Sakon and said, "Konohagakure will send out pursuit teams when necessary. Since they sent us, it means in Konohagakure's intelligence, we're the only ones qualified to track you down."
That was enough to really anger Sakon.
Black markings slowly appeared on his body. "I'm not like Kidomaru or Tayuya. I don't underestimate any opponent, so I'll be using all my strength. I hope you four little brats can hold on for a while."
"Correction, it's three," Shikamaru raised three fingers. At the same time, Ino formed hand seals behind him, and Chouji put down his chips and stepped forward.
A smile appeared on Shikamaru's lips. "This should be the first real battle for our generation's Ino-Shika-Cho team. Well, even though we've practiced a lot, we appreciate you giving us real battle experience."
After saying that, Shikamaru turned to Naruto. "Naruto, keep chasing."
"Leave it to you guys," Naruto nodded and immediately rushed forward without hesitation.
Sakon wasn't going to let Naruto just charge ahead. He ran toward Naruto and threw a punch, but just as his attack came down, a black shadow emerged from the trees, striking toward him like a venomous snake.
Sakon's face darkened. Shadow possession technique. The limitations of this technique were insane; even Sakon didn't dare to take it head-on.
As the shadow lunged, Chouji moved instantly. "Ninja Art: Partial Multi-Size Jutsu!"
"Human Boulder!!"
"Tsk…" Although frustrated, Sakon had no choice but to watch as Naruto got further away while he dodged both the shadow possession and the human boulder attack.
He stopped on a large tree, looking down at Chouji, who had stopped his attack. His expression darkened further. "Ino-Shika-Cho is famous in the ninja world. It's said that when the three members of each generation of Ino-Shika-Cho combine, they act as one ninja and can unleash a battle power far beyond their individual abilities. So, what can you three actually do?"
"Why don't you try and find out?" Shikamaru replied nonchalantly.
Chouji and Ino stood beside him, the four of them facing off. The tense atmosphere hung between them, and the battle was about to begin.
Three minutes later, Naruto caught up to Jirobo, who was carrying a wooden barrel and moving forward.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Jirobo's back, his brow furrowing slightly. "Sasuke's chakra... is in that barrel?"
He didn't rush to attack but instead hung back, silently following Jirobo, neither speaking nor getting closer. He simply trailed behind
.
Jirobo also sensed Naruto's chakra, or rather, he didn't even need to sense it. He just had to turn his head to see. He originally planned to stop, drop the barrel, and kill Naruto before continuing on.
But as he was thinking this, he noticed that Naruto's speed had slowed down, and although there was hostility, he wasn't attacking.
Jirobo didn't know what Naruto was planning, but it was clear that Naruto wasn't going to attack him. He glanced back at the barrel. Sasuke was too important to Orochimaru-sama. Rather than risk an accident by putting the barrel down, he'd rather let Naruto follow him.
Plus, it wouldn't be long before he met up with Kimimaro, and once that happened, Kimimaro would take care of Naruto.
Just bear with it, Jirobo thought. His attention remained on Naruto, but he didn't attack. Instead, he silently quickened his pace. Once he met up with Kimimaro, Naruto wouldn't be a problem anymore.
In this strange situation, the two continued walking for half an hour. By now, Naruto was almost losing his patience. Hanging behind Jirobo, he called out with his mouth open after half an hour of silence:
"Hey, big guy in front, how much longer until Sasuke wakes up?"
Jirobo stumbled slightly, looking at Naruto in disbelief:
"You little brat, are you thinking of teaming up with Sasuke-sama once he wakes up to take me down?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Naruto tilted his head, confused.
That was exactly what he was thinking.
"If we attack now, and something happens to Sasuke, that'd be bad."
Upon hearing Naruto's answer, Jirobo's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but sneer:
"Naive. Sasuke-sama has already defected from Konohagakure. Once he wakes up, he'll be Orochimaru-sama's, not only will he not help you, he'll team up with me to kill you."
"Hmm, you're right." Naruto nodded in agreement, though his eyes couldn't hide the sarcasm.
Jirobo: "..."
---
----
You can read 10 Chapters ahead on my
pat reon.com/GMadman