The scruffy old man, reeking of alcohol, shook his bottle and gulped down the last drops clinging to the sides before speaking, "I am the renowned bridge builder… Tazuna."
"Is he the one we're supposed to escort?" Naruto asked, nudging Furen cautiously with his shoulder.
"Looks like it," Furen replied with a smile.
"Please protect my name until I finish building the bridge!" Tazuna suddenly threw down his empty bottle and shouted passionately.
Outside the gates of Konoha Village.
Naruto, excited, shouted while shouldering his backpack, "Let's go!"
This was his first time leaving the village, and he looked around curiously at everything.
"Hey, is that kid any good?" Tazuna grumbled, pointing at Naruto.
Kakashi smiled apologetically. "Don't worry; I'm here, a Jonin."
Hearing Tazuna insult him, Naruto immediately began to argue back as they walked.
"Still the same old Naruto…" Furen shrugged, then… almost simultaneously with Kakashi, he discreetly glanced back.
Not far behind, there was a puddle of water.
Kakashi was somewhat shocked to see Furen and himself make the same motion, thinking, "Looks like Furen has a high sense of vigilance…"
Kakashi had heard about how Furen desperately protected the sealing scroll and how he, as a genin, took down a Chunin.
Turning away, Kakashi seemed to ignore the puddle and continued walking casually.
At that moment, as Kakashi stepped forward again, a figure silently emerged from the puddle. In the blink of an eye, another shadow darted from the water behind the first!
Two figures shot up from the water, each wearing steel arm guards as thick as arms, connected by a long, glinting chain.
This chain was no ordinary chain; it was specially made, composed of segments resembling sharp shuriken blades.
The two figures, emerging from the water one on the left and one on the right, swiftly ensnared Kakashi, who was walking at the back, with the iron chain and then… yanked hard!
Kakashi's shocked expression was immediately replaced with horror as his body was shredded by the chain's blades, blood splattering everywhere!
The two ninjas who had emerged from the water were undoubtedly the most skilled assassins, working together in a flash to take down one target cleanly.
Turning at the sound, Team Seven and Tazuna saw Kakashi's dismembered body fall to the ground.
Sasuke frowned, reaching for his pouch, while Sakura, pale with fear, instinctively grabbed Furen's sleeve.
Furen stepped forward to shield Sakura and softly said, "Don't be afraid; I've got this."
Sakura Haruno's Favorability: 5%
The system's voice chimed in, but Furen had no time to pay attention. The two assassins who had just torn Kakashi to shreds were now focused on Naruto at the back, throwing their sharp chains at him.
Still in shock from seeing Kakashi's remains, Naruto only reacted when the chain was about to ensnare him.
Just as Sasuke was about to throw his kunai and shuriken from his pouch, Furen acted first, swiftly pulling out Ten Ten's space scroll. He flicked it open, and a rain of kunai poured out!
The two attackers, intending to strangle Naruto, were caught off guard and had to change their strategy, disconnecting the chains to dodge the onslaught of kunai.
After avoiding the barrage, the two dashed to the sides, both thinking, "What a ruthless Konoha ninja, sacrificing his teammate to launch an indiscriminate attack."
In their view, no one could survive under such a rain of kunai.
However, as the storm of kunai passed, the two assassins were stunned to see that Naruto had emerged unscathed, not a single kunai having harmed him.
Sasuke, preparing to throw his kunai to entangle the assassins, was taken aback and looked at Furen in shock; he had clearly seen how Furen threw the kunai.
The kunai from the scroll had indeed been a mass attack, but Naruto was unharmed because Furen, after unleashing the rain of kunai, had flipped his hands and tossed out dozens of shuriken!
Every single shuriken had expertly deflected the kunai aimed at Naruto, but the most shocking part was that after ensuring Naruto's safety, those shuriken flew directly toward the two assassins without a moment's waste!
Seeing Furen's impressive shuriken technique, Sasuke recalled that man— the Uchiha clan's genius, who had brought ruin to the Uchiha… Itachi!
Sasuke had only witnessed such exquisite shuriken techniques in Itachi's hands!
Furen's shuriken skills had skyrocketed after obtaining Ten Ten's scroll, surpassing even Ten Ten's level!
Just as Sasuke recalled Itachi, Furen, protecting Sakura, vanished and reappeared behind one of the assassins, kunai pressed against his throat.
Meanwhile, another Furen had appeared behind the other assassin, capturing him as well.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!
"Submit," the two Furens said coolly.
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A/N:
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