My Foolish Little Brother

Naruto's sudden disappearance startled every Anbu.

In their eyes, although Naruto was a Jinchuriki, he was still only a child. Even if he possessed exceptional ninja talent, his strength at this age should have been quite limited.

Yet the speed he had unleashed in that instant had far exceeded their imagination.

"Above!" an Anbu shouted.

Then, everyone saw that the vanished Naruto had already leaped more than ten meters into the air.

"Water Release: Water Wave."

"Earth Release: Earth Wall."

"Earth Release: Dome Technique."

The instant they spotted Naruto, several Anbu used Earth Release Ninjutsu. Walls rose from the ground, surrounding the entire area.

At the same time, a massive rectangular block of earth descended from above, joining with the rising Earth Wall to form a sealed space.

As the sealed space took shape, several Anbu skilled in Water Release unleashed Water Wave, a Water Release Ninjutsu with powerful water currents but relatively weak lethality.

They intended to blast Naruto away in one stroke, then have the Nara Clan ninja waiting below seize him with the Shadow Binding Technique.

Under the tense gazes of the many Anbu, Naruto's small figure was struck by the overwhelming Water Wave.

However, the result they had expected did not appear.

Bang!

Smoke exploded, and a Substitution Log appeared in his place.

Naruto's body appeared farther away in the sky, floating amid swirling air currents.

By then, he had already finished his hand seals.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

A dense mass of Shadow Clones appeared out of thin air, filling every space in the sky and on the ground, numbering no fewer than two hundred.

The instant these Shadow Clones appeared, they moved in perfect unison, completing their hand seals in an extremely short time. Then, they spewed out fierce winds that looked imposing but were not actually very destructive.

Still, with so many gusts converging, the effect was astonishing.

With a sharp crack, the sealed space formed by Earth Release Ninjutsu was torn apart almost the instant it came into contact with the gale.

"Ahhh!"

A string of screams rang out.

Of the thirty-odd Anbu surrounding Naruto, most had barely reacted before they were blown away by the overwhelming gale and intimately acquainted with the nearby trees and ground.

Naruto had no intention of killing anyone, but a few days in the hospital were probably unavoidable.

Only a very small number of exceptionally quick-reacting Anbu used various means to evade the sudden burst of wind.

"That was exciting. This training ground can't be used anymore."

As the Shadow Clones dispersed, the massive Chakra expenditure and the enormous amount of information they sent back made Naruto's body sway even as he floated in midair.

He glanced down at the ground, which was now a complete mess, with vast stretches of trees snapped apart.

It was impossible to tell that this had once been a training ground frequently used by people.

That AoE attack had been incredibly effective, clearing the field in one blow, but the consequences were obvious as well.

If Kurama had not promptly sent him a considerable amount of Chakra, Naruto might have exhausted his Chakra for a moment, lost control of the Chakra sustaining the air currents, and fallen from the sky.

I'm still too young. I only made this many Shadow Clones and used a few small ninjutsu, and I'm already spent.

After taking a brief moment to recover, Naruto did not linger.

He ignored the fat man whose hand had inflated like it had been pumped full of air as he tried to grab him.

Air currents erupted behind Naruto, generating immense thrust and propelling him rapidly toward the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Watching Naruto's retreating figure, the member of the Akimichi Clan withdrew his hand.

His expression was somewhat complicated as he looked around at the scene and sensed that the life auras of the other Anbu were still present.

Relieved, he bitterly smiled at the few teammates beside him who had remained unharmed under the protection of his massive body. "The younger generation really is formidable."

One Anbu who was usually responsible for monitoring and protecting Naruto wore a blank expression. Seeing Naruto train so diligently in the past, he had been somewhat dismissive, believing the child was merely fooling around by relying on his exceptional talent and abundant Chakra.

Chakra nature transformation was not so easy to master. It was not something that could be achieved just by having more clones.

Only now did he realize that the brat he had never taken seriously already possessed such formidable strength.

And he could fly.

"Stop standing around. Let's save them."

The closer Naruto got to the Uchiha Clan Grounds, the more ninja he found deployed throughout the forest.

These ninja had likely all received the news and were trying to intercept Naruto as he rushed this way. Unfortunately, none of them could fly, so they had no way to deal with Naruto, who had now become an aerial unit.

Burning with anxiety, Naruto had no intention of dealing with them and continuously urged his Chakra to accelerate.

A short while later, the Uchiha Clan Grounds entered Naruto's field of vision.

"Most of the auras in this area have vanished. Three remain.

One carries evil intent, while two do not.

The one with evil intent is that Masked Man. One is Sasuke, and the other is unfamiliar. However, this person's Chakra and Pupil Power are very close to Sasuke's. He should be the brother Sasuke always talks about, Itachi.

Itachi also possesses Mangekyō-level Pupil Power.

The Masked Man must have slaughtered the Uchiha Clan, while Itachi arrived in time and protected Sasuke."

The closer they got, the clearer Kurama's senses became.

Although Evil Intent Sensing could not directly show specific scenes, determining the number of targets and whether they were alive was not a problem.

Hearing Kurama say this, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he did not relax. As long as Sasuke remained within the clan grounds, he was far from safe.

If Naruto hurried over now, then by combining Kurama's power with Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan, they could ensure that the Masked Man posed no threat.

Naruto rapidly analyzed the situation in his mind and flew without hesitation toward Sasuke and Itachi.

But the scene he saw next made Naruto unable to believe his eyes.

His best friend, Sasuke.

At that moment, Sasuke was being held by the throat and lifted into the air by a youth whose face looked remarkably like his own—his beloved older brother, Itachi. In an incomparably cold and cruel tone, Itachi spoke incomparably cruel words:

"If you awaken your eyes as well, then there will be three pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan in this world, including mine."

"If that happens, then your life will have meaning."

"As you are now, you have no value in being killed."

"My foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, then hate me! Loathe me!"

"Then live on in ugliness..."

"Run... run..."

"Struggle desperately to survive, then come find me once you have eyes like mine."

After speaking, he released Sasuke and threw him onto the ground as though discarding trash.

Then, he turned his Mangekyō Sharingan—just as cold and cruel as his voice, brimming with intense killing intent—toward Naruto.

"Oh? So this is the friend Naruto you often told me about?"

"To make the pain you feel even deeper, and your desire to grow stronger even more intense, I will kill him and make him the force driving you forward."

"This is the last tenderness I can offer you as your brother!"