Twisted Truth

Dosu was stunned. For a moment, he could not figure out what had happened. Shock, confusion, and bewilderment alternated in his eyes, speaking of his incomprehension.

The cold kunai savagely devoured his life. He tried to turn around, but a hand viciously pressed down on his head.

Sakura watched the scene before her as if she had fallen into an icy abyss. The sight was too shocking, making her body tremble faintly—not only because of Dosu's death, but also because of the killer who had taken his life...

Dosu's eyes widened as he twisted his body with all his might, trying to turn around and see the killer's true face.

But that powerful hand gave him no such chance. In the end, Dosu's body went limp, his knees hitting the ground like a puppet whose spine had been drained from it. Only his wide-open eyes refused to close.

He died unseeing.

"Bang—" Dosu's body hit the ground.

Sakura stared blankly at the scene before her, her mind filled with the words impossible. No, perhaps she should never have tried to judge a transmigrator's intentions by common sense from the very beginning. This guy's thought process had absolutely nothing to do with that of a normal person!

The woman glanced at Dosu, then at her own blood-covered right hand. She began by breathing rapidly, then stared straight at Sakura, revealing clear, eager eyes that seemed to be seeking a reward. They formed a stark contrast with her bloody actions.

"He's dead. Finally dead..." the woman murmured softly at first. Then she revealed a twisted smile at Sakura. "Hahahahahahahahahaha! Finally, they're all dead! Come on, let's talk..."

Before she could finish, a red blur shot past behind her. A hand wreathed in a purple Rasengan lunged straight at the woman, slamming into her back!

"Boom!!"

Before the Rasengan could fully explode, the woman's body burst apart, transforming into a thick cloud of white smoke.

Seeing this, Naruto immediately wrapped the Rasengan in Nine-Tails Chakra and extended it into the distance, allowing the violent chakra vortex to explode and shred the distant trees into pieces.

At present, Naruto could only be considered to have completed the second stage of his training. He had pushed the rotation and power to their limits, but still had room to improve when it came to maintaining compression.

"Shadow Clone..." Naruto faced the situation as if confronting a great enemy. With a flash, he leaped to Sakura's side and said softly, "Sorry. I've been watching from the side this whole time, thinking I'd ambush the transmigrator once she appeared."

Indeed, Naruto had already rushed to the scene when the Sound ninja attacked Sakura. He simply had not chosen to provide direct support. Instead, he had hidden himself and carried out his previous fishing plan, waiting for the transmigrator to take the bait.

Naruto felt a lingering fear in his heart. If the transmigrator had not exposed herself, he absolutely would not have guessed anything. All he could do was lament that he truly had no talent for playing Werewolf.

You conspiracy-loving people have such filthy minds.

"It's fine." Sakura nodded and looked seriously at the woman who emerged from another patch of bushes.

The woman tidied her jet-black hair and looked at Naruto and Sakura. A trace of distortion lingered in her smile, making it difficult to tell what she was thinking.

Kin Hammer, a Genin of Otogakure, had attacked Sasuke under Orochimaru's orders. Just now, she had personally stabbed Dosu in the back.

Kin took out a Senbon and casually threw it at the fallen Zaku. In an instant, blood gushed from his body, and he was on the verge of death.

It looked as though she were merely taking care of some trivial matter.

"Naruto, kill her."

Naruto's eyelid twitched. He could not help looking toward the Nine-Tails, whose expression in his mental space was filled with amusement. This fox demon, which had accumulated countless negative emotions, was actually asking him to kill the transmigrator?

No. That was not right.

Naruto realized that the killing intent in his heart had surged so violently that if he struck again, it might resonate with Nine-Tails Chakra, causing his emotions to be completely affected and turning him into a puppet manipulated by strings.

But the surge in killing intent was hardly strange. Everything the woman before him had done kept warning Naruto: This person absolutely cannot be allowed to live!

"One moment you help us, and the next you sabotage us. I really can't understand what you're thinking," Naruto said slowly, completely reining in his Nine-Tails Chakra as he faced the woman. "Why don't you tell us what you're really trying to do?"

Kin tilted her head. After remaining silent for a moment, a thin layer of tears unexpectedly appeared in her eyes. "Y-you said I sabotaged you? I've been helping you all along!"

"During the first exam, I kindly greeted you, but you pretended nothing had happened and even refused to greet me!"

"After entering the Forest of Death, I left messages for you along the way. All you had to do was follow them, and you would have found the Book of Earth!"

"Sakura, I clearly gave you a hint, but you insisted on staying here. You made me clean up your mess, so I had no choice but to kill my colleague. Ha, hahaha..."

Kin's hair was disheveled, her eyes manic, and the corners of her mouth pulled into a strange curve. Her emotions were like a wild horse about to break free of its reins.

"How about this!" Kin suddenly jumped in front of Dosu and began rummaging through him. Then she pulled out the Book of Earth and held it out. "The Book of Earth! Take it. This counts as helping you, right?"

She stepped forward, startling Naruto and Sakura into retreating again and again. They looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Good grief, what kind of thought process is this?

Naruto was covered in black lines. He had never expected Kin to interpret her own actions from such a sinister angle.

Threatening them after discovering a secret was called a greeting, writing sadomasochistic little notes was called leaving directions, and killing her colleague was called cleaning up a mess...

This is corporate-level comprehension.

"Then what did you mean by throwing a kunai with a note at me just now?" Sakura picked up the note, which had [Hehe] written on it.

"Hahahaha, well, Sakura-chan, you're just too amazing... If you took care of all of them, wouldn't that make me useless? Haha..."

Naruto's expression looked constipated. "You know what? Don't say anything else. You might actually have a point..."

He tried to understand the workings of this woman's mind.

Sakura turned stiffly toward Naruto. "What the hell do you mean, 'have a point'?"

"...There might be one."

He failed to understand.

Seeing the increasingly strange expressions on their faces, Kin grew anxious. She looked as if she were about to become hysterical, then hurled the Book of Earth at them and said:

"How about I become your subordinate? I can't possibly go back to Orochimaru's side anyway. I can't, I can't! I can serve you tea and water, if you want..."

As she spoke, her eyes suddenly seemed to regain clarity. Her wide-open mouth gradually closed, and the mania faded from her expression. Only a faint fear showed in the way she looked at Naruto and Sakura.

"Boom!!"

A great mass of black smoke erupted beside Sasuke. His eyes flew open, and he slowly pushed himself up with all four limbs before looking toward the three of them.

Naruto turned his head, only to find that Kin had already turned and fled, vanishing directly from their sight!

"Should we chase her?" Sakura asked urgently. She did not trust herself to handle the situation. Only Naruto's Nine-Tails cheat could reliably suppress this person.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, only to see the latter wear an intoxicated expression at first. Then, with an ominous air rising from his entire body, he asked the two of them:

"Who was that just now?"