Kamui?!

"A new enemy?" Sasuke, who had overheard their conversation, walked over and asked.

Naruto's expression turned serious, and he whispered to Sasuke, "Behind you."

Sasuke quickly turned his head, and Naruto seized the opportunity, delivering a chop to the back of his neck. Sasuke immediately fainted.

"Forgive me, Sasuke. This is the last time."

Naruto murmured, catching Sasuke and laying him gently on the ground.

Sakura, surprised that Naruto had actually attacked Sasuke, couldn't help but frown, "What's going on?" Her expression revealed her utter unpreparedness.

"Because she's really here. This needs to be kept secret from Sasuke," Naruto said slowly, gesturing for Sakura to turn her head.

A figure emerged from the depths of the forest, walking slowly.

Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail, her attire somewhat disheveled, and her face was unnaturally pale as she gasped for breath. Her eyes held rage, confusion, grievance, and exhaustion.

Kin Tsuchi looked at Naruto with a complex gaze, "How did you find me?"

"To be precise, it wasn't me who found you, but the Nine-Tails within me. It sensed strong malice approaching from the forest and even tempted me to surrender my body and mind to it, to eliminate you completely."

What Naruto didn't say was that he had struggled back and forth with the Nine-Tails in his mental space before reason finally prevailed.

"Is that so?" A hint of realization flickered across Kin's face, but then she clutched her head tightly, her expression becoming one of extreme pain.

Her face contorted, "Listen to me, transmigration is a complete... hahahaha... I have clues, you can... huff, huff... hahaha..."

Kin alternated between madness and lucidity, her words jumbled, her mental state appearing extremely unstable, as if she could turn into a lunatic at any moment.

Instinctively, Naruto and Sakura took two steps back, placing a hand behind their backs and reaching into their ninja tool pouches, gripping a kunai.

Naruto's brow furrowed. He felt every cell in his body screaming: Kill her, kill her, kill her, kill her... But reason urged him to listen first, perhaps to gather useful information.

After all, constantly repeating the 'Transmigrator appears -> Eliminate Transmigrator' trope would eventually lead to them being caught off guard. Even if they survived by chance, their identities might be exposed, leading to an Anbu investigation, so it was best to clear things up now.

With that thought, Naruto suppressed his killing intent and softened his tone, "Calm down. Tell me, what clues do you have?"

But Kin seemed not to hear anything. She leaned against a nearby tree with one hand, covering her eyes with the other, and continued to gasp for breath.

Sakura kept shooting glances at Naruto, equally tense due to Kin's behavior. However, if they were going to silence her, now seemed like the best opportunity.

"Should we do it, Naruto?" she whispered anxiously.

"Wait a little longer."

Naruto took two steps forward, his kunai-wielding hand still behind his back, and tentatively asked, "Are you... alright?"

Thump, thump!

Thump, thump!

He could clearly feel his heart pounding wildly.

Kin finally reacted to Naruto's words, her gaze towards him seeming to regain clarity. She lowered her head again, panting, "Sorry. The clue is here... huff, huff..."

She pointed with difficulty to her pocket, signaling for Naruto to retrieve it.

Naruto's internal alarm bells immediately went off. He glanced at Sakura, only to see her shaking her head at him.

"Throw it to me."

Naruto extended his left hand, palm open. Kin, however, slowly shook her head.

"Can't touch it... Come closer..."

Upon closer inspection, a strand of black hair clung to her sweat-drenched cheek, and faint veins throbbed on her forehead like tiny snakes, a truly terrifying sight.

"How close?"

"A little closer."

"How many steps?"

"Two or three."

"About how far per step?"

"..."

Kin looked up in surprise, finding Naruto staring at her with a completely serious expression, devoid of any mockery.

What did he mean?

Naruto continued to himself, "Fifty centimeters? One hundred centimeters? Actually, everyone's stride is different. At my current height, one step might be less than a meter..."

Kin felt her head start to spin. Annoyance began to show on her face.

What was all this?!

A ringing sound filled her ears, her vision blurred, and Naruto's voice grew fainter and fainter until she could only see his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish blowing bubbles.

Her consciousness began to fade.

Bang!!

Suddenly, two figures erupted from the ground on either side of Kin, lunging straight for her arms!

"Shadow Clone..." Her thoughts blurred as she saw two blonde boys attacking her simultaneously.

Naruto had his Shadow Clones burrow underground beforehand, using the distraction to grab both of Kin's arms and subdue her.

This was the optimal solution he'd devised: capture, not kill!

Just as the two Shadow Clones were about to succeed, Kin hooked her left index finger backward. A clear bell-like sound rang out, and the Shadow Clones instantly froze for a moment.

The confusion and pain in her expression slowly faded, replaced by a hint of mockery. "Almost got you, hee hee."

In the next instant, she kicked out to her right, blowing up the Shadow Clone. Her expression turned manic.

"Not pretending anymore?" Naruto retreated rapidly, his eyes fixed on Kin's right pocket, which bulged slightly as if hiding something.

At the same time, a question arose in his mind: why did she think she could easily capture him, based on that clumsy act just now?

Before he could ponder further, Kin hooked her left thumb, and countless Kunai flew from the woods, hurtling towards Sakura and Sasuke.

Sakura didn't panic. She formed hand seals and shouted, "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

"Boom!" Water vapor condensed, gathering into trickling streams that instantly enveloped Sakura and Sasuke. The Kunai struck the water, bouncing off!

Naruto held nothing back. He infused himself with Nine-Tails Chakra, radiating killing intent. His right hand rapidly gathered a purple Chakra vortex. Chakra wings sprouted from his back, enveloping his body as he met Kin's other heavy flying kick head-on.

"Bang!!"

The flying kick was powerful, pushing Naruto back five meters and making him dizzy. But at the same time, the Nine-Tails: Rasengan had finished condensing. He extended the Nine-Tails Chakra forward, smashing it fiercely towards Kin.

At this critical moment, Kin—Hammers—froze for a brief moment!

"Bang!!!"

The Rasengan struck her abdomen precisely and exploded, instantly engulfing the surroundings in red-purple Chakra filled with killing intent. The nearby leaves were all dyed red, and in the air, faint traces of evaporating blood could be seen!

Naruto stared straight ahead, his pupils contracting.

He saw Kin, at the center of the storm, tightly clutching her pocket. She let the scalpel-like Chakra freely drain her life force. Her eyes were no longer violent, but a hint of clarity was returning.

"Boom!"

As the Wind Release Chakra completely vanished, Kin fell to the ground like a dead dog, seemingly devoid of all life.

Naruto strode closer, his confusion deepening.

"It was that simple?"

He didn't feel relieved; instead, the situation felt increasingly mysterious.

Why did she hesitate just now?

Why was she clutching her pocket so tightly?

Naruto approached and saw her wide-open eyes, her hair breaking off strand by strand and scattering around her. Her clothes were tattered, and her face and body were covered in cutting marks. Her abdomen was severely damaged, and fragments of internal organs could be seen flowing out with the blood.

She was dead.

Naruto's gaze fell on the pocket Kin had held so tightly, now torn into strips of cloth.

He pried open Kin's hand.

"Such strength..." Naruto unfolded the strips of cloth.

An irregularly shaped fragment lay on them, entirely black and lusterless.

"This is the clue?" Naruto murmured softly, looking at Sakura, who was walking over, with a helpless expression.

What kind of clue was this?

And at that very moment, Suddenly!

The black fragment emitted a powerful suction. Centered on it, space seemed to be wantonly twisted by an invisible giant hand. Everything around began to distort violently!

A black, vortex-like void appeared out of nowhere. A powerful suction surged out, completely distorting Naruto's body as he was pulled in!

"No, this is... Kamui?!"

Sakura cried out in alarm. Instinctively, she quickened her pace, running frantically! Naruto reacted and yelled at Sakura, "Stay away from me! Go find..."

Before Naruto could finish, he was completely sucked into the vortex by the fragment.