Narak stood in midair, coldly watching the Root shinobi below.
The Yellow Spring Swamp he had released to prevent Narak from getting close was now completely useless.
Narak extended his left hand and pressed two fingers together, pointing them at the two Root shinobi.
"Enough. I'm done playing with you. School's almost out, and I still have to pick up my little sister. Seriously, you've wasted my time!"
"Hado #4—White Lightning!"
Brilliant lightning burst from Narak's fingertips, shooting toward the Root shinobi like a massive thunder dragon.
After advancing to Jonin, Narak's Kido had become even more terrifyingly powerful.
"Ah..."
A scream came from the center of the lightning. Then a figure suddenly darted out and rapidly fled into the forest.
It was the Root squad leader!
"Tch, you threw your own teammate out to block my attack and took the chance to run? You're really heartless!"
Narak deeply despised such a cold and ruthless method of treating one's teammates as tools to be discarded at any time.
Narak moved his feet and chased after the fleeing Root shinobi.
"Faster, faster! As long as I make it back to the village, Hyuga Naraku naturally won't dare kill me in broad daylight. I have to tell Lord Danzo everything about Hyuga Naraku. He's already made an enemy of Lord Danzo, so this man absolutely cannot be allowed to live!"
The Root squad leader raced through the woods toward Konoha. The road from the rear mountain to the village, which had never seemed very long before, now felt endless!
As he fled for his life, he couldn't help regretting why he hadn't trained his speed more in the past.
"How naive. What makes you think you can get away?"
Hearing Narak's voice, the Root shinobi abruptly stopped. Narak had appeared in front of him at some point and was now leaning leisurely against a tree trunk, blocking his path.
"Damn it... I can't escape? How can he be this fast...?"
"Since it's come to this, I can only fight!" The Root shinobi looked despairingly at Narak, who blocked his way.
"Although I find it despicable that you treated your own teammate as a tool, when faced with death, you chose to fight to the end as a shinobi instead of kneeling and begging for mercy. At least you preserved the last bit of a shinobi's honor. So, I'll let you die gloriously as a shinobi!"
Narak still admired the Root shinobi's final choice somewhat. However, their positions were ultimately different. Since they were enemies, Narak naturally would not hold back.
Narak swung his sword at the Root shinobi. Having learned from his previous mistake, the Root shinobi did not try to receive the attack, instead choosing to evade backward.
But...
"Pfft..."
A sword pierced through his chest, running him clean through.
"How...? The genjutsu was clearly dispelled..." the Root shinobi muttered.
"It's useless. That method of yours for dispelling genjutsu... As for why, I won't tell you. You can slowly figure it out on the road to the underworld!"
Narak whispered beside the Root shinobi's ear. Then he twisted the sword in his hand, shattering the man's heart. The Root shinobi suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his unwilling eyes wide as he collapsed to the ground!
Narak stood up, picked up the Root shinobi's corpse, and returned to the hill. He threw the four corpses into a pile.
"You were the ones who attacked me first, so you can't blame me for your deaths. Well then, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I'll send you off one last time!"
"Hado #54—Waste Flame!"
A disk-shaped flame emerged from Narak's fingertip and fell onto the four Root corpses. The moment the flames touched the bodies, they began to burn fiercely. Before long, the corpses had been burned away completely, leaving only a patch of charred earth. Not even ash remained!
Killing and cremating them—one-stop service!
"Oh? It's almost dark already. Seriously, you made me lose so much time. Little Hinata is still waiting for me to pick her up from school. She must be getting anxious by now!"
Narak looked up at the sky. The setting sun was about to cast its final glow, and school had probably already let out.
At the entrance to the Ninja Academy, Narak finally arrived after hurrying the entire way!
There were still a few parents at the school gate, picking up their children.
"Ah... It's a good thing I'm not too late. Hmm? Where's Hinata?"
Narak stood at the school entrance, looking around for Hinata.
"Oh, there she is! Little Hinata, your brother's here to pick you up!"
Narak waved and called out to Hinata beneath the eaves.
Hinata had been sitting quietly beneath the eaves. When she heard Narak call out, she happily ran toward him!
"Brother, you're late!" Hinata slightly furrowed her little brows, looking somewhat unhappy.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. Your brother was busy training and lost track of time. It's all my fault. So, Hinata, what do you want to eat? I'll take you somewhere delicious." Seeing that his little sister was unhappy, Narak broke into a cold sweat and apologized profusely to Hinata!
"Hehe, I'm not actually unhappy. Brother has been working so hard at training. How could I be so unreasonable as to blame you?" Seeing the apology on Narak's face, Hinata suddenly smiled.
"Oh, Hinata, you're becoming more sensible every day!" Narak touched Hinata's little head in relief.
Then Narak noticed Naruto sitting alone on the playground swing.
"Hey, Naruto, why are you still sitting there? Let's go. I'll treat you to some ramen. After we eat, I'll take you home!"
Naruto had been sitting alone on the swing, watching as his classmates were picked up by their parents and feeling secretly dejected. When he heard Narak, he looked up.
"Ah, Big Brother Narak, you're back!"
The moment he saw Narak, Naruto instantly perked up as if he had been injected with stimulants. He jumped off the swing and charged toward Narak!
"Big Brother Narak, you're finally back! Seriously, you were gone for a whole month this time. I missed you so much..."
Naruto rushed over and hugged Narak, complaining at length.
"Haha, all right, Naruto. It's been a month, and you've grown taller again. Looks like you've been eating your meals properly and on time!"
Narak knew how much Naruto ate. The living allowance the village gave him each month was nowhere near enough to cover his meals, so before every trip, Narak would find various excuses to give Naruto some spending money so he would not go hungry.
At first, Naruto refused to accept it no matter what. It was only after Narak told him that if he did not accept it, he should stop calling him Brother, and that Narak would pretend not to know him whenever they met, that Naruto obediently took it.
With Narak looking after him, Naruto's life had finally improved. Unlike in the original story, he no longer went hungry every few days!
"Mm-hmm. Big Brother Narak, how many days will you stay this time? You're not going to leave again after a day or two, are you?"
Naruto asked Narak. Hinata beside him also raised her little face to look at Narak, clearly wanting to know as well.
"Don't worry. I'll stay at least ten days to half a month this time. I'll have time to spend with you two!"
Narak calculated the timing. The Jonin exam would be held in ten days, and he would need to rest for several days after it. No matter what, he should be able to stay for about half a month this time.
"Yay, that's great!" Naruto happily jumped up on the spot, and a smile also appeared on Hinata's little face.
"Let's go. I'll take you both to Ichiraku Ramen."
"Osu, let's go!"
Before you continue