"Ah!" A scream sounded, and Masked Man rolled on the ground.
The other ninjas were frightened when they saw this scene.
"Boss!" A ninja wanted to rush over to rescue.
"Don't come here!" Masked Man zi shouted in pain, "This kind of flame is contagious!"
At this moment, the base shook more violently. The ceiling began to collapse in large areas.
"We can't waste it any longer!" Yuki-onna said anxiously, "The whole base is going to collapse!"
"Retreat!" Masked Man ordered despite the severe pain, "Retreat immediately!"
The Shadow Organization ninjas immediately fled in all directions, and even the injured Masked Man son was taken away by them.
"Let's go too!" Naruto helped up the injured Karin.
The four people quickly ran towards the emergency exit. The sound of collapse behind them became louder and louder, and the entire base was disintegrating.
"The exit is just ahead!" Yuki-onna pointed to a light in the distance.
Finally, the four people broke out of the base and returned to the ground.
There was a huge roar behind him, and the whole mountain was shaking.
"Boom!"
The underground base completely collapsed, and a huge depression appeared on the ground.
"Success!" Naruto said excitedly, "The base was completely destroyed!"
"The research data have also been deleted." Yuki-onna added, "They will no longer be able to manufacture Artificial Tailed Beast in a short period of time."
"But Karin is injured." Sasuke looked at Karin's shoulder worriedly, "We must return to the village for treatment as soon as possible."
"I'm fine." Karin said with force, "It's just a skin injury."
"Don't be brave." Naruto said with concern, "I will carry you back."
"No need!" Karin blushed, "I can walk by myself!"
Just as the four of them were about to leave, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the distance.
"Is someone coming again?" Sasuke turned around alertly.
What appeared was a team of Iwagakure ninjas, headed by a young Jonin.
"Who are you?" Jonin asked, "Why are you here?"
Naruto and others looked at each other, which was indeed a bit embarrassing. They made such a big noise in the territory of Land of Earth, which is difficult to explain.
"We are the ninjas of Konoha." Sasuke answered truthfully, "We are on a mission."
"Performing a mission?" Iwagakure Ninja looked at the huge depression behind him, "Blow up all our mountains?"
"This..." Naruto scratched his head, "It was an accident."
"Accident?" Iwagakure Ninja obviously didn't believe it, "Do you know what was originally here?"
"What?" Yuki-onna pretended not to know.
"An illegal research base." Iwagakure Ninja's tone suddenly became friendly, "We have been monitoring it for a long time and were preparing to take action. I didn't expect you to take action first."
"Ah?" Naruto was stunned, "You have known about this base for a long time?"
"Of course." Iwagakure Ninja nodded, "This base is built on our territory, how could you not know? It's just that there has been no conclusive evidence that they are conducting illegal research."
"What should we do now?" Karin asked worriedly.
"It's fine now." Iwagakure Ninja smiled, "The base has been destroyed, and the evidence is there. We can clean up these remaining forces legitimately."
"Don't you blame us for taking action without permission?" Sasuke asked doubtfully.
"What's the blame?" Iwagakure Ninja waved his hand, "You helped us solve a big trouble. I should thank you."
This unexpected development made the four of them breathe a sigh of relief. It seems that Iwagakure doesn't have a good impression of Shadow Organization either.
"But..." Iwagakure Ninja changed the topic, "You'd better leave as soon as possible. Although we don't blame you, the owner of the base will definitely not give up."
"We know." Naruto nodded, "We'll leave right away."
"Do you need a medical ninja?" Iwagakure Ninja noticed Karin's injuries, "There is someone in our team who knows Medical Ninjutsu."
"Thank you." Karin Although he said he was fine, the wound did need to be treated.
Iwagakure's medical ninja quickly bandaged Karin's wounds.
"It's just a skin injury, no serious injuries." The medical ninja said, "But it's best to go back to the village and find a professional medical ninja to check it out."
"Thank you." Naruto said sincerely.
"You're welcome." Captain Iwagakure Ninja said with a smile, "By the way, if you have such an 'unexpected' mission again, you can notify us in advance. We will be happy to cooperate."
These words made everyone laugh. It seems that all countries have no good impressions of underground forces like Shadow Organization.
Saying goodbye to the ninjas of Iwagakure, the four of them began to return to Land of Whirlpools.
On the way, Yuki-onna suddenly said, "What Iwagakure Ninja said just now is very interesting."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"He said that the owner of the base will not give up." Yuki-onna analyzed, "This shows that Shadow Organization has a certain influence in various countries, and even Iwagakure is afraid of it."
"Then aren't we just stirring up a hornet's nest?" Karin said worriedly.
"Sooner or later we will have to face it." Sasuke said calmly, "It is better to take the initiative than defend passively."
"You're right!" Naruto clenched his fist and said, "We are already at odds with them anyway, so we might as well fight to the end!"
At this moment, a messenger bird flew over and landed on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Message from Land of Whirlpools." Sasuke took down the letter and read it quickly, "Grandpa Nagato said everything in the village is normal and there has been no attack."
"That's good." Karin breathed a sigh of relief.
"But..." Sasuke's expression became serious, "A strange businessman came to the village and said he wanted to invest in building a factory."
"Businessman?" Yuki-onna became alert, "What kind of businessman?"
"The letter said that it was a representative of a large chamber of commerce who proposed to establish a trade port in Land of Whirlpools." Sasuke continued to read the letter, "The conditions are very favorable, but Grandpa Nagato feels there is a problem."
"There must be something wrong!" Naruto asserted, "How can it be such a coincidence that we are talking about investment at this time?"
"Maybe it's Shadow Organization's new strategy." Yuki-onna analyzed, "Since the military attack failed, we will use economic penetration instead."
"Then we have to go back quickly!" Karin said anxiously.
"There's no rush." Sasuke put away the letter, "Grandpa Nagato said he would hold back those businessmen and wait until we get back to make a decision."
The four of them speeded up their journey. After traveling all night, they finally returned to Land of Whirlpools at dusk the next day.
The village looks very peaceful, with no traces of fighting. However, there are indeed several luxurious carriages parked at Village Entrance.
"Those are the merchants' carriages?" Naruto said, pointing to the carriages.
"It should be." Yuki-onna observed the carriage, "The style is very ordinary, there is nothing special about it."
The four walked into the village and found Nagato and others talking to several businessmen in gorgeous clothes in the conference room.