The Ghost Brothers

"What are you talking about?!"

Tazuna said, his neck bulging.

Cangwu merely gave a faint smile.

"In that case, let's get going."

"Okay~!" x2

Seeing Tazuna put in his place, Naruto and Sakura instantly felt much better.

Sasuke also headed over to Cangwu.

Soon, the group had passed through Konoha's gates.

Tazuna walked in the middle of the group.

As he watched Cangwu leading the way, the arrogance he'd shown earlier was gone from his face.

Instead, he looked thoroughly uneasy.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, glanced back, then looked forward again.

"Sasuke-kun, did you notice it too?"

Sakura came to Sasuke's side and asked in a low voice.

Sasuke only shot her a cold glance. "Don't stand so close, ugly."

U-ugly?!

How many times was that now?!

Sakura ground her teeth in anger, glared at Sasuke, and whispered furiously, "You jerk!"

Just you wait. Don't think I won't hit you just because you're handsome!

Cangwu continued on with a faint smile.

As soon as he left the village, he expanded his sensory range.

Sure enough, that unpleasant feeling was back.

But what made Cangwu feel a little better was that none of Root's members had followed them out.

It seemed the distant Will of Fire was doing its work.

A while after they'd left the village, Sasuke quickened his pace slightly and came up beside Cangwu.

What Sasuke hadn't expected was that the ugly girl, whose head he had no idea what was inside, would follow along too.

Had she noticed it as well?

That couldn't be right, could it?

Sasuke instinctively looked at Naruto.

He found him curious about everything around them.

He looked this way and that, like they were out on a sightseeing trip.

Tazuna followed behind them, looking uneasy. Put everything together, and it was obvious at a glance that he was hiding something.

"Teacher Cangwu, something seems a little off..."

Sakura tugged at Cangwu's sleeve and whispered.

"I know." Cangwu gave a slight nod.

Ever since they'd left the area covered by Konoha's barrier, two pairs of eyes had been following him.

Sasuke said nothing, only furrowing his brows slightly.

He suddenly realized that this annoying ugly girl... hadn't been bothering him for no reason lately.

And now she'd noticed something was wrong too.

Has she gotten smarter?

Hmph. Good. Even if she hasn't gotten smarter, at least she'll stop bothering me from now on!

"Whoa~ What's that?!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed.

With his big backpack on, he dashed over.

"Idiot." Sasuke glanced at him and said coldly, "We're on a mission."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over the puddle on the ground that looked out of place, without lingering on it at all.

Sakura sighed helplessly. "Naruto!"

"Pay attention. We're not out here to play!"

"Yeah, yeah... I know~!"

"I'm just checking out the area, aren't I?"

"Besides, even if bandits or something show up, I can take care of them right away!"

Naruto replied distractedly.

Clearly, he was the only one who hadn't noticed anything wrong.

"What an idiot."

Sasuke snorted and headed toward Naruto without hesitation.

Seeing this, Sakura said nothing more. She quietly placed a hand on the ninja tool pouch behind her.

Her fingers rested on a kunai tied to an Explosive Tag.

Splash—!!!

Just then, the enemy seemed unwilling to let this opportunity go to waste.

Ripples spread across the strangely placed puddle in front of them.

The next moment, a figure leaped out of it.

At the same time, a shadow appeared on the ground. It moved at incredible speed, growing larger all the while.

The sudden change left Naruto frozen in place.

Sakura and Sasuke had been expecting it and immediately took defensive stances.

Sakura shielded Tazuna and, noticing the shadow on the ground, hurriedly looked up.

A figure was dropping from above.

It joined up with the one that had burst out of the puddle.

Whoosh—

In the blink of an eye, two chains shot toward Cangwu, one from above and one from below.

Sharp sickles were wrapped around the ends of the chains.

Bang—!!!

Both chains struck Cangwu at once.

"So this is a Konoha jonin?"

"Hmph. A jonin who grew up under protection, and he's this pathetic!"

The Ghost Brothers let out sharp, grating voices.

"Once we take out this useless jonin, the three little brats will be even easier to deal with."

As he spoke, Meitou's gaze swept over the three kids.

Yetou let out a derisive laugh as well.

As the two attacked, they'd left themselves a few chances to retreat.

They hadn't expected this Konoha jonin to make no move at all.

The two chains were about to strike the foolish Konoha jonin from behind.

Based on their experience, the Ghost Brothers were certain Cangwu was doomed.

If their sneak attack caught him off guard, even a jonin would be an easy kill.

Meitou and Yetou simply hadn't expected to succeed so easily.

Squelch—

The next instant, Cangwu was cut into several pieces by the sharp chains and sickles.

The bloody scene shook the nerves of all four of them.

"Teacher Cangwu!!!" x3

Even Sasuke found it unbelievable.

Hadn't Cangwu already noticed them?

Why had he been so careless?

But soon, Uchiha Sasuke caught on.

No!

The three of them had joined forces before, and still hadn't managed to hurt Cangwu at all.

How could an attack like this possibly threaten that man?

Sakura's heart began to race.

Once she came to her senses, she could hear it pounding.

She grumbled inwardly, Teacher Cangwu, you're so mean~!

You noticed them ages ago... Why'd you have to scare me like that~!

Naruto's pupils shrank again and again, and his whole body trembled involuntarily.

Clearly, the sight had frightened him badly.

Bang—

An explosion rang out.

The Ghost Brothers' eyes shrank, and beneath their masks, their faces turned fearful.

"Sorry, my Substitution Technique is a little different. The substitute feels more real."

Cangwu's voice came from behind the Ghost Brothers.

No one saw Cangwu's eyes turn crimson.

At the same time, three comma-shaped patterns appeared in his pupils.

Three Tomoe Sharingan.

The Sharingan's Illusion Technique really is impressive.

Combine it with the Body Flicker Technique and Phantom Clone, then add my Glint-Glint Fruit ability.

The effect definitely won't be any worse than Shisui Uchiha's Phantom Body Flicker.

And I can even use the Substitution Technique to cover it up in such a short time.

As for the bloody scene just now, it had naturally been an illusion cast through the Sharingan, disrupting the others' chakra.

"H-how is that possible?!"

Meitou and Yetou both turned around.

Cangwu stood there, completely unharmed... Their full-force sneak attack hadn't even left a speck of dust on his clothes.

That sensation from the chains just now... It had felt so familiar, like the feeling of strangling their "prey"!

Why had things turned out like this?

The Ghost Brothers stared wide-eyed at the seemingly harmless Cangwu, their feet unconsciously taking a step back.

But the two had fought their way through countless killings alongside Zabuza.

They recovered in an instant.

They exchanged a glance, and Meitou charged at Cangwu again.

"Take out the troublesome one first!"

Whoosh—

But after charging forward a single step, Meitou abruptly changed direction.

Yetou, meanwhile, went after Naruto, who was alone.