The Victorious Win

Deep in the heart of the rarely visited primeval jungle, a massive waterfall roared like a silver ribbon descending from the heavens, crashing into the deep, emerald pool below and kicking up a thick mist.

The deafening sound of the water acted as a natural barrier, masking every subtle noise.

Kalifa slipped in through a gap in the water curtain. The torrential flow did not cling tightly to the cliff face; instead, it formed a narrow fissure in the middle—the space was small, but enough for a person to fit.

The moment she stepped into the gap, Kalifa's tense body finally showed a trace of imperceptible relaxation. She leaned her back against the cold rock wall and let out a long, silent breath of stale air.

After resting for only a few seconds, she quickly regained the vigilance of an agent, her sharp eyes scanning every corner of the cave.

After confirming that several subtle arrangements remained undisturbed and that no outsider had been here, she walked to a corner of the cave and dug out a small, well-sealed metal box with her bare hands.

Kalifa's fingers pressed quickly and precisely against an inconspicuous indentation on the side of the box. With a "click," the lid popped open.

Inside were basic emergency supplies: a set of dry clothes, a few compressed biscuits, small packets of water purification tablets, a small roll of waterproof bandage, a small bottle of disinfectant, and a plastic bag containing five pills of different colors.

She first took out a packet of water purification tablets, walked to the cave entrance, caught some waterfall water with the box, and poured the tablets in—according to the regulations of the Inter-world Operation Memorandum, due to the differences in bacterial and viral lineages between worlds, one should avoid drinking raw water whenever possible.

While waiting for the water to purify, she took out a red painkiller and a blue anti-inflammatory pill, swallowed them dry, then tore open a pack of compressed biscuits and shoved them into her mouth, almost wolfing them down.

The dry, coarse biscuit crumbs made her eating posture extremely unrefined, but she did not care; she desperately needed energy to replenish her strength.

After finishing the biscuits, she drank the purified water and then used the bandages and disinfectant to simply treat and stabilize the injury on her finger.

Having finished all this, a thought that made her somewhat conflicted surfaced in her mind.

Should I take a bath while I'm at it?

At this moment, she was soaked to the bone. Her usually meticulous blonde hair was plastered messily against her cheeks and neck, and the clothes on her body were no longer clean, stained with mud and scratches.

Not to mention the sweat from high-intensity exercise sticking to her skin; this slightly noticeable odor was undoubtedly a torture to her fastidious, clean-freak nature.

"Sigh, forget it." Kalifa shook her head, sternly admonishing herself in her heart, "I am an agent; how could I commit such an unprofessional act?"

Forcing the thought down, she neatly closed the supply box, preparing to leave this place.

Five minutes later.

Fine, cold water droplets splashed onto her skin, bringing a shivering sense of refreshment.

Kalifa stood on the inner side near the water curtain gap, using the splashing water to carefully wash her body. The previously damaged and filthy clothes had been completely removed.

Although there was no comfortable bathtub here and she could only stand for this primitive shower, the feeling of cleanliness brought by the water washing away sweat and grime still made her mood involuntarily lighten.

As her consciousness stirred, her skin began to secrete fine bubbles, enveloping her entire body and bringing a deeper level of cleaning and an indescribable comfort. The bubbles slid over her fair skin, making it appear even smoother.

This is the ability of her Devil Fruit. Having eaten the [Bubble-Bubble Fruit], she can freely create bubbles, which is most convenient for cleaning her body.

"This is not unprofessional," she whispered in her heart, as if explaining to someone, "Carefully checking the body for tracking methods is also a necessary procedure for an agent. Cleaning the body is just something done in passing."

The roar of the waterfall outside the cave continued, but this constant sound of nature now strangely transformed into a lullaby that soothed her soul, allowing her highly tense nerves to relax for a rare moment.

Kalifa's thoughts drifted back to this morning.

Even now, she was still baffled as to where she had shown a flaw, to be discovered by that little blonde brat...

Then, as if it were a visual hallucination, at the edge of her mist-filled vision, she suddenly saw that little blonde brat emerge from between her legs without warning...

...??!

Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.

Naruto, who had suddenly emerged from the ground, did not make any violent movements; he simply brushed his hands across the slippery, water-beaded skin of Kalifa's lower legs with a speed and gentleness as eerie as a lover's caress.

Then, Naruto's head was kicked to pieces.

The Shadow Clone turned into a puff of white smoke, reflected in Kalifa's pupils, which had suddenly contracted in extreme horror. At the same time, a "sizzling" sound seemed particularly discordant amidst the roar of the waterfall.

She saw two yellow *Explosive Tag*s, like bone-deep parasites, sizzling with red light on the outer skin of her smooth lower legs.

"Damn it...!"

BOOM—!!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment. The next instant, the deafening sound of the explosion echoed and overlapped repeatedly within the narrow rock cave. Violent flames and shockwaves, like out-of-control beasts, crazily vented their power within the limited space!

The blinding fire instantly swallowed Kalifa's figure. The scorching heat wave, carrying gravel and scalding water droplets, blasted in all directions. Amidst the thick smoke, a figure wrapped in bubbles rushed out of the waterfall in an extremely disheveled state!

"You damn brat!"

Kalifa gritted her teeth, her voice trembling slightly from pain and anger. At this moment, she was covered in white bubbles; although they barely covered her vital parts, they could not hide her pale complexion and the charred wounds on the outside of her legs.

Blood was trickling from her wounds. Although she had used her fruit ability at the first moment to isolate the high temperature with bubbles and make her skin as smooth as possible to let the attached *Explosive Tag*s fall off, the timing of Naruto's appearance was too terrifying. Even though she had done well enough... the damage was ultimately unavoidable.

Kalifa hated it in her heart.

As an agent, she instantly understood the key:

The success of the opponent's sneak attack was actually a reflection of the intelligence gap between the two sides.

The little blonde brat knew she had detection methods and ways to evade them, while she was completely unprepared for a Ninja being able to sneak underground—her world simply did not have this kind of underground assault combat style, which caused her to neglect vigilance against it.

"Lucci was right... the methods of the [Ninja] in this world are too bizarre and unpredictable!"

In fact, the time for CP9 to infiltrate this Ninja world was still short, and they knew far too little about the various methods of the Ninja.

Kalifa immediately unleashed her Observation Haki to its full extent. She needed to gather more information and judge the enemy situation to decide in which direction to flee.

However, as her Observation Haki expanded, her face grew increasingly pale.

East, south, west, north.

One hundred, two hundred... three thousand, four thousand...

No matter the direction, her senses were flooded with countless blond brats closing in on her position!

Within her Observation Haki radar, the dense crowd of figures stretched beyond the horizon, leaving her no gaps to exploit... and she could sense that every single figure was a physical entity; this must be the Multi Shadow Clone technique mentioned in the intelligence reports.

That blond brat had actually used such a simple, brutal method to block every single one of her escape routes!

"...Heh, so I still underestimated him."

A bitter smile appeared on Kalifa's face. She hadn't given up, but facing this absurdly exaggerated scene, a sense of objective helplessness inevitably rose within her.

What's more, the leg most vital for her escape had already been injured by an explosion.

Wasn't it said that the Ninja of this world were weak and shattered at a single touch? How could this brat... be so exaggerated?

Is this Multi Shadow Clone technique something every Ninja can learn? Can anyone who learns it create this many clones?

The World Government has underestimated this world.

The Ninja are not without the power to fight.

I truly wish I could survive to pass this intelligence on.

Kalifa stepped into the cold pool and picked up her weapon, the Thorn Whip.

Golden heads began to emerge from the ground all around her.

The shadows of the forest were gradually filled with layers of figures.

Under the blood-red light of the setting sun, even as a CP9 agent who carried out the World Government's darkest missions, Kalifa couldn't help but feel a bone-chilling cold as if she had seen a ghost.

"Rude brat."

Watching the Narutos slowly closing in on her like a tide, Kalifa flicked the tip of her whip, causing the air to crack with a sharp snap. She adjusted her cracked glasses, and on her pale face, a breathtaking smile tinged with the scent of blood bloomed.

"This is... a very serious case of sexual harassment."

As soon as the words fell, the Narutos swarmed forward.

One kilometer away.

The real Naruto lay on the ground, gasping for air.

Having used the Multi Shadow Clone technique for over half an hour, even with his monstrous chakra reserves, he couldn't help but feel exhausted.

As for the Earth Style used by his shadow clones, it was something he had "fleeced" from the Third Hokage.

His reason for wanting to learn Earth Style at the start was simple: since he already had Wind Style for offense, he naturally needed a Ninjutsu for defense. Earth Style happened to be one of the Third Hokage's most proficient nature transformations, so Naruto just learned whatever the Third Hokage gave him—after all, if he didn't understand something, he would just ask.

"Thanks, Kurama."

Naruto whispered in his heart. He could feel that in the gaps between his chakra refinement, the Nine-Tails was secretly providing him with chakra to accelerate his recovery.

[Who are you thanking? Disgusting!]

Caught in the act, the Nine-Tails sounded somewhat embarrassed: [I'm just curious about what kind of intelligence that woman from another world can provide! I'm not helping you!]

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Naruto smiled helplessly, stood up, and walked toward the direction where Kalifa was.

"Let's go, let's ask her and see what we can find out..."

[It's over? So fast?], the Nine-Tails asked, surprised. After all, just this morning, Naruto had been beaten into a miserable state by Kalifa.

"What else? A real battle isn't a ring match... The gap in strength between her and me wasn't that large to begin with. Plus, I understand her while she doesn't understand me; with me planning against someone unprepared, my victory is only natural."

Naruto's eyes were calm.

"You have to realize, this time I... on the premise of ensuring each shadow clone had at least one-tenth of my chakra, I created a full eight thousand Multi Shadow Clones and paid the massive price of two Explosive Tag scrolls worth five thousand ryo each."