The Standoff

The atmosphere on the field instantly turned icy.

Naruto frowned. "Why?"

"Because you're special." Owl, who had received instructions through a summon, stepped forward again. "Iruka should have told you that the fox demon is sealed inside you. So you don't belong to yourself alone. You're also Konoha's precious strategic weapon."

"Therefore, until we can confirm whether the spy did anything to you, we have to take precautions... This is also to protect you."

[Kill him!!]

As soon as Owl finished speaking, the Nine-Tails roared inside Naruto's mind:

[Kill this bastard, brat!]

"The Jinchuriki's chakra is fluctuating!"

Three-Eyes, who had been quietly sensing the situation while forming Hand Seals, immediately sounded the alarm. At the same time, he and Falcon blurred into motion—not to flee, but to take up positions on either side of Naruto. Together with Owl in front, they formed a triangular formation and surrounded Naruto.

"What's wrong, Uzumaki Naruto?" Beneath his mask, Owl's gaze gradually turned cold. "This is a direct order from the Hokage Advisory Council... Are you going to defy it?"

The order relayed by the summon came clearly to Owl's mind: ...As a precaution, seal the Jinchuriki... Verify the Jinchuriki's obedience... Upon returning to the village, take him to Anbu immediately, record his statement about today's events, and thoroughly investigate whether any information has been concealed...

"Heh."

Naruto couldn't help sneering at the three Anbu surrounding him, all on high alert.

So this was how it was?

Konoha.

After he'd defeated an enemy, the first thing he saw from them was suspicion and wariness?

There was no way he'd agree to this.

He'd never entrust his life to someone else.

He only trusted himself.

Naruto's eyes darkened in an instant, like a sea gone deathly still before a storm, with raging waves brewing beneath the calm.

"What if I refuse?" Naruto asked slowly.

"Then we'll use force."

Owl wasn't at all surprised by Naruto's answer. In fact, he was the one who had reported that the Jinchuriki seemed to be slipping out of their control.

"I suggest you don't resist." Owl took another step forward. "Attacking your fellow villagers... and leaving the village without permission aren't crimes of the same severity."

[...Go on, brat.]

The Nine-Tails cackled inside Naruto, its voice filled with a long-suppressed brutality.

After spending all this time with Naruto, it had nearly forgotten what it felt like to be called a "fox demon" and treated as an "object" and a "weapon."

That long-forgotten humiliation... instantly ignited its suppressed fury.

[I'll help you... With my chakra, you'll be the strongest.] The Nine-Tails' voice brimmed with barely restrained malice. [Even with the seal in the way, they're still nothing but insects.]

"The chakra inside the Jinchuriki is fluctuating even more violently!" Three-Eyes warned. Having sensed a deep-seated malice, his voice held a hint of tension.

"Don't make a mistake you'll regret." Without waiting for a reply, Owl stopped wasting time and reached for the scroll, preparing to unroll it.

At the same moment, Naruto lowered his center of gravity. He'd once imagined he might clash with the village, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon, so completely out of the blue. But if they were already trying to walk all over him, backing down now would make him a spineless coward.

If today was the day everything fell apart... then so be it!

Smack!

Suddenly, a black-gloved hand clamped around Owl's wrist like an icy iron vise.

Owl's movement froze. The other man's grip was so strong that the muscles in Owl's face nearly twitched.

"What do you think you're doing to my student?"

Kakashi's expression had never been so grim. His left eye glowed crimson, its three black Tomoe slowly turning as they fixed on every vital point on Owl's body.

"Don't go too far."

At the same time, Might Guy appeared behind Three-Eyes as if he'd teleported there. Silently wrapping both arms around him from behind, he easily pried apart the hands Three-Eyes had been holding in a seal.

"Naruto is my student too." The usually optimistic, fiery expression on Guy's face had given way to the unyielding firmness of stone. "We're coauthors on a paper, after all... So what do you think you're doing to Konoha's Blue-Gold Beast?"

"Owl! Three-Eyes!"

Falcon's expression changed dramatically. He hadn't even seen Kakashi and Guy move!

Just then, a palm rested gently against his back.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Hyuga Shinichi sounded hesitant, but still said, "For now... you can't move."

"Hyuga...!" Out of the corner of his eye, Falcon saw the Caged Bird Seal on Shinichi's forehead, left uncovered. "Are you really standing against the Anbu who answer directly to the Hokage?! Aren't you afraid we'll report this when we get back and have the Main House punish you?"

As if something in Falcon's words had struck a nerve, the hesitation in Hyuga Shinichi's eyes vanished. The veins around his pale eyes bulged as his chakra surged.

"People have to stand by their friends."

"Lord Naruto wasn't afraid of the Main House first... so naturally, we have no intention of backing down."

"If there's punishment, then let it come," Hyuga Isshin said solemnly. "We've been on our knees for far too long. We have to try standing up, just once, and see what it feels like to hold our heads high."

"...?"

What are you even talking about??

Falcon had no idea what Hyuga Shinichi meant. He'd only told him not to oppose Anbu, but what was all this about loyalty, kneeling, and standing up?

In fact, it wasn't just the three Anbu. Kakashi, Guy, and Hyuga Shinichi were also looking at one another in confusion.

Kakashi glanced at Guy. When had Naruto become his student? And what did he mean by being coauthors? He could write papers? How had Kakashi never known, after all these years?

Guy glanced at Hyuga Shinichi. Wasn't this guy a kinsman of Neji's? Why was he calling Naruto "Lord Naruto"? That was far too polite. What a good kid.

Shinichi, meanwhile, was privately amazed. Lord Naruto was a student of both Lord Guy and Lord Kakashi? As expected of Lord Naruto!

And so, all three of them were puzzled in their own way, but none let it show. They kept up their cold, unyielding stances as they faced off against the Anbu Surveillance Squad, acting as if they'd long understood one another and all knew they were backing Naruto.

The field fell into a stalemate. Even the nearby Medical Corps, the Inuzuka Clan members, and the Anbu who'd arrived behind them stopped what they were doing and exchanged uncertain glances.

A suffocating tension hung in the air.

"Kakashi."

Owl spoke. As a veteran Anbu, he addressed Kakashi earnestly:

"You weren't like this before. You should be able to understand us. Ninja have to carry out their missions."

"I'm not the person I used to be." Kakashi didn't loosen his grip in the slightest. "That Kakashi died alongside so many others long ago. Besides..."

"The first apology should be the last. I apologized yesterday, so that was the last time."

"As a teacher, if I failed to do right by my students before and still can't do it now, then I'd truly be letting down my master's teachings."

Hearing this, Naruto's eyes widened slightly behind Kakashi.

He was using the Fourth Hokage to pressure them...? Misunderstanding what Kakashi meant, Owl gritted his teeth. He hadn't expected Kakashi to learn political maneuvering, too. Kakashi used to hate that sort of thing most of all.

"If you failed before, you should learn from your mistakes." Enraged, Owl snapped, "Have you forgotten what happened with the Three-Tails?"

The words had barely left his mouth before Owl instinctively regretted them—but it was too late.

Almost at once, a horrifying killing intent crashed over him like a tsunami, as if a monstrous beast were licking his scalp. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his blood seemed to freeze.

The three Tomoe in Kakashi's blood-red eye slowly stopped turning, pinning Owl in place. Owl suddenly had the eerie feeling that if he breathed even a little too heavily, his throat would be slit open.

And... was this an illusion, too?

Why did Kakashi's Sharingan... look more and more like three scythes?

"Kakashi-sensei."

Suddenly, Naruto's voice broke the nearly frozen atmosphere.

Kakashi turned back in surprise, but Naruto looked away and continued:

"Teacher Kaido, Shinichi."

"Let's go. Back to Konoha."

Having given everyone a way to back down, Naruto paid the Surveillance Squad no further attention. He simply headed back toward the village, treating them like they weren't there.

The Surveillance Squad didn't dare say anything more. Neither Guy's speed nor the killing intent Kakashi had just unleashed left them in any doubt about why the word "elite" came before "Jonin."

It meant an absolute advantage over ninja of their rank or below—in other words, killing them would be as easy as slaughtering chickens.

Kakashi and Guy probably wouldn't actually attack them, but the two men were not only powerful; they also held extremely high positions in the village and could be considered leaders among the Jonin.

Since they'd made it clear they would protect Naruto at all costs, the three Anbu alone had no chance of changing their minds.

"..."

Watching Naruto walk away, Kakashi said nothing. He released Owl's wrist and walked off, deliberately bumping his shoulder.

They'd carried out a few missions together in the past and had been on somewhat friendly terms, but it went without saying that their friendship had ended today.

Looking at his bruised wrist and thinking of everything that had happened today, with the Jinchuriki constantly rubbing it in his face, Owl suddenly shouted in frustration, "I'll report what just happened to Lord Hokage and the Council of Elders!"

"Who's farting?"

Naruto sniffed the air with an expression of disgust and shot back without even having to think.

"It stinks like hell. I thought some dog was farting."