Itachi Uchiha's Enemy

Not far from Naruto and the others, a Grass Ninja squad had just been through a brutal battle.

Both of their companions were injured, and they looked toward a red-haired girl hiding in the distance.

"Get over here, you good-for-nothing."

The man's eyes were full of contempt.

Karin Uzumaki trembled, but still came over timidly.

"What a coward."

"Don't say that. This good-for-nothing is still a little useful."

As they spoke, both men bit into Karin Uzumaki at the same time.

Karin Uzumaki trembled, her eyes wide with terror. She was scared, but didn't dare scream.

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

Over on Naruto's side, Hinata seemed to sense his mood.

"Just a couple of little pests. I'll go deal with them." Naruto stood up expressionlessly.

Normally, if something like this hadn't happened right in front of him, he wouldn't have bothered getting involved.

But since he'd seen it, he didn't mind crushing them on the spot.

Without waiting for the other two to respond, he vanished.

Meanwhile, the two men released Karin and shoved her away.

"Good-for-nothing."

"What a coward."

It wasn't surprising that they were angry. At the moment, apart from her ability to recover, Karin Uzumaki had no combat skills whatsoever.

Bringing someone like her along was like dragging around dead weight.

Karin Uzumaki was too frightened to speak. But suddenly, her eyes widened, her face filled with terror. She tried to say something, but could only stammer incoherently.

The two men seemed to sense something, too. They whipped around, only for a pair of hands to clamp around their throats.

"Trash."

Naruto's gaze was cold. He gave their necks a casual twist, and with a crack—

He tore both their heads off.

Karin Uzumaki had never seen anything so horrifying. She immediately shrieked.

"Shut up."

Naruto frowned.

Karin Uzumaki had never seen a scene this terrifying. She instantly fell silent.

Naruto frowned, mainly wondering what to do with the girl.

But Karin trembled even harder. Seeing Naruto look at her coldly with a frown made him seem even more terrifying, as if he might kill her at any moment.

In the end, he decided that such a troublesome problem was better left to the Hokage.

Before Karin could react, another Naruto appeared behind her. He took her with him and vanished in an instant.

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade was slacking off on the sofa with Tonton in her arms, while Shizune sat nearby reviewing documents.

Tsunade had just picked up her teacup and taken a sip when Naruto suddenly appeared.

Pfft!

She spat out her tea.

"Damn it, Naruto! What are you trying to do? You nearly scared me to death!"

Tsunade flew into a rage. All around them, Anbu appeared in a flash, surrounding the pair.

"All right, all right, stand down."

Tsunade waved her hand.

The Anbu around them vanished at once.

"Lady Tsunade—"

Before Naruto could finish, a fist suddenly came down on his head.

With a bang and a puff of smoke, the Naruto in the office disappeared.

Everyone froze.

Naruto hadn't expected Tsunade to suddenly punch him, so his shadow clone hadn't defended itself at all.

Tsunade hadn't expected the brat to be a shadow clone.

Karin Uzumaki was still dazed. She stood there trembling, like a frightened little animal.

Naruto received the memory from his shadow clone and was speechless for a moment. But he couldn't be bothered to explain further; he trusted Tsunade to understand what he was trying to do.

Tsunade had heard the explanation—or rather, she'd understood as soon as the girl gave her name.

"So you're Karin Uzumaki. You can stay in Konoha for now."

She instructed Shizune to arrange things for her. Then she noticed the bite marks covering Karin's body. A trace of coldness crossed her eyes, but she could only sigh helplessly.

"Can I really stay?"

Karin's voice trembled. To her, the Land of Grass was a nightmare.

"Don't worry. The one who brought you here is called Uzumaki Naruto. He's from the Uzumaki Clan, too."

Tsunade thought it over, then decided to explain.

Karin's eyes lit up at once.

After that, someone led her out to arrange a place for her to stay.

"That brat really knows how to find trouble for people."

Tsunade grumbled, though she felt much more at ease.

Elsewhere, at the exam grounds, Naruto had obtained two scrolls. He'd been lucky enough to get the Scroll of Earth.

When Naruto returned with the Scroll of Earth, Sasuke's expression looked as if he'd swallowed a fly.

He'd been hoping to show off in front of Naruto, but the other guy hadn't given him a chance.

Early the next morning, the three of them decided not to waste time and started making their way toward the center.

They ran into other squads along the way, but most of them had already seen Naruto's strength. As soon as they spotted his team, they instinctively steered clear.

That only made Sasuke feel more frustrated. He'd finally learned some decent techniques from his older brother, but had no chance to use them.

Just as the three of them thought they'd make it through safely, a terrifying killing intent enveloped them.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

The three immediately went on guard.

They were shocked. They'd all seen their share of danger, but no ninja of this era should have been capable of such terrifying killing intent.

Footsteps sounded.

Naruto looked toward the depths of the forest.

"Who is it? Could they be after me?"

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

It was a strange ninja dressed in unusual clothes.

"It's him."

Naruto immediately recognized the powerful man with the Mangekyō Sharingan.

But the man hadn't looked at Naruto once.

From the moment he appeared, his eyes had been fixed on Sasuke Uchiha.

"So you're Itachi Uchiha's little brother?" A slightly hoarse voice rang out.

"Hmph. Who are you? What do you want with me?"

Hearing the man mention his older brother, Sasuke sounded rather proud.

"Heh. In that case, I'll let him taste the pain of losing his family, too."

A hoarse, mocking laugh rang out.

Naruto froze, then immediately realized this was Itachi Uchiha's enemy.

He couldn't help feeling exasperated. Why did Sasuke attract so much trouble? Sometimes he went looking for it himself, and sometimes it came looking for him.

"You rat from the gutter. You can only resort to underhanded tricks."

Sasuke wasn't stupid. He immediately understood what the man meant.

He also realized that he'd probably put his teammates in danger.

"I'll make him suffer the same pain."

The man sounded crazed and vicious.

Naruto frowned as he listened.

As expected, people who awakened the Mangekyō were all a little unstable.

"Sasuke, be careful. This guy's strong."

Naruto warned him, but didn't mention that the man had the Mangekyō.

Sasuke nodded this time, without arguing.

The man flung a kunai at them.

The three drew their kunai to block it.

Metal clanged against metal.

But the man had already vanished.

[Fire Style: Great Flame Dragon Jutsu]

A terrifying fire dragon attacked from the side.