"Phew, phew, phew..."
Little Maru vanished at the same moment the three men retreated.
Naruto gasped for breath, a trace of blood still at the corner of his mouth.
Being hit by four Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu at once had taken its toll.
He had at least three or four broken ribs, and his stamina was nearly spent.
That last Rasengan had used up the final bit of his chakra.
The two after that had been nothing but for show, meant to scare them.
Fortunately, the three remaining men had become as jumpy as startled birds, and he had successfully frightened them off.
Uchiha Kei nodded in satisfaction.
Even he had to admire Naruto's talent for grasping an A-rank jutsu so quickly.
Though Naruto's Rasengan looked a little like Little Maru right now,
it was still a Rasengan.
The three men noticed Naruto's weakness and flew into a rage.
They had actually been scared off by a brat.
What a disgrace!
"Brat, die!"
All three charged at Naruto at once, moving even faster than they had at the start.
Clearly, Naruto had enraged them completely.
"Clang!"
Just as the three shuriken neared Naruto, a black Ninja Blade appeared before the three men.
"All right, that's enough."
Uchiha Kei had appeared in front of Naruto at some point.
A Ninja Blade was firmly gripped in his hand.
The three men retreated again, watching him with wary uncertainty.
So the monster was finally going to make a move?
Despair engulfed them in an instant.
"How are you?"
Uchiha Kei turned his head.
"Still alive."
Naruto flashed a row of pearly white teeth.
"Ninjas have to fight. Jutsu matter, ninja tools matter, but combat experience matters even more."
In the Naruto World, powerful jutsu were important, but combat experience mattered more than jutsu and ninja tools—even more than Kekkei Genkai.
The Six Paths of Pain had been powerful, hadn't they? If not for Naruto, he would have destroyed Konoha.
What had made him so powerful?
His jutsu were strong enough to defy the heavens, and he had the Rinnegan.
But if Jiraiya's intel had reached Konoha intact, could the Six Paths of Pain still have run rampant?
Probably not.
Combat experience was the foundation that allowed a true ninja to survive!
Naruto carefully mulled over Uchiha Kei's words and nodded in agreement.
"Since you understand, I'll take it from here."
Uchiha Kei carried the Ninja Blade and strolled toward the three men.
They watched Uchiha Kei approach as if facing a great enemy.
"Don't push us too far!"
Uchiha Kei raised his eyes to the speaker. "Push you too far? You might have a misunderstanding about what that means."
As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Kei vanished from where he stood.
The next moment, a massive fireball ten meters in diameter appeared behind the three men.
Scorching, ferocious, unstoppable!
Their faces changed drastically. As they leaped backward, their hands flew through a series of seals.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
Three walls made entirely of water stacked on top of one another and collided with the enormous fireball.
"Hiss!"
A great cloud of steam rose up, spreading through the area as mist.
When the final Water Formation Wall was destroyed, the fireball vanished at the same time.
Lost in the mist, the three men watched their surroundings in terror.
Uchiha Kei had disappeared, and overwhelming fear closed in around them.
Just as the three men were on full alert, a figure appeared in a gap in their defenses.
"Smack."
"Smack."
"Smack."
Loud slaps rang out.
The three men stared at one another, dumbfounded.
The same spot on each of their faces bore a faint, slender handprint.
Uchiha Kei had disappeared again.
Was he toying with them?
Anger welled up in their hearts, but so did relief.
At least he had hit them with his palm.
If it had been that Ninja Blade...
All three shuddered.
On a branch not far away, Uchiha Kei watched them with a cheerful smile.
Three Tomoe turned slowly in his eyes.
With his dynamic vision, the mist meant nothing to him.
He had left them alive to help train Naruto, but that didn't mean he would tolerate them hurting Naruto.
Even if the injuries weren't serious.
His figure flashed again.
Uchiha Kei silently appeared beside the three men.
He raised his foot and, before they noticed him, kicked all three squarely in the rear.
"Pfft."
"Pfft."
"Pfft."
The three men landed face-first, their butts in the air. Their masks fell off as they hit the ground, revealing three startled faces.
"Now this is what it means to push someone too far."
Uchiha Kei bent down and looked down at them.
"The game's over. Can you tell me where you're from and what your purpose is now?"
The three men looked troubled, their faces twisted with indecision.
Uchiha Kei shrugged indifferently and raised his Ninja Blade slightly.
The three men panicked. One of them hurriedly raised both hands.
"I'll talk, I'll talk!"
"We're from Hidden. We came to the Twilight Ninja Village to get their jutsu."
Uchiha Kei frowned slightly as he listened.
Hidden?
What kind of organization was that?
There was no such organization in his memories.
"Tell me about Hidden."
Uchiha Kei rested the blade behind his back, then sat down on the ground with an easygoing air.
"Hidden is an extremely ancient village. Its history goes back to before the Warring States period."
The man wore a proud expression.
"Almost all the ninjas in our village are jōnin."
Uchiha Kei's pupils contracted sharply.
Almost all their ninjas were jōnin?
What did that even mean?
Anyone who was a ninja in that village could be considered a high-level combatant!
But why had a village like that never appeared in the anime?
It made no sense.
"Where is Hidden?"
Uchiha Kei asked.
"The Divine Realm."
That answer sent Uchiha Kei into deep thought.
He could now be certain that neither Hidden nor the Divine Realm had appeared in the anime.
Uchiha Kei had been able to keep everything under control because he had known what was coming.
He knew the plot inside out.
But Hidden, right before him, was completely beyond his control.
Was the only mission Hidden had given you to deal with the Twilight Ninja Village?
The man hesitated.
"Swish!"
A flash of blade light appeared.
The man's expression froze. A faint red line appeared across his neck.
Uchiha Kei turned to the other two.
"He doesn't seem eager to talk. Why don't you tell me instead?"
The other two stiffened. They were about to speak when they saw their companion's head roll to the ground.
"I don't have much patience."
Uchiha Kei casually flicked the blood off his Ninja Blade.
"We're only the Seventeen Squad! The village sent out thirty-two squads in total!"
"Our Seventeen Squad's mission was the Twilight Ninja Village. We don't know what the other squads were assigned!"
The two men were terrified. They blurted out everything, afraid Uchiha Kei would kill them with a casual swing.
Uchiha Kei was secretly shocked.
Thirty-two squads, five men to a squad.
Going by their squad's strength, Hidden had sent out a hundred and sixty jōnin at once!
What an undertaking!
That was an enormous undertaking.
Uchiha Kei clicked his tongue in amazement, even more curious about Hidden.
Even a powerhouse like Konoha had very few jōnin.
Yet this mysterious Hidden could send out so many jōnin at once.
Even if these jōnin were somewhat lacking in skill,
they were still an irresistible force.
Besides, Uchiha Kei wasn't naive enough to think this was all the strength Hidden had.
Who would reveal all their trump cards at once?
Before you continue