A Glimmer of Bright Steel

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

Little Maru dissipated at the same moment the three retreated.

Naruto gasped for air, a trace of blood lingering at the corner of his mouth.

He hadn't fared well being hit by four Water Dragon Jutsus simultaneously.

At least three or four ribs were broken inside him, and his stamina was greatly depleted.

That last Rasengan was his final wisp of chakra.

The subsequent two were purely for show, meant to intimidate.

Fortunately, the remaining three had become like birds startled by a bow, successfully scared away.

Uchiha Kei nodded in satisfaction.

To grasp an A-rank ninjutsu so quickly, even he had to admire Naruto's talent.

Although the current Rasengan was a bit like Little Maru.

But it was still a Rasengan, wasn't it?

The three saw Naruto's weakness and were enraged.

They had actually been scared off by a mere brat just now.

A grave insult!

"Brat, die for me!"

The three charged at Naruto simultaneously, their speed even faster than before.

Clearly, Naruto had completely enraged them.

"Clang!"

The moment three shuriken neared Naruto, a pitch-black ninja sword appeared in their sight.

"Alright, that's enough."

Uchiha Kei appeared before Naruto at some unknown time.

In his hand, he held a ninja sword.

The three retreated again, looking at him with apprehension.

Was this monster finally going to make a move?

In an instant, despair enveloped the three.

"How is it?"

Uchiha Kei turned his head.

"I won't die."

Naruto flashed a mouthful of pearly white teeth.

"Ninjas fight. Ninjutsu is important, ninja tools are important, and combat experience is even more important."

In the Naruto World, powerful ninjutsu was important, but combat experience was more crucial than ninjutsu, ninja tools, and even Kekkei Genkai.

Pain of the Six Paths was strong, wasn't he? If it weren't for Naruto, the powerful Konoha would have been destroyed by him.

Why?

Because of his heaven-defying ninjutsu and Rinnegan.

But if Jiraiya's intel had reached Konoha intact, could Pain of the Six Paths have been so rampant?

Probably not.

Combat experience was the foundation for a qualified ninja to establish themselves!

Naruto carefully savored Uchiha Kei's words and nodded in agreement.

"Since you understand, then leave the rest to me."

Uchiha Kei, holding his ninja sword, slowly walked towards the three.

The three looked at the approaching Uchiha Kei as if facing a great enemy.

"Don't push your luck!"

Uchiha Kei looked up at the speaker. "Push my luck? You might misunderstand what pushing your luck means."

As soon as he spoke, Uchiha Kei's figure vanished from his spot.

The next moment, behind the three, a massive fireball with a diameter of ten meters suddenly appeared.

Scorching, fierce, and irresistible!

The three's faces changed drastically. As they retreated rapidly, their hands formed seals.

"Water Style—Water Wall!"

Three walls made entirely of water stacked together and collided with the massive fireball.

"Hiss!"

A large amount of water vapor rose, turning into mist that permeated the surroundings.

As the last water barrier was broken, the fireball also disappeared simultaneously.

In the dense fog, the three of them stared around with trembling hearts.

Uchiha Kei's figure had vanished, and immense fear enveloped them.

Just as the three were on full alert, a figure appeared in the gap in their defenses.

"Slap."

"Slap."

"Slap."

Loud slapping sounds echoed.

The three looked at each other in confusion.

On each of their faces, in the exact same spot, a faint handprint was clearly visible.

And Uchiha Kei's figure disappeared again.

Was he toying with them?

A surge of anger rose in their hearts, but at the same time, there was relief.

Relief that it was a slap.

If it had been that ninja sword...

The three shivered simultaneously.

On a tree branch not far from them, Uchiha Kei watched them with a chuckle.

In his eyes, the Three Tomoe spun slowly.

For him, with his dynamic vision, the mist was completely meaningless.

He had kept them alive to train Naruto, but that didn't mean he would tolerate them harming Naruto.

Although it wasn't serious.

His figure flashed again.

Uchiha Kei silently appeared beside the three.

He raised his foot and, before they could react, delivered three kicks, striking their most sensitive area.

"Pfft."

"Pfft."

"Pfft."

The three landed on their bottoms, faces first, their masks falling off during the impact, revealing three stunned expressions.

"Now this is going too far."

Uchiha Kei bent down, looking at them from above.

"The game is over. Can you tell me where you're from and what your purpose is now?"

The three showed troubled expressions, looking extremely conflicted.

Uchiha Kei shrugged indifferently and lifted his ninja sword.

The three were greatly alarmed. One of them quickly raised both hands.

"I'll talk, I'll talk."

"We are from the Hidden, and our purpose in coming to the Twilight Ninja Village was to obtain your ninjutsu."

Hearing this, Uchiha Kei's brow furrowed slightly.

Hidden?

What kind of organization was this?

In his memory, there was no such organization called the Hidden.

"Tell me about the Hidden."

Uchiha Kei placed his sword behind his back and casually sat down on the ground.

"Our Hidden is an extremely ancient village, dating back to before the Warring States period."

The man's face showed a proud expression.

"In our village, ninjas are basically all at the Jonin level."

Uchiha Kei's pupils contracted sharply.

Ninjas are basically all Jonin level?

What did that even mean?

In any village, as long as there's a ninja, they can be considered high-end combat power!

But why would such a village have no presence at all in the anime?

This is unscientific.

"Where is Hidden?"

Uchiha Kei asked.

"Divine Realm."

This answer plunged Uchiha Kei into thought.

Now he could be completely sure that neither Hidden nor Divine Realm had ever appeared in the anime.

The reason Uchiha Kei could grasp everything was his foresight.

He knew the direction of the plot like the back of his hand.

But the Hidden before him was an existence completely beyond his control.

"The only mission Hidden assigned you was to deal with Twilight Ninja Village?"

The man's face showed hesitation.

"Swish!"

A flash of blade light appeared.

The man's expression froze instantly, and a faint red line appeared on his neck.

Uchiha Kei turned to look at the other two.

"He might not really want to talk, how about you tell me instead?"

The other two's expressions stiffened. Just as they were about to say something, they saw their companion's head tumble to the ground.

"I, for one, have limited patience."

Uchiha Kei slowly flicked the blood beads off his ninja blade.

"We are just Seventeen Squad! The village sent out a total of thirty-two squads this time!"

"Seventeen Squad's mission is the Twilight Ninja Village mission; we don't know the missions of the other squads!"

The two were so terrified that they spilled everything one after another, fearing Uchiha Kei would raise his hand and kill them.

Uchiha Kei was secretly shocked.

Thirty-two squads, five people per squad.

Based on their squad's strength, this meant Hidden had dispatched one hundred and sixty Jonin at once!

A grand gesture!

It was absolutely a grand gesture.

Uchiha Kei clicked his tongue in amazement, becoming even more curious about this Hidden.

Even for a strong village like Konoha, the number of Jonin was pitifully small.

Yet this mysterious Hidden could dispatch such a number of Jonin at once.

Even if the strength of these Jonin was somewhat lacking.

It was still an invincible force.

Moreover, Uchiha Kei wouldn't be naive enough to think this was Hidden's full strength.

Who would reveal all their trump cards at once?