Main Course, Served Early

In the northern mountain pass of the Land of Fire, the night was as dark as ink, and the damp, cold wind, carrying the smell of mud, pierced straight into people's collars.

Sasuke planted his heels on the tree trunk, the two Tomoe in his Sharingan spinning rapidly, his gaze fixed on the edge of the charred footprints to the northeast. He flipped his wrist, gripping Kunai to leap forward.

A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

The force wasn't great, but it felt like a mountain pressing down, forcefully pinning Sasuke's forward momentum to the spot.

"Don't follow that trail." Naruto withdrew his hand, pulled a sheepskin map from his pocket, and unfolded it in the pale moonlight. "This is a remnant of Lightning Release Chakra deliberately left behind. If you follow the footprints, you'll end up walking into Explosive Tag array."

Sasuke frowned, his gaze shifting from the footprints to the map. "Where did the blueprints go?"

"They only have half a map. To someone who doesn't understand the Uzumaki Sealing Technique, this is so weak it's not even good enough to wipe their ass." Naruto tapped a black dot on the edge of the map twice. "The Raikage wants the complete technology, not just a piece of paper. They need to find someone knowledgeable to complete the basic structure before sending it back to Hidden Cloud."

Kakashi flipped down from the treetop, hanging upside down, his one eye narrowing. "The border black market. The closest black market to here is near Eagle Sorrow Gorge."

"The road is wrong." Naruto drew a zigzag line on the map, stopping at another spot. "Eagle Sorrow Gorge is an area heavily guarded by Hidden Leaf's Anbu. They were wearing Hidden Cloud Forehead Protector and robbed us; taking the main road is suicide."

He looked up, his azure eyes devoid of emotion, filled only with pure calculation.

"Kakashi, go and block the eastern retreat route along the post road. Sasuke, get to higher ground; use your Sharingan to clear out any hidden sentries. Karin, retreat a kilometer away and activate your Mind's Eye of the Kagura; don't let anyone stab you in the back."

Naruto rolled up the map and stuffed it back into his pocket.

Sakura gripped the strap of the medical kit and swallowed hard. "Naruto, what about us?"

"Let's go to the Broken Bridge at Black Dragon Ravine Gully ahead." Naruto turned around, his dark blue robe fluttering in the night wind.

"Why is it a broken bridge?" Sakura quickly followed.

"The ruts on the mountain road are deep, and the soil was turned up at the wrong angle." Naruto kept walking. "Lightning Release ninjas are physically strong and not afraid of bridges collapsing. But ordinary caravans or black market merchants can't travel on such bad roads. The more dangerous a place is, the better it is for rats to hide."

Black Dragon Ravine characterized by its steep cliffs. At the bottom of the valley lies a mine shaft that has been abandoned for decades, where the remnants of old Lightning Ore emit a faint, pungent odor. The wooden bridge spanning the ravine has long since rotted away in the middle.

Naruto and Sakura crouched behind a large rock above the cliff face.

There were no footprints at the bottom of the valley indicating the entrance to the mine. Instead, several figures were busy working under the piers of the broken bridge on this side.

Sakura peeked out halfway, glanced at it, and then quickly covered her mouth with both hands, forcing back a gasp.

Beneath the bridge pier, three men dressed in coarse linen clothes were tied up. Their mouths were stuffed with rags, their faces were deathly pale, and they trembled like leaves in the wind. They were the craftsmen who had just finished building the south wall of Uzumaki New Residence during the day.

Three Hidden Cloud stood ten paces away, their hands forming detonation hand seals. Dozens of pale blue Lightning Release Explosive Tag were densely affixed to the bridge piers. The fuses were already connected; with a single thought, the bridge, along with the three craftsmen, would be blasted to ashes.

They didn't enter the mine, nor did they rush to escape. Knowing that the people of Hidden Leaf were in hot pursuit, they simply stopped and set up a trap.

"Pretty smart." Naruto straightened up, not lowering his voice, but instead patting the dust off his hands.

The sudden sound echoed through the empty valley.

The three Hidden Cloud looked up sharply. The man in the lead, with a scar on his left cheek, grinned and said, "Hidden Leaf's pursuers? They're not slow. But you'd better not move."

Scarface raised his right hand, Lightning Release Chakra crackling at his fingertips, aiming at the Explosive Tag array on the bridge pier. "These three men worked in your dilapidated courtyard during the day. I checked; Hidden Leaf has a rule now: anyone who enters that courtyard is under your protection."

He paused, his eyes turning cold. "We can do without the blueprints, but we must leave the Land of Fire alive. You retreat ten miles, and I'll leave them with their corpses intact. Or, you take one step forward, and I'll send them to heaven. Choose."

Sakura's eyes reddened with anxiety, and her palms were sweaty. She looked at Naruto, unsure of what to do. This was a dead end; no matter what she chose, the enemy would seize the initiative.

Naruto didn't retreat; instead, he sat down on the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling in the air.

He looked down at the three Hidden Cloud at the bottom of the valley, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"First, I don't make choices."

As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto's dark blue robe fluttered without any wind. A suffocatingly powerful Life Field, centered on him, crashed into the valley floor with a tangible force!

Rock fragments tumbled down the cliff face. It wasn't the pressure of Chakra, but rather the natural fear of lower beings arising from a body with extremely strong physical strength and blood.

Scarface's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down. But he bit his tongue, forcing his fingers to stay upright, and roared, "You don't care whether they live or die?!"

"Secondly, I'm protective of my own."

Naruto pulled his hands out of his pockets and slowly stood up.

"But that doesn't mean I'll be controlled by a few dogs."

Boom!

The three people at the bottom of the valley only saw a blinding green light flash before their eyes. The muffled sound of the air bursting open echoed in their eardrums.

That's too fast.

It moves so fast that the retina cannot detect the movement, and so fast that nerve signals have not yet been transmitted to the muscles.

The Lightning Release Chakra on the scarred man's fingers had just lit up for a moment.

A hand covered in golden patterns had already gripped his neck.

Click.

The crisp sound of breaking neck bones was unusually jarring in the silent valley. Scarface's eyes bulged, the curse he hadn't uttered stuck in his throat.

The other two Hidden Cloud then realized what was happening and, in a panic, tried to Hand Seals the talismans on the bridge pier.

Naruto didn't even turn his head.

The right leg, like a straightened steel whip, lashed out with a terrifying tearing sound as it struck the left-side man's lumbar spine.

Bang!

The man's body flew out like a tattered sack, crashing heavily into the mountainside and embedding itself deeply into the rock, the sound of his ribs shattering echoing throughout the room.

The last person was terrified and turned to run away.

Naruto released the limp corpse of the scarred man, flicked his toe at the ground, and a Kunai covered in mud flew into his hand. With a flick of his wrist, the Kunai, imbued with golden Yang Release Chakra, transformed into a golden beam that pierced directly through the man's calf.

"Ah--!" A scream tore through the night sky.

The man fell to the ground, clutching his smoking leg and rolling around on the floor. The Yang Release Chakra was like a malignant tumor, frantically destroying the meridians in his body, making it impossible for him to even refine his Chakra to commit suicide.

Sakura slid down the cliff and landed beside the bridge pier. She deftly drew her short sword and cut the ropes binding the craftsmen. The three men collapsed to the ground, unable to even utter a complete thank you, only kowtowing repeatedly.

Naruto walked up to the Cloud Hidden Cloud who was still groaning and knelt down.

He pulled the half-sheet of seal paper with slightly curled edges from Scarface's pocket, shook off the bloodstains, folded it neatly, and slowly stuffed it into his pocket.

"I'm sparing your life so you can go back and deliver a message."

Naruto grabbed the man by the collar, lifting half of his body into the air. His gaze from above was as if he were looking at an insect.

"You can't take the blueprints. But since you dared to steal from my yard and even lay a hand on my workers."

Naruto patted the man's pale cheek.

"Tell the Raikage I will personally go to the border to collect the interest in three days."

He loosened his grip, and the man collapsed to the ground like a limp rag.

A night wind blew by, carrying with it the pungent smell of blood from the valley floor.

Karin's voice suddenly exploded in Naruto's mind through the mental network of the Great Evolution Divine Soul Art. Her voice carried a hint of barely suppressed panic.

"Naruto! Ten kilometers to the southeast... a massive Chakra reaction is approaching at high speed! The Chakra is so thick it's suffocating... It's... it's the Two-Tails!"

Naruto straightened up and looked up at the southeastern night sky. There, the clouds were already illuminated by a layer of eerie blue lightning, and the faint, low roars of beasts drifted on the wind.

He didn't panic; instead, he moved his shoulders, his joints cracking.

"Kakashi, Sasuke." Naruto's voice echoed throughout the team via the mental network.

"No need to wait three days."

He grinned, revealing a highly aggressive smile.

"The main course has been served ahead of schedule."