Illusory Wall Pin, Defense Line Completely Crushed!
Naruto's fingertips hooked onto the thin fishing net line along the red collar, and his fingers suddenly pulled downwards.
The faint sound of the breaking thread was extremely jarring in the dark red void.
"You... what do you want to do!" Hong trembled, her blood boiling with shame and anger. "Quickly, Genjutsu: Release!"
Her wrists were firmly pinned to the towering stone pillar by golden Chakra Chains, leaving her with nowhere to retreat.
Naruto completely ignored the blustering warning. He leaned forward an inch, bracing himself on the rough stone beside her face with one hand. In a classic wall-slamming pose, he completely enveloped her in his shadow.
The distance between the two instantly disappeared.
Warm breaths fell unimpeded onto her flushed cheeks, neck, and bare collarbone. The domineering pure yang aura unique to the Perfect Uzumaki Sage Body, carrying deadly male hormones, was slowly eroding her feigned composure.
"What are you doing?" Naruto whispered in her ear, speaking very slowly, "Red-sensei, your Five-Senses Hijacking Barrier has too many flaws."
His free hand slowly slid down the edge of his collarbone.
Hong bit her lower lip hard, trying to dodge, but the chain around her waist tightened abruptly, pressing her closer to that burning hot chest.
"Not only is the barrier flawed." Naruto's warm fingertips lingered on her heaving chest, the Pure Yang Fire emanating from his fingertips almost igniting her skin there. "Your heart is also empty."
These straightforward words hit the bullseye perfectly.
Hong's breathing became completely disordered.
She is the Jonin leading Team 8 of Hidden Leaf, and a recognized Genjutsu expert by both the Anbu and regular forces. When faced with advances from male ninjas, even the Third Hokage Hokage's son Asuma Sarutobi Tenten, who was always trying to curry favor with her, she always maintained a perfectly respectful distance, aloof and never letting anyone cross the line.
When Asuma tried to win her favor, she always politely declined, her heart unmoved. She believed that the men of Hidden Leaf were either too rigid or lacked the strength for her to look up to.
But at this moment, in this spiritual abyss that she had built with her own hands but whose control had been ruthlessly taken away, her proud Chakra was completely severed, and all her pretense, pride, and reserve were forcibly peeled away layer by layer by the fifteen-year-old boy in front of her.
This absolute crushing power, this experience of having one's spiritual realm forcibly penetrated and possessed, did not lead her to utter despair. Instead, it gave rise to an extremely stimulating thrill amidst the extreme shame and fear.
It was a thrill she had never experienced before, a thrill of being utterly conquered by a more powerful male. This thrill climbed up her spine, burning her until her whole body went limp.
Naruto knew all too well how fragile his prey's psychological defenses were at this stage.
He used his index finger to lift Hong's smooth chin, forcing her to look directly at him.
"That Asuma Sarutobi, who only knows how to smoke all day, can't protect you at all." Naruto stared into her red eyes, his words heavy with conviction. "His hypocritical compromises are worthless in this cruel Shinobi World where fists and killing are the only things that matter."
Hong tried to argue, but no sound came out of her throat.
"Only I." Naruto suddenly lowered his head, his nose brushing against hers. "Only a man like me, who can trample all rules and the strong underfoot, deserves to possess you, the most beautiful rose."
My heartbeat completely spiraled out of control.
Bang, bang, bang.
Hong could even hear the roaring in her own chest. Her chest heaved violently, and each breath became incredibly difficult. Large gusts of pure yang energy poured into her mouth and nose, burning away all her reason. The arrogant and conceited young man before her was now radiating a magic that she could not resist at all.
Her mind went blank. The string of reason had been stretched to its limit and snapped.
Just as Hong was about to give up all resistance and even secretly anticipating the next move.
Smack
Naruto snapped his fingers sharply and unexpectedly.
The dark red spiritual void froze instantly. Then, the towering stone pillars, golden chains, and oppressive sky shattered with a deafening roar, turning into countless fragments and dissipating.
The real world. A mixed forest.
The evening breeze blew through the treetops again, swirling up a few fallen leaves.
The moment the mental chains broke, Hong's knees buckled, and she collapsed forward as if all her strength had left her.
A strong arm reached out steadily, grabbed her slender waist, and pulled her into its embrace.
Kurenai collapsed into Naruto's arms, panting heavily, utterly exhausted. The intense struggle and final mental breakdown in the illusion had drained her of all her strength. Now, pressed against this strong body, her mind was filled with nothing but submission.
A crisp system notification rang in my mind.
[Ding! High-quality target Kurenai Yūhi, has suffered a devastating blow to her psychological defenses and completely collapsed!]
[Current Emotions: Extreme Infatuation, Excitement, and Absolute Submission!]
[Affection level increased by 30! Current status: An unbreakable emotional bond has been established!]
[Host has completed temporary suppression of romantic advances; the bond critical hit reward is being calculated...]
Naruto glanced down at the woman in his arms who had completely lost the will to resist.
Her cheeks were flushed crimson, and she clutched his shirt tightly with both hands, not daring to look up. This stark contrast to her earlier confidence and arrogance was a complete departure from her earlier demeanor.
"Looks like the test is over." Naruto put one arm around her, his other hand casually slipping back into his pocket. "Red-sensei, if you ever encounter any trouble you can't handle outside, remember to call my name."
Hong bit her lip, unable to utter a single word, only subconsciously shrinking further into that chest radiating scorching heat. The once indestructible shell of the Genjutsu goddess had been completely shattered, revealing the little woman inside who longed to be dominated by the strong.
Just then, Naruto's ears twitched slightly.
Several unusually rapid fluctuations of Chakra intruded into the Biological Radar's sensing network.
To the southeast, three kilometers away, lies the headquarters of Hidden Leaf's Barrier Team, where several extremely chaotic Chakra are clashing wildly.
Naruto turned his head to the side.
The Great Evolution Divine Soul Art immediately spread out, capturing the surface emotions overflowing from the minds of those Barrier Team members—anxiety, panic, and extreme fear of a certain snake-like mark.
The brain quickly begins a sandbox simulation.
Orochimaru's choice to act at this juncture was definitely not arbitrary.
The thirty-day rest period is coming to an end. Orochimaru's spy network must have noticed that he hasn't used his terrifying Pure Byakugan for the past month, and must have deduced that he's entered some kind of weakened state or a period of backlash from his Dōjutsu. Orochimaru's goal has never changed. The Snake Mark within Sasuke Uchiha is a time bomb. That guy wants to take advantage of the chaos before the main tournament to detonate this bomb, and incidentally test the strength of this side.
If we rush over to intercept them now, we can certainly nip the trouble in the bud, but we'll miss out on a great show of establishing our dominance in the main tournament. The prey only unleashes its most spectacular despair when it's trampled into the mud the moment it thinks it's won. The Hidden Leaf high command, Orochimaru's Hidden Sound, and the Jonin leading teams from other villages—these people all need an absolutely violent stage to thoroughly teach them a lesson.
Naruto abandoned the idea of directly clearing out Orochimaru in the southeast corner. He decided to let Orochimaru in, gather all the trouble together, and then use the most straightforward and brutal force to smash them all into dust in front of the entire Shinobi World.
He slowly released his arm from Hong and helped her lean against the tree trunk.
"Stay here and don't move. We'll leave once we've regained our strength." He said this and turned to walk out of the grove.
He took two steps, then stopped, turned halfway to the side, and spoke to the woman behind him who was still in a daze.
"If Asuma bothers you again, tell him that you're already a chosen one of the Uzumaki Clan."
Hong froze, her already flushed cheeks burning even brighter to her ears, and she frantically covered her collar with her hands. She didn't argue, not even a hint of anger; her mind was filled only with the overwhelming masculine hormones she had felt in the Genjutsu space.
"Okay..." she responded almost inaudibly.
Hidden Leaf's rules? Teacher-student ethics? The Third Hokage Hokage's apprehension?
These rules and regulations that once bound her were as fragile as a fishing net in front of that arrogant young man. In this Shinobi World that admires strength, encountering a man who could unilaterally crush all her pride, submission was only a matter of time.
Naruto's figure blurred into a streak of light and vanished into the depths of the forest canopy.
On the other side, in the dark alleyway in the southeast corner of Konoha.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood.
Dou pushed up his round-framed glasses and looked down at the two corpses of Anbu at his feet. His hands were covered in blood, but not a drop splattered on his clothes.
"Lord Orochimaru, the first line of defense has been removed," Kabuto reported in a low voice into his earpiece.
"Very good..." Orochimaru's sinister voice came through the communication channel. "The people of Hidden Leaf must think I'm still recovering from my injuries. That monster named Naruto Uzumaki, his Chakra fluctuations have remained at the Taijutsu level for the past month. Something's definitely wrong with him."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses, a cold glint flashing across the lenses. The image of Naruto crushing Neji's wrist bone with one hand flashed through his mind; that boy's combat strength had already been assessed as the highest level within the Otogakure.
"Has there been any reaction to Sasuke's mark?" Kabuto asked.
"It'll be soon." Orochimaru chuckled softly over the comms. "Once the Uchiha's blood boils during the Chunin Ninja Exams, that mark will activate completely. By then, even if that monster wants to protect his own, it won't be enough."
He hung up the call and kicked the body of the Anbu into the sewer.
The ringing of the main competition bell is the signal that all the conspiracies will finally be overturned.
Naruto walked along the street back to the village, hands in his pockets, his steps leisurely.
Four hours left.
The barrier sealing the Pure Byakugan within his body was dissolving at an extremely rapid pace. As the seal crumbled, terrifyingly powerful pupil energy began to accumulate around his optic nerve. This was not merely an expansion of his field of vision, but a leap in his level of life.
The thirty days he couldn't use his Byakugan actually allowed his perfect, Sage Body to mature to its fullest extent. With every punch, with every stretch of muscle fibers, the Chakra of the Eight Gates was completely integrated into his bones and blood.
He twisted his neck, and his cervical vertebrae made a series of crisp cracking sounds.
Those small fry who thought they could stir up trouble in the Chunin Ninja Exams had no idea what kind of monster they had messed with.
At the street corner.
Kiba Inuzuka was walking over with Akamaru when they bumped into Naruto across the street.
He stood frozen in place, his legs trembling uncontrollably. Akamaru, on the other hand, tucked his tail between his legs, whimpering and shrinking into his coat, not daring to even peek out.
Kiba clearly saw that Naruto hadn't used Chakra at all, but the life force emanating from him as he walked down the street made the surrounding air feel viscous.
"This monster... has gotten stronger again?" Ya swallowed hard, feeling a chill run down his spine. The image of Naruto crushing Neji's wrist bone during the preliminaries was still swirling in his mind, and this inhuman pressure was dozens of times more terrifying than it had been thirty days ago.
Shikamaru walked up from behind with his hands in his pockets, paused, and stared wide-eyed.
"This is troublesome..." Shikamaru gasped, a layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead. "The extent to which this Chakra is contained... this guy is practically a volcano ready to erupt at any moment. Tomorrow's main tournament might just turn the entire Hidden Leaf Village upside down."
Shikamaru's mind raced. The Jonin leading the various villages, Orochimaru's hidden forces, and the secret plans of Konoha High Command— everyone was scheming. But they had no idea what kind of monster they were actually outmaneuvering. The scales of interest would likely be tipped over in the very first second of the match.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the street, slamming a Chunin Ninja Exams schedule poster against the wall.
The poster prominently displays the list of matches for tomorrow in large print in the center.
Naruto raised his hand and punched the center of the poster. The hard brick wall suddenly dented, and large spider web-like cracks spread crazily along the bones of his fist. The bricks flew apart, and the red word "war" was directly smashed to pieces.