Just then, Kiba and Shino, who had been helping Kakashi, came over to Naruto.
"Someone's coming, but they're probably mostly ordinary people or rogue ninja who couldn't even beat a genin."
The words had barely left his mouth when a dense crowd appeared in the distance.
"Useless, just as I thought."
Gato arrived with a large band of ronin. The short, fat man leaned on a Golden Cane, a sickeningly smug smile on his face.
"Still, thanks for the effort, you worthless fool. You helped wear these guys out, and your death will save me a fortune."
At those words,
Kakashi silently put away the Kubikiribōchō, planting it in the ground.
Choji also got off Haku and retreated to his companions.
"You're Gato, right? The guy who hired Zabuza."
Asuma fixed Gato with a piercing stare, the Chakra Blades between his fingers gleaming coldly.
He thought of the injured Kurenai, and anger surged in his chest.
Zabuza was merely Gato's blade. Gato was the one wielding it.
Every wrong had its culprit. Gato was the one who needed to pay for Kurenai's injuries.
Asuma's stare frightened Gato into taking half a step back, but he promptly remembered the army of men he had brought and puffed out his chest again. "So what if I am? You've just been through a brutal fight. How much strength do you have left?"
The ronin behind him roared with laughter and drew their samurai swords.
Naruto sighed and spoke to his companions through Ino's Mind Transmission Technique network. "Looks like someone's determined to get himself killed."
Sasuke snorted, the kunai in his hand already poised to strike.
Inside Tazuna's cottage,
Hinata held the weakened Ino, gently helping her sit down.
Maintaining the Mind Transmission Technique for so long had drained an enormous amount of