Naruto Uzumaki Is a Rogue Ninja

"Reporting to the Hokage! Lord Danzō is not in Konoha; he has left with his direct forces!"

"Reporting to the Hokage! Jonin Asuma Sarutobi is severely injured! The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has escaped..." Another Anbu member appeared, delivering news that was difficult for the Third Hokage to accept.

"How could this be... cough cough cough!"

The Third Hokage was indeed old. Struck by such shocking blows, he clutched his mouth and coughed violently. Bent over, he was supported by an Anbu ninja as he walked out of Naruto's home. The Third Hokage's already aged body seemed to have aged another ten years in an instant.

He looked up at the Fourth Hokage's face carved into the distant Hokage Rock.

Minato, is this retribution...

Chapter 18: Danzō's Assault (1/2)

Inside her inner world, Naruto stood on tiptoe, reaching out to tear at the seal on the door. The Nine-Tails' tail wrapped around Naruto and pulled her into the door.

"Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Unsealing it! We made a promise, didn't we? I'd give you freedom once we left Konoha! Nine-Tails, have you been locked up too long and gone stupid?"

Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails with a suspicious gaze.

"Idiot! I'm worried about you! If you unseal it in your current condition, you might not be able to withstand my power! Do you understand!" The Nine-Tails roared at Naruto, its face contorted in frustration.

"Why are you yelling so loud! You're spitting on my face!" Naruto wiped the saliva off her face with a look of disgust.

Seeing the naked disgust on Naruto's face, the Nine-Tails was so shocked it turned to stone.

Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails, which appeared dejected. She actually found this Nine-Tails a little cute. She climbed onto the Nine-Tails' head and stroked its fur.

"I know you don't want me to die."

"Who doesn't want you to die? Just die already! If you die, I'll be free!" The Nine-Tails' ears twitched, and it immediately retorted, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Its nine tails stood on end, almost bristling.

"Fine! You said it yourself, I'll return to Konoha immediately! Once I'm back in Konoha, I'll definitely be brainwashed into an idiot and become Konoha's obedient puppet... But Nine-Tails, don't worry, I'll break the seal and give you freedom before that."

Naruto jumped off the Nine-Tails and walked out as she spoke. Her serious expression didn't seem like a lie; it looked as if she would truly return to Konoha.

"Stop! I admit I don't want you to die, alright! You brat!"

The Nine-Tails admitted dejectedly that it couldn't bear for Naruto to die. After all, no one had ever treated it as an equal.

Most people either feared it, or disliked and hated it. Only Naruto, from the beginning, looked at it as if she were looking at an equal, not a monster.

Naruto seemed to know many things, but that was irrelevant to the Nine-Tails. If Naruto wanted to say something, she would naturally tell it, and if she didn't want to, the Nine-Tails wouldn't ask.

"Hee hee hee~!" Naruto hugged the Nine-Tails' leg and rubbed against it, a brilliant smile on her young face. "I knew you couldn't bear to part with me, Nine-Tails!"

"Brat, you knew that all along, yet you made me say it so clearly!"

The Nine-Tails looked at Naruto helplessly, allowing her to rub against its leg. A smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of its mouth, and its eyes held tenderness.

The Uchiha clan had left Konoha not long ago and had arrived at a grassy plain. Walking past a cave would lead to the Valley of the End, the place where Hashirama Senju, known as the "God of Shinobi," and Madara Uchiha had fought to the death and created Konohagakure.

The Uchiha clan was heading to a mountain called "Crow Mountain," located at the junction of the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Fire.

Shisui Uchiha's crows were captured from Crow Mountain. As Shisui Uchiha's disciple, Itachi Uchiha's crows also came from Crow Mountain.

Walking on the grass, everything around was quiet. The distant bird calls that could be heard earlier had disappeared, replaced by a deathly silence.

"Alert! Enemies are approaching! Prioritize the protection of the children!"

The children were the future of the Uchiha clan and had to be protected!

Fugaku Uchiha activated his Sharingan, scanning his surroundings vigilantly. Kotomi Uchiha protected Sasuke beside him. Before becoming a housewife, Mikoto Uchiha was a Jonin-level ninja.

Although her strength had declined after years of not training, she still possessed strength above that of a Chunin and could hold her own against a Jonin for a while.

"Leave the protection of the children to us old bones!" The elders of the Uchiha clan stepped forward, each activating their three-tomoe Sharingan. Despite their advanced age, they were still vigorous!

As members of the Uchiha clan, with Uchiha honor flowing in their blood, they had never stopped training! Perhaps their years of retirement had smoothed their edges, but for the future of the Uchiha, they would use their nearly worn-down teeth to tear open the enemy's throats!

The ground trembled, and suddenly, several earth walls rose, forming a cage that trapped the Uchiha clan members.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation Drawing!" A pale-skinned, expressionless ninja with hollow, emotionless eyes threw out two huge scrolls. Tigers, leopards, eagles—various beasts drawn with ink emerged from the scrolls, gaining substance and charging towards the Uchiha clansmen.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!" x2

Fugaku Uchiha and his son Itachi Uchiha quickly formed hand seals, and streams of fire spat from their mouths, instantly vaporizing the ink beasts into steam.

"Today is the day the Uchiha clan dies!"

Danzō looked at the elders protecting the children and the younger Uchiha clansmen guarding the perimeter vigilantly.

"The weak, the old, the sick, and the disabled are not to be feared!"

"Attack! Kill them all! Remember to take their eyes!"

"Yes!"

Danzō's direct assassination unit surged forward. Despite being at a disadvantage, the Uchiha clan members fought fearlessly against the Root ninjas.

The advantage of the Sharingan was immediately evident. Genjutsu and Ninjutsu could all be seen through by the Sharingan. The Uchiha clan members with the worst aptitude had at least awakened a one-tomoe Sharingan.

Seeing the battle reach a stalemate, Danzō also joined the fray. With swift movements, Danzō gouged out the eyes of a Uchiha clan member in one encounter, simultaneously snapping his neck.

Cruelly dropping the eyeless corpse, Danzō's actions drew the attention of all the Uchiha clan members.

Danzō looked indifferently at the two-tomoe Sharingan in his hand before tucking it into his pocket.

"Danzō!!! How dare you!"

In his rage, Shisui Uchiha's eyes naturally opened his Mangekyo Sharingan, and he charged at Danzō.

"Shisui Uchiha, I've taken your eyes."

Danzō said with certainty, greedily gazing at Shisui Uchiha's eyes. To avoid Shisui Uchiha's genjutsu, Danzō closed his left eye and opened his right.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

Danzō inhaled sharply, spitting out the chakra in his mouth like bullets, like a machine gun.

Shisui Uchiha's figure dodged left and right. Shisui Uchiha, who had the moniker "Teleporting Shisui," especially with his Mangekyo Sharingan activated, easily evaded Danzō's ninjutsu.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"