Before he knew it, another three days had passed.
After taking Kushina home that evening, Nobuhiko headed home alone, humming a tune as usual.
As he entered an alley, Nobuhiko suddenly pushed off the ground, using the Body Flicker Technique to flash to one side.
By the moonlight, Nobuhiko saw that his attacker was someone wearing a black pig mask.
Something was wrong.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
When the other person gave no answer.
Nobuhiko quickly pulled some shuriken he had barely used out of his ninja tool pouch.
"Masked man, I don't care who you are. Take my Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Nobuhiko shouted as he hurled the shuriken at the masked man.
He made a show of forming hand seals, then turned and ran.
The masked man froze for a moment. Once he caught on, he quickly caught up behind Nobuhiko and reached for his neck.
A waterspout appeared out of thin air beside Nobuhiko, successfully stopping that sinister hand.
Nobuhiko used the opportunity to put some distance between them, then turned to face the masked man.
I can't outrun him. He's faster than me.
I'll have to fight.
Nobuhiko formed hand seals.
Before he could finish, the masked man had already lashed out with a kick.
Nobuhiko had no choice but to abandon his seals and block with both arms. He took the heavy blow and was sent flying.
In this narrow alley, the masked man gave him no time at all to form hand seals.
Nobuhiko felt somewhat frustrated. The ninjutsu with hand seals he usually practiced were of little use now.
I'll have to find an opening.
Nobuhiko chose to attack first. Pushing off the ground, he closed in on the masked man, ducked low, and drove a right uppercut toward his chin.
The masked man stepped back out of the way and threw a straight punch at Nobuhiko's chest.
Seeing this, Nobuhiko raised his left hand and unleashed a violent gale at the masked man, using the momentum to retreat and dodge the blow while forming hand seals with both hands.
The masked man flickered forward to interrupt him.
This was exactly what Nobuhiko had been waiting for.
A waterfall-like torrent suddenly erupted from Nobuhiko's mouth, forming a thick jet of water that slammed toward the masked man.
Unable to dodge in time, the masked man raised both arms to block and was smashed into the ground by the water jet.
Seizing the opening, Nobuhiko formed four seals in one second.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Nobuhiko spat out a tremendous volume of water, forming a ferocious water dragon over ten meters long that slammed toward the masked man again.
The masked man formed hand seals and pressed his hands to the ground.
Bang!
Just as the water dragon was about to strike the masked man, an earthen wall rose from the ground and blocked it with a tremendous crash.
That should have made enough noise, right?
Nobuhiko felt that what he needed to do now was hold the masked man off as long as possible and make even more noise.
He formed the ox seal with both hands.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
A waterspout seven or eight meters high formed around Nobuhiko.
Looking at the waterspout surrounding him, Nobuhiko felt a little safer.
Holy fucking shit!
A sinister hand suddenly reached out of the ground, grabbed his ankle, and dragged him down.
Nobuhiko nearly passed out from fright.
Wait, goddammit, this is the Naruto world, not some supernatural world. Where would a ghost come from?
Once he recovered his senses, he quickly formed hand seals, then suddenly thought of something.
He bent over and grabbed that sinister hand with his left hand, quickly drawing a kunai from his ninja tool pouch with his right and stabbing at it.
He stabbed three or four times in a row, drawing blood every time.
The sinister hand finally released Nobuhiko's leg.
Nobuhiko immediately retreated and released the Water Shockwave.
The water dispersed like a waterfall, crashing into the surroundings and creating another tremendous commotion.
Not far away, the masked man emerged from the ground.
Although Nobuhiko could not see his face, he could feel the masked man's anger.
After all, for a fairly elite ninja, being injured by a little brat like him was deeply humiliating.
Get angry. The angrier, the better.
Nobuhiko stood ready, gripping his dagger tightly as he waited for the furious masked man's next move.
Suddenly, the masked man vanished from Nobuhiko's sight again.
Nobuhiko braced himself for a formidable enemy.
He knew perfectly well that the masked man had not given up on him and left.
Instead, he was moving so fast that he had blended into the night.
Feeling the silence around him, Nobuhiko broke into a cold sweat, but could not spare the attention to wipe his forehead.
He could only tighten his grip on his kunai and strain his eyes wide, trying to spot the masked man.
Suddenly, Nobuhiko held his breath and formed half of the tiger seal with his left hand.
He turned and swung his kunai hard.
A splash of scalding liquid struck Nobuhiko's face.
A kunai across the throat. Success!
Nobuhiko finally breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.
Without taking time to rest, Nobuhiko removed the masked man's mask, pried open his mouth, and pulled out his tongue.
At the base of his tongue, he saw a black mark identical to the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal he had paid particular attention to in the Sealing Jutsu scroll.
Sure enough, that old dog Danzo sent him.
Shit. I need to run.
Nobuhiko could not spare a moment to wipe the blood from his face as he ran toward the Hokage building for all he was worth.
Quite a few people along the way saw Nobuhiko's disheveled state and wanted to approach him out of concern, but Nobuhiko ignored them all.
Right now, he trusted no one except Kushina and the Third Hokage, whom Tsunade had designated for him.
After running for who knew how long, Nobuhiko finally reached the Hokage building.
The two guards at the entrance saw a child running toward the Hokage building with his face covered in blood.
One hurried forward to protect Nobuhiko while the other went inside to report.
Before long, the Third Hokage, who was still working overtime because of the war, received the shocking news from the guard.
A child was running toward the Hokage building with his face covered in blood!
What could a child running toward the Hokage building with his face covered in blood possibly want besides help?
The Third Hokage's expression darkened as some unpleasant suspicions arose in his mind.
Please don't let this be your doing, Danzo!
After reassuring himself, the Third Hokage immediately followed the guard downstairs.
When he arrived downstairs and saw Nobuhiko's blood-covered face, the Third Hokage's expression instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
His anxious heart finally gave up hope!
Of all the possible situations, this was the very last one he wanted to see!
Seeing the Third Hokage arrive, Nobuhiko immediately scrambled over to him and began throwing a tantrum.
"Boo-hoo-hoo, Lord Hokage, your future most loyal subordinate was nearly killed just now!"
"Lord Hokage, you have to give me justice!"
"I, Kihara Nobuhiko, am utterly loyal to you, Lord Hokage, and wholeheartedly devoted to the village! I've never done anything bad in my life, so why would someone try to kill me?"
"Lord Hokage, you must give me justice!"
As soon as Nobuhiko began wailing, the Third Hokage waved everyone away.
"Don't worry, Nobuhiko. I will certainly see that you get justice!"
The Third Hokage patted Nobuhiko's head, comforting him kindly.
"I believe you, Lord Hokage! If it's you, I know you can give me justice!"
His eyes filled with sincerity and brimming with tears, Nobuhiko declared his faith in the Third Hokage.
Seeing that Nobuhiko still chose to trust him even under these circumstances, the Third Hokage was deeply moved.
"Calm down, Nobuhiko. First, tell me exactly what happened!"