Zaku and Dosu Kinuta turned to look, and the many Narutos stopped in their tracks too.
"Well done, Sakura!" the Narutos cheered.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over.
Zaku exchanged a glance with his teammate and sneered.
"Who told you we cared whether she lived or died?"
Zaku stepped forward, aiming his right hand at Sasuke nearby, aiming it at Sasuke nearby.
"Go ahead and kill her!" Zaku laughed wildly. "One less burden, anyway!"
"No!"
"No!"
Bang!
A tremendous crash rang out, sending dust flying from the ground!
Sakura could not believe her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself and drove the shuriken into the female ninja's throat. The female ninja clutched her throat and collapsed, struggling.
"Sasuke!!" Sakura cried out in agony, her heart twisting as though cut by knives.
"Cough, cough..." Naruto coughed as though he had choked on water.
Sasuke vaguely felt warm liquid entering his mouth, and the taste of blood filled it.
He opened his eyes to see Naruto's face before him. Naruto had both hands braced against the ground, bloody froth spilling from his mouth, gathering into drops that fell into Sasuke's mouth.
A ninja stood nearby with a savage grin, his hand aimed at him.
Had Naruto protected me? Sasuke had never seen Naruto so weak. Naruto's arms gave way, and he collapsed into his embrace.
Sasuke froze for a moment, but then a surge of fury rushed straight to his head! A sharp pain flared in his eyes, then vanished.
Laying Naruto beside him, Sasuke stood up. His eyes turned red, four tomoe slowly revolving within them. The black tomoe on his neck spread like burning flames, covering half his body.
Chakra spread from his body as though it had substance, stirring the fallen leaves and dust on the ground.
As power kept surging through him, Sasuke felt as though his whole body brimmed with explosive chakra. He looked at his palms and clenched his fists. Was this what power felt like? In that instant, Sasuke wanted to use this power to smash everything!
"Were you the ones who did this to Naruto?" The greater his anger grew, the calmer he became.
"Sasuke!" Sakura wiped her tears and stood up, joy suddenly filling her heart. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I've never felt better!" Sasuke's tone was calm, but those who knew him seemed to hear the suppressed fury within it.
"Is that...?" Dosu Kinuta murmured. "Why would that lord give him a cursed seal? And what was the point of having me assassinate him?"
"A cursed seal? It's activated already?" Zaku froze, scarcely believing his eyes.
"What's that?" Hashihime asked quietly from behind a tree.
"One of Orochimaru's ninjutsu results, I suppose. He tried to give me one just now, too." Shinsei put away the shuriken in his hand.
Naruto did not seem to be in serious trouble. Shinsei had already been unable to hold back from intervening just now, and with Naruto's constitution, he would recover quickly too.
"Why aren't you stepping in?" As far as Hashihime remembered, Shinsei was a fairly good teammate.
Shinsei considered for a moment, then silently mouthed a word.
"Danzo."
Hashihime's eyes widened, and she nodded in sudden understanding.
"You're saying that man is working with Orochimaru?"
"I don't know..." Shinsei shook his head, but Orochimaru finding him so quickly had indeed been unexpected. The three of them were not ninja assigned to teams after graduation, but Anbu ninja. Tracking and countertracking were basic knowledge.
Shinsei said no more, turning his gaze into the distance.
A squad of Anbu was searching for something over there. Yet Shinsei, familiar with how the Anbu operated, found something unfamiliar in their methods. What they resembled more was...
Root!
The curse markings on Sasuke spread over his entire body as he said coldly:
"Take care of Naruto!"
"I'm not afraid of you!" Zaku raised his trembling hands and aimed them at Sasuke.
Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!
An immense, explosive wave of air hurtled toward Sasuke, gouging deep pits in the ground along its path. The tremendous noise made everyone hurriedly cover their ears!
Did it work?
A blue figure appeared behind him!
What? So fast? Before Zaku could marvel at it, the newcomer swept a kick into his stomach, sending him flying sideways.
Zaku struggled to his feet. Looking at Sasuke smiling a short distance away, he felt cold sweat pouring off him!
Sasuke curled his lips. This kind of power is exactly what an avenger like me seeks. He formed hand seals.
Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Fire!
Densely packed flames raced toward Zaku like blossoming flowers.
Gritting his teeth, Zaku raised both hands and aimed them at the incoming ninjutsu.
Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!
Boom!
After the tremendous noise, Zaku breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally blocked it. Just then, a blue figure appeared behind him.
Grinning, Sasuke seized Zaku's hands, twisted them backward, and planted one foot against his back.
The tremendous force drove Zaku to his knees, and he shouted in pain:
"I surrender!"
Sasuke smiled wickedly and applied more force.
Crack. Two sharp snaps rang out. Zaku's arms fell limply to the ground, and immense force from his back pressed him flat onto the grass.
Crack. A dull sound rang out, and Zaku felt as though his internal organs were about to shatter.
Ino had just rushed out of the woods. Seeing Sasuke displaying such overwhelming power, she froze.
Does this need our help?
Everyone stared at this unfamiliar Sasuke. Such an evil air had appeared around him for the first time, as though he radiated malice at every moment.
Sasuke turned toward Dosu Kinuta, who was still standing, and approached him step by step, the malice around him growing even more apparent.
"Your turn!"
"No! Sasuke!"
Sakura cried out and ran over, throwing her arms around Sasuke from behind as tears streamed down her face.
"I don't want you to become like this. This isn't you, Sasuke!"
Sasuke stiffened. The black curse markings on his body slowly receded, becoming three black tomoe on his neck, and his red Sharingan turned black again.
His power ebbed like the tide, leaving his whole body weak, and he sank limply to the ground.
Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji hurried forward, blocking Dosu Kinuta's path.
Dosu Kinuta took out the mission scroll. It was the Earth Scroll.
"I don't want to fight anymore. Sasuke's strength has earned my respect, and I'm a little lost myself now. I'll give you this scroll."
After speaking, he glanced at everyone's expressions. Seeing that no one stopped him, he hoisted Zaku onto his shoulder without sparing another glance at the dead female ninja nearby.
"Naruto!"
Once the enemy had left, the others hurried to tend to Naruto's injuries, only to discover that there were already hardly any wounds on the surface.
Naruto could also struggle to his feet now.
Sakura suggested taking Naruto to the hospital, but Naruto flatly refused to abandon the mission.
Not far away, Shinsei saw that Naruto had recovered. That terrifying recovery ability really is enviable. As expected of someone with cheats, Naruto's recovery ability ranked among the best in the entire Shinobi World. Only a handful of people, such as Hashirama Senju, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, ranked ahead of him.
The six traveled together, encountering no further major incidents along the way, and Ino's team successfully seized the scroll they needed too.
"Looks like you succeeded too!" A voice rang out from behind them.