Meanwhile, in Konoha.
Choji was at the Hokage Tower, handling some clan affairs for the Akimichi Clan. To put it bluntly, it was just running errands to stay healthy. Although he was a nimble fat guy, being too fat wasn’t good for his health.
"Yes, that's all for now, please excuse me…"
Just as he was talking, Choji suddenly shuddered, as if he was being stared at. He quickly turned around and scanned the area, his brow furrowed deeply.
"What's wrong?" The staff looked at the young master of the Akimichi Clan puzzledly.
"It's okay, maybe I caught a cold recently." Choji said, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Lately, I’ve been feeling a chill down my back. I should get some medicine."
…
Outside Kirigakure.
Team Taka, who had escaped, gathered together again, and the four of them sat in the depths of the woods to rest. The four ate their rations silently, reflecting on their failed mission.
"Why do I feel that the Sensory Abilities of Kumogakure and Kirigakure’s Anbu have improved so much? Every time we infiltrate, they seem to detect us immediately?"
Karin wondered aloud, unsure of how to explain it.
In summary, the main idea was that the ‘minions’ this season were a bit too strong. Forget about reaching the enemy’s base, they couldn’t even get close to the ‘turrets’.
Jugo remained silent, while Suigetsu smirked. He turned to the other three and said, "Those damn Kirigakure’s Shinobi seemed to be chasing Sasuke specifically."
"Yeah." Sasuke nodded and admitted it directly, "Those guys seemed to be targeting me. They started searching for me purposefully from the moment the sun rose."
"Should we go back and take a look?" Karin suggested tentatively, "I don’t think this is just a coincidence. If we go back now, they definitely won’t expect it."
The three of them looked at Sasuke. When Sasuke was deep in thought, his gaze would fix on one spot, and he’d zone out for a few seconds.
After a moment, Sasuke shook his head.
"There's no need to waste time here. Let’s head straight to the waters near Sanbi. We were just passing through anyway. We’ll find out the reason eventually."
"Sanbi…" Karin sighed but nodded in agreement.
Team Taka left the outskirts of Kirigakure without looking back, so the Anbu’s Shinobi naturally found nothing.
Chojuro, who had been ordered to search for Sasuke, had no idea that Mei had overplayed her hand and gotten herself into trouble.
At this moment, he was searching everywhere with Sasuke’s portrait in hand. However, his search wasn’t going well, and after looking around, he still hadn’t found anything.
The reason Chojuro couldn't find anyone is because Naruto was following him quietly from a distance, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Only one Ninja Sword remained. Once he obtained the Hiramekarei, his Mission Line II, collecting all Seven Ninja Swords, can be completed.
At the same time, it also means that Naruto can get the reward.
The permanent ability, Izanagi. As long as the cooldown was over, it would make him invincible.
For this ability, Danzo had gone so far as to implant Hashirama’s cells into his body and even risked implanting Sharingan from the Uchiha Clan into his arm.
But now, Naruto only needed to collect Seven Ninja Swords to gain the ability to resurrect infinitely outside of the cooldown period.
In simple terms, once his skill cooldown was over, he would be immortal.
For example, when facing an enemy several times stronger than himself, he could use Izanagi once.
Then, if the cooldown wasn’t up yet, he could pause mid-battle and start stalling with Talk-no-Jutsu.
Chojuro walked to a secluded area, at the edge of three main roads.
Naruto, who was hiding on the tree, couldn’t wait any longer.
He directly used Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport and pounced on Chojuro. Chojuro realized that something was wrong and instinctively dodged.
A terrifying Lava Release attack surged forward, instantly burning the place where Chojuro had been standing. With a loud boom, the ground shook violently.
This loud noise also signaled the start of a countdown.
Naruto had to finish the battle and leave within three minutes, or Mei would definitely arrive.
He doesn't have much time left and must deal with Chojuro immediately.
In an instant, Naruto used all the techniques that wouldn’t reveal his identity, such as Lava Release, the invisible Flying Thunder God Technique, and a close-range slap on Chojuro.
Since Naruto didn’t hold back, his speed was so fast that the air itself let out a sharp, terrifying screech. Chojuro had no way to dodge it, as this was a complete overpowering of strength.
Naruto didn’t even use the Kyubi’s Chakra to enhance himself. He just relied on brute force to compress the massive amount of Chakra in his body.
For an ordinary person, compressing Chakra like this would be impossible. Chakra is like explosives, which would blow the user into pieces if not released properly.
But Naruto could do it because his body had been strengthened by the Kyubi’s Chakra, and also because of the strong defense brought by the Jashin’s multiple blessings, his body was almost indestructible.
It was as if his entire body, inside and out, was equally durable. No matter how recklessly he acted, he’d be fine. Even when he compressed Chakra to the point of creating a sonic boom, he would remain unharmed.
After all, a man who could handle with the Godaime Mizukage, Terumi Mei, had to have a body strong enough to withstand her... intensity.
Bang!
The desperate punch landed on Chojuro. The latter tried to block with the Hiramekarei, but with a loud bang, he was sent flying.
The Hiramekarei was knocked out of his hands, and Chojuro’s palms were torn open.
At this moment, he was extremely shocked, ‘Lava Release? How is this possible?’
What was even more terrifying was the punch that followed. Chojuro had no doubt that the attacker was aiming to kill him. If that punch had landed squarely, he would’ve been reduced to a five-pound box of ashes.
Just as he thought he was doomed and despair set in, he realized the expected attack hadn’t come. He opened his eyes and saw that his Hiramekarei had fallen into the opponent's hands.
The person attacking him looked exactly like the person in the portrait.
‘Why did he look familiar? It seemed like… I had seen his face somewhere else.’
What shocked Chojuro even more was what happened next.
He watched as his Hiramekarei mysteriously disappeared the moment Naruto grabbed it.
Seeing this, Chojuro’s face turned pale, as if someone had stolen his favorite figurine. He let out a loud cry, trying to snatch it back.
Naruto ignored him. With the sword in hand, there was no way he would continue to tangle with him.
He simply ignored Chojuro, then turned around and ran away at an incredible speed.
[Ding!]
[Mission Line II: Land of Water Arc: The Ninja Swords Collection Mission Line Achievement is completed. Reward has been sent to inventory: Izanagi.]
The mechanical voice rang out, and Naruto was overjoyed. He had finally completed one of the Mission Line to 100%. Mission Line I was aborted halfway, and Mission Line III was only halfway done.
Fortunately, the Mission Line II has been fully completed from this moment on, which is also a great motivator for him.
Soon, Naruto left Chojuro, who was following behind him, far behind. He crossed Kirigakure in one breath and slipped out unnoticed.
Gate of the Underworld, activate.
After succeeding, Naruto opened the Gate of the Underworld without any hesitation and disappeared.
The coordinates were set in Konoha, and the Gate of the Underworld vibrated for a while before vanishing.