Witty Naruto Life

Chapter 280 Neji's Backstabbing

"But summoning them into the world will take time, won't it?" Bai Jue asked anxiously.

It had only been a little over half a day since Obito sent the message. Gathering materials, successfully summoning the creature, and traveling all took time.

Black Zetsu pondered for a moment: "Let Deidara take the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and run, while we, Kisame... and that masked guy, will hold them off."

“But…” White Zetsu hesitated, but Black Zetsu immediately retorted.

He said sternly, "If we don't come up with a solution, we can expect the plan to completely fail!"

The hoarse yet somewhat forceful tone startled Bai Jue, filling him with a strange sense of unease.

Does Black Zetsu usually talk to us like this?
Bai Jue paused for a moment, then said, "I understand."

He immediately activated his Mayfly Technique to burrow underground and began to stealthily move towards the stronghold.

……

Time comes to night.

There were more clouds tonight than usual, obscuring most of the moonlight and making visibility in the forest quite low.

beep, beep...

Naruto and his group slowed down and closed the distance to prevent any unforeseen events from separating them.

Neji led the way, and his Byakugan allowed him to detect chakra even in the dark, giving the three of them confidence to search in the night.

Suddenly, he stopped on a tree trunk, and Mingying and the other person immediately stopped beside him.

Neji narrowed his eyes, looked at the tree trunk to his left, and took a few steps forward.

“This is…” He frowned.

Mingying and the other looked ahead and saw that there seemed to be faint traces left by white spores on the dark tree trunk.

Naruto's eyes sharpened instantly: "It seems we're very close to the enemy. According to intelligence, this was left by someone within the Akatsuki organization known as 'White Zetsu.'"

"Neji, did your Byakugan detect any other clues... Neji?"

Naruto noticed that the latter's expression had become somewhat strange at this moment.

"Ah...it's nothing." Neji came to his senses, and just as he pointed in a direction, he felt Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.

"Speak up immediately if you have any questions."

Naruto would never overlook any seemingly insignificant detail in such crucial situations.

"It's nothing... I might have misread it."

"Then tell us what you've misunderstood."

Seeing Naruto's unwavering gaze, Neji sighed and said:
"I just saw things. I thought I saw... the cursed mark, the cursed mark of the caged bird."

"The cursed mark of the caged bird?"

Naruto frowned, noticing something strange, and immediately went to examine the traces left by the white spores.

He examined it for a moment and said, "It doesn't look very similar. Take off your headband so I can compare."

As Naruto spoke, he reached out to remove Neji's headband, but the latter immediately took two steps back and shook his head.

"Sorry, I really must have misread it just now." Neji's eyes began to dart away.

"..." Naruto remained silent. Instead of forcing the issue, he changed the subject and said, "Neji, you continue to lead the way, following the white spore trails we've discovered."

"……Yes."

The three of them moved on.

beep, beep...

Neji.

"how?"

Naruto watched his retreating figure as he walked away without turning his head, and said, "I remember you had already forgiven the Hiashi clan chief?"

This event occurred during the Chunin Exams in the original story, and Hiashi uses it to reveal the truth behind Neji's father's voluntary sacrifice.

Neji was taken aback by this abrupt remark. He paused, then changed the subject: "What were those white spores you mentioned earlier?"

"This is a unique ability of White Zetsu; it can absorb the enemy's chakra or mass-produce a white army through white spores,"

As Naruto spoke, his eyes darted around as he said, "At the last gathering, Hanabi mentioned your relationship with the Hiashi clan leader."

Neji remained silent for a long time before turning his head and saying, "Why are we suddenly bringing this up? It has nothing to do with our mission, does it?"

"No, we were just chatting casually because you mentioned the cursed seal."

"Naruto, let's focus on finishing the chase."

"……it is good."

He noticed that Neji seemed impatient when he spoke, and there was a hint of unfamiliar detachment in his tone, so the three of them stopped communicating.

Aside from Sakura, she and Naruto secretly exchanged glances.

beep, beep...

"Here it is!" Neji ran to another tree trunk and stared at the marks on it.

Naru Sakura ran up to him and found Neji stunned for a moment again.

Naruto remained silent and ran directly to the tree trunk to examine it carefully.

It was just an ordinary trace of spores.

"By the way, is it possible for white spores to cause poisoning or hallucinations?" Naruto asked Sakura, who frowned slightly and shook her head.

She didn't recall that White Zetsu had mastered illusion magic; the characteristics of the white spores were more about reproduction than hallucination.

“Hmm, I think so too…” Naruto remained noncommittal, indicating that Neji could continue leading the way.

Upon closer inspection, they realized they had deviated somewhat from their original route to the stronghold. They continued on their way.

beep, beep...

"stop!"

As soon as Naruto raised his hand, the three of them stopped in their tracks. Naruto looked around, turned on the flashlight and map in his pocket, and carefully examined them.

“We’re getting further and further away from the base,” Naruto said to the two of them. “Let’s give up tracking the white spores and go back the way we came.”

He had just finished speaking when Neji opened his mouth, but then stopped himself from saying anything.

Naruto noticed Neji's reaction and said, "Just say what you have to say."

Neji remained silent for a moment before shaking his head, while Naruto, after exchanging glances with Sakura again, suddenly spoke:
“I know you just saw the Caged Bird Seal, but neither of us did,”

"I suspect this is a trap specifically set for you, designed to lure us away from our goal."

Naruto's bluntness made Neji's heart skip a beat, and a faint sense of irritation welled up inside him: "Naruto, do you think my judgment misled you?"

“No,” Naruto calmly shook his head, “I just suspect that someone is using you for their own purposes, that’s all.”

But Neji didn't seem to accept this answer, and his face darkened.

Sakura sensed something was off and immediately stepped forward: "Neji, we need to hurry..."

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I don't understand why the enemy would use me against them?" Neji interrupted, his tone slightly harsher.

"And you kept asking me about my clan, were you implying something about me?"

"Relax..." Naruto raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and slowly backed away: "Your emotions are very abnormal, did you notice?"

Naruto glanced at Sakura, who understood immediately and slowly reached into her pocket.

"I...Is my mood abnormal?" Neji noticed the two's subtle actions and felt a little aggrieved, but the irritation in his heart gradually increased.

Sakura's hand was already fully inside her pocket, grasping something inside.

It was a black fragment.

“You see, we were just chatting, but you suddenly overreacted and expressed dissatisfaction with my next suggestion,”

"But friend, I didn't offend you, did I?"

Having said all that, Neji finally realized something was off.

It seemed that every time he came into close contact with the white spores, his irritability increased.

Just as Neji was about to explain to the two of them, he suddenly activated his Byakugan and stretched out a palm towards Naruto!
"Bagua Kongzhang!"

Naruto's pupils suddenly contracted!

Almost instantly, he wrapped himself in the Nine-Tailed Cloak, extended a tail from his tailbone to grab the tree trunk, and let his body be blown away by the compressed air like a kite!
"boom!!!"

Naruto adjusted the direction of his tail with the airflow, swung it 360 degrees, and then condensed a Rasengan in his hand. He flicked his tail behind him and charged towards his back!

"boom!!"

Naruto reached out and handed the Rasengan to the White Zetsu that appeared behind him, and it struck the White Zetsu's body!

Neji's attack wasn't aimed at Naruto, but at the White Zetsu behind him who was preparing to launch a sneak attack.

Naruto reacted almost instantly.

At the same time, Sakura exclaimed, "This is...!?"

Suddenly, countless white spores sprouted all over her body, and she felt her body becoming weaker and weaker.

The Spore Technique allows White Zetsu's expanded form to grow within a person's body, restricting their movement while absorbing the host's chakra.

This was a trap that White Zetsu had set on them while they were searching for clues, and it was impossible for anyone to detect it before they grew up.

At the same time, white spores began to grow continuously on Naruto and Neji's bodies.

"Gentle Fist Palm - Strike the Body!"

Neji gathered all the chakra in his body and released it from his hands in one breath, causing all the White Zetsu spores on his back to fall off.

Naruto's tail helped him condense a new Rasengan, and then his tail bent, causing the Rasengan to strike him.

Sakura then caused her body to secrete living water, which she immediately boiled, causing most of the white spores to evaporate instantly.

"Bang!! Bang!! Sizzle!!"

A tremendous sound suddenly erupted in the quiet forest.

As they broke free of their restraints, Naruto looked up and saw the shadows gradually enveloping him. A tall man descended from the sky, wielding a long-handled weapon, ready to slice him in two!

"Kisame and White Zetsu, how far away can Deidara be from us...?"

Naruto thought to himself, concealing his aura, and just as Kisame was about to strike him, he immediately dispersed the surrounding spores!

The extremely sharp Wind Release chakra surrounded him, and with the Nine-Tails channeling chakra, Naruto felt an unprecedented fullness in his body.

The next moment, he dodged Kisame's slash, leaped to another tree trunk, drew a shuriken, and blew in its direction.

Wind Release: Shuriken!
Naruto hurled the object towards Kisame, but his eyes followed the motion and fell on Neji, causing a jolt to run through him.

"Neji, watch out!"

Neji was just about to come to Naruto's aid.

"puff!!"

A black tentacle pierced straight through his abdomen!
Strangely, he did not feel any pain, but an endless sadness welled up in his heart for no apparent reason.

His body, his mind, and his soul seemed to have returned to that day, to that suffocating compound.

There lie his childhood memories, his painful past, and something that awaits him at any moment...

Destined death.

(End of this chapter)