Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Sage Mode, Flying Thunder God Technique... these are all Naruto's hidden trump cards.

Leaving aside Sage Mode, Naruto had already mastered it quite well when he was still in the Ninja Academy.

Most importantly, he has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique. It has only been a little over two months since he learned it, and Naruto needs a lot of time to practice and solidify it.

In private practice, preventing exposure is a crucial aspect, and the role of the Wind-Soothing Dawn Technique in this process cannot be ignored.

After learning the Wind Sweep Dawn Technique, Naruto used it to counter-surveillance the Root ninjas who were secretly monitoring him in the village.

On the night of the Scroll of Seals incident, Naruto sensed that someone was following Mizuki using the Wind Sweeping Technique, which is why he ended up being captured by Mizuki.

Just as he had guessed, he successfully forced Kakashi out from the shadows.

Under such a "dangerous" situation, the Third Hokage had even more faith in the "Will of Fire" that Naruto had demonstrated.

……

At this moment, the Demon Brothers, the rogue ninja from Kirigakure, were not within Naruto's perception range.

But Naruto wasn't actually sensing those two rogue Kirigakure ninjas; he was sensing members of "Root."

So far, Naruto has been surprised to find that Root was not monitoring him.

After confirming several times that he was not being monitored, Naruto stopped using the Wind Sweeping Dawn Technique.

Naruto was confused as to why he wasn't being watched.

The fact that the Jinchūriki left the village should have been unacceptable to Danzo...

But Naruto quickly realized what was going on.

The main reason why the members of "Root" didn't monitor Naruto outside the village was probably Kakashi.

Naruto carefully recalled his life in the two months since becoming a ninja, and there was no doubt that Danzo was still monitoring him.

But the frequency has indeed decreased significantly, and the number of people being monitored has also decreased.

When the Seventh Squad was on a mission, the surveillance simply disappeared.

After a moment's thought, Naruto understood the reasoning behind it.

It seems that after the Scroll of Seals incident, the Third Hokage finally intervened forcefully in Danzo's long-standing "secret thoughts" about Naruto.

Kakashi is a ninja from the Hokage faction and a pillar of the village.

Kakashi's appointment as the Jonin leader of Team 7 was a reflection of the Third Hokage's attitude and a compromise by Danzo.

It was a compromise not only for Naruto, the Jinchūriki, but also for the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan.

In the political power struggle between the Third Hokage and Danzo, the Third Hokage currently holds a slight advantage.

This is a good thing!

Naruto immediately came to a conclusion.

According to the original story, Danzo's current compromises will continue until Orochimaru invades Konoha and kills the Third Hokage.

This coincides with the Chunin Exams.

Danzo is now forced to relax his surveillance on Naruto, which will greatly increase Naruto's chances of successfully defecting from Konoha after the Chunin Exams!

What if Danzo wants to regain control of the Nine-Tails after the Third Hokage dies?

By then, Naruto had already escaped from Konoha!

The thought that the Third Hokage had subtly relieved Danzo's pressure on him made Naruto's lips curl into a smile.

"Naruto, what are you laughing at?"

But before he could be happy for long, Sakura's words suddenly rang in Naruto's ears.

Naruto was startled out of his deep thoughts. He quickly suppressed his elation and looked at Sakura, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

pat-

Naruto was trying to come up with an explanation.

A splashing sound came from that moment.

Naruto's gaze immediately sharpened!

Sakura wasn't paying attention to the road conditions while looking at Naruto, and stepped into a puddle.

It hasn't rained for the past few days, and today is a sunny day, so there shouldn't be any puddles on the road.

Before he could warn her, Naruto immediately reached out and lunged at Sakura.

He held Sakura tightly in his arms!

Chapter 13 Initial Victory

The timing of Naruto's embrace of Sakura can be described as extremely close.

Naruto, holding Sakura, jumped backward to dodge the attack from one of the Oni Brothers who suddenly emerged from the puddle.

With an iron horn on his head, the head of the Oni Brothers, Ye Tou, the eldest brother, never expected that his claw attack would miss.

However, as experienced rogue ninjas, the two Oni brothers immediately launched another attack to salvage their previous defeat.

Unlike his elder brother Ye Tou, the younger brother Ming Tou, whose headband was adorned with two iron horns, immediately burst out from the black cloak covering the two brothers!

The Demon Lord opened its massive left iron claw, from which sharp, thorny chains shot forth—

But the target is no longer Naruto and Sakura—

—But it is the leader of Team 7, the most threatening Kakashi Hatake!

The moment the chains of the Demon Head touched Kakashi's body, the chains of the Yama Head immediately wrapped around Kakashi as well.

The chains of the two demon brothers bound Kakashi tightly, and before anyone could react, the chains tightened in an instant!

Kakashi was dismembered just like that!

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura stared in disbelief at the scene before her, perhaps still unable to process what had happened in the blink of an eye.

Naruto didn't have time to take care of Sakura's feelings.

Although Naruto knew that the Demon Brothers would attack halfway, even with intelligence and thorough preparation, the actual life-or-death battle was still different!

Even though it's understandable that the Demon Brothers were Team 7's first real battle, Kakashi's sudden "death" threw Sakura into a panic.

But a battle is a battle. If you don't immediately tense up and fight back, you will lose your life at the hands of the enemy!

Naruto pushed Sakura, who had become a burden, in front of Sasuke.

Needless to say, with Naruto's deliberate efforts to improve teamwork, Team 7 is not as conflicted and cooperative as it was in the original story!

Sasuke noticed Sakura's situation and immediately took out a kunai, standing in front of Sakura and Tazuna to protect them.

For ninja protection missions, the personal safety of the client is absolutely the top priority.

Of the four members of Class 7, two are unable to continue their mission, so the remaining two must work together to divide the tasks.

The mission of protection and... the mission of attack!

"The second one!"

As soon as they pushed Sakura away, the two demon brothers simultaneously used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind Naruto.

The demon brothers' description of Naruto as "livestock" also shows their contempt for genin.

The clanging of the chains was so jarring that Naruto had no time to react before he was bound.

Then--

—Will Naruto be dismembered like Kakashi?

"what!"

The two ghost brothers exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

The tightening chains severed not flesh, but a log half a person's height.

"A substitution technique! When?"

The two ghost brothers were stunned.

Seizing the moment of their surprise, Sasuke, who was protecting them from the side, made a quick decision and immediately threw the kunai in his hand!

Sasuke's kunai struck the chains of the two demon brothers with pinpoint accuracy!

The chains were nailed to the tree trunk with kunai.

The two demon brothers tried to pull the chain back, but found that the kunai had already nailed the chain shut, and they couldn't pull it at all.

It was precisely because the two demon brothers did not decisively abandon the chains after they were pinned down by the kunai that their defeat was inevitable.

Earth Release: Heart-Slaying Decapitation Technique!

Two pairs of hands, a total of four hands, suddenly emerged from the mud beneath the two ghost brothers' feet, grabbed their feet, and then pulled them forcefully!

The next moment, only the two ghost brothers' heads were left outside, while their bodies were "imprisoned" by the earth.

Instead of the two demon brothers standing on the ground, there were two Narutos.

"Well done, Sasuke."

A third Naruto appeared next to Sasuke and handed back the kunai that Sasuke had just shot out.

Is this your true form?

Sasuke took the kunai and glanced at the two Narutos still standing next to the Demon Brothers' heads; they were both shadow clones.

"Hmm, your timing in throwing the kunai was perfect, allowing me to successfully execute my inner decapitation technique on these two guys."

Naruto's words made no attempt to hide his gratitude towards Sasuke.

Sasuke gave a soft snort and returned to his usual cool demeanor.

Seeing that Sasuke had unilaterally ended the conversation, Naruto shrugged indifferently and put his hands together to dispel the shadow clone.

The two Narutos next to the Demon Brothers vanished in a thick white mist.

"You did a good job."