Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

"I think I'm more like... a survivor—an extreme survivor that's all too common in this twisted ninja world."

Naruto corrected Sasuke's definition of him.

"Whoever wants me dead, I will kill the one who wants to kill me first."

Justifiable killing, unreasonable killing.

There's no need to dwell on the meaning of killing.

Killing and being killed.

This is the absolute law that everyone in this twisted ninja world follows.

Just like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, who founded Konoha.

Two people with opposing views can shake hands and forge a peace that seems to have ended the conflict, simply because they cannot kill each other.

Whether it's out of compassion or lack of ability, the final result is the same.

The dead become mistakes.

Those who are alive will be right.

Sasuke Uchiha is an avenger who doesn't care about his own death. As long as he can definitely "kill" Itachi Uchiha, he doesn't care about being "killed" after taking revenge.

But Naruto is a survivor; he will not allow death to befall him.

He unhesitatingly rejected the option of being killed; he would only prolong his own survival through the deaths of others.

"Sasuke..."

Naruto stepped closer to Sasuke and whispered, "I haven't... killed all those guys in Konoha who wanted to 'kill' me yet!"

Chapter 44 Above the Sky

The Sound Four and Hozuki Suigetsu swiftly traversed the forest together.

Although they were supposed to be acting together, Hozuki Suigetsu, with his medium-length white hair that covered his ears and purple eyes, kept himself separate from the formation of the Sound Four.

The sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, who had been imprisoned in a liquid tank by Orochimaru, clearly disliked the Sound Four in front of him.

He was willing to act with the Sound Four only because he remembered the kindness Sasuke had shown him by freeing him from imprisonment and wanted to help Sasuke complete his revenge.

That's the magic of bonds; they can make even those who don't get along shake hands and act together for the same goal.

After they passed the next thick, leafy branch that blocked their view of each other.

The team, which originally consisted of five people, had three more people added without anyone noticing, and they fit in perfectly.

"Sasuke! You guys are so slow!"

Hozuki Suigetsu opened his mouth, revealing his sharp teeth, and complained about Sasuke's slow return to the team.

The three extra people were Sasuke, Naruto, and Karin.

But after complaining, Hozuki Suigetsu immediately sensed something was wrong.

Sasuke ignored him.

Although Sasuke gives people the impression of being taciturn and cold.

But Hozuki Suigetsu knew very well that Sasuke wasn't the kind of guy who would ignore what others said.

This member, who had joined the team the shortest time, was unaware of the past grievances between Sasuke and Naruto.

Curious, Hozuki Suigetsu slowed down his movement, allowing himself and Karin to move at parallel pace.

Karin glanced at Hozuki Suigetsu. She guessed what Hozuki Suigetsu was thinking, but she was too lazy to pay attention to him.

Hozuki Suigetsu, unconvinced, asked Karin, "Flat-chested Glasses, what happened when you left the group?"

"flat--!!"

Karin's forehead veins bulged, and her previously taut, cold expression was instantly shattered by Hozuki Suigetsu's words.

Karin brandished her fist and bared her teeth at Hozuki Suigetsu, her red hair making her resemble a terrifying red demon from ghost stories.

"Shut up! Is this how you ask a question?! Stop mimicking that tone-deaf woman! You're such a spineless coward, calling you a spineless piece of trash is an understatement!"

As she shouted this, Karin's fist landed on Hozuki Suigetsu's face.

Strangely, Hozuki Suigetsu's face really did seem to lack a hard skull, turning into a soft, limp "water" that dodged Karin's fist.

Hozuki Suigetsu's face returned to normal only after Karin withdrew her hand.

The farce at the back of the group also caught the attention of the tone-deaf woman.

Tayuya, who was at the front of the line, turned her head and glanced at Karin, who was speaking rudely.

She frowned, about to say something in response to Karin, when she suddenly noticed Sasuke's gaze and swallowed back the words that were already stuck in her throat.

"Naruto, do we really want to team up with this guy? He doesn't seem that strong!"

Karin's angry fist slammed into the soft "water ball" of Hozuki Suigetsu's head, but her anger only intensified.

She was annoyed that Hozuki Suigetsu had become her teammate.

Ninja teams typically consist of two, three, or four members.

Powerful ninjas reduce the number of people in their teams when carrying out missions. For example, Naruto and Sasuke's current enemy, the Akatsuki organization, operates by teaming up with two S-rank rogue ninjas.

A single S-rank rogue ninja can take on at least one regular four-person ninja squad... or even more.

A three-person team is usually a temporary team that splits off from a four-person team. In formal missions, the strong ninja leading the team often encounters situations where they need to act alone to contain the enemy or confront the main force of the enemy head-on.

At this point, the three relatively weaker ninja team members will continue the mission as a team.

However, in the ninja world, the most common and reasonable team formation has always been a team of four people.

In the original story, in order to avenge himself against Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke also assembled the "Hawk" team, led by him and consisting of Suigetsu Hozuki, Karin, and Jugo Tenki.

But now, with the Sound Four by his side and the addition of Naruto and Karin, Sasuke still went after Hozuki Suigetsu after killing Orochimaru, but missed Tenbin Jugo.

The Sound Four had been assigned to missions together by Orochimaru for a long time, and they worked together very well. Sasuke had no reason to separate them and form a new team.

The trio of Sasuke, Naruto, and Karin still needs one more ninja to complete the team.

Between Hozuki Suigetsu and Tenki Jugo, Sasuke chose the more "rational" Hozuki Suigetsu as the fourth member of the team, which is not surprising given that he gave up Tenki Jugo, who could go berserk at any time.

Another reason is that the locations of several Akatsuki strongholds provided by Hidan are in the opposite direction to the northern stronghold established by Orochimaru, where Tensei Jugo is located, while the stronghold where Hozuki Suigetsu is imprisoned is in the same direction as the Akatsuki stronghold.

Sasuke wouldn't waste time searching for Libra Jugo when he had already obtained information about the Akatsuki organization and needed to act quickly.

Compared to the original story, Sasuke, who was outnumbered and had to make all the necessary preparations and try every possible means to barely gather four people to form the "Hawk" team in order to avenge himself against Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke is not lacking in support right now.

In Sasuke's view, the Sound Four, who could use the Cursed Seal together, were enough to restrain one of the Akatsuki members who operated in pairs.

He and Naruto were also able to deal with another member of the Akatsuki organization.

In Sasuke's eyes, Karin and Suigetsu Hozuki are more like "add-ons," and they might not even be needed in actual combat.

"Stop fooling around, Karin. You're not just a medical ninja in the team, but also a sensory ninja. Instead of arguing, you should be scouting the surroundings."

Faced with the conflict between Karin and Suigetsu, Naruto acted rationally, refraining from blindly supporting Karin and speaking up to stop her antics.

"Shuiyue, you too."

As soon as Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke followed suit, calmly reminding Suigetsu Hozuki not to continue provoking Karin.

"understood."

Now that Naruto and Sasuke had spoken, Karin and Suigetsu obediently stopped arguing.

The forest returned to calm, with only the slight rustling of branches as the ninjas leaped and landed on the next tree.

However, this calm did not last long.

Sakon and Ukon, the Sound Four who were on the scouting mission, broke the silence: "Lord Sasuke, we are getting closer and closer to the Akatsuki's stronghold."

As the conversation between Zuo Jin and You Jin intensified, everyone became even more vigilant.

Karin!

Naruto signaled Karin to activate her Kagura Mind's Eye for a more detailed investigation.

Karin closed her eyes, and Kagura's Mind's Eye extended its probing.

After about three or four seconds, Karin opened her eyes again.

"I did not sense any enemy."

Karin obtained the results.

At the very moment Karin stopped Kagura's Mind Eye probing, more than a dozen puppets suddenly burst out of the forest without warning!

The puppets' peculiar joints emitted eerie sounds, sending chills down the spines of those who heard them.

"What!?"

The "enemies" appeared in such a concentrated manner that Karin exclaimed in disbelief.

But you can't blame her for that. Chakra is everywhere in nature, and the subtle flow of chakra is like a gentle breeze.

No one will be alert to the breeze.

The puppet itself does not have chakra; only the chakra threads that control the puppet's movements possess a small amount of chakra.

For a skilled puppeteer, the amount of chakra carried by chakra threads is even weaker than the feeling of a "gentle breeze".

Not only Karin, but Naruto and Sasuke were also unaware of the puppets' existence until they deliberately revealed themselves!

Just as these puppets were about to pounce on the group, Sasuke, who had activated his Sharingan at the first moment, clenched his fists.

Lightning-attribute chakra converges.

The thousand birds gathered in his hands, but they were not the most common form of lightning balls; instead, they were a dozen or so lightning spikes as thin as needles.

This is a different Chidori Stream ninjutsu mastered by Sasuke, unlike the Chidori Sharp Spear!

A thousand birds, a thousand books!

The Sharingan's terrifying insight allows Sasuke to see the chakra threads that control the puppets' movements, which are invisible to ordinary people.

Using the Sharingan's vision, Sasuke fired Chidori Senbon, precisely severing the chakra threads of the dozen or so puppets.