Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Upon hearing Kabuto's question, Shigure's gaze remained fixed on Kabuto.

Immediately afterwards, Shigure disappeared amidst Yakushi Kabuto's astonished expression.

They appeared behind Kabuto Yakushi at the same time.

The dense fog continued to affect Kabuto Yakushi's chakra pathways, preventing him from using Yin Healing Destruction.

Kabuto Yakushi had a feeling that the shadow of death was about to fall upon him.

In the last instant he lost consciousness, the scene he saw was a highly compressed and rapidly spinning chakra sphere with wind-attribute properties—

Then, the chakra ball sliced ​​off half of Kabuto Yakushi's head.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye!

As the thick fog dissipated, Shigure looked at the corpse of Yakushi Kabuto lying in front of her, his head only connected to his neck by a small part of his jaw tissue.

He deactivated the transformation spell that had been cast on him.

The once tall Amegakure genin has transformed into a blond-haired boy who looks about twelve or thirteen years old.

—It was none other than Naruto!

Naruto took a scroll out of his ninja tool bag and laid it out on Kabuto's corpse.

The scroll was filled with secret text written in black ink.

In the white circle at the center of the scroll, where there is no secret text, there is a large character "屍" (corpse).

This is a very common sealed scroll.

The sealed scroll bearing the character "器" (equipment) contains ninja tools;

The sealed scroll with the character "术" (jutsu) written on it contains ninjutsu.

Naruto's "corpse" scroll is naturally a sealing scroll used to store corpses.

Naruto spread his five fingers, channeling his chakra, and placed his palm on the character "屍" (corpse).

The body of Yakushi Kabuto was stored in the scroll in an instant.

As for the corpses of Kenmei and Akakon no Kai, there was no need to preserve them with the sealing scroll.

Naruto disposed of the two bodies on the spot.

The scroll that completed the sealing of Kabuto Yakushi's body was rolled up again and put back into the ninja tool bag.

Naruto finally had a moment to sort out his thoughts.

Naruto was surprised by Kabuto's sharp intuition.

He used his real body and shadow clones to disguise himself as the Amegakure trio who had already been killed by Gaara in order to get close to Kabuto Yakushi.

They were wary of Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation technique.

When Naruto decided to kill Kabuto Yakushi, he had already considered Kabuto's extremely complicated identity.

Kabuto Yakushi was a messenger for Otogakure and Sunagakure in the plan to destroy Konoha.

He was also a spy planted by Orochimaru in the Akatsuki organization, and, apart from Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha, he was the talent that Orochimaru admired the most.

His sudden death at the crucial moment of the Konoha destruction plan would surely alert Orochimaru to something amiss.

Naruto originally planned to kill Kabuto Yakushi by disguising himself as someone else.

Even if Orochimaru had some suspicions and used the Impure World Reincarnation technique to recall Kabuto Yakushi's soul to find out what happened, Orochimaru would not connect it to Naruto.

Rather, Naruto wasn't even among Orochimaru's suspects.

In everyone's eyes, he was just a low-ranking ninja who had only spent a few months living the life of a ninja.

Orochimaru only suspects Sunagakure, Danzo, the Third Hokage, and even Jiraiya...

However, Kabuto Yakushi realized at the end that Naruto was not using the Body Flicker Technique.

To avoid being discovered by Kabuto, Naruto even used the Hidden Mist Technique to lure Kabuto away...

Unexpectedly, all their efforts were in vain.

Kabuto Yakushi couldn't clearly understand that the ninjutsu Naruto used to teleport to his side was the Flying Thunder God Technique.

But Orochimaru, who had read the Scroll of Seals like Naruto, couldn't possibly be unaware of it.

Naruto carefully recalled his battle with Kabuto...

The Misty Concealment Technique he used to prevent Kabuto from discovering the Flying Thunder God Technique contained the Nine-Tails' chakra within the mist.

This was to disrupt Kabuto Yakushi's chakra pathways and prevent him from continuing to use Yin Healing Destruction.

After all, Naruto's range of ninjutsu was very limited when he had to deal with Kabuto Yakushi while disguised as Amegakure.

With the ability to heal and destroy, Kabuto Yakushi can easily turn a battle into a protracted war.

A protracted battle would be extremely disadvantageous for Naruto's disguise.

However, in Naruto's plan, the use of ninjutsu should serve as a bridge between what came before and what is to come, providing guidance...

Now, however, it has become yet another vulnerability that exposes Naruto's true nature.

If Orochimaru could deduce the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could certainly guess the Nine-Tails' chakra...

"One wrong step leads to another."

Naruto murmured softly.

It was Kabuto's keen intuition that made Naruto abandon his disguise.

Now that Naruto's disguise has failed, Orochimaru is destined to discover his existence.

Naruto then needs to ensure that he can kill Kabuto Yakushi 100%.

The Forest of Death is the best place to deal with Kabuto Yakushi, and even now, Naruto still holds this opinion.

He was even glad that he had developed the idea of ​​killing Yakushi Kabuto after coming into contact with him, and that he had put it into action.

Kabuto Yakushi got Naruto into big trouble simply by relying on his keen intuition.

If Kabuto were to grow up according to the original storyline, he would only become a greater obstacle to Naruto later on.

Therefore, Naruto does not regret killing Kabuto Yakushi.

He was simply worried about the various uncontrollable consequences that would follow since he hadn't killed Kabuto Yakushi as safely as planned.

However, Naruto then thought that Orochimaru might not necessarily use the Impure World Reincarnation to revive Kabuto Yakushi and ask him about the cause of death...

If that's the case, then his concerns are...

"No! Those who expect their enemy to be foolish are the truly foolish ones!"

Naruto's beautiful fantasy was extinguished by himself as soon as it took root.

Orochimaru couldn't possibly be without Kabuto Yakushi's DNA.

Orochimaru went to great lengths to revive the First and Second Hokage. Since he already had no shortage of sacrifices for the Impure World Reincarnation, reviving Kabuto Yakushi was just a piece of cake for him.

"We can only take it one step at a time and see what happens..."

Naruto pondered the impact of a potential power struggle between himself and Orochimaru on his plan to defect from Konoha.

The conclusion is that the impact is significant!

Orochimaru is a complete unknown, and it's almost impossible for Naruto's original plan to be carried out unchanged.

But there are still ways to make amends.

For example, Naruto resurrected Kabuto Yakushi using the Impure World Reincarnation technique before Orochimaru could.

The Book of Seals contains Naruto's Flying Thunder God Seal!

However, Naruto also knew that he couldn't master the Impure World Reincarnation technique in a short time.

Moreover, choosing offerings is also quite troublesome...

"No, think calmly, I don't need to rush."

Naruto's eyes flickered.

Orochimaru would not know that Kabuto Yakushi had gotten into trouble until the second exam was over.

After all, Kabuto Yakushi's current identity is that of an ordinary candidate in the Chunin Exams.

Naruto needs to focus on Sasuke and Sakura, whom he abandoned in the Forest of Death.

Now that Naruto is entangled with the uncontrollable factor of Orochimaru, Sasuke and Sakura are even more vulnerable to getting into trouble.

If something happens to a fellow member of Naruto's ninja team, the Konoha leadership will question whether Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, is truly qualified to be a ninja.

At that time, Naruto will face pressure from Orochimaru, Danzo, and the Third Hokage simultaneously.

After considering this carefully, Naruto sensed Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura is still in the same spot where Naruto teleported using the Flying Thunder God Technique; her location hasn't changed.

Orochimaru's chakra has disappeared from Sasuke's side.

Having confirmed the situation of the two, Naruto used the Flying Thunder God Technique once again.

Chapter 39 Lies

The towering trees of the Death Forest grow densely together.

In order to compete for as many resources as possible to sustain themselves, these large trees have huge roots that even grow above ground.

These tree roots, which broke through the soil, intertwined and formed a natural tree hole in the ground.

Outside the tree hole was a wide-open field of grass where enemies could be spotted immediately.

Naruto looked up from inside the tree hollow and glimpsed a grayish-white hue through the dense foliage above his head.

This is the color of dawn in the sky. Class 7 has spent their first night in the Forest of Death and is now about to welcome the second day.

Naruto pulled his head back and turned to look at Sasuke lying next to him.

As darkness receded, Sasuke finally ended his sleep-talking that had lasted all night.

This means that Sasuke suppressed the power of the cursed seal.