Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

He was about to pull his hand out of the soil when he found that he couldn't get it out!

The ground where Tos stood had turned into a quagmire capable of swallowing everything.

His feet and arms, which were stuck in the ground, were completely sunk into the mud.

It's Earth Release again!

Toss tried to get up, but the more he struggled in the mud, the deeper he sank.

“I’ll return what you just said to you verbatim: ‘I’ll knock you out completely with my next move.’”

Naruto formed hand seals, and judging from his hand gestures, it was probably another Earth Release ninjutsu.

Earth Escape: Earth Dragon —

Naruto's ninjutsu ultimately failed to be executed.

He suddenly felt dizzy and staggered backward.

The gathering of chakra was also forced to stop.

"Naruto!"

Sakura, who had been closely following the battle, cried out in alarm.

Sakura noticed the blood flowing from Naruto's ear.

The ear contains semicircular canals responsible for posture and balance.

The sonic attack that forced Naruto out of the ground damaged the semicircular canals in Naruto's ears.

Naruto suddenly collapsed to the ground, unable to steady himself.

"Hehehe. It seems that my words only count if I say them myself."

“Sak!”

Still bound by the mud, Toss shouted at Sac.

"I know!"

Sak spread his arms and took the attack in place of Tos.

Sack has a wind tunnel in each of his palms.

A large amount of chakra was gathering in the wind tunnel in his palm. Zaku stretched out his arms and aimed his palms at the immobile Naruto.

It was at this moment that Sakura, who had been guarding Sasuke in the tree hollow, rushed out!

Sakura ran towards Naruto while throwing several shuriken at Zaku in an attempt to interrupt his chakra gathering.

Unfortunately, the shuriken was stopped by Koto, a girl from the Sound Ninja Clan who is also Sakura, using a senbon needle.

"Looks like someone's in a hurry to get themselves killed."

Sack revealed a cruel smile as he changed his target at the last minute.

The hands that were originally pointing at Naruto changed direction and locked onto Sakura.

"Sky-Slicing Wave!"

Sak waved his hands, and the wind tunnel in his hands emitted a powerful compressed sonic boom.

A powerful sonic boom swept up extremely fast-moving winds!

"Oops!"

Sakura hastily formed hand seals, but her hand seal speed was much slower than a sonic boom.

Sakura had no choice but to give up on forming hand seals and instead crossed her hands in front of her head.

However, Sak's cleaving wave can slice through even the hardest trees and shatter even the thickest earth.

How could Sakura, a ninja who isn't known for her physical abilities, possibly block a sonic boom with just her bare hands?

Sakura naturally understood this principle as well.

But deep down, Sakura wasn't afraid of the pain she was about to face.

He only hoped that his insignificant power could buy Naruto a chance to survive.

"I don't want to be a burden to Class 7 forever!"

Sakura made a decision in her heart.

Unable to dodge the air-slicing wave, she could only wait for the sonic boom to strike her body.

But the sonic boom ultimately did not harm her.

Naruto instantly teleported in front of Sakura.

Sakura looked at Naruto's swaying yellow back in front of her, indicating that the damage to the semicircular canals in his ear was still taking effect on him.

Even so, Naruto was still doing everything he could to protect her...

Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall!

This time, Naruto concentrated his chakra in his mouth and completed the chakra nature transformation inside his oral cavity.

Naruto spat out the soil, which formed a wall.

The earthen wall, still in the process of forming, was mercilessly destroyed by the sonic boom, and Naruto was unable to fully utilize his Earth Flow Wall this time.

Although the unfinished earthen wall did slightly weaken the sonic boom, the remaining force of the sonic boom could still easily kill a person.

Naruto took Zaku's air-slicing wave head-on, and was thrown off the ground by the sonic boom.

"Naruto!"

Sakura quickly hugged Naruto from behind, using her own body as a buffer to shield him from the impact of the sonic boom hitting the tree trunk.

The feeling of your back slamming into an even harder tree trunk is unpleasant, but Sakura has no time to appreciate the pain of that impact.

She just looked at Naruto's body with a flustered expression.

Naruto's clothes were now completely stained with blood, which showed how serious his injuries were.

Seeing Naruto's current state, Sakura's tightly wound emotions finally began to crumble.

But Sakura forced herself not to cry.

The crisis brought by the Sound Ninja trio continues; this is no time to shed tears.

"Honestly, it took us so much time to deal with the two of you."

Tos had struggled out of the mud and was channeling chakra into his helmet to wash away the mud from the holes.

"Your expression is quite good right now... Once I kill this blond guy in front of you, you'll definitely have an even better expression of utter collapse!"

Tos raised his hand, and a whooshing sound came from the holes in his helmet.

He waved his arms, but his target wasn't Naruto.

It was behind him, not behind him.

"What's going on? Qin, Sax!"

Tos's sonic attack blocked the senbon needles and shuriken that shot out from behind him.

He frowned, looking at Qin and Sak, who were still in a shooting position.

The instrument that shoots out a thousand notes is the zither.

It was Sak who shot the shuriken.

"No, I don't know either! My body suddenly went out of control!"

Sak began to explain to Toss.

Qin remained silent, staring at Tos with an unfriendly gaze.

Sakura stared blankly at the Sound Ninja who had suddenly fallen into infighting, feeling completely bewildered.

Then, Sakura saw two boys, one fat and one thin, appear in front of her.

It's Choji and Shikamaru!

They intruded into the battle between Team 7 and the Sound Ninja.

"That's Ino's Mind Transfer Technique and my Shadow Imitation Technique..."

Shikamaru answered Sakura's question, explaining that his shadow did indeed appear as a thin black line on the ground, connecting with Zaku's shadow.

Then Shikamaru looked at Naruto: "Sorry, Naruto. Actually, we've been here for a while, but the only one in Team 10 who can fight head-on is Choji, so we've been waiting for an opportunity."

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru and Choji, then forced himself to stand up from Sakura's arms.

"Naruto... Naruto... your injuries are serious, don't move around!"

Sakura hurriedly advised Naruto that his current physical condition was not suitable for excessive movement.

“Those guys are tough to deal with, I’ll fight alongside you.”

Naruto coughed, expelling the blood from his lungs, and only then did he feel his breathing become easier.

The sonic boom from Sak's Sky Wave not only caused him external injuries but also severe internal injuries.

But he still chose to continue fighting.

"Naruto! Will you die if you don't play the hero?! Just rest there, leave the Sound Ninja guys to Team 10!"

Ino, who is using the Mind Transfer Technique of the Yamanaka clan to possess Koto's body, is also using Koto's body to rebuke Naruto for his recklessness.

"Yes, Naruto. Just leave them to us."

Shikamaru also tried to persuade Naruto:

"We didn't stay hidden for so long just to leave you and Sakura to die. I've pretty much analyzed the fighting characteristics of that bandaged man and the guy with the hole in his palm."

"Ino has also taken control of the only female sound ninja who hasn't made much of a move. This not only prevents her unknown abilities from causing unpredictable changes in the battle, but also gives us an extra hostage. The advantage is on our side now!"

Tosu scoffed at Shikamaru's analysis of the three Sound Ninja: "The advantage is yours? Don't be ridiculous!"

Tosu suddenly released a large amount of chakra, completely disregarding the Konoha ninjas before him: "Underestimating the strongest of me is your greatest disadvantage!"

"This chakra! This is bad!"

Shikamaru sensed something was wrong and immediately called to Choji beside him, "Choji! Don't let this guy continue to unleash that troublesome sonic ninjutsu!"