Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

The other three returned to Konoha using the Flying Thunder God Technique, although the shadow clone that attempted to steal Kakashi's Sharingan failed in its mission.

The other two shadow clones responsible for the defection, however, carried out their mission smoothly.

The shadow clone responsible for arranging the retreat route reunited with the shadow clone responsible for the summoning technique. After everything was arranged, the shadow clone who had arranged the retreat route dispelled its spell.

All the information was suddenly known to Naruto, who was still in the Hidden Leaf Forest at that moment.

"Naruto!"

After settling Sakura, who was unable to continue fighting, outside the battlefield, Sasuke approached Naruto. He frowned at Naruto's strange behavior and asked, "What exactly are you trying to do?!"

Naruto glanced at the shadow clone that had been following him, and the shadow clone, having received instructions, disappeared from Naruto's side.

"Naruto! Answer me!"

Sasuke's red Sharingan eyes began to tremble due to his intense emotions.

Naruto ignored Sasuke's words and just stared at the massive One-Tailed Beast.

His shadow clone had already appeared above One-Tail's head.

Reverse psychic abilities!

The shadow clone formed hand seals and placed both hands on the head of the One-Tailed Beast.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow clone and the One-Tailed Beast disappeared together.

The success of the reverse spirit communication technique has been confirmed.

Naruto's true form also disappeared under Sasuke's watchful gaze.

……

The Hokage Rock features the head sculpture of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"That's spectacular!"

Looking at the One-Tailed Beast wreaking havoc in the Konoha residential area, Naruto's shadow clone, who was in charge of setting up the summoning jutsu, sighed at the beautiful scene before him.

"Don't waste time here. After I destroy the sensory barrier of the Hokage's office, you seal the Scroll of Seals and use the Flying Thunder God Technique to take it away. Your main body will be waiting for you on the retreat route."

Meanwhile, the shadow clone that had come to the Konoha residential area with the One-Tailed Beast, who had used the Reverse Summoning Technique on it, was giving a subtle warning to the shadow clone that had set up the summoning technique.

"I understand, I understand... But before that, I'm curious to ask, how much Nine-Tails chakra did the main body inject into you—to paralyze Konoha's ninja system, to prevent Konoha from having any spare resources to hunt down the main body who has defected?"

"After creating three clones of you, the main body only reserved enough chakra to activate the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave—all the other Nine-Tails chakra is on my body."

"Danzo will definitely like this gift."

As soon as he finished speaking, only the shadow clone that had been following Naruto's main body remained on the Hokage Rock—a shadow clone that contained almost all of the Nine-Tails' chakra that Kushina had stolen from the Nine-Tails.

"The gifts given at parting should certainly not be stingy."

The shadow clone muttered to itself.

Then he formed hand seals, and the Nine-Tails' chakra poured out.

"roar--!!!!!"

The equally enormous Nine-Tailed Fox also appeared in the center of Konoha.

The nine tails swept through the Hokage's office, and the barrier set up in the Scroll of Seals' secret chamber was infused with the Nine-Tails' chakra, disrupting the barrier's operation.

"You stinky fox!!!"

Upon discovering its "familiar" counterpart, the "hospitable" Yiwei condensed a blackish-purple chakra ball in front of its mouth.

Nine-Tails, however, was not to be outdone.

It also condensed into a red and black chakra ball.

Chakra Ball—or rather, Tailed Beast Ball!

The amount of chakra contained in a single Tailed Beast Ball already possesses terrifying destructive power.

Not to mention two...

The power of the two Tailed Beast Balls was quickly proven.

The tailed beast balls of the One-Tailed Beast and the Nine-Tailed Beast collided, and the shockwave of the explosion almost leveled the entire Hidden Leaf Village!

Chapter 64 The Young Eagle Spreads Its Wings [Interlude: Sasuke Arc]

The ticking sound reached Sasuke's ears in an extremely jarring way.

Sasuke opened his eyes and was greeted by a pure white ceiling.

He lay on the same pure white bed.

This is the hospital in Konoha.

The ticking sound coming from the room was from a life detection device.

A dense network of wires crisscrossed from the instrument to the electrode pads attached to Sasuke's skin, monitoring Sasuke's vital signs in real time.

Why am I in the hospital?

Sasuke felt a sense of bewilderment as he tried to get up from his hospital bed.

The price he paid was that every time he moved his body, his entire body would ache intensely.

Every cell in his body was screaming in pain.

"Don't move around. You're seriously injured. It's a miracle you're still alive."

A familiar voice came from behind him, and Sasuke looked toward the source of the sound.

The person who spoke was standing at the door of the ward; it was none other than Kakashi Hatake, the Jonin in charge of Team 7.

Beside Kakashi is Sakura Haruno, a member of the same ninja team who came with Kakashi to visit Sasuke.

"What does 'injured' mean?"

Sasuke did not realize that he was missing an arm or a leg, and there were no obvious external injuries on his body.

"Your battle with Gaara nearly exhausted your chakra—"

A ninja dies when he runs out of chakra, but Sasuke is still alive.

Kakashi glanced at the cursed seal on Sasuke's shoulder and neck: "--The cursed seal barely saved your life, but your body also suffered serious damage. You have been unconscious for a month since that battle."

Reminded by Kakashi, Sasuke, who had been asleep for a month, finally regained his senses.

He remembered the circumstances surrounding his unconsciousness.

At that time, Gaara transformed into a giant tanuki and wreaked havoc in the forest. Sasuke, who was barely able to move thanks to his cursed seal, took Sakura, who had lost her ability to fight, away from the center of the chaos, and then went back alone to find Naruto...

But Naruto ignored him completely, not even glancing at him...

Sasuke vaguely remembered that Naruto suddenly disappeared before his eyes again, and the giant tanuki that caused the trouble also disappeared after killing the ninjas who were surrounding it...

Sasuke himself finally succumbed to the strain on his body and passed out.

When I woke up again, I was in a hospital bed.

and……

"A month?"

Sasuke thought he must have misheard.

"Exactly 30 days, no more, no less."

Kakashi then revealed the exact number of days Sasuke was unconscious.

Sasuke's gaze shifted to Sakura.

Sakura simply kept her head down, looking at the fruit basket she was carrying in both hands, unwilling to meet Sasuke's gaze.

"...Naruto!"

Of the members of Team 7, only Naruto was absent from the room.

Naruto's previous behavior was so abnormal.

Sasuke worried that Naruto might not have come to visit him because he was suffering from a more dangerous injury than him.

With these thoughts in mind, Sasuke endured the excruciating physical pain and, with great emotion, forced himself to stand up.

The visualized heart rate on the medical instrument also spiked at this moment, and the originally slow ticking sound of the instrument began to ring rapidly.

Sakura quickly put down the fruit basket in her hand and went to help Sasuke, who was exhausted as soon as he sat up.

"Naruto should be fine—but I can't be sure."

"Kakashi, I'm not in the mood for riddles with you!"

Kakashi's ambiguous words made Sasuke frown.

"...Alright, this is the order issued by the Fifth Hokage—'Officially classify former Konoha ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, as an S-rank rogue ninja'—Sasuke, Naruto has already defected from the village, and no one knows where he is now."

The Fifth Hokage?

A rogue ninja?

He had only been in a coma for a month, so how did such novel terms suddenly appear?

"Kakashi, could you please explain this more simply? I'm not quite understanding."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who was unwilling to accept the facts, and didn't know how to continue speaking.

Sakura, on the other hand, remained silent throughout.

Kakashi sighed inwardly at his own failure; as an adult, he had caused these two children so much worry…

"Let me explain to this Uchiha brat."

A third visitor arrived at the window of the ward.

The man was tall with long, spiky white hair, a headband with the character "油" (oil) on his forehead, a red outer jacket, and wooden clogs.

The newcomer was none other than Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.

Jiraiya climbed through the window into the ward and, sensing the oppressive atmosphere, fixed his gaze on Sasuke.

"who are you?"