Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 50 Foreign Aid

"Mr. Tazuna, please come this way!" Sakura called to Tazuna as they hurried toward the island's office, one of the few places on the island protected by a barrier. Even if it couldn't stop ninjas, it would at least let them know in advance if they were attacked.

All the ninjas were present at the groundbreaking ceremony. The second team, unable to participate in the battle, was responsible for Tazuna's safety. Zabuza, of course, hadn't forgotten Mei Terumi's covetousness of this bridge builder. Although the guy's skills needed improvement, Tazuna was indeed the only bridge builder in the Land of Waves. At least he could understand the blueprints and guide the workers on-site. If this sole talent were gone, he would have to ask headquarters for help. In the early stages of construction, there was a shortage of people everywhere, and technically skilled personnel were practically doubled. He didn't want to trouble Lord Kinrin with such a small matter.

However, even such tight security still caused problems. To reduce Mr. Tazuna's tension and to catch the enemy off guard, some ninjas were hidden in the shadows. The problem lay in this decision, because when the enemy was sensory-based, their concealment was completely ineffective, and they would be silently eliminated instead.

Halfway there, Naruto's clone, which was hidden on Tazuna, suddenly broke free of its disguise and jumped out. Before it even landed, it called out to Sakura and the other two guards who were in the open, telling them to form a battle formation.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Sakura asked anxiously, gripping her kunai.

The intensive training these past few days has been largely aimed at identifying Sakura's talents and determining her future development path. Kakashi discovered that Sakura's chakra control is remarkably perfect, with almost no wasted chakra. Furthermore, Sakura possesses some talent for genjutsu, and her chakra doesn't exhibit any particular attribute bias, so she could choose to become a genjutsu-proficient ninja or a medical ninja in the future. Both require extensive training, and results cannot be seen in the short term. Sakura thought of Sasuke and Naruto tending to each other's wounds after fights, and her heart leaned towards the medical ninja path, but she quickly thought of Naruto again. A classic example of someone mastering all five elemental ninjutsu while simultaneously developing taijutsu and ninjutsu was right before her eyes; why couldn't she have it all? Although Kakashi also said it was an extremely difficult path, she still wanted to try. It was just a matter of time; she was so young, she could afford the wait!

"Our comrade in the shadows has lost his position. There's a sensory type on the other side who can hide himself." Naruto said succinctly. He had actually noticed Ao long ago, but for some reason, he hadn't given a warning in advance.

Upon hearing this, the brothers, Ye Tou and Ming Tou, cautiously tightened their chains and carefully observed the surrounding houses. This location was terrible; the shops in the commercial street were all empty, and there were many narrow alleys and corners, making it easy to hide people or traps. Fortunately, there were no residences nearby, so they could act freely without worrying about hurting anyone. However, this place actually greatly limited Naruto's abilities; his only powerful, short-range attack was Chidori, and he shouldn't have mastered the more familiar Rasengan at this stage!

Dazner, a man in his fifties or sixties, remained relatively calm under these circumstances, but he soon lost his composure.

The moment the sensory type activated chakra, Naruto spotted his direction, and the two rogue ninja brothers' chains followed immediately. A surprise attack would have been enough to subdue the man. Unfortunately, the opponent was still one step ahead; he dodged the chains, which weren't imbued with chakra, and even threw in several explosive tags as a bonus.

Naruto unleashed a Wind Release blast into the sky, sending the chains flying. A violent explosion followed, destroying the brothers' prized weapon. But the enemy gave them no time to recover. They used Naruto's Wind Release attack to unleash a Water Wave, clearly targeting the clone. Without hesitation, Yama and Mei rushed forward, using their bodies to block the Water Barrier when there was no time to form hand seals!

The water formation surrounding the five people materialized almost instantly; their opponents probably didn't expect Naruto's technique to be so fast. This was thanks to Tobirama's two water barrier seals, which gave Naruto a reason to feign weakness afterward. A simple water barrier wouldn't be enough to stop the water surge, but Naruto's water barrier was a circular formation surrounding them, rotating at high speed, which dissipated a large portion of the water's momentum. At least the five weren't directly scattered, but that didn't mean their opponents would give up.

Sakura, who was defending from the rear, heard the whooshing sound and immediately threw out the kunai with the explosive tags strapped to her hand. She couldn't yet pinpoint enemy locations by sound, so she had to cheat with the weaker explosive tags, using the aftershocks to knock them away and launch her attack!

A second explosion rang out, and the three men who had been standing together in defense immediately dispersed to return to their posts, and the battle once again reached a stalemate.

“…Sigh, I don’t want to kill children.” A man’s voice echoed in the silent street.

Naruto thought, "Do all the Hidden Mist ninjas have this problem? They have to make threats before they even start a fight, aren't they afraid of getting their words refuted later?"

"Come out if you dare!" their own leader shouted.

...It seems to be a tradition. But the Sixth Mizukage was quite polite.

Unfortunately, Qing was destined to suffer a humiliating defeat today. The ninja, renowned for his stealth, was outmaneuvered by an even more sinister ability. Someone suddenly appeared behind him and kicked him out of his hiding place.

"Who goes there!" Qing, who had almost fallen in front of the enemy, landed safely thanks to his years of experience and immediately assumed a defensive stance, facing the place where the enemy had just emerged.

A dazzlingly white figure emerged from the dark alley, smiling as he met several wary gazes.

"I advise you not to do this, Hidden Mist Ninja. You should recognize this, right?" The white-haired, white-clad young man held a special scroll in his hand. Its dull luster indicated that it was made of expensive materials, and its unique indigo color proved its origin.

That's a scroll from the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Water!

The three parties were locked in a stalemate, all simultaneously scrutinizing the young man who had suddenly appeared. He was over 1.8 meters tall, with unusually smooth white hair tied back in a ponytail. His face was that of an ordinary handsome man, but his eyes were golden, giving him an eerie, inhuman quality. He didn't just pay attention to Ao, but smiled and greeted Tazuna as well.

"Mr. Tazuna, it's good to meet you."

"Ah? May I ask who you are, sir..." Tazuna, who was called out, was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly noticed the striking patterns on the other person's robes and said, "Are you from Dongfeng Naval?"

“To be precise, I’m the boss.” The man winked playfully and said, “My name is Jinlun, and I’m here to escort the daimyo of the Land of Water on orders. Mist Ninja, do you want to see this for yourself, or should I read it to you?”