Without further delay, everyone set out.
On the road, Kiyosuke spoke, "This mission is to protect the shrine maiden Shion. Your orders are simple: Sasuke, Naruto — if any enemies attack, cut them down for me. Sakura, you're responsible for Shion's personal safety — full-on bodyguard duty. If she gets hurt, heal her immediately with medical ninjutsu."
"Understood."
"All right."
"Got it."
The three's assignment was straightforward and needed no more explanation.
Sasuke said, "Kiyosuke-sama, about the shinobi from the Five Great Nations…"
Kiyosuke replied, "I don't expect as many to show up as Konoha sent, but those they do send will definitely be elite — after all, Konoha even sent me."
The Ghost Army wasn't attacking only the Land of Fire; they'd struck at all five great nations, which showed how terrifying their strength was.
The only way to stop them was to have the Land of Demons' shrine maiden Shion seal the head of the problem — Mōryō — or everything else would be for nothing.
For that reason, and to solve the mess as quickly as possible, Tsunade had dispatched Kiyosuke and the others.
They were sent partly to give Naruto and Sasuke some hard training, so he brought them along to the Land of Demons.
The Land of Demons wasn't far — only one country lay between it and the Land of Fire.
"Hm?"
Feeling a familiar chakra, Kiyosuke turned his head.
As they emerged from the forest, they ran into a dark-skinned, stocky man wearing a Kumogakure forehead protector, several swords strapped to his back, sunglasses hiding his eyes, white hair — a typical Kumogakure look — with three Kumogakure shinobi at his side.
"Yo yo yo — well, well, well, who do we have here? Isn't that the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Killer Bee?" Kiyosuke stopped when he saw an old acquaintance.
"Eight-Tails… jinchūriki?!" Naruto looked over, wide-eyed; he'd heard this man had tamed the Eight-Tails, could control the beast's power, and even transform into it.
A perfect jinchūriki?
Sasuke's hand went to the Kusanagi sword sheathed behind his waist.
Sakura said, "Kumogakure shinobi — Kiyosuke-sensei, what should we do?"
"You bastard!" Killer Bee still remembered how he and his brother had fought this guy for days, how he'd been held down and taken back to Konoha for study — those days had been a nightmare. If not for his brother coming to ransom him back, he might still be living that life.
Thinking of it made Killer Bee furious.
"Killer Bee-sama, is that Asakawa Kiyosuke?" a pale, busty blonde asked.
"Killer Bee-sama, please be careful. He could handle you and the Raikage-sama together — whatever you do, don't let him capture you, because if they take you to study you might be dissected and die!!!" the youth with a lollipop said in panic — he was basically saying "you'll die!" with his face.
The red-haired girl beside him slapped his head and shot him a glare.
"Shut up, Omoi. With Killer Bee here, nothing will happen, and we're carrying out this mission together with the Five Great Villages — we just happened to run into them."
"You idiot! Bastard! I'm not that weak! Yo! Yo! It's been a while, you bastard! I haven't gotten weak, see?! Yay!!!" Killer Bee's rap-like way of speaking was bizarre and made both Kiyosuke and Sasuke frown.
"Since we met anyway, let's travel together," Kiyosuke said. "We're protecting the same person."
"All right, let's go."
Killer Bee didn't object and joined Kiyosuke as they walked on.
On the way, Naruto couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked,
"Killer Bee-san — are you the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki?"
"You brat…" Killer Bee looked at Naruto's stomach and said, "Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails? Looks like it's still sealed — you're the Fourth Hokage's son, huh. That guy's speed is on par with my brother."
Recalling his fight with the Fourth Hokage, Killer Bee sighed — very few people could match that kind of speed.
The Nine-Tails' chakra inside Naruto's belly had caught the attention of Killer Bee's Eight-Tails Gyūki, which made Killer Bee more interested in talking.
Kiyosuke didn't interrupt — letting Naruto and Killer Bee get acquainted could only help.
...
After the group crossed into the Land of Demons, they ran into the lead shinobi from Iwagakure, Kitsuchi , who had his daughter Kurotsuchi with him.
"Hmm, no wonder — the Fourth Tsuchikage's line," Kiyosuke thought — those legs were really long and thin; it was a shame Deidara hadn't gone back to be Tsuchikage.
Still, Kitsuchi bringing his daughter along — who knew what Iwagakure was thinking — but Kiyosuke didn't dwell on it.
They arrived at the palace where the Land of Demons' shrine maiden was staying and met Pakura and Kankuro; from Kirigakure came Ao and Chōjūrō.
With that, the shinobi from the Five Great Villages had all gathered.
Upon the attendant's announcement, the group entered the palace.
Pakura made no secret of her dislike for Kirigakure and came over to Kiyosuke's side.
Kumogakure and Iwagakure stood apart from each other.
Ao glanced around and, with Zabuza at his side, took up a position not far from Kiyosuke.
They also met the shrine maiden Shion — a girl about Naruto and the others' age with pale yellow hair and purple eyes, dressed in ornate miko robes and wearing golden hair ornaments; beautiful, but her expression was calm.
Her hairstyle and face resembled Hinata a little…
The attendant, Taruho, pushed his glasses up and knelt to one side, speaking softly,
"Shion-sama, the shinobi from the Five Great Villages are here to protect you and help you complete your mission."
"I know."
Kiyosuke was about to speak when he suddenly looked up, stood, and said,
"Enemies are coming."
Ao heard him, opened his Byakugan, and said, "Eight people in total. Their chakra is odd."
"Whatever — take them down first. Minions, charge!" Killer Bee howled like a bandit and led his men rushing out.
Kiyosuke waved them off, and Naruto and Sasuke charged out as well.
"Please take care of Shion," Pakura said with a nod.
They stepped outside and found the eight attackers — four being held up by Killer Bee and his crew.
Killer Bee had grabbed one by the body and slammed him hard to the ground.
Naruto and Sasuke held two of them, and two more were still closing in.
Kiyosuke formed a spear of flame in his hand, and in an instant it pierced a man's body.
The sudden change sent the other attacker into a panic — who was this so fierce?
Seeing Kiyosuke's face terrified him; wasn't this the strongest fighter from Konoha?
Looking more closely, it seemed one of the others was actually the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki from Kumogakure.
"Oh my God — can we really win?" he thought, praying for his future. He gave up the attack and bolted.
"Where do you think you're running off to?" Kiyosuke chased after him, grabbed the back of his neck, snapped his limbs, and hauled the man back.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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