It had been several days since the Chūnin Exams.
Ye Liang had trained nonstop for months, but events were moving fast without him.
"Did you hear? The three members of Team 7 just passed the Chūnin Exam and were immediately promoted to jōnin!"
"You bet! They say they were guided by a [sage's touch]—otherwise, how could ordinary people become so powerful so fast?"
"No wonder they've looked so impressive lately. They must've been enlightened by a sage!"
Naruto and his team walked down the street.
The pedestrians before them dared not even glance in their direction.
After all, they were jōnin now. Publicly discussing jōnin was extremely disrespectful!
"Naruto, do you think the Third is doing better now?"
"He should be fine. Sakura already used Creation Rebirth to heal the Third's wounds. He should be able to get out of bed in a few days," Sasuke replied while talking with Naruto.
Not long ago, during the Chūnin Exams—
Orochimaru arrived as expected, but thanks to Ye Liang's warning, the Hidden Leaf had already taken precautions against him. So when Orochimaru summoned the First Hokage through Impure World Resurrection, he was immediately ambushed and beaten up by Team 7 lying in wait nearby!
Naruto and the others were not who they used to be anymore!
They not only mastered [S-ranked ninjutsu], but also gained [Sage Transformation] power!
Though Orochimaru was strong, they weren't afraid of him after joining forces with the Third.
Naruto continued walking forward when, in the distance, Hinata started waving enthusiastically.
"Naruto-kun! Over here!"
The group reunited.
"Naruto-kun, is today the day Master Ye Liang will emerge from seclusion?" Hinata asked joyfully.
"Yeah, Uncle really is coming out today," Naruto answered. Yet while looking at Hinata, he felt a little helpless—the girl had that classic fangirl look, totally head over heels for his uncle!
Pfft, my uncle's basically a god. Does Hinata really think she has a shot with him?
Naruto thought helplessly.
At this point, Hinata had completely shifted her focus away from her original interest.
Her initial affection for Naruto gradually transferred onto Ye Liang. After all, Naruto was simply too old-fashioned, especially compared to Ye Liang.
As a native, his straightforward, traditional way of flirting stood no chance against a modern guy like Ye Liang. By merely the third month within the Summoning Realm, Ye Liang had already won Hinata's heart.
After walking some more, the group finally reached their destination.
It was outside Konoha, at the original ruins of the Uchiha clan compound.
Unfortunately, it had become a creepy, abandoned ruin.
"Master Ye Liang asked us to wait here, right?" Hinata asked nervously.
"Yeah. Uncle said he wanted to give us a graduation gift, which would require open space, so Sasuke suggested this place."
"Right," Sasuke nodded.
Since Itachi wiped out the entire Uchiha clan, the village had turned into an empty wasteland, making the area spacious enough for what was needed. Sasuke chose this location mainly for convenience—and he didn't want others knowing about Ye Liang's existence.
Just as he finished speaking,
a red barrier suddenly appeared on the ground—it was pale red. As soon as it emerged, it surrounded the whole Uchiha district.
"Tsk tsk tsk, didn't expect the one trying to trap that weird bastard to end up catching a bunch of little brats. Itachi, there's one here who's your younger brother, right?"
A shrill, sinister voice came from the creepy, abandoned ruin. Team 7 quickly became alert.
"Sasuke! You said there was no one here! Who are these people now?!"
"I don't know either! There shouldn't be anyone left in my family!" Sasuke calmly replied to Naruto's question.
He also felt puzzled. From what those people had just said, they should have been targeting his teacher specifically, and the information about Ye Liang coming here was something he had only decided on recently!
Besides himself, only Team 7 knew this.
There was absolutely no way Naruto and others would betray their teacher!
"Tsk tsk tsk, these little pests are actually cautious."
That same shrill voice spoke again, but this time, they revealed themselves.
They were a group wearing Akatsuki robes.
Naruto glared at the opposite side of the ruin, where these people stood atop its highest rooftop. The rest of them also tensed up.
Except for Sasuke!
"Brother! How can you be here?! Are these people the Akatsuki organization?" Sasuke shouted angrily at Itachi Uchiha.
The Akatsuki members were stunned.
These little brats actually knew about them?
Pain stepped forward!
It was Pain — the one who had been making that shrill sound all along.
"Kid, so you're Itachi's younger brother, huh. For Itachi's sake, we can let you go, but don't expect your teammates to leave easily!"
He was Pain!
The Deva Path — Nagato's personal path!
"Bullshit! Do you really think you can take us on? Who the hell do you think you are?" Sasuke immediately retorted angrily.
The others also fearlessly aimed their shurikens at the Akatsuki members.
The Akatsuki were instantly taken aback.
"Itachi, your little brother seems quite gutsy..." The Deva Path looked at Itachi Uchiha with a dark line across his face.
According to their investigation, Team 7 were merely a bunch of Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy. How dare they speak like this toward the Akatsuki!
This was completely unexpected!
"If that's the case, then feel free to attack directly. Don't worry about saving my face." Itachi said indifferently.
"All right then, Hidan, you go first. They're just a bunch of little brats."
"Well then, I'll really start now. Though if I injure him, I apologize in advance." A deathly pale man holding a sickle walked out. He glanced at Itachi, who looked unfazed.
With three consecutive jumps, Hidan arrived within Team 7's encirclement.
"Hey there, little ones!" Hidan mocked.
To him, these kids were nothing more than trash — even worse than insects. Even using half his strength would be sufficient to subdue them, so he didn't really care much.
"Who the hell are you?! Bring down your leader! What kind of nobody are you!" Naruto was the first to shout defiantly.
Without further ado, he charged straight at Hidan.
After several months of training, though still seen as the weakest, Naruto's Taijutsu had improved remarkably — largely due to his heritage.
Because of Kushina's connection, Ye Liang still gave him some special attention.
"Just leave it to you then, Naruto."
Sakura replied shortly, surprisingly turning her gaze away with complete indifference.
The Akatsuki members were totally flabbergasted!
Could it be that this yellow-haired kid's companion actually didn't care about him at all? Did she really accept him like this?
"Peng peng peng!"
At the center of the arena.
Naruto and Hidan were locked in fierce combat, neither backing down an inch. Although the battle was extremely intense, it had temporarily reached a stalemate.
Hidan wasn't some big shot!
The only reason he could join Akatsuki was because of his special [Jutsu].
He possessed [Immortal Body]!
As long as he wasn't completely reduced to molecules, he would never die!
That's also why Akatsuki felt confident tolerating him.
However.
Could it be that Naruto, just a kid, had been holding his own against Hidan for several minutes with neither side gaining the advantage?
Naruto was just a child!
Akatsuki started to sense that something wasn't right.
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