After suffering two failures in a row, Gatō had completely lost faith in relying solely on rogue shinobi.
This time, in order to make absolutely sure he wiped out Dazuna and anyone protecting him, he came personally—bringing along his own hired samurai force as well as his mafia thugs. Their destination: the still-unfinished Naruto Bridge. His plan was simple—sweep away every obstacle in one decisive strike.
But on the way there, Gatō's group ran headlong into both the Akatsuki members he had hired earlier and the Konoha shinobi tasked with guarding Dazuna.
"Haruto, Sasuke, Sakura… and even Zabuza?"
Kakashi and Naruto had just arrived as reinforcements, but the scene before their eyes left them utterly baffled.
Wasn't Momochi Zabuza supposed to be one of Gatō's assassins, hired to eliminate Dazuna?
Why was he suddenly standing alongside Senju Haruto's team, as if they were allies?
"Kakashi…"
Seeing Kakashi again stirred complex feelings in Zabuza's chest. But in the end, he still explained himself.
He made it clear he was no longer their enemy. Gatō wasn't just targeting Dazuna this time—he was also planning to get rid of both Zabuza and Haku. Those two rogue Akatsuki shinobi had replaced him as Gatō's hired killers.
"What about Dazuna's side?" Haruto asked casually.
After all, Dazuna was the mission's client. If he were to fall to Gatō's underlings, it would be a disgrace to Konoha's reputation.
"Don't worry. Naruto and I deliberately left shadow clones behind to guard him," Kakashi explained. "The only reason we rushed over here was because Naruto sensed a foul chakra presence during his training."
"I see…"
Haruto nodded. He recalled that after entering Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto could perceive the malice hidden within another person's chakra. Back on Turtle Island, Naruto had used that very ability to detect Kisame lurking within Samehada.
So it was no surprise that he had now picked up on Kakuzu and Hidan's presence.
"Haruto-nii, leave this to me!"
Naruto hurried forward, brimming with eagerness. Although his training period had been short, under Kakashi's guidance he had already made considerable progress. To him, this situation was the perfect chance to test the results of his training.
"I was here first."
Before Naruto could take another step, Sasuke suddenly appeared at his side, his presence sharp and imposing.
"That chakra flow… it's the same technique as Kakashi-sensei's…"
Only now did Naruto really look at Sasuke carefully—and what he saw shocked him. Sasuke wasn't just using the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the very technique Kakashi was famous for—he had also awakened the Sharingan. Both eyes.
And most terrifying of all…
Sasuke had achieved this after training with Senju Haruto for barely over a week.
"Haruto-nii, that's kinda biased of you…" Naruto couldn't help muttering. He himself had improved quite a lot recently, but Sasuke's gains left him secretly envious.
"I wanna learn Lightning Release Chakra Mode too…"
"Lightning Release Chakra Mode doesn't suit you," Haruto answered immediately. "Kakashi should have already tested your chakra nature, right?"
Naruto's affinity was for Wind Release—he simply couldn't learn Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Besides… Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode were both forms of body-enhancing ninjutsu. They just drew on different elemental bases. Neither was inherently stronger or weaker—the effectiveness depended entirely on the user.
For example, even against the Third Raikage, Naruto in his golden cloak form had once been completely stymied.
But while Haruto, Sasuke, and Naruto conversed, Hidan grew increasingly impatient.
"Oi, oi…"
He swung his triple-bladed scythe around and leveled it at Haruto.
This was supposed to be a life-or-death battle—yet these brats were standing around chatting like they were on a school outing, each trying to show off. It pissed him off to no end.
"Enough, Naruto, Sasuke," Haruto said, loosening his shoulders as he limbered up. "Leave this one to me. His ability is… peculiar."
"Boss, what should we do now? Should we charge in and help?" whispered one of Gatō's samurai.
He had never witnessed a battle like this before. The sheer presence of Naruto and Sasuke—the chakra auras burning around them—completely defied all his notions of what was possible. And Haruto's overwhelming aura, the pressure he exuded, was so intense that none of them dared make a reckless move.
Even Gatō himself swallowed nervously, taking several long moments before finally signaling for a portion of his men to circle around toward Dazuna's location.
After all, if the strongest Leaf shinobi were here, then Dazuna's other side must be relatively unguarded.
"For now, we wait and see," Gatō muttered through clenched teeth, his gaze locked firmly on Haruto and Hidan.
Kakuzu did the same. His half-lidded eyes never left Haruto. From the very beginning, he had sensed that this man was no ordinary shinobi.
"Be careful," Kakuzu warned.
"Relax, Kakuzu." Hidan grinned nonchalantly. "If my arms or legs get chopped off, just stitch 'em back on for me."
Then his gaze fell on Haruto.
"And you… Did you really just say I had a weakness? Don't make me laugh. I'm the real deal—immortal!"
"No."
Haruto only shook his head slightly, lips curving into a faint smile as he looked at the boastful Hidan.
"Your understanding of immortality… is flawed."
Still standing calmly in place, Haruto made a subtle hand gesture, signaling for Naruto and the others to retreat.
As someone who had crossed into this world, the intelligence Haruto possessed far surpassed what anyone else here could even imagine. Hidan's so-called immortality wasn't like those undying figures of myth—Deadpool or Apollo-like beings whose bodies could regenerate endlessly from even a single shred of flesh.
Even Masashi Kishimoto himself had once clarified: if Hidan failed to take in sufficient nourishment, his body would eventually die.
So in Haruto's eyes, Hidan's immortality was nothing remarkable at all.
Kakashi and the others couldn't guess what Haruto was planning, but they obediently followed his signal and quickly withdrew to a safer distance.
At that very moment, Haruto's shoulder bulged, as though a piece of wood were sprouting out of him. The growth rapidly took shape, forming into a human figure.
Kakuzu's eyes flew wide open at once.
As someone who had lived since the First Hokage's era—and even once attempted to assassinate him—there was no way he could mistake what he was seeing.
"Mokuton… Clone Technique!"
"You brat… You're from the Senju clan?!"
The memories he thought long buried surged back like a tidal wave, leaving Kakuzu shaken.
But before he could even warn Hidan to be cautious, Haruto's wooden clone had already rushed forward. It closed the distance in an instant, and from its chest pocket, it drew out… an explosive tag.
"Hah? An explosive tag?!"
Hidan froze on the spot.
Not because he was shocked by Haruto's Wood Release—but because he felt utterly insulted.
After all that big talk about being "the one weakness to your immortality," this was Haruto's plan?
To throw… an explosive tag?
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