Chapter 159: Instant End
"Damn it! Are you the one playing these tricks?!"
After the violent hurricane dissipated, Gato barely managed to steady himself. Upon hearing Menma's cold, murderous declaration, he immediately erupted in furious roars, trying to mask his inner panic with volume.
"Who the hell are you?! How dare you interfere with my business?! Do you know who I am?! I'm the leader of Gato Corporation!"
Despite his fierce bluster, his body was very honest—continuously retreating and quickly hiding behind the gang of thugs he'd brought, armed with clubs and swords but clearly nothing more than a rabble.
On the other side, Naruto continued his act of appearing somewhat fatigued from overexertion, while secretly watching his shadow clone's performance with interest.
Satsuki's expression was extremely grave. Though she didn't know the newcomer's specific identity, that suffocating pressure was impossible to fake. She unhesitatingly shielded Naruto even more protectively behind herself.
"A mask? Who is this person?"
Sakura looked at that bizarre fox mask and black robe, feeling like she'd heard about these features somewhere before, but couldn't quite remember.
She instinctively looked toward the most reliable Kakashi-sensei for answers. "Kakashi-sensei, this person is...?"
However, her question caught in her throat—because this was the first time she'd seen the usually calm and composed Kakashi showing such enormous, almost impossible to hide... fear in his eyes! His pupils were even trembling slightly.
"Naruto! Satsuki! Sakura! Listen carefully!" Kakashi's voice carried unprecedented urgency and severity, but his gaze remained locked on that distant figure, not daring to move an inch. "No matter what happens next! Absolutely! Absolutely do not engage that person in combat! That's an order!"
Fox mask, black robe... this combination was one Kakashi would never forget for the rest of his life.
He had seen this figure with his own eyes, had even fought fierce battles against minions of this organization called "Ember."
Most vivid was that destructive jutsu called the "Great Spiraling Ring of Ruin"—hovering in the sky above Konoha like the coming of doomsday.
That terrifying power capable of easily destroying a country, a village, that apocalyptic scene had become a nightmare he could never erase.
It's Ember's leader... why... why would someone of this caliber appear here? The situation is completely beyond control!
Momochi Zabuza at this moment also recognized the newcomer's identity. In a certain sense, he and Menma could be considered "colleagues"—both attempting to change the established order through force.
But Zabuza was acutely aware that Menma was completely different from himself, who had failed to assassinate the Mizukage and could only flee in disgrace. The person before him was a terrifying existence standing at the pinnacle of the ninja world, truly capable of opposing an entire village single-handedly and genuinely feared by the Five Great Nations!
However, all these considerations about power, influence, and danger had become completely irrelevant to Zabuza now.
Haku is dead...
Enormous emptiness and despair consumed him. All that filled his heart now was pure... death wish.
Menma's gaze through the fox mask swept over Gato, still wickedly laughing and relying on his numerical advantage in his ignorance of impending death, as well as the gang of eager thugs before him.
These small fry... do they really think they can overwhelm me with numbers?
He slowly raised one hand, aiming it toward Gato and his cronies.
Kakuzu beside him bowed slightly, requesting with a tone mixed with excitement and respect: "Leader, dealing with these guys hardly seems worth your personal intervention. Leave it to me."
His voice carried barely concealed pleasure—being able to "legitimately" rob one of the world's richest tycoons put the money-obsessed Kakuzu in an excellent mood.
"No." Menma said. "You have more important work in a moment. You still remember the basics of ninja interrogation techniques, right?"
"Heh heh heh heh..."
Kakuzu chuckled softly, dangerous light flickering in his green eyes. "That's something carved into my bones. Though it's been quite some years since I've done it personally, rest assured I won't disappoint you."
He was already calculating how to extract all bank account numbers and treasure location passwords from Gato's mouth.
Seeing Menma raise his hand, Gato was scared out of his wits, scrambling to hide at the very back of the crowd, shrieking at the top of his lungs: "Quick! Kill that pretentious bastard first!"
The gang of thugs driven by money responded with chaotic shouts, drawing katanas, spears, and even axes as they surged forward.
"You think just one person can beat all of us...?!"
However, before the lead thug could finish speaking, he suddenly felt the world spinning! He discovered in horror that his vision was rapidly plummeting, finally hitting the bridge surface with a "smack."
Then he realized in terror that he could no longer feel his body's existence at all!
After that... even before fear could fully spread, darkness instantly swallowed all his consciousness.
Not just this one thug. Except for Gato who was deliberately spared, all the hired muscle he'd brought were simultaneously, in exactly the same manner—instantly decapitated by invisible yet razor-sharp wind blades!
In the instant before all this happened, Naruto had already moved first, quickly raising his hand to cover Satsuki's eyes from behind.
"Satsuki, don't look." Naruto's voice whispered softly in her ear.
Satsuki's body stiffened slightly, then she heard the stomach-churning sounds of flesh being cut and heavy objects consecutively hitting the ground. She immediately understood what was happening outside.
No! I must protect Naruto! Intense worry made her instinctively want to break free from Naruto's hand.
But just then, Naruto spoke again: "Trust me, listen to me, everything will be fine."
This sentence was like pressing some switch, making Satsuki's tensed body instantly relax again. Naruto had discovered long ago that whenever he used this tone to make Satsuki obey, she would... couldn't help but comply.
On the other side, "Kakashi-sensei...?" Sakura's vision was also timely and thoroughly blocked by Kakashi's hand.
Though the ninja path was destined to be accompanied by killing and blood, for these freshly graduated genin, witnessing such large-scale instant death was still too early. Kakashi absolutely didn't want his students to suffer lifelong psychological trauma at this moment.
In an instant, the battle—or rather, the slaughter—was over.
Gato trembled like a sieve, staring in disbelief at the hellish scene before him—all his support, the dozens of hired thugs he'd paid for, had now become headless corpses scattered across the ground. Blood spread like streams across the bridge surface.
That fox-masked man had merely raised his hand... no one had even seen what he did... and all his "forces" were... completely annihilated in an instant!
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