Naruto Kirigakure System - Chapter 57

As more and more Kirigakure shinobi spotted the blonde figure in the forest, a wave of complex emotions spread throughout the crowd.

“Lord Naoki, could he have…”

“Shut up, idiot! Even if, even if Lord Naoki really is…”

The Kirigakure ninja couldn’t finish the sentence, but seeing the blonde hair in the dense forest, they clenched their teeth and pushed away those thoughts, shouting angrily.

“Even if that’s true, we have to kill Minato and avenge Lord Naoki!”

“So, keep charging!”

“Yeah, keep charging!”

The Kirigakure shinobi turned their grief and confusion into pure rage, lifting their weapons.

In the dense forest, they launched an all-out attack.

The target was Minato!

“Die, you bastards!”

Bright red chakra tails formed behind an enraged woman.

The wild, fiery, terrifying, and evil chakra whipped up gusts of wind, which crashed into bodies and tore them apart.

The blood and flesh splattering everywhere declared the arrival of the world’s most potent weapon to everyone present.

“Th-that, that’s the Nine-Tails!”

“It has to be, there’s no doubt about it, ugh!”

Blood spurted out as a terrified Kirigakure ninja was impaled by a claw, falling lifelessly.

Die, all of you!

The enormous, terrifying chakra crashed around. Even stronger shinobi, who barely managed to stand, were quickly shredded by the claws emerging from Kushina’s body.

Is this the Nine-Tails?

Mei froze, staring at the raging red monster, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.

We were so close to victory.

How did it come to this?

“Hey!”

Kisame managed to block Kushina’s terrifying attack with Samehada, but he couldn’t avoid being sent flying backward.

Spitting a mouthful of blood, he shouted to the shark-faced ninja beside him.

“You brat, just stay behind me. If I die, take Samehada and continue serving the village.”

Kisame looked up at the bloodied face of the elder shinobi, didn’t respond, but raised his sword and charged at the Konoha ninjas.

This brat.

The older shinobi gritted his teeth, stood up with difficulty, and charged again.

Splurt!

Juzo Biwa watched in despair as his Executioner’s Blade shattered under a single swipe, feeling helpless.

The Nine-Tails…

It’s an unbeatable power.

We were so close to victory.

“Kill you all, kill you all!”

Kushina’s eyes grew redder and redder.

At the same time, her sanity was being eroded, making her killing more efficient and more terrifying.

But the hidden power of the Uzumaki clan activated, pulling Kushina back from this state.

The killing could continue.

“Retreat, Shikaku!”

Minato barely opened his eyes, looking at Kushina, who was single-handedly pushing back all the Kirigakure shinobi and said.

“Lord Minato.”

“We haven’t reached Kushina’s limit yet. The more she kills, the greater the deterrent, making our retreat smoother.”

“Retreat, Shikaku.”

Minato looked at the seemingly invincible fiery figure, but his mind was filled with the image of the faint gray bone that radiated absolute destruction.

That was a bone capable of annihilating all life, all vitality.

Even the Nine-Tails might…

“Shikaku, you can’t handle Naoki.”

“If you delay any longer, you’ll all die.”

“Even though I returned quickly, he isn’t slow either.”

Seeing Minato’s desperate, unrelenting persuasion, Nara Shikaku’s expression turned serious. He said in a deep voice.

“Then we retreat.”

He turned to Yamanaka Inoichi and said, “Withdraw from the battlefield!”

Are they retreating?

Under the shade of a large tree, Mei, covered in blood, stood up with the support of a branch, watching the Konoha shinobi, who clearly could continue slaughtering the Kirigakure ninjas but chose to retreat instead.

Why are they retreating?

In this situation, why retreat?

Even if they had to retreat, they should have caused more significant intimidation to make us afraid to pursue.

Why retreat now?

Mei pondered frantically, not wanting to miss this potential opportunity.

That was Nara Shikaku. He must have a reason for doing this.

Then, a flash of insight struck Mei, brightening her eyes!

They may need to be more wary of something, not wanting to push the jinchuriki too far or not wanting to waste time here.

Could it be…

A white-haired, white-eyed figure wielding bones appeared in Mei’s mind.

Is it possible that Naoki didn’t lose to Minato but is still alive?

Yes.

It must be.

Otherwise, Minato would have used Naoki’s corpse to shatter Kirigakure’s morale completely.

Pursue them!

We must hold them off!

Mei clenched her fist.

We might annihilate this Konoha force if we can stall until Naoki arrives.

Then, forcing Konoha to cede a significant portion of their territory wouldn’t be an unreasonable demand.

She clenched her fist, ready to give the order, but her heart sank again.

Sigh.

Mei looked at the Konoha shinobi covered by Kushina, then at the Kirigakure shinobi, clearly terrified and hiding in the forest, and sighed deeply.

We can only gather the elite ninjas and attempt an attack.

Mei sighed again, looking up at the blue sky.

Naoki, when will you return?

…

“So, Lord Shikaku, this is our decision.”

“We can’t ensure our safety staying with her.”

“Since the Kirigakure shinobi aren’t pursuing us yet, we should separate and return to Konoha.”

“You.”

Kushina’s red hair flared up as she raised her fist, ready to strike the leading Konoha ninja.

“Kushina, don’t.”

Minato’s voice was weak, making Kushina withdraw her fist in a panic, not wanting to cause Minato any emotional distress.

At this moment, Shikaku’s face turned grim, wanting to reject the ninja’s decision sternly.

But seeing the doubt and distrust in their eyes, he realized that the recent crushing defeat had planted doubt in their hearts. Naturally, they no longer trusted his commands as they used to.

He paused, preparing to use a more gentle approach to persuade them, when another voice rang out.

“Lord Shikaku, we want to as well.”

A ninja raised his hand.

It had an infectious effect as more and more ninjas raised their hands.

Even Uchiha Fugaku, who had barely kept his clan in check, remained silent and raised his hand.

“What if I say no?”

Seeing this scene, Shikaku exhaled deeply and said to the blood-stained, distrustful ninjas.

“Then we’ll ask the jinchuriki to leave. We don’t want…”

The ninjas glanced at Kushina but didn’t voice their doubts about the jinchuriki’s stability, though their expressions said it all.

Shikaku shook his head and sighed. It was impossible to change their prejudice against the jinchuriki in such a short time.

Worse still, once Kushina’s identity as a jinchuriki spread throughout the village, her peaceful life would be over.

How could we appease this fiery yet kind-hearted Kushina then?

I’ll leave it to the Third Hokage to figure out.

Shikaku shook his head, calming himself as he heard the sounds.

Rustle.

That was the sound of ninjas moving through the trees, leaving the area quickly.

In contrast, was the silent, wordless Kushina, her red hair drooping, no longer vibrant.

The once comforting presence of Minato, who could make her smile again, had closed his eyes completely, with only his faintly rising chest proving he was still alive.

Kushina lowered her head, thinking of the fearful and resentful faces, clenching her fists.

“I saved them.”

“Why!”

[Character Fate Line of Kushina has deviated, detected as a non-Kirigakure ninja, countdown to defection to Kirigakure (3/10)]

[Character Fate Line of Minato has deviated, detected as a non-Kirigakure ninja, countdown to defection to Kirigakure (1/10)]

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