Ino was hesitating whether to wake her two teammates.
Her sensory range was almost perfectly circular. The person just now had cut across it like a straight line, and even when she tried to establish contact, the other party didn't stop.
Finally, seeing her two teammates' exhausted sleeping forms, Ino decided to first increase her patrol intensity. If she detected another anomaly, then she would wake them up.
On the other side, in a two-meter deep tunnel, Naruto watched as his clone feigned a painful death.
The tunnel entrance was covered with a tapestry, concealing the light from the teleportation gate.
The clone's body was being corroded by natural energy, slowly turning into stone.
As the clone vanished with a 'pop,' Naruto also perceived the situation on the other side.
One person was on patrol, two were asleep.
"Excellent, time to approach." Naruto wielded a Mithril Pickaxe in each hand, spinning them into a whirlwind.
Although Ino's sensory abilities weren't as abnormal as Karin's, waltzing over openly would definitely get him discovered. So, Naruto adopted the digging strategy again.
He relied on Mother Earth's rugged skin to conceal his own tiny, insect-like presence.
Actually, Naruto could have used his fastest speed to forcibly approach, but he wanted to teach Ino a lesson, to show her what the Dark Forest Law was.
In a situation where hunters surrounded you, never expose yourself, or you'll only be hunted.
Fearing the clone might mess up, this time the main body did the digging, while the clone was responsible for sensing with Pseudo-Sage Mode.
Initially, when the distance was far and no sound could be heard, Naruto dug very quickly. However, when digging vertically towards the trio's tent from underground, Naruto significantly slowed his pace.
In the last dozen meters, his clones were dying one after another from frogification.
He continuously locked onto Ino's position. As long as Ino approached the vertical shaft, Naruto would abandon his digging.
Ino patrolled for a long time, keeping her scan active, but she didn't scan underground.
Not just her, most ninjas with large sensory ranges would subconsciously ignore the underground.
Because in the ninja world, apart from White Zetsu, only the Second and Fourth Hokage, and Obito – those who possessed space-time ninjutsu – had the ability to perform such long-distance underground tunneling tactics to approach enemies. Others couldn't.
Even if the Tsuchikage were to dig, he would have to periodically surface for air.
So, as Ino walked, she suddenly felt the sandy ground beneath her feet give way.
Calculating his timing perfectly, Naruto, bursting through the last half-meter of sand, first saw two pale white legs. Looking further up...
He sighed inwardly, Why do girls wear short skirts?
And if you wear a short skirt, why do you also wear safety shorts?
"Mmf." Just as Ino was about to cry out, Naruto covered her mouth with a white cloth. At the same time, he affixed a sealing tag with the character "Suppress" written on it to her back, suppressing her chakra and preventing her from contacting her teammates.
Next, Naruto activated a sister technique to Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu.
Earth Burial Jutsu!
Covering Ino's mouth, Naruto's body sank downwards, taking Ino with him into the vertical shaft.
"A piece of advice for you: don't casually contact strangers in the future. It'll bring you a deadly disaster," Naruto whispered into Ino's ear.
"Mmf, mmph, mmph..." In the tunnel, Ino struggled violently, trying to break free from her bonds. Unfortunately, Naruto's restraint skills were too highly practiced; she couldn't break loose.
Ino's struggles grew weaker and weaker because Naruto had sprayed ether onto the white cloth.
Ether wasn't a prohibited substance in the Naruto world, and with his teleportation gate, Naruto could buy it whenever he wanted.
Ino's eyes welled up with tears.
At this moment, she remembered many things: Sakura, Choji, her father, and... Sasuke.
Farewell, everyone. I'm sorry, Sakura, Choji, I've caused your demise.
Ino, in the midst of her mental storm, suddenly heard a voice that offered her a slight reprieve.
Naruto said in a joking tone, "It's not a big deal, though."
Could it be that I won't die today? Ino thought to herself.
"Just be more careful in your next life."
Ino's head tilted, and she passed out.
Putting Ino down, Naruto opened a teleportation gate, letting a clone exit the tunnel first.
The clone possessed Pseudo-Sage Mode, making it essentially one with nature. The two sleeping ninjas would find it very difficult to detect its presence.
Its mission was to release ether, very slowly, with the goal of making Sakura and Choji fall unconscious without realizing it.
After so many years as a ninja, Naruto finally did something a ninja was supposed to do—poisoning.
Half an hour later, presuming it was enough, Naruto carried Ino out of the tunnel.
He sent a clone to the Capital of Fire to buy a standard ninja world tent. After setting it up, Naruto placed Ino inside.
The Capital of Fire was a big city after all; there were many shops that stayed open at night.
After tucking Ino into the blankets, a playful smile appeared on Naruto's masked face.
Now that these few were unconscious, he could do whatever he pleased!
And then... he walked to Sakura's tent.
The sleeping Sakura, without her usual tomboyishness, appeared quite delicate.
Her long pink hair spread over the book she was using as a pillow, adding a touch of scholarly elegance to her.
Naruto pulled out a treasure he had prepared long ago and slowly approached Sakura's head.
"Click."
A crisp sound.
Sakura looked the same as before, but a pair of black cat ears now adorned her head. By putting cat ears on Sakura, he had created—Cat-Head Sakura.
Naruto nodded with satisfaction. He had wanted to do this for a long time but hadn't found the opportunity.
Stepping out of the tent, he said to his clone, "You watch over them here. Call me if anything happens."
He would let them rest well tonight so they'd have the energy to treat his big brother-in-law tomorrow.
Leaving the clone on guard, Naruto continued to run laps around the Demon Desert.
With his physique, he could stay hyped for three days and three nights without sleep and not feel tired.
Naruto didn't use a clone for running; this was a leisure trip, and he'd been lax in his training, wasting a lot of time. This was a good opportunity to catch up.
Exercising could be addictive. The old Naruto might have been lazy, but having consistently trained for so many years, he could honestly say:
My training comes from the heart.
After running all night and not encountering a second team, Naruto returned to Sakura's team's tent the next morning.
Calculating the time, the three of them would be waking up soon.
He took out the white cloth and handed it to his clone, telling it to knock Choji out again for an hour or two.
For the sake of my plan, I'm sorry, little brother. I'll send you a few extra buckets of meat later.
Entering Sakura's tent to arrange things, Naruto then formed the hand signs for the Transformation Jutsu.
"Poof."
As the smoke cleared, a woman appeared.
Long pink fox ears adorned her head, her face was beautiful, and a nurse's uniform accentuated her figure. Her hands were on her waist, holding a syringe.
If a cleaning lady doing splits in the air were to see her, she would surely exclaim—Yae Sakura!
Quietly approaching Sakura, Naruto lowered his head, waiting for her to wake up. Come on, Sakura Bro, today it's Sakura vs. Sakura.
Sakura's eyelids fluttered a few times but didn't open. She felt a headache and reached up to touch something strange.
Wearing a hair clip all night really does hurt.
Opening her eyes, Sakura first saw that the tent had turned white, and a faint smell of disinfectant entered her nose, very much like a hospital.
Feeling someone beside her, she turned her head and saw a strange woman. Are those fox ears or donkey ears?
Naruto, transformed into Yae Sakura, gently pushed the syringe, smiling, "You're awake. The surgery was very successful. You're a boy now."
Before Sakura could even react, Naruto had already jumped away.
"BOOM!!!"
Sakura Bro, with her mountain-shattering, world-shaking strength, punched the ground, turning it into a spiderweb of cracks.
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