Raiya Kurotsuchi and his men had been preparing to ambush Naruto and his team from within the misty forest.
But for some reason, the Leaf shinobi seemed to have anticipated the trap. Without hesitation, they suddenly changed their route, stepping out of the dense woods and onto the open road.
What they didn't know was that Raiya had a sensor on his side as well.
"Up ahead, they're shifting paths," his companion whispered from the shadows of his oversized cloak.
Raiya smirked, raising the crackling blade of lightning in his hand. "Perfect. If they want to avoid me, I'll just hunt them down myself."
He motioned for his followers to pursue. Soon enough, they caught sight of the Leaf team marching down the stone road.
The sight made Raiya grin with confidence.
A squad of one jonin leading three fresh-faced rookies new graduates from the Academy. Exactly the kind of soft target he enjoyed. For him, it was less of a mission and more of an opportunity to prepare another funeral.
He opened his mouth, ready to taunt them with a few cruel words after all, it was customary in the shinobi world to trade threats before a clash.
But before the insult left his lips, one of the Leaf ninja suddenly darted forward.
So fast!
Raiya's pupils shrank. He only caught a blurred outline rushing at him like a streak of wind.
"What?!" His expression twisted in disbelief.
"Raiya, look out!" a muffled voice shouted from behind him the voice of the hidden child carried on his back beneath the cloak.
Instinct took over. Raiya swung his lightning blade upward, forming a crackling orb of condensed electricity. He hurled it straight at the incoming shadow.
"Die, brat!" Raiya snarled, his face contorted with a savage grin.
The lightning sphere roared forward, splitting the air
only to pass straight through.
The target was nothing more than an afterimage.
"Behind you!" the voice cried again.
Raiya's heart seized with panic. He spun around as fast as he could.
But it was already too late.
"Too slow." Naruto's voice was cold and steady, echoing directly behind him.
Raiya barely had time to register the sound before a blade of pure wind chakra pierced through the back of his skull. The razor-sharp edge carved mercilessly, snuffing out his life in an instant.
In Naruto's eyes, whether it was a jonin or a common thug, there wasn't much of a difference anymore.
Even a sensor who could track his movements didn't matter what good was sensing an attack if the body couldn't keep up with the speed?
"Raiya!" the desperate cry came from the child clinging to his back.
Naruto's gaze dropped. With a simple downward flick of his hand, the wind blade sliced through the cloak, revealing a frail boy with pale skin and crimson eyes.
"Red eyes," Naruto murmured evenly, tilting his head. "So you have a bloodline ability too?"
The boy Ranmaru bit his lip and gave a shaky nod. His thin body trembled; he was too weak to resist, especially against the one who had just dispatched Raiya in a heartbeat.
Naruto offered no judgment. He simply turned away, shifting his focus to the others.
On the roadside, Sasuke and Hinata had already cut down Raiya's seven followers. Though they were chunin-level fighters, against the combined might of Sasuke's Sharingan and Hinata's Byakugan, they had been no match.
"Take him," Naruto said flatly, tossing the boy toward Sasuke like he was nothing more than an object.
"Wha ?!" Ranmaru's mind reeled as he was caught midair. For a moment, he almost felt like some stray pet being passed around.
His protests died in his throat when he found himself staring directly into Sasuke's spinning Sharingan.
Ranmaru's vision blurred. His crimson pupils quivered before sinking into the pull of Sasuke's genjutsu.
Even with his special dojutsu, he had no defense. Possessing a kekkei genkai didn't grant immunity to the Sharingan's illusions.
"What's your bloodline ability?" Sasuke asked, his voice low and controlled.
"My… my Red Eye," Ranmaru stammered within the genjutsu's grasp. "It lets me see through objects… sense the flow of power… feel danger… and even create illusions by weaving chakra into false images."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
Hinata clenched her fists, frustration flickering across her face. "That's almost like the Byakugan. Worse it counters it!"
If Red Eye clashed with Byakugan on the battlefield, it could render her abilities unreliable, even misleading allies into deadly traps.
"Kill him," Naruto ordered without hesitation.
Sasuke gave a curt nod. Without wasting another breath, he struck with brutal precision. The boy collapsed instantly, lifeless.
Blood dripped silently into the dirt.
Moments later, Kakashi arrived with Tazuna in tow. His casual voice broke the silence. "So, it's over?"
"Just a jonin and some chunin. Nothing worth mentioning," Naruto said, brushing it off as if swatting flies.
"Sensei," Hinata asked hesitantly, "have you ever heard of the Red Eye before?"
Kakashi paused. His single visible eye narrowed. "Red Eye? Did one of them have it?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied, pointing to Ranmaru's body sprawled on the ground.
Kakashi studied the corpse briefly, then let out a faint sigh. "Good. It's better this way. That bloodline appeared once before during the war. A natural enemy of the Byakugan. It caused the Leaf heavy casualties back then, until the Hyuga clan all but exterminated them. That one must've been a survivor."
Hinata's hands tightened into fists. She realized that in the forest earlier, Ranmaru must have used his Red Eye to distort her perception, creating illusions that misled her vision. If not for Naruto's secondary sensory jutsu, they might have walked straight into disaster.
"Are these assassins after Tazuna… or after you?" Sasuke asked suddenly, his sharp gaze settling on Naruto. For him, only Naruto's safety mattered.
"Doesn't matter," Naruto replied calmly, shrugging it off. "Whoever they are, if they cross our path, we kill them."
Sasuke accepted the answer with a silent nod.
Before Kakashi could finish his thought and instruct Tazuna on their next move, a massive shadow loomed overhead.
A gigantic sword whirled through the air, spinning like a deadly wheel.
Kakashi shoved Tazuna to the ground while Naruto's eyes flashed. He raised his hand and, with perfect timing, snatched the weapon mid-spin by its handle.
The sheer power of the swing was enough to crush an ordinary man, but Naruto's enhanced body caught it effortlessly. His gaze was calm, his grip unshaken.
"Well, well," Naruto called out into the mist. "Who's kind enough to send me a weapon from so far away?"
Hinata's eyes flared pale as she activated her Byakugan. She focused ahead. "Two signatures. One is obvious, and another is hidden behind him. Can't tell if they're allies or not."
"Let's see how this plays out," Naruto replied.
From the mist, a tall figure stepped into view.
Zabuza Momochi's jaw clenched with irritation. He had been planning a grand entrance something dramatic, terrifying, worthy of his reputation.
But this blond brat had ruined it by effortlessly catching his sword. His blade.
Half his intimidation was gone before the fight even began.
Zabuza was already rethinking his dramatic entrances for future battles. But defeat? That had never crossed his mind.
Even if the boy had jonin-level skill, he was still just a child. Talent didn't erase inexperience.
His attention shifted from Naruto to the silver-haired man in the back. Recognition flared.
"Hatake Kakashi," Zabuza growled, his voice like steel grinding.
Kakashi's lone eye curved in a smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, well. Isn't this a surprise? The rogue of the Hidden Mist himself… Zabuza Momochi."
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