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Chapter 60 - Chapter 64: Sakura’s Disappearance

Naruto sped up, racing toward Sakura's house. Along the way his mind churned, analyzing the mastermind's behavioral logic.

If you excluded the mastermind's existence, then even a fabricated character transmigrating into the ninja world could be accepted.

After all, transmigration itself was already packed with impossibilities.

But the mastermind clearly had a purpose, and as of now that purpose was tied to human negative emotions.

That was why it had chosen him—someone trapped in long-term 9–9–6 work. Sakura, who'd been cyberbullied. Gato, the preacher. Chika, who'd fallen into despair… people like them. By nature, they would supply the mastermind with a steady stream of negative emotions.

But Li Yunlong was different.

He was the quintessential grassroots hero: hot-tempered but sharp, loyal to brotherhood, with fierce leadership ability and personal charisma.

Why would the mastermind send him into the ninja world—so Konoha could bolt an Italian cannon onto itself?

Naruto had guesses, but right now he needed to regroup with Sakura and discuss their next move.

Shh, shh, shh…

He threaded through the crowd, circling and confirming no one was tailing him. Then he arrived at Sakura's door.

Good thing I had a shadow clone keep following my usual routine. Otherwise I really wouldn't be able to move freely, he thought.

He didn't knock. Instead, when no one was around, he leapt up to the balcony on Sakura's second floor.

They'd agreed before: if he needed to find her, he'd check whether the balcony was locked.

He touched it lightly.

Click.

Locked.

Meaning she wasn't home.

Come to think of it… I haven't seen her for days… A bad premonition rose in Naruto's chest, but he crushed it immediately.

Now wasn't the time to raise flags.

Keep searching.

He checked the training grounds, the library, the riverside, the place they'd danced the other night…

All places they'd previously agreed might be "meet spots."

Nothing. Not even signs of recent human presence.

As Naruto ran, cold sweat formed on his forehead. His anxiety grew heavier and heavier.

Then something hit him—

Days ago, Sakura had borrowed the black fragment. She said she was going to research it.

"…No way."

His throat was hoarse as he spoke. He was winded now, bending slightly as he panted, his heart hammering loud enough to hear, his whole body starting to feel wrong.

After a moment, he made a decision: for now, he'd throw caution aside and go back to Sakura's house.

This time, he knocked.

Bang bang bang!

The urgent knocking soon drew someone inside. A moment later, a woman in house clothes opened the door.

"Oh my, you're Naruto, right? Sakura talks about you all the time," Mebuki Haruno said, surprised, quickly inviting him in.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Ma'am, I'm in a hurry, so I won't go in… Is Sakura home? I need to find her—something urgent."

"Oh?" Mebuki's brows knit. She looked genuinely surprised by the question. "She went out two days ago. Said she was training a new technique. She still hasn't come back."

"Would you like to take some sweets? I've heard Sakura say you take good care of her…"

Naruto cut her off. "It's okay, ma'am. I still have things to do. I'll take my leave."

He turned and strode away.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Naruto's heartbeat boomed in his chest like thunder.

By now he could basically confirm it: the problem was almost certainly the black fragment.

But he'd only heard Chika describe how to use it. He didn't understand the hidden risks.

Panic swirled in him.

Had the mastermind captured Sakura?

No—if it wanted to capture her, it could've done it long ago. There was no reason to wait until now.

Or was Sakura in another space?

He knew the fragment had something like Kamui's function—it could send people to a memory world. But the time flow between that world and the ninja world shouldn't match. It didn't add up.

Unless—

she'd been on the other side for a very, very long time…

"So you really treated the other world like a training ground, huh?" Naruto thought bitterly.

He desperately hoped that guess was the right one—that Sakura had simply gone adventuring on the other side, not been taken.

But even if she was safe, the crisis wouldn't vanish.

For now, Naruto would have to face the danger Seisen brought—alone.

Even if he couldn't solve it, he had to leave a way out for himself and Sakura.

"Hell difficulty, huh." In the end, he crushed his fear and returned home to think.

He shut all doors and windows, pulled out a diary notebook that had been ripped down to a few remaining pages, and began a written simulation.

First, he wrote a question:

[What's going on with Shiba Seisen?]

[Known fact: "Drawing Sword" has extremely high penetration at home. The protagonist Li Yunlong is widely recognized, to the point that many people can recite his iconic lines. Anyone can "play Li Yunlong"—even I could improvise a couple lines on the spot.

So for this transmigrator, there are two possibilities:

1) Like Chika, for some reason he can't stay lucid after transmigrating, and can only act in the ninja world using Li Yunlong's persona;

2) He's deliberately role-playing, aiming to create a crisis that forces me to move against him.

If it's the second possibility, I don't need to care. He must have his own way to avoid ANBU surveillance.

But if it's the first, then we're screwed. That means I have to find a way to get him out of ANBU's hands. The secret of transmigration must never reach Konoha's top brass.

From the current situation, Hiruzen hasn't ordered the ANBU captain to arrest him directly. He might be fishing. Or he might be waiting for Seisen to show his hand…]

Right as he reached this point, Naruto slapped his forehead hard, and his writing speed doubled.

[So if I want to bypass ANBU, I need to give them a reason to stop focusing on Seisen. Then I'll have a chance to approach him—and silence him.

So what could be more serious than this? Everyone knows the next major event is the third round of the Chūnin Exams, and with it comes Orochimaru's long-planned "Konoha Crush."

This reminds me of a British show, "Yes, Prime Minister." It mentions that whenever Western developed countries want to distract from domestic contradictions, they'll manufacture a big headline—like expelling an entire batch of Russian diplomats—to seize the media's attention.

If they can do it, so can I. As long as ANBU shifts their focus to Orochimaru, the manpower watching Seisen will shrink—just like the white-cloaked ANBU stopped monitoring me once Seisen appeared.

So how do I leak Orochimaru's plan to Konoha's upper ranks quickly—without anyone suspecting the leak came from me?]

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