As soon as Naraku arrived at the Forest of Death, he swallowed a soldier pill while waiting for the Root members to arrive, trying to restore his Chakra as much as possible.
As for the penetrating wound in his abdomen, there was no need to heal it immediately; he could stabilize it with popularity points later when fighting the Root.
He looked up at the moon, the night breeze gently sweeping past his hair, and a strong sense of unease suddenly surged in his heart, a chill crawling from the soles of his feet all the way to his internal organs.
Intuition?
Could I also possess this sixth sense?
Naraku surveyed his surroundings, even reopening his Sharingan to observe again, confirming whether he had missed any traps earlier.
From the moment Tsunade applied a healing jutsu to him, to compensate for the weakness of his Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) losing its activity, he used his remaining popularity points to buy a Uzumaki perception jutsu that wasn't as wide-ranging but could penetrate multiple layers of buildings.
If asked, he could say it was an anomaly caused by his Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) being affected by the healing jutsu; after all, no one could verify its authenticity.
After observing for a while and finding nothing amiss, Naraku's Chakra was not abundant, so he planned to close his Sharingan to conserve energy.
Just a second before he was about to close it, an unusual Chakra fluctuation came from a certain direction, as if a fierce battle was taking place.
Immediately, a low, faint sound reached his ears from a great distance.
Without thinking, his body unconsciously took a step in that direction.
At the same time, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan clearly saw more than ten Anbu figures appearing in the Village, rushing quickly towards the location where the incident occurred.
That place was neither the base of a confidential department nor a densely populated residential area, not even a training ground; why would a battle happen there?
What kind of place could it be?
Hidden and remote... Root?
Naraku pushed off the ground, instantly dashing out in a blink of an eye, leaping lightly and swiftly across the rooftops of buildings.
When his perception range covered a vast cavern, the incredibly familiar Chakra flame deep within made his entire body tremble.
Why... is Sakumo here...?!
Without time to think too much, Naraku broke through the Anbu blocking him on the periphery, found the entrance, and charged straight into the Root base.
Relying on his perception jutsu, he quickly and accurately found the correct path among many intricate passages in a very short time.
The air was filled with the fishy smell of blood, thick and viscous. There were more and more corpses at his feet, and the wounds, clearly from a blade, were almost all fatal.
It was Sakumo, no doubt.
Naraku almost became an afterimage, sweeping through the narrow passage to its end.
Beyond that, the path was already broken, facing a huge underground cavern. The walls were a mess, with countless marks of sword slashes and lightning strikes, and two massive cracks spanned across them, with earth and rocks continuously collapsing.
He didn't hesitate for a moment, jumping down from the broken passage, repeatedly leveraging off the stone walls on both sides, and in just a few moves, he reached the deepest part.
The battle had not yet stopped. Danzo Shimura stood before the kneeling white-haired man, and just as he raised his arm, a dark shadow fiercely kicked him in the waist, sending him flying directly.
...Naraku?
Sakumo was covered in blood, gasping for breath with difficulty, trying to distinguish the suddenly appearing figure.
He had lost most of his vision and couldn't see clearly, only relying on sensing the other party's Chakra to identify him.
Master!
Naraku looked at Sakumo, who was at his last gasp, and almost couldn't hold the knife in his hand tightly.
The latter's Chakra was already very faint in his perception, like the last spark remaining on burnt charcoal, about to be completely extinguished.
Why...?
He didn't know how Sakumo broke free from Kyoka Suigetsu; that was a genjutsu that absolutely couldn't be broken by oneself.
But the moment he saw Sakumo, he understood why he appeared in the Root and fought Danzo Shimura to a mutual defeat.
Why go to such an extent...?
Just for... me?
Naraku's eyes glowed even more with bloodlust. With a flick of his hand, he threw a knife that pinned Danzo, who was still barely clinging to life, to the wall.
The next instant, he appeared in front of the other party, gripping the hilt with both hands and driving the entire blade through him.
The force was so great that even the earthen wall behind Danzo cracked in several places, and blood spurted out, forming a grotesque giant red lotus on the wall.
Immediately, Naraku returned to Sakumo's side, fed him two soldier pills, and then, carrying the man who was much taller and heavier than himself, he ran rapidly up the rock face.
Sorry... that Naraku still has to rescue me...
Sakumo spoke intermittently, his voice as faint as a mosquito's hum; Naraku could barely hear him.
I originally thought... I could resolve things... very coolly... but I failed...
Naraku loudly stopped him from wasting energy: Don't talk!
Sakumo fell silent, his nearly stopping brain still struggling to think.
Since Naraku is fine, how was the genjutsu dispelled?
His body had also paused strangely several times just now, as if being blocked by an unknown entity.
It couldn't possibly be Danzo; he was clearly unaware of these things.
There's still someone hidden in the shadows, and he wants me to die by Danzo's hand.
With his last shred of strength, Sakumo issued a warning to Naraku.
Naraku... be careful... there are, other people...
Before he could finish speaking, his precarious heart trembled slightly, and the next instant, it was about to stop beating.
Sakumo's head drooped powerlessly.
Master!
How could Naraku not perceive all this? Just a second before Sakumo was about to die, his only option was to use popularity points to keep Sakumo's heart from stopping.
[Transmigrator, using popularity points on others will cost one hundred times the original amount]
Naraku almost roared: Use it quickly!
[Alright, current popularity points remaining: 26330. Can sustain target's vital signs for 263.3 seconds. Countdown has been activated for you.]
A moment later, Sakumo's heart began to beat again, weakly but stubbornly.
Naraku only took a little time to jump out of the huge cavern and return to the passage he had entered through.
Several Anbu members who had rushed over appeared before him. With no time to explain, he could only clear the way with Fire Release.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
Blazing flames filled every part of the passage. By the time the Anbu resisted with Water Release or Earth Release, their target had already disappeared from sight.
Naraku had no way to avoid his own Fire Release either. He used his remaining Chakra to protect Sakumo's mouth and nose, with no energy left to spare for himself.
A burning pain spread from his throat to his lungs, followed by the metallic taste of blood.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body only swaying slightly before he immediately forced himself to stop, continuing to move towards the Hospital.
Cannot stop... absolutely, cannot stop!
Once the popularity points are exhausted, Sakumo's life cannot be sustained. He has no time to waste...