The enemies had used an explosive tag!
A fearsome weapon, even for a chunin reluctant to waste his resources.
BOOM!
The explosion echoed, deafening.
Sako felt her body hurled into the air.
"Did I just get blown up?!"
"No, not now—!"
"I'm just a kid—!"
SPLAT.
Sako landed face-first on the ground: "Ouch—!"
"Come on, kids, keep running!"
The sadistic laughter of the enemies echoed all around them.
Sako tried to move and realized she still had her arms and legs.
"Phew..."
Sitting on the ground, she looked behind her.
The explosion had set the surrounding bushes ablaze.
The air, warped by heat, shimmered with smoke.
Standing tall in the grass, Naruto's upright figure stirred a strange emotion in Sako.
But the next moment, her mood plummeted.
"This guy..."
Pale-faced, Sako watched Naruto take up a combat stance.
"He's not actually thinking of fighting all five enemies by himself, is he?"
Indeed, by her count, there were five of them.
"It's over—!"
Uzumaki Naruto had lost his mind.
His paranoid delusions were driving his actions.
Despite his apparent calm, it was just the result of self-hypnosis, a symptom of his psychosis... no, of his chuunibyou.
Even though it was her fault they'd ended up in this situation—if she hadn't suggested hunting wild boar, none of this would have happened.
But still...
If she'd known how far gone he was, she would never have taken him outside ~~~!
They should've been in Konoha's hospital getting his brain examined!
And now he wanted to fight five enemies alone?
He probably imagined he'd defeat them all.
...It was hopeless.
Sako sighed.
"Let's run, Uzumaki Naruto..."
Sako motioned to him. If they pushed themselves, maybe they could still escape their pursuers.
Naruto: "Run?"
That word seemed to trigger an instinctive reaction.
Naruto turned his back to Sako.
He slightly turned his head, and in the darkness, Sako couldn't quite make out his face.
But at that moment, she felt—as if it were an illusion—that Naruto's blue eyes glowed with a piercing light.
The next instant, Naruto drew a kunai and threw it with an incredibly cool pose.
—Even though it was completely useless.
The weapon flew off-course, accomplishing nothing, plunging Sako into despair.
"Look at that, the kid doesn't even know how to throw a kunai!"
The five Kiri ninjas burst out laughing, mocking him.
But what happened next shut them up instantly.
Naruto stepped forward and charged.
With a kick, he sent the first enemy flying.
The dull impact came with a sickening crack—the enemy was launched into the air.
This scene of the "flying man" reminded Sako of the first time she met Naruto, when he had done the exact same thing.
Thud.
Landing, Naruto adjusted the goggles hanging around his neck.
They were meant to hide his eyes, now transformed into scarlet red slit pupils.
"This kid...!"
The four remaining enemies instantly backed off, preparing to fight.
Shhh—!
A sword sliced through the air.
"Watch out—!!"
Before Sako could even scream, Naruto crouched swiftly.
The blade sliced the air above his head.
Naruto lunged forward, slamming straight into the enemy.
The enemy was thrown against a rock, which shattered like glass.
Naruto picked up the fallen sword.
With a sharp motion, he threw it, impaling another enemy.
"Three left..." Naruto muttered.
"What... but..."
Is this really Uzumaki Naruto?
Sako, witnessing the scene, was stunned.
Naruto's movements rivaled those of the most seasoned ninja.
He then rushed into the fray, engaging in close combat.
Shouts, the hiss of weapons, the sounds of struggle... it was a scene Sako had never seen before.
She had believed Naruto was completely nuts, but now she had to face the truth: what he was showing was real.
Standing in the wind, hair tousled, Sako watched the sparks fly, the scent of burned explosive tags stinging her nose...
"So this is the world of shinobi..."
When the last enemy collapsed, Naruto relaxed.
This fight had been risky for him.
He had only used a tiny fraction of the Nine-Tails' chakra, without forming the chakra cloak or sprouting any tails. One mistake, and he could've been seriously injured.
But if he had unleashed his tailed form in front of Sako, the consequences would have been unpredictable.
"D-damn kid..."
A Kiri ninja on the ground lifted his head, stunned that they'd lost to a single child.
"You think this is over? Heh..."
Then he collapsed.
"Let's go." Ignoring the villain cliché, Naruto headed toward Sako, gesturing for her to follow.
"Okay..."
After what had just happened, Sako followed him instinctively.
On the way, Sako observed Naruto's back, torn between familiarity and strangeness.
She didn't know what kind of environment he'd grown up in.
Her mother had told her he had always been alone, his parents dying to save the village.
In other words, he must've survived like a stray dog or cat, in cruel conditions.
Because there was no way Naruto had ever left the village on missions and fought real enemies...