Chapter no.21

Read 30+ chapters ahead on p.atreon p.atreon.com/Jeej_Jake_Jace

...

Sakura was the only one who was still there, and after she realized that Jiraya was looking at a particular Naruto and only this one, not the clones, Sakura made the decision to follow Jiraya. Jiraya was looking at a specific Naruto. Instead, it seems that he might be onto something here.

Alongside Kiba and Akamaru, the two were following a group of clones to track them down. A gathering?  Instead, it's more like an army made of clones. Kiba and Akamaru were making rapid progress in their direction towards them.

"Come on, Naruto! "YOU CANNOT KEEP RUNNING AT THIS PACE FOREVER!" Kiba Shouted

"ARFF!"  Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Try to prevent me, you mutt boy!" Naruto mocked

In a fit of rage, Kiba let out a low growl and muttered, "Enough was enough; it's time to bring out the special move."

"That Wraps It Up! AKAMARU!  "FANG OVER FANG NOW!" Kiba ordered POOF!

With a grin on his face, Akamaru transformed into an exact replica of Kiba.

Kiba and Akamaru simultaneously moved towards all of the clones in a drill-like fashion.

"FANG OVER FANG!" Kiba yelled it out.

As time went on, each of the clones broke off on their own.

POOF!\sPOOF!\sPOOF!\sPOOF!

Endlessly, endlessly.  The number of clones began to decrease, going from hundreds to tens and then to five. As soon as all of the clones were finally eliminated, it became abundantly clear that the genuine Naruto was not any one of these imposters at all.

The very last clone vanished into thin air.

POOF!

Akamaru turned back into Kiba.

Kiba and Akamaru fell to the ground simultaneously, with Kiba fuming that his genuine blonde friend had never been associated with these clones in the first place.

"DAMN IT!  "HE WASN'T HERE!" Kiba screamed  Akamaru's fury caused him to sniff a little bit, and he found the scent of Naruto. The only question is where and from which clone he got it.

"*Sniff**Sniff* Arff! Arff!" Akamaru Alerted

Kiba changed his angry expression into one that was more calm and perplexed as he looked down at what he had done.

"What's wrong, Akamaru?" Kiba inquired, holding out hope that Akamaru had discovered something about Naruto.

"Arff! Arff!"  Akamaru Explained

"YOU FOUND NARUTO!" In light of this information, Kiba made the decision to take a whiff for himself. " After some time, Kiba was successful in tracking down Naruto's scent. "WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" Kiba yelled, and with that in mind, both he and Akamaru leaped in the direction of Naruto's position (with Neji, Lee, and Tenten).

The three were moving quickly in the direction of all of the clones of Naruto. Even though Naruto divides his chakra among all of his clones and makes sure that each of them has an equal amount of chakra in order to try to fool Neji, Neji is able to remember how much chakra Naruto had before he split it up with his clones. Using the fact that Naruto also possesses the Kyuubi Chakra, he was able to determine which of the two Narutos was most likely the real one.

Lee and Tenten decided to stay behind Neji because they were aware that if they followed him, he might be able to direct them to the real Naruto.

"NEJI-KUN!  "HAVE YOU FOUND NARUTO YET?" Lee Asked

"YES!  I believe that I have found several cloned versions of Naruto. "THE OTHERS ARE SIMPLY REPRODUCTIONS, AND THE ONES WITH THE RED CHAKRA ARE MOST LIKELY THE ORIGINAL ONES." Neji drew attention to the duplicates.

"YOSH!  "NARUTO SHALL BE FOUND BY US!" Lee let out a sigh of relief: "I'll keep an eye out for duplicates just in case one of them turns out to be Naruto." ALRIGHT!"  Tenten yelled, and Lee and Neji nodded in response.

After saying that, Tenten sped up and followed the other clones, while Neji and Lee stopped the individuals they thought were the genuine Naruto.

"LEE!  THROW THEM!"  Neji Ordered

"YOSH!  NEJI!"  Lee Replied

Neji proceeded to go in front of the Kunais, whereupon Lee threw hundreds of them into the air, allowing Neji to begin the clan's top-secret move.

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS AND SIXTY-FOUR PALMS!" Neji Shouted

Neji was surrounded by a sphere of blue chakra at the same time that he was striking the bases of the Kunai with his palms in order to launch them towards the clones. These Kunai were blunt, so even if they did cut Naruto, it wouldn't be anything that Tsunadae couldn't fix. These were also chakra-infused Kunai, which meant that even if they only made light contact with Naruto, they would still be able to scatter the chakra of the clones. using it to spread the clones throughout the world.

POOF!\sPOOF!\sPOOF!\sPOOF!\sPOOF!

As quickly as they appeared, the clones that were supposed to be the genuine Naruto vanished. As it turns out, the genuine Naruto is not present at all and has never been.

Tenten arrived shortly thereafter to meet her other two teammates and talk about what had occurred.

"Did you find him yet?" When Tenten asked, "No, we haven't, they're all clones," the response was "No." In his response, Neji cast his gaze downward towards the ground. "We have to get back; the others may have found Naruto," Sasuke said with disappointment. Neji finished

After that, the three people got in their vehicles and drove back to the location where the rest of the group was waiting for them.

(With Kakashi and Sasuke)

Both Sasuke and Kakashi were engaged in combat with the clones, and they were successful in entrapping them. They were standing in the middle of them, with Kakashi on one side and Sasuke on the other.

"That's all I can take, Naruto! in my capacity as both your Sensei and your Junior Instructor! "I command you to immediately put an end to this childish behavior!" While adopting a combat stance, Kakashi issued the order.

"YEAH RIGHT!"  One of the clones yelled, "IN THE EVENT THAT YOU WISH TO RETURN US TO KONOHA! "You Will Have to Force Us to Do It!" Someone else yelled, "IF YOU CAN FIND THE REAL ONE THAT IS!?" Another clone jeered at him in a mocking manner.

Sasuke leaped into the air and landed high above the clones, several feet away from them. While in midair, Sasuke performed a jutsu by making multiple hand signs at the same time.

"FIREBALL JUTSU!"  Sasuke yelled while hurling a large chunk of fire in the direction of the clones.

The clones' expressions changed to ones of shock and astonishment; they prepared to flee but realized that the fireball was already too close to them. They were soon consumed by the entire fireball, which caused the clones to disperse.

POOF!

At this point, none of the clones could be found, and it seemed as though Naruto wasn't even present.

"That had the potential to severely injure Naruto; are you aware of that?" Kakashi gently reminded him, saying in a low voice, "This is what he gets for abandoning the village and me!" When Sasuke responded, there was a note of annoyance in his voice. "There is no sign of Naruto here." We need to get back to the place where the others are waiting for us. "Is there any hope that they found Naruto?" Kakashi guessed, Sasuke nodded

After that, both Sasuke and Kakashi started running in the direction of the place where they were going to meet the other members of their group.

"Sensei.  I will not fail you. Those who are closest to me will always have my protection. I promise."  Kakashi's thoughts wandered to a depressing place.

"Naruto.  I need you to return because you're my brother. "I have no one but you." Concerned thoughts crossed Sasuke's mind.