Chapter 044

The girl brushed it aside and smirked at him. "I can move just fine on my own, thank you very much. But I'll let you point the way. You seem to know what you're doing."

Grinning proudly at the voice of confidence, Naruto hopped down the station while Tayuya used the nearby ladder. Once both of them were on the main road passing over the dam between the two sides of the river, the pair quickly made their way over to the village's side to get a good shot of the banks bursting.

However, just as they were starting to get traction in their retreat, a group of figures up ahead caused them to stop.

Standing beside a line of railway tracks used by workers to transport goods from one side of the dam to the other, there stood a short man in a suit and sunglasses, flanked by three noticeably taller cronies who were each armed with swords. A mini tram waited alongside them within jumping distance, a sight that told the two kids that the group in front of them must have used it to make their way to this point of the structure smack bang in the center.

The man with the rat like mustache and shades smirked when he saw the duo stop, the trembling at their feet caused by the imploding dam becoming more prominent. "So you're the two little mice running around and causing all the trouble? Honestly, from what I've been hearing about you, the so-called demon kid, I expected you to be taller."

"Likewise," Naruto shot back when his once puzzled expression deteriorated into an irate scowl. "So you're Gato, I presume?"

"Correct," the boss replied while adjusting his tie, tapping his cane to the floor and laying both hands comfortably on top of it. "I am Gato of Gato International; the boss of the company and chief overseer of all industries, trade and networks operating underneath the banner."

"Normally when meeting a famous person I would say 'nice to meet you' just like everybody else. But after hearing about your organization and what you've been doing here in this country, you don't even deserve a 'fuck you'," Naruto replied with a smirk, before jabbing a finger in his direction, "But I'll say it anyway. Fuck you, you short-ass prick!"

"My, such kind words. It's exactly what I'd expect from a street punk and his cohort," Gato chuckled, tilting his head at the pair glaring him down. "You've been busy."

"Yeah. You wouldn't believe how exciting my day has already been. It's been real fun beating up all those dimwits and dumbasses you call henchmen," Naruto replied sarcastically. Unlike those other dozens of cannon fodder that had been more of a bother than a challenge, at least Jako got him to work up a sweat. The blonde slammed a fist into his open palm with a loud thump, a clear sign that he was pumped and ready for more, "Would you like to join them in the hospital wing? I heard there're still plenty of beds to be filled."

Gato gritted his teeth and backed up a little, but then remembered he still had several more cards left to play. He smirked back at the blonde after seeing him step towards them from a safe several yards away. "You talk big, brat. Care to back that up with action?"

"Sure. Give me your best shot," the jinchuriki replied while waving a hand, beckoning them to bring it on. "Ready when you are."

"Oh, I won't be doing the fighting today. No sir. That's why I have these dogs to do it for me," Gato replied while gesturing grandly to a smirking Zori, Waraji, and the faceless samurai with the raven perched on his shoulder. "These men take out the trash and guard their master's interests. Disposing of you should be no problem."

"I bet that's exactly what the other guy thought before I cracked his skull open," Naruto chuckled, rolling his head around and stretching his neck. "I'll give you points for trying. So who's going to be my next opponent?"

Gato grinned across at the cocky blonde. "Crow!"

The samurai wearing the basket clicked his sword and strode forward, the raven on his shoulder flapping its wings once before taking off. The sight of the big black bird taking flight prompted the swallow on Naruto's shoulder to also leave, not wanting to be around for the next show about to take place. The two birds went and situated themselves on the nearby railings, finding themselves the perfect seats for the bout. It was definitely going to be a big one.

Naruto surveyed his foe, finding his appearance quite intriguing. He'd never fought a samurai before, not to mention someone who actually looked as impressive as he was. His shadow alone had the academy student slide his feet out and widen into a steadier stance.

"So you're the Crow oji-san and the villagers were talking about," Naruto murmured, smiling when he saw the man's covered head lower. "Damn, you really are scary. Maybe now I'll finally be able to have a descent fight."

"Be careful what you wish for, boy," Gato spoke up over the stand-off with a confident smile in play. "The result it amounts to may leave you in a state of regret, if not complete and utter despair."

Expression twitching momentarily, Naruto's face then lit up with sudden and clear realization. "Oh, that's right!" Flexing his fingers, the blonde then slapped his hands together to form the snake seal, quickly followed by dragon and tiger. This precise combination of signs not only caught Tayuya's but also the opposition's attention, "While we're still on the subject of the fight, I think it would make things a lot more interesting if we raised the stakes a little."

Gato, familiar with the concept of ninjutsu for shinobi, reversed some more after seeing the youngster flip through the seals. "What the hell are you talking about? What are you doing?"

"Nothing much." As carefree as Naruto's response was, both Gato and Tayuya shivered from head to toe when they saw the mischievous and sinister grin suddenly spread across his face. Matters were made that much worse when he ran his tongue across his upper lip, "I'm just going to collapse this dam into the river."

"W-Wait… WHAT?!" Tayuya shouted, looking up at the boy in alarm.

"Did you really think that all I did inside your funhouse was run around, torment your employees, sabotage your lines and bust in a wall to flood the place?" Naruto asked in an almost maniacal voice that had the bad guys standing in his path visibly back peddle, all except for the samurai in black. "Hell no! I'm not that transparent, nor am I that stupid to waste time doing meaningless bullshit that can just as easily be cleaned up. I spent the first hour sprinting up and down this God-forsaken constipation from one station to the next, planting explosives in every corner I could find. I laid out over a hundred bombs throughout this wall, all set to detonate on my command."

Everybody's jaws went slack, especially Gato's.

"Oh shit," Waraji choked, looking down at his feet. "That means we're…"

His partner in the beanie growled and pointed at the antagonist. "He's bluffing! Fucking smart-aleck… there's no way he had the time to do that!"

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Naruto asked snidely, seeing the men start sweating buckets where they were standing. "Back in my home village, just for the shits and giggles of it, I was able to hit every single person at the same time across two kilometers of suburbs in one morning with only a box of fireworks and a fuck ton of peanut butter. You should have seen the reviews I got for the stunt; I was ducking and dodging angry civilians for weeks."

Naruto recalled wanting to pull off a prank like that for months. A full day before launch was spent gathering all the materials he needed and then, in the span of about three hours, he rigged every bedroom inside of Konohagakure's suburban areas to blow. Every villager within earshot of each other was rudely awoken at the crack of four by the sounds of gunfire going off under their beds, the mattresses of which were propelled feet off the ground and tossed all about the room, depending on the positioning of the charges. It didn't take whole neighborhoods to figure out who it was behind the unexpected attack, with hundreds upon hundreds of disgruntled adults setting out on a quest to collect the head of the one responsible as a trophy.

That was one of the best weekends Naruto ever had.

"Now, imagine me doing that, but with tons of explosives," the jinchuriki exclaimed.

"You sneaky little cretin," Gato growled, bringing his cane up and pointing it at the blonde. "Don't think you'll get away with this!"

"I'll definitely get away with this. You'll see," Naruto replied at level. "Fact is; I want you to see me get away with this."

"Don't bullshit with me you son of a bitch! You're still on the dam! You blow it; you send us ALL to hell!" Knowing that he had him cornered with this, Gato pressed home his advantage. "Get it? Boom! Us dead. You dead. Everybody loses. Even you're not that fucking crazy. Be serious for a moment!"

Blinking in confusion, Naruto then flashed the short man a sly smile, which had Tayuya leaning away at its intensity.

"What are you talking about? I am serious…"

The girl looked at him in panic, "No! WAIT!"

"Katsu!"

The ground shook violently beneath both parties as one after the other in rapid succession the explosives strewn throughout the dam went off. Looking across and over the side, Gato saw the walls of his magnificent creation crack from blasts inside the structure detonating outwards, with the most intense explosion occurring just next to them. The explosion hurled black smoke and bits of concrete through the air, choking up the air space and letting everyone know that the stupidest decision that could have ever been made was made. Everyone except for Naruto and the samurai in black looked upon the rising cloud of destruction in disbelief.

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