Nindō 0054: Unexpected Enemy

The loud sound of metal scraping against metal resounded through the compartment, "Come on out, Konoha scum!" A deep voice grew closer as a tall man with his face covered by an Anbu mask stepped into the train compartment.

"Well, that's not very nice," Naruto said with a smile. The Suna-nin never even realized that the man was already in front of him, and the only sound that escaped his throat was a deep, pained scream as he was kicked in his abdomen and thrown out of the compartment, burying him into a small sand dune.

"Battle formation," The leader commanded as the assailants all surrounded the compartment. Naruto walked out and looked around to examine the numbers, which were bolstered by the presence of puppets who had taken up similar attires that included their faces being covered by turbans that extended down to the lower halves of their faces, revealing merely the eyes. That made them indistinguishable if not for Naruto's sensory abilities.

"I'm going to Suna on a diplomatic mission," Naruto said as Temari walked out from behind him, her large fan already drawn out. "This is the Kazekage's sister, and is going to meet with her beloved nephew, Shinki. I would like for you to escort us to Suna."

The leader exchanged a glance with the one who seemed like the second-in-command. Their hesitation stemmed not from Naruto's words but from the man's identity itself. As agents belonging to the Anbu, it was their job to have up-to-date information about the important people in the world. Especially the leaders of the most powerful hidden villages.

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki? The seventh Hokage of Konoha?" The leader asked, a hint of hope and apprehension betraying his internal turmoil.

"The one and only," Naruto said with a calm, non-threatening smile. "I also have a certain proposal from Konoha for the elder council."

The Anbu were visibly threatened by Naruto's agreement. With how aggressive their momentum was when intercepting the train from Konoha, they could never have imagined that they would run into a literal immovable wall. The worst part was that they knew that according to their mission, they could absolutely not allow Temari to reach Suna because that would cause another shift in the elders' stance toward Maki, arousing friction between her and her supporters in Suna and changing the political landscape.

Some of the more zealous ones were more confident in their abilities, ready to take on the hero of the world based on their numbers, but there were also people in the squadron who were intimately aware of the capabilities that the Seventh Hokage of Konoha possessed, having participated in the Fourth Ninja War.

"I don't have all night, guys. I would like to reach Suna by sunrise."

After some more hesitation, the leader seemed to make a decision as his eyes hardened, "I understand, Hokage. Please come with us." The man waited as Naruto shared an amused look with Temari.

The squadron essentially kept Naruto and Temari surrounded at all times as the leader and second-in-command walked in the center of the circular formation along with two puppets to keep an eye on the two.

"How long until we reach Suna?" Naruto asked the leader.

"Around three hours."

"I was ready for the fight of my life," Temari spoke, bored as she decided to make conversation.

"Perks of being the Hokage, I guess," Naruto shrugged as the two Anbu didn't add anything in. They didn't seem like they had any plans to say anything, "It was a little boring as well. I was looking forward to an ass whopping. In the end, it's only that guy who broke a few bones." He pointed at the first Anbu, who had broken into the compartment enthusiastically and a little stupidly. He was being supported by another ninja.

The journey passed by quietly for almost an hour before Naruto's senses picked up an irregular flow of chakra in his surroundings, "Hm?" He looked around, a little confused about the situation.

"Nine-tails," The shadow clone's eyes widened as he recognized the voice that came from the air. Instantly, the puppets that the Anbu were using all burst into action, stabbing their own owners. The Suna-nin could never have expected their own puppets to turn against them so instantaneously and couldn't even react as most of them were cut down. From the original squadron of twenty, fourteen were instantly taken down, leaving six who barely reacted in time to defend against the assault of the puppets. That included the leader.

One of the two puppets who were in the center with the leader and second-in-command attacked Temari and Naruto as the other moved to attack both the leader and his second-in-command. Temari reacted timely, blocking the attack with her fan as a violent gust of wind was released, pushing the puppet back before Naruto punched it, destroying it completely. As for the other puppet, the Second-in command was stabbed while the leader barely defended himself at the cost of an injury.

The clone reacted instantly, activating Sage Mode as natural chakra entered his body like water into a sponge. He moved to destroy the puppet that was attacking the leader. "Urashiki Ōtsutsuki," Naruto identified their assailant.

"Even if it is a mere fraction of the true Nine-Tails' chakra, it should be more than enough for my current requirements," The Ōtsutsuki appeared, flying above them and looking down with a naturally disdainful gaze.

Temari frowned, not feeling very good about Suna's Anbu being cut down in such a manner. But true to her identity as a battle-hardened veteran, she was ready to take on the coward who had ambushed them like that. That was when the Ōtsutsuki appeared in the air. "It's you!" She identified the man accurately, "You're the one responsible for putting my brother in that state!" She slammed her fan in Urashiki's direction, making the alien fly to the side to dodge the violent gust of wind.

"You heathens really are quick to resort to violence," Urashiki threatened as he waved his arm and made the puppets converge toward the six remaining ninjas. Just as he stabilized his position in the air, a painful kick jabbed right on his side, throwing him to the ground as he was buried in the sand. Temari waved her fan once again and released such a violent gust of wind that it formed a tornado that made all of the sand around them fly up into the air, reducing visibility by many factors.

"This doesn't work on me," Urashiki utilized his Byakugan to easily identify the positions of the puppets and the dead bodies alongside the six remaining Anbu.

"Neither does it work on me," Naruto laughed as he moved fast enough to make it seem like he appeared right beside Urashiki and punched his head. With his Sage Mode activated, it was child's play for Naruto to sense Urashiki's chakra and presence despite the sandstorm, and Temari knew it, which was why she didn't hesitate to deploy her jutsu.

"Troublesome," The alien was able to adapt and barely parried Naruto's attack, causing him to slide backward a little. As Naruto engaged Urashiki, the five Anbu, alongside their leader, were desperately fighting the puppets off under the limited visibility condition of the sandstorm before one of them noticed a flash of light in the corner of their vision. Moments later, their throat had been slashed by a wind blade.

"He can use the dead as puppets as well!" The leader shouted as he saw even more dead bodies standing up like puppets as they joined in on the assault, the initial surprise had already taken two of his people, leaving himself and his three underlings heavily outnumbered. Despite the four having very good skills, they weren't going to last long against their six dead comrades, along with the puppets.

As for Temari, she was the one who was forced to deal with the other ten dead Anbu, whom Urashiki was using as puppets. She slashed her fan at them, pushing four back as three charged at her while the other three threw kunai at her. She used her fan to block the kunai and waved it around to whack the three Anbu who were approaching her before generating multiple violent wind blades to deal with everyone once and for all.

"Fuck …" She cursed as she saw the puppets being unaffected by her attacks. They were being damaged, yes, but it didn't affect their fighting ability in the slightest. She'd already tried to cut off their chakra strings, which was impossible, telling her that Urashiki was using another method to control them. The whole situation was heavily disadvantageous for her.

As for Urashiki and Naruto, they were engaged in a Taijutsu battle as Urashiki slowly got used to Naruto's fighting style and slightly superior strength, making things difficult for the shadow clone.

"I really don't want to wake that grumbling fox up; it's like three in the night. Can't you just give up quietly or something?" Naruto said, using a Rasengan right at Urashiki's gut, the alien jumped up to dodge it only to be forced to barely block Naruto's kick with his arm as the blonde did a flip to attack him.

"Don't worry, I'll leave after I take the chakra that you have. You may be a clone, but there is a significant concentration of the fox's chakra within you as well, which will be perfect for my requirements.

Temari's scream reached Naruto's clone, making him narrow his eyes, "Great, all of those guys are completely useless, not only getting killed but even turning into puppets for the enemy …" He grumbled as he pulled on Kurama's chakra. Instantly, his black jacket and orange pants both took up a yellow tone as the markings of Sage Mode on his face turned black along with his whiskers. With Kurama's chakra cloak on him, Naruto's enhancement was significant enough that he was able to instantly send Urashiki flying with a surprise Rasengan before turning to Temari, who was barely holding on.

Naruto created multiple Big Ball Rasengans using pure chakra arms that were formed from his cloak. The light illuminated the surrounding sand as if the sun was already up before multiple explosions resounded out all around Temari, who found herself being enveloped in the warmth of Naruto's chakra. The sand was all forcefully blown away, leaving a calm desert alongside Naruto, a sphere having extended outward as it enveloped Temari's exhausted figure. None of the bodies remained, Naruto's attacks having vaporized them into the air, not even leaving their blood to dye the sand.

"Thank you … But no offense, couldn't you have done this before?" She asked, breathing slightly heavily as she stabbed her fan on the ground for support.

"Kurama grumbles if I wake him up at inopportune times," Naruto said casually. "Anyway, let's look for Urashiki to take care of him once —" Naruto's words were interrupted as his eyes widened, his instincts screaming at him about an incoming attack. He barely pulled out a Kunai to block a crimson hook that had appeared out of nowhere to stab at him. A weak groan pulled his attention as he saw an identical hook having stabbed through Temari. Just as he took in the scene, the hook was pulled away. Taking an ethereal ball of blue-colored chakra along with it. It passed into a pitch-black rift in space, making Naruto's clone click his tongue as he realized that Urashiki had utilized one of the Otsutsuki's signature space-time abilities, the Yomotsu Hirasaka.

"Fuck …" Temari groaned, falling down on one knee as she essentially lost all her chakra. "I couldn't even react to it."

"It's not surprising," Naruto said, kneeling beside her and helping her up. "The space-time ability that Ōtsutsuki just utilized is instantaneous and extremely difficult to counter without reflexes like mine or Sasuke's. Even I can get caught up in it if I'm not completely alert."

"Don't think that it's over, Kyūbi. I'm going to be back, stronger, once I'm done absorbing this chakra," Urashiki's taunting voice was the only thing that remained of the alien who had teleported himself away with his space-time ability.

***

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