Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 304 The Obstacle: Uchiha Itachi

With Naruto Uzumaki stepping in to ease the tension, Jiraiya presiding, and Kakashi Hatake deliberately staying on the ship to avoid Chiyo seeing his face and being upset, the exchange between the Konoha support forces and Sunagakure went smoothly.

As Tsunade's disciple, Sakura Haruno is very skilled at neutralizing the poison of Sunagakure puppeteers. She easily cleared Kankuro's poison and awakened his consciousness.

After Kankuro woke up, he immediately got out of bed, found his broken puppet, and took out a piece of black cloth from it.

This is a fragment he took from Sasori's clothes during the battle.

Kankuro said with difficulty, "It's Hiruko, it's the rogue ninja Akane—"

Chiyo raised her hand and placed it on Kankuro's shoulder, stopping him from continuing: "Kankuro, we already know that someone took his picture."

Kankuro relaxed, but his body, severely damaged by the toxins, could no longer support his spirit, and he fell into a coma again.

Having obtained specific information about the Fifth Kazekage's abduction, along with traceable clues, the support troops naturally set off immediately to pursue the enemy.

As a representative of Sunagakure, Chiyo also joined the pursuit.

Seeing the old woman who trembled with every step she took, Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh, "Chiyo, how did you get so old?"

"Back then, the three of us were bullied by you in the Land of Rain, and we were powerless to fight back."

"Especially the poison you used was incredibly potent. If it weren't for Tsunade's superior medical skills, I would have died in the sewers of the Land of Rain at the age of twenty."

Chiyo snorted coldly, not even deigning to speak to Jiraiya.

But the old lady's aloofness only lasted until she boarded the flying ship.

"Konoha's White Fang! Hatake Sakumo!"

The moment Chiyo saw Kakashi Hatake's face, her eyes stopped blurring. She instantly and miraculously recognized that the person with half his face covered was Shiroba Rebirth.

"Die, Konoha's White Fang!!"

Her legs stopped shaking, and with a flick of her wrist, she revealed three puppets, immediately engaging Kakashi in combat.

In that instant, Naruto Uzumaki, who was following Chiyo, transformed into a golden streak of light and appeared between the puppet and Kakashi Hatake.

After confirming that Chiyo had changed her target to him because he was blocking her path, Naruto activated [Swift Release].

To everyone else, Naruto simply moved his hair slightly, and the three puppets that rushed towards him turned into countless fragments.

Chiyo opened her eyes and retreated in horror, but "unfortunately" stepped in a pile of bird droppings. Her aging joints and nerves betrayed her brain, and she fell backward.

Just before the back of her head hit the ground, Naruto Uzumaki placed a soft pillow down, deflecting the force of the impact and saving Chiyo's head and life.

At this moment, Naruto revealed his signature warm smile and said, "Be careful, Elder Chiyo."

"You're the only Sand Village ninja on this ship. If you fall and are half-dead, it'll be hard for Konoha to explain."

.

"Also, the Konoha ninja you are going to attack is our Team 7 instructor, Jonin Kakashi Hatake, not his father, Jonin Sakumo Hatake."

"If you insist on playing dumb and using the excuse of not being able to see faces clearly to cover up your intention to take advantage of the situation and hurt people, I will have no choice but to report it to my teacher truthfully."

Chiyo hesitated for a moment before asking, "Isn't Kakashi Hatake your teacher?"

Naruto replied with a smile, "I already said that Kakashi-sensei is the teacher in charge of our Team 7."

The old woman asked with a gloomy face, "So, your teacher is even more powerful?"

Naruto proudly replied, "Of course, my master, Natsume."

Chiyo's gloomy expression vanished instantly. She rolled over and stood up, silently walking to the other side of the spaceship. She sat down facing the ship's railing, never glancing back at the Konoha ninja behind her.

Chiyo wasn't insane. She dared to attack Kakashi Hatake and yell at Naruto Uzumaki because of her seniority, but she would never dare to say a harsh word to the Fifth Hokage, Sasuke.

Because Xia Zuo really knows how to fight, and the entire Sand Village combined couldn't beat him.

So Chiyo could only sulk by herself.

Naruto Uzumaki picked up a pillow, exchanged a glance with Kakashi Hatake, raised an eyebrow and smiled, then walked into the cabin.

He took the pillow from his cabin and needs to return it.

Naruto stopped as soon as he entered the cabin, then looked down at Tenten standing by the cabin door and was tapped on the back of the head by her.

Tian Tian laughed and scolded, "You silly little brother, how could you throw your sister towards the door? It was scary, you know!"

Naruto Uzumaki grinned and said, "Hehe, Tenten-neechan won't let me get into any trouble."

Tian Tian glared at him: "You're lucky this time. I vented some of the bad luck on Chiyo first, otherwise you would have been in trouble."

Just now, when Naruto rushed into the cabin, Tenten was about to enter the cabin as well.

So he picked up his senior sister, placed her by the door on the inside of the cabin, and then went to get the pillow.

Although Naruto tried his best to be quiet and Tenten cooperated with him after noticing his movements, such high speed still caused great overload and made people feel uncomfortable.

Given Tenten's current state, even the slightest discomfort will naturally trigger a "misfortune reflex," bringing bad luck to the culprit, Naruto Uzumaki.

Fortunately, Tenten's "Five Elements Seed Life Foundation" technique had been successfully cultivated, which allowed her to control the misfortune to some extent, preventing Naruto from suffering a head injury while running at high speed.

Therefore, Naruto returned to Tenten immediately after the incident, letting his senior sister hit him on the head as a small punishment to end the bad luck connection.

Although it may seem casual, it is a very important and serious ritual. If it is not completed in time, one may be stuck in a state of "misfortune" for several months.

Naruto Uzumaki experienced what "misfortune" felt like. His life was completely disrupted by unexpected events. He could choke on a sip of water and pass out. It was a living hell.

Within the currently known scope, only the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, is able to completely ignore [misfortune] and will not encounter any accidents.

According to the Fifth Hokage, [Misfortune] is not considered a powerful effect; its influence is limited to the fixed target itself and does not involve the world or fate.

The effect of [Misfortune] is to change the target's attention and amplify the possibility of distorted actions; essentially, the target defeats itself.

As long as you can have perfect control over your body, without any distraction or distortion of your movements, the effect of [misfortune] will not be effective and will not produce any results.

Tenten and Naruto found Xia Zuo's description very appealing, but no matter how they tried to practice according to his method, they couldn't master it.

In the end, Naruto had no choice but to give up, then shouted, "Sensei is amazing! Long live Sensei!"

However, the daily "misfortune reflection" is indeed very troublesome, as it can be triggered by minor bumps and scrapes in daily life.

Xia Zuo could only research this simple ritual based on the "Five Spirits Seed Life Foundation". As long as Tian Tian is willing to cooperate, the "misfortune" can be easily removed.

After returning the pillow, Naruto went back to the deck with Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Tenten, Neji Hyuga, and...

Xiao Li stood with them, watching the oil woman extract pheromones from the scraps of cloth using parasites.

The parasitic insects, scattered all over the sky, quickly found the same pheromones and matched them with the direction Kankuro was chasing the enemy. The Konoha Village airship then began to follow the parasitic insects.

Sakura Haruno asked, "Aburame-senpai, so many days have passed, is it still possible to track them by scent?"

Aburame Torune replied with mechanical indifference, "Even in the desert, as long as there isn't a strong wind, we can track them down within ten days."

Xiao Li exclaimed, "This is even more amazing than Kiba Inuzuka's nose!"

Aburame Torune shook his head and said, "No, my parasitic insects are no match for the Inu family's ninja dogs or their ninjas in terms of scent tracking."

"It is only in tracking after a long period of time that parasites have an advantage because they can collect odor information from a wider range."

Little Li's eyes widened, and he exclaimed loudly, "So this is how powerful the parasitic bug is!"

The Konoha Chunin were chatting animatedly, but the two squad leaders didn't join in; they huddled together whispering to each other.

Naruto asked, "Senior, did you use [Unlucky] or [Nightmare] on Chiyo today?"

A daily laugh: "Stepping in bird poop is obviously bad luck."

Naruto was overjoyed upon hearing this and excitedly asked, "You can use the active Destiny Technique now? Did Master unseal it for you?"

Tian Tian nodded and said, "Yes, before Brother Xia Zuo set off again, he specially removed the seal from me. He also said that we might encounter a powerful enemy this time, and no matter who the enemy is, we cannot let our guard down."

Naruto's smile vanished, but his excitement grew stronger, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He licked his lips and said, "I wonder what kind of enemy they are. I hope they are as strong as possible so that Kurama and I can unleash our full power and truly feel where our limits are."

Tian Tian: "You brat, you're such a liar!"

"He looks like he's always smiling and gentle, as if he'll never get angry, but in reality he's a warmonger who thinks about how to fight all the time."

"Aren't you afraid of encountering an enemy you can't defeat, being defeated, or even losing your life?"

Naruto shook his head: "I'm not afraid at all. There aren't many enemies I can't beat."

"And with Kakashi-sensei and so many Jonin, plus your seal being released, I really don't know what kind of monster could possibly defeat you."

Naruto covered his mouth with his hand and whispered into Tenten's ear, "My teacher told me that if I encounter an enemy I can't beat, I should cling to Might Guy's leg."

Tian Tian was stunned: "Huh? How could it be Teacher Kai?"

"No matter how you look at it, Guy-sensei is no match for Kakashi-senpai. How could Xia-zuo-nii let you ask Guy-sensei for help?"

"This shouldn't be happening."

Naruto Uzumaki said seriously, "Absolutely right, Might Guy-senpai is the person our teacher said we can rely on in the end."

""

"And that's not all."

"The teacher also said that even if Kakashi-sensei and the others can't save me, someone will come to save me. Only if all else fails will I have to ask Might Guy for help."

"According to the teacher's habit, he always sorts them from weakest to strongest, so the hidden rescue ninjas must be stronger than Kakashi-sensei and the others."

"But why is Might Guy, who's with Kakashi-sensei, considered even stronger by the teacher?"

After thinking for a moment, Tian Tian said, "Teacher Kai doesn't know ninjutsu or genjutsu. He only knows taijutsu and the Eight Gates. The Eight Gates must be very powerful."

"I remember now, the training of the Eight Gates is to open the gates within the body. With each gate opened, one's strength increases."

Naruto suddenly realized, "I remember, Master once mentioned a term called 'Eight Gates Formation,' which must be the exclusive skill of the Eight Gates Formation."

Tian Tian's mouth opened slightly: "That should be it."

"But I really didn't expect that Guy-sensei would be such a powerful ninja."

"Sigh, what a pity, I can't learn Kai-sensei's physical skills at all."

The spaceship was fast enough to catch up with the scent within a day in less than an hour, making it no longer suitable for high-speed illegal tracking.

The rescue team then jumped off the spaceship, with Aburame Torune as the vanguard and Hyuga Neji following behind, and began ground pursuit.

Before long, they encountered enemy resistance.

Chiyo was overjoyed. Her biggest worry was that the journey would be smooth and that she would eventually find the Fifth Kazekage's body.

The fact that there was resistance proves that the Fifth Kazekage is still alive, and as long as he is alive, there is a chance to save him.

Chiyo has a secret weapon up her sleeve.

After dealing with several minor enemies, the Akatsuki took strong countermeasures.

The Akatsuki ninjas in their black and red uniforms stood in the middle of the desert, their powerful aura and terrifying killing intent forcing the support troops to stop.

What shocked the Konoha ninja even more was that the person blocking their way possessed a pair of scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan eyes, and was none other than the long-unseen Konoha rogue ninja Uchiha Itachi.

"It's an honor to meet you, Jiraiya-sama."

"It's been a long time, Kakashi-senpai, and... my little brother."

Itachi warily observed the rescue team before him, appearing calm and exuding an air of expertise, but deep down he had already given up hope.

Uchiha Itachi cursed inwardly: What kind of rescue team consists of six Jonin and one Kage-level ninja? This is clearly a team capable of wiping out a village!

Even if he were to attach his consciousness to an outer member, forming a special clone with one-third of the combat power, even if his true body were here, facing the lineup led by Jiraiya, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long despite his desperate efforts.

Jiraiya clicked his tongue: "As expected of the Akatsuki, but you alone can't stop us."

Chiyo glanced at him briefly before closing her eyes, and said with schadenfreude, "Is he Uchiha Itachi, who slaughtered all the Jonin of his clan back then? He's so young. Konoha is truly a blessed land that produces geniuses."

The tomoe in Itachi Uchiha's eyes spun rapidly, unleashing terrifying ocular power and oppressive aura.