Double-transformation: I, Sakura Haruno! Will crush the pirates!

What a joke!

I just finished a mission to hunt down the undead duo, and now that I'm finally back in the village, I haven't even had a chance to sit on the sofa and cushions properly before I have to go on another mission!

Absolutely not. Even if she starves to death, dies here, or jumps off a building outside, it's absolutely not...

"Don't try to fool me! Your parents aren't even home."

Tsunade remained calm, picked up the cold tea on the table and took a sip. "Moreover, Asuma's plea for help is related to the sealed-off capital of the Land of Fire. Your parents are currently trapped there with Asuma."

Sakura's hand, which was reaching for the doorknob, froze in mid-air. Her breathing quickened for a moment, and her vision went black.

--broken!

After a long while, Sakura, who had caught her breath, mechanically walked back to her desk.

"On another note..." Sakura grasped Tsunade's hand, a bright smile spreading across her face.

"Let's talk about the mission, Tsunade!"

Chapter 271 The Capital City in Turmoil

Late 67th year of Konoha, in the capital of the Land of Fire, in the entertainment district.

It was nighttime, a time when the nobles and dignitaries of the Land of Fire would come to relax and unwind.

All sorts of people wander through the streets and alleys, hoping to find some sensual pleasures to enjoy the night in this legal hunting ground.

Under the cover of night, a figure approached from afar and entered the neon-lit street.

The pursuers behind him were thrown off course by the chaotic atmosphere once they entered the area of ​​the red-light district.

In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the person they were chasing blended into the crowd and disappeared.

The person being tracked changed his appearance several times while wandering through the crowd, and finally stopped in front of a dilapidated house in a remote area of ​​Flower Street.

After looking around to make sure there were no more pursuers, he climbed over the wall and entered the yard.

"Hmm? Mr. Asuma, you're back!"

Those who were already resting inside the house immediately became alert upon discovering someone had entered.

However, he breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Asuma's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have disturbed your rest!"

The hooded man removed his disguise, revealing his face to be Asuma.

The woman, who was also in the room, brought the food she had prepared in advance to Asma and said, "Have something to eat. You've had a long day."

"grateful!"

Asma took the roasted potato, broke it in half, and ate it.

He exhaled hot air as he turned his gaze to the two of them, "I've already relayed the news about this place to Konoha, and... Sakura will be arriving here soon!"

"Sigh, I'm such a failure as a father, causing my child so much trouble!" The starfish-haired man sat back down in his chair, covered his face, and sighed deeply.

“Looks like we’re going to cause her a lot of trouble.” Haruno Mebuki, who had the same expression as Haruno Chō, shook her head.

"Haha, back then I actually hoped the old man would rely on me more, at least so I could feel that he no longer saw me as a child!"

Asma put the scalding hot potato in his mouth and breathed hot air to comfort the two people in front of him.

The story of how the three met began a few days ago.

Having completed the mission assigned by the daimyo, Asuma returned to the capital of the Land of Fire to report back and collect his reward.

To his surprise, the person who greeted him at the capital palace was none other than his old friend and horse, who had returned to public life after going into hiding.

When the two broke out in battle, Asuma was ambushed and defeated by a wandering monk who appeared out of nowhere. He was then imprisoned and locked up with Haruno and his wife, who were also being held captive.

After talking with the Haruno couple, I learned that because their identities were exposed, they were arrested by Kazuma's men on the day the capital was sealed off, and they had been imprisoned ever since until Asuma was imprisoned.

Then, in a mysterious explosion in the capital, Asuma escaped from prison with the two of them, but they were unable to leave because the capital of the Land of Fire was surrounded by a huge barrier.

In the end, in order to escape the relentless pursuit of the enemy, they had no choice but to temporarily hide in the entertainment district while trying to contact Konoha and request support!

"Kazuma wants to capture you to threaten Sakura. During this time, the two of you must stay here and not go out."

Asuma took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag. "The person in charge of Yoshiwara and I have a life-or-death relationship. I can trust him. He will send someone to deliver food and daily necessities."

"Okay, we'll definitely pay attention!"

Haruno Chō patted his chest to assure him, then looked up at the bright moon outside the window, his thoughts drifting to the distant Konoha.

Along with him, Sakura and her group, who were rushing from Konoha, were also looking up at the sky.

Naruto, leaping through the bushes and running at the front of the group, comforted the girl in front of him, "Sakura-chan, don't worry too much, your parents will be alright!"

"I'm relieved that they have Asuma-senpai protecting them, but you... sigh." Sakura sighed deeply.

With the Akatsuki members hunting down Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, it would be unwise to send Naruto, such a large target, out of the village.

But this isn't entirely Tsunade's fault; she mainly couldn't stand Naruto's relentless pursuit of her while he was on a D-rank mission with the ninja academy students.

Naruto's daily tasks consisted of either cleaning the river or catching cats and dogs, a stark contrast to the missions his classmates and teammates, who were all Chunin and Jonin, performed. This made Naruto, who was already restless due to his excessive use of Yang Release, extremely uncomfortable.

Finally, after gathering two Jonin, Kakashi and Sakura, to look after him, Tsunade agreed to let him participate in this mission.

"Well, it's rare for our class to get together to carry out a mission, isn't this great?" Kakashi was in a very Zen-like state of mind, so he stepped forward to smooth things over.

Since Team 7 rose to fame in the Chunin Exams two and a half years ago, Kakashi has enjoyed immense success.

Even though he had an extremely high "return rate" among his subordinates, he couldn't withstand the fact that he could take down a Jonin and a Jonin who was about to be promoted with each move.

His previous act of sending people back to the ninja academy was also interpreted as an extremely strict selection of geniuses, which made many parents in Konoha who had children attending the ninja academy frantically pursue him, wishing that this "famous teacher of Konoha" could come to their homes to appraise their treasures.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering, huh? Naruto is in your care then!"

Upon hearing this, Kakashi's face immediately fell. Clearly, as the Jonin leading Team 7, he knew how difficult Naruto, a ninja who never followed mission rules, was to deal with.

With the speed of three ninjas, they arrived at the outskirts of the Land of Fire's capital in just one hour.

The carefree Naruto wanted to go forward, but Sakura grabbed him.

"Wait, there's a barrier!"

"It's the same type of barrier as the village's!"

Using his Observation Haki, Kakashi saw a hemispherical barrier in his field of vision, and his expression became somewhat serious.

As the financial and commercial center of the entire Land of Fire, the capital should have maintained maximum transportation convenience.

But now, the appearance of a military-grade protective barrier, just like that of Konoha, made Kakashi sense an impending storm.

"Did the information sent back say anything else?" Kakashi turned his gaze to Sakura.

"No, it only says that there is a change in the capital and that they are asking for help. It is very short and the handwriting is messy. It must have been sent out urgently while they were being pursued."

Sakura recalled the plea for help that Tsunade had shown her and shook her head at Kakashi.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think about it anymore. Wood Release: Wood Golem..."

The girl formed hand seals, and a massive amount of chakra surged up, creating a fierce gust of wind that stung Naruto's face.

"Wait a minute, aren't you alerting them by doing this?!"

Kakashi formed a hand seal, quickly stepped forward, grabbed Sakura's fingers, and a flash of lightning slightly impeded her chakra, allowing her to stop releasing the jutsu.

"It's alright, as long as we take out all the witnesses, it'll be a perfect infiltration!" With her parents in front of her, Sakura became a little impatient.

"This barrier is triggered. Once there's the slightest disturbance, the whole city will notice. Are you planning to go in and massacre the city?" Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Sakura, stroking her chin, seriously considered his suggestion: "It's not impossible."

"You..." Kakashi was so choked up he couldn't speak.

When it comes to the initial saint, he doesn't support anyone else, he only supports Haruno Sakura!

Just as the two were arguing, someone inside the barrier came looking for the chakra that had just erupted.

Kakashi and Sakura immediately stopped arguing, exchanged a glance, and their smiles gradually became more unrestrained.

—The method of infiltration came to me on its own!

Chapter 272 The False Nine-Tails Jinchuriki

"Survey the surrounding area and find the source of the chakra burst!"

The man with two stripes of paint on his face and purple spiky hair gave orders to the wandering ninjas behind him.

"Yes, Lord Fudo!"

Several wandering ninjas bowed to him and then dispersed to search the outskirts of the capital.

And right in front of them, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi stood right under each other's eyes.

"What...what's going on?"

Naruto was both curious and afraid. Finally, he mustered up his courage and waved his hand in front of the man, but the man still did not react.

"Just a little bit of illusion and a little bit of aura."

Sakura winked at Naruto and raised her hand, pinching her index finger and thumb together.

At best, it's just using a powerful and meticulously crafted aura to force the weak to voluntarily relinquish their perception of immense danger, and then using illusions to conceal their presence.

After saying that, she stepped forward, her fingertips glowing with blue arcs of electricity, and pressed them against the purple-haired man's chest.

"Huh? Not good!"

When Bu Dong finally glimpsed the smiling face of the girl beneath the illusion, it was already too late.

The tiny electric current imbued with life by Yang Release chakra flowed into his body, causing him to tremble violently. After a spasm, a strange 'hoarse' sound came from his throat, and a large amount of white smoke billowed from the top of his head.

"Wow, I didn't know you had this kind of hobby, Sakura..."

Seeing that he was not moving, Naruto crossed his arms and took a few steps back, shivering.

"This is my first time doing this, so I'm still a little clumsy!"

Two blushes appeared on the girl's delicate cheeks as she retorted irritably.

"So, if you didn't intend to torture him, what were you originally planning to do?"

Kakashi stroked his chin, sizing up the man in front of him. He had heard of the name Fudo before.

I once heard Asuma mention that this person was a radical member of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas when we were having tea together.

So, who were those people behind this strange event in the Land of Fire?

"Take us into the barrier, then find a safe place!"

Sakura snapped her fingers in front of Fudo, and the man, whose eyes had rolled back and head was tilted back, immediately lowered his head.

He walked stiffly to the barrier, opened a passage with his hands forming a hand seal, and gestured to Naruto and Kakashi as if he were a puppet on a string.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, don't you think Sakura looks a little scary like this?"

Naruto moved closer to Kakashi, covering his mouth with the back of his hand and chirping softly.

"Naruto." Kakashi patted him on the shoulder, giving him a thumbs-up with a smile in his eyes, "Good luck to you!"

"what?"

Naruto was taken aback, sensing the cold sensation behind him with his poor Observation Haki.

The blond boy turned around and gave a smirk.

Hey, can we reconcile?

"You brat, enough talk, take this Iron Fist of Love!"

A fist, stained black with domineering energy, slammed into Naruto's head, knocking him to the ground.

A few minutes later, Fudo, carrying the bruised and battered Naruto, led Sakura and Kakashi to a temple in the capital.

"Hey, with this many ninjas, are you sure this place is safe?"

As Kakashi stepped into the temple plaza, he sensed the ninjas guarding the temple and, in his shock, even removed the headband covering his Sharingan.

The entire temple was surrounded by countless chakra dots, roughly estimated to be several hundred people—enough to start a ninja war. No wonder the controlled Fudo instinctively considered this the safest place.

"This is troublesome; were the instructions too vague?"