Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Inside Naka Shrine, ANBU lay unconscious everywhere.

Every corner of the underground chamber was littered with fallen bodies.

Yet Naruto felt no sense of accomplishment whatsoever.

Instead, he was becoming increasingly anxious.

"Wood Release: Four-Pillar Prison Technique!"

Massive wooden beams erupted from the ground, rapidly forming a giant wooden cage around Naruto.

"Damn it!"

Naruto cursed under his breath.

Yet instead of dodging, he suddenly hurled a handful of shuriken into the air.

They shot toward a purple-haired ANBU lying half-conscious against a nearby wall.

Clang!

The leading shuriken struck with incredible precision.

The kunai she was driving toward her own chest was knocked flying from her hand.

Before she could react—

A second shuriken hidden behind the first arrived instantly.

Slash!

It cut across her wrist.

Her hand immediately went limp, leaving her unable to apply force.

But at the same time, Naruto's body became trapped inside the wooden prison.

"You are seriously annoying!"

"Haven't you noticed your comrades are trying to kill themselves?"

The Wood Release user remained calm.

"They're simply using a reasonable method to delay you."

"Judging by the results, they're more effective than my techniques."

"Quite impressive, actually."

Hearing that indifferent response, Naruto spun around and glared furiously at the ANBU who was already weaving hand seals again.

Before Naruto could smash through the prison—

Another ANBU had already picked up a ninja blade and started another throat-slitting game.

"Will you people ever stop!?"

Naruto immediately formed a hand seal.

Bang!

A Shadow Clone appeared.

The clone launched itself across the room and delivered a flying kick toward the suicidal ANBU.

The man wasn't stupid.

His previous attempt at slitting his own throat had been deliberately slow.

Slow enough for Naruto to intervene.

The moment Naruto's clone kicked away the sword—

The ANBU immediately counterattacked.

Boom!

A powerful strike dispersed the clone instantly.

Although Naruto knew it couldn't be helped—

For the first time in his life, he genuinely felt that Shadow Clones being one-hit kills was an awful weakness.

Of course, if Shadow Clones could talk, they'd probably complain too.

Back in the Academy, Naruto had relied on them to dominate six straight years.

And now he was suddenly dissatisfied?

"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall..."

While Naruto was distracted using a Shadow Clone, the Wood Release user completed another technique.

Additional wooden barriers erupted outward, reinforcing the prison around him.

"You're definitely the most troublesome one here!"

With two layers of Wood Release surrounding him, brute force alone wasn't enough.

Naruto gathered senjutsu chakra in his palm.

A Rasengan instantly formed.

Boom!!

Wood chips exploded everywhere.

Naruto blasted directly through the prison and charged straight toward the Wood Release user.

He had already made up his mind.

This guy needed to be knocked unconscious first.

Unlike the suicidal ANBU near the stairs, these people hadn't had their minds overwritten a second time.

At least they weren't actively trying to die.

Knocking them out was enough.

Unfortunately—

The other side wasn't stupid either.

The Wood Release user immediately retreated.

Other ANBU stepped forward to cover him.

Although the first ANBU in Naruto's path was punched so hard his mask flew off—

The Wood Release user vanished back into the formation.

By the time Naruto tried to pursue him again—

The ANBU who had previously attempted suicide with the sword had already recovered the kunai Naruto knocked away earlier.

This time he aimed directly for his temple.

Seeing this scene, Naruto nearly exploded.

Using the Flying Thunder God marker on a previously thrown shuriken, he instantly teleported beside the man.

Bang!!

One kick.

The ANBU embedded himself into a nearby wall.

"Haa... haa... haa..."

Even Naruto was beginning to feel exhausted.

For the first time in his life—

Combat felt miserable.

The constant movement.

The endless rescues.

The need to carefully control his strength so nobody died.

The persistent battle against the mental suggestion still whispering inside his mind:

Do nothing.

Stay still.

Stop resisting.

On top of that, Naruto didn't dare gamble.

If he simply escaped using Flying Thunder God, who knew what these ANBU willing to sacrifice their lives might decide to do?

And the other ANBU weren't fools.

Naruto had already tried using genjutsu.

But with this many people present, anyone affected was instantly released by someone else.

Nor would they ever give him enough time to complete a sealing technique.

[Dad, looks like we'll need to research instant-cast sealing techniques later.]

"Naruto."

"If necessary, you may need to hit those suicidal ones harder."

"Knock them completely unconscious."

"Or render them incapable of movement."

"Then use Flying Thunder God to remove them before the others can use their lives as leverage."

"I can do that..."

Naruto dodged another barrage of attacks while responding.

"But honestly?"

"I don't trust myself to hit someone hard enough to knock them unconscious without accidentally killing them."

Naruto, Kurama, and Minato continued searching for a solution.

The truth was—

Defeating them wasn't difficult.

Killing them wasn't difficult.

Escaping wasn't difficult.

Controlling them without causing permanent harm?

That was the difficult part.

Against ordinary people or weaker shinobi, Naruto could manage.

Against dozens of elite ANBU?

Every single one trained in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu.

Every single one with different endurance limits.

That was far harder than simply killing them.

Take the purple-haired female ANBU for example.

Earlier, Naruto had punched her in the abdomen using Fox Sage Mode strength.

He'd assumed she was unconscious.

Yet she'd recovered only moments later.

"We'll have to keep trying... hm?"

Naruto suddenly froze.

His expression shifted instantly.

Then—

A huge grin appeared on his face.

He looked up toward the ceiling of Naka Shrine.

"Have you finally given up resisting?"

Several ANBU rushed forward with weapons drawn.

"Gentle Fist—"

"Chidori—"

"Sasuke! Hinata!"

"These people are being controlled! Don't kill them!"

Naruto shouted while simultaneously grabbing an ANBU who had foolishly charged too close and punching him into the floor.

Upon hearing Naruto's warning, both of his teammates immediately dispersed the chakra gathering in their hands.

They landed inside the chamber.

One in front.

One behind.

Taking protective positions around Naruto.

And finally—

The supposed leader of the rescue party.

The one who somehow arrived last.

Pakkun.

The ninja hound landed on the head of an ANBU who was trying to stand up.

Crunch.

Using the unfortunate shinobi as a stepping stone, he jumped onto Naruto's head.

Then he deliberately exaggerated his breathing.

"Huff... huff..."

"You three..."

"Since when did the two of you start running faster than dogs?"

Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> [email protected]/AiraTales7 (replace @ with a)