Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?!"

Hinata asked anxiously.

"How could I not be? The problem is these guys have been controlled! They keep trying to kill themselves!"

Naruto punched an ANBU operative unconscious and flung him into another one, then rushed forward and slapped a ninja who had been trying to form hand seals before kicking him away.

"Look at me! I'm so busy I can't even stop moving!"

With Hinata and Sasuke joining the battle, the pressure on Naruto dropped dramatically.

He grinned at Pakkun, who was perched on his head.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

"While we were looking for you, we ran into another group of suspicious ANBU. They were protecting some strange guy, and he had your scent on him."

Pakkun huffed.

"Kakashi said he was worried about you, so he stayed behind alone to stop them while we came to find you first."

"Now that we know they're being controlled and that you're safe, I'm heading back to tell him what's going on before he accidentally kills somebody."

With that, Pakkun jumped down from Naruto's head and sprinted back the way he had come.

Meanwhile, under Naruto's warning, Hinata activated her Byakugan and examined the fallen ANBU.

A moment later, she frowned.

"Their chakra flow is completely stable. Aren't they under a genjutsu?"

"It's a Sharingan ability—"

Before Naruto could finish explaining, the ANBU had already started shouting accusations.

"Uchiha Sasuke and the Hyūga Clan... are you planning to defect from the village as well?!"

"Uzumaki Naruto assaulted the Fire Daimyō!"

"No, he attacked the Hokage!"

"He attacked my father!"

"His crimes are unforgivable! Are you actually helping this criminal?!"

Sasuke glanced at them.

He clearly didn't believe a word they were saying.

The only thing that interested him was Naruto's mention of a Sharingan ability.

One ANBU charged forward with a kunai.

Sasuke drew his sword and blocked him.

"Emergency situation. Explain in one sentence."

"Fight first, explain later!"

Naruto knocked aside several incoming projectiles.

"Some of them attack, some of them try to kill themselves—"

Looking at the ANBU scattered around the room, Naruto sighed.

"Basically... nobody dies."

"...Understood."

The first person to nod was surprisingly Hinata.

Chakra surged into her palms as veins bulged around her eyes.

"Then I'll just seal all of their tenketsu!"

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Tenketsu!"

"That's right! Hinata, you're a genius!"

He smacked another ANBU back to the ground.

"Especially those few who keep trying to commit suicide!"

"Now that you're here, everything's fine! Hold them off for a little while!"

"I'm going to get reinforcements!"

The moment he finished speaking, Naruto kicked another ANBU unconscious and rapidly addressed Sasuke.

"Besides the ones lying near the stairs, there are still a few suicidal ones mixed into the crowd. Watch them carefully."

"You can go all-out against the rest!"

"Oh, and see that tall guy standing near the front?"

"Hit him a little harder."

The masked Wood Release user immediately shivered.

Even though they still outnumbered Naruto's side, he suddenly felt as if his future looked very bleak.

[But for the sake of repaying Hokage-sama's kindness... I must—]

Naruto laughed awkwardly.

"Well... maybe not that hard."

"Just buy me some time!"

The next instant, he vanished.

He completely trusted Sasuke and Hinata.

"...Leave the others to me."

Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan spun.

Lightning surged around his body as he activated his speed-enhancing technique.

"Hinata, keep an eye on the ones Naruto mentioned. Don't let them die."

"Naruto won't take long."

With a crackle of lightning, Sasuke shot forward like a bolt of electricity straight toward the Wood Release user Naruto had specifically pointed out.

At the Hyūga Clan compound—

Hiashi was leisurely drinking tea.

"Another peaceful day today..."

BANG!

His front door was violently thrown open.

A blond head poked inside.

"Ah! There you are, Uncle!"

"...Naruto?"

Hiashi blinked.

Before he could even put down his teacup, Naruto had already appeared beside him.

"No time to explain! Come help!"

The next moment, Naruto grabbed his shoulder.

Before Hiashi could react, the sounds of combat, shouting, and exploding ninjutsu filled his ears.

His surroundings blurred.

Then—

He appeared inside South Naka Shrine.

"Father!"

Hinata's voice rang out.

Hiashi froze.

His daughter was here.

Naruto was here.

A battlefield was here.

As the head of the Hyūga Clan and a veteran ninja who had survived the Third Shinobi War, Hiashi instantly analyzed the situation.

One side consisted of masked ANBU.

The elite forces who served only the Hokage.

The shadows protecting Konoha.

The other side consisted of—

His daughter.

There was nothing to think about.

"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU BASTARDS!"

Hiashi erupted instantly.

The Byakugan activated.

A powerful mass of chakra gathered in his palm.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

BOOM!

Several unsuspecting ANBU were blasted into the air.

"Hinata!"

Hiashi barked.

"What did you people do to make ANBU chase you?"

"Tell Father honestly!"

"Did Naruto actually defect from the village?"

"If he did, should we kill all of them now so nobody leaks the information?"

"Father!"

Hinata nearly choked.

"They're being controlled!"

"Just make sure they can't move!"

"...What?"

Hiashi stared.

Then he noticed several small cuts on Hinata's clothes.

His expression darkened.

"Being controlled?"

"That's far too lenient an excuse."

"At minimum, their arms and legs should be broken."

Nearby, Sasuke glanced sideways.

For the first time in a while, he felt someone truly understood him.

Meanwhile—

Naruto had already received another reminder through Kurama from Minato.

"Next, find the Nara and Yamanaka clans."

"I left special Flying Thunder God kunai with them."

"Shadow Possession and Mind Transfer will be perfect for crowd control."

"Oh! Got it!"

A few moments later—

Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi appeared inside the shrine with equally bewildered expressions.

As Konoha's chief strategist, Shikaku only needed a single glance to understand the battlefield.

"...I'll restrain them."

"Hiashi, you and your daughter disable anyone I catch."

"Inoichi."

He pointed toward several ANBU hiding in the shadows.

"Those ones are deliberately avoiding my shadow."

"Control them first."

As these veteran elite jōnin joined the battle, the situation rapidly shifted.

Most of the ANBU had already been beaten senseless by Naruto.

Now even more of Konoha's major powerhouses had arrived.

The controlled ANBU were beginning to panic.

After all, unlike ordinary genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami altered cognition itself.

To them, Naruto truly was a dangerous traitor.

But now—

More and more important figures of Konoha were arriving.

And every single one of them immediately sided against them.

A terrifying thought gradually formed in their minds.

[Could it be...]

[The entire village is undercover...]

[And I'm the only person truly loyal to Konoha and the Hokage?!]

Then—

One of Naruto's shadow clones rushed straight into the Hokage Tower.

A few moments later, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been smiling warmly upon seeing Naruto, was abruptly teleported into the shrine.

The moment Hiruzen took in the scene before him—

The cheerful old-man expression vanished.

His face darkened instantly.

As for the controlled ANBU—

Their mentality completely collapsed.

They had been prepared to die for the village.

So why...

Why was the Hokage standing on the enemy's side?

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