Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Deep within the forests of Konoha—

"So... so strong..."

"As expected of Captain Kakashi."

"Domen, Inoue, there's no point continuing this fight. The person you were protecting has already escaped."

Kakashi held a sword in one hand and a kunai in the other, locking both opponents in place as he looked at their battered bodies.

"Words are meaningless, Kakashi! Prepare to die!"

The two men completely disregarded their own lives and charged straight toward Kakashi's blade.

Left with no choice, Kakashi withdrew his sword.

Both of them were fighting with their eyes closed beneath their masks, leaving him with no good opportunity to catch them in a genjutsu.

They were ANBU elites he had once known well.

Comrades who had completed countless missions alongside him.

To Kakashi, they were still fellow shinobi of Konoha.

Yet now they were desperately trying to kill him.

It left him utterly helpless.

Steel flashed.

Lightning erupted along Kakashi's ninja blade.

His opponents were no ordinary shinobi either.

Each possessed techniques powerful enough to stake their lives upon.

Both sides knew perfectly well that if the battle continued, there would be only one ending.

Death.

At first, Kakashi had assumed this was merely an ANBU mission.

But after listening to them speak, the contradictions in their words had become impossible to ignore.

He had already concluded they were being controlled.

Their sole purpose was to buy time for the blackened figure to escape.

Earlier, Kakashi had attempted to dispel whatever was affecting them.

It had accomplished absolutely nothing.

[A sealing technique... or perhaps...]

At this point, Kakashi had already abandoned any thoughts of pursuing the man who escaped.

Because he had roughly figured out his identity.

When Kakashi sent Hinata and Sasuke ahead earlier, that person had still been pretending to be completely incapacitated, protected by layers of ANBU.

Yet the moment the ANBU suddenly moved—

Before even Kakashi could react—

That man displayed a Body Flicker Technique so fast it bordered on absurdity.

Even Kakashi's three-tomoe Sharingan could barely follow the movement.

In a single instant, he vanished.

But that very technique had exposed him.

Kakashi couldn't claim to know every shinobi in the world capable of such speed.

But within Konoha—

There had only ever been one person famous for a Body Flicker Technique of that caliber.

The deceased Shisui of the Body Flicker.

Connecting that fact to Naruto's sudden disappearance earlier, Kakashi immediately realized the truth.

Uchiha Shisui was alive.

And he had somehow controlled the ANBU investigating the disappearance of his own "corpse."

[The Sharingan can actually do something like this?]

[Then the eye inside the crow Itachi gave me...]

[Could that power perhaps restore them?]

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Just as Kakashi was considering how to save his comrades, Naruto's voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Naruto, you're—"

"Kakashi-sensei, thank goodness you're okay!"

"They've been controlled by a Sharingan ability!"

"There's no way to free them right now, so we can only stop them from moving!"

"Anyway, I'm heading out again. You keep doing your thing!"

Naruto merely glanced at the battle.

After failing to spot Shisui anywhere nearby, he waved and disappeared.

"...?"

Kakashi blinked.

The words he had been about to say remained stuck in his throat.

Had Naruto really come all this way just to make sure he was safe?

It was thoughtful, certainly.

Though somehow, Kakashi felt as if Naruto had treated him as a secondary concern.

At that moment, Pakkun came sprinting out of the forest.

"Hey, Kakashi! Naruto's okay—"

"I saw him."

Kakashi parried another attack and replied to his summon.

"Oh."

Pakkun blinked.

"Then those ANBU you're fighting were being controlled—"

"I know that too!"

"Naruto already told me!"

"Can't you provide information that's actually useful?"

Pakkun froze.

"What's with that brat?"

"He's stealing a dog's job now?"

—

Meanwhile, after confirming Kakashi's safety, Naruto prepared to activate the Flying Thunder God marker on Shisui.

The instant the shadow clone arrived—

BOOM!

A wave of searing heat engulfed it.

The clone was burned away immediately.

The memories returned to Naruto's original body.

Naruto slowly dispersed the Rasengan he had already prepared.

"As expected."

"It was a trap."

Kurama's voice echoed inside him.

"Yeah."

"It happened too quickly to see much, but the clone caught one thing before it disappeared."

"A foot."

"A foot engulfed in flames."

Naruto's expression darkened.

"It looks like he cut off the leg carrying my Flying Thunder God marker and threw it into a Fire Release trap."

Years ago, Naruto had asked Minato why he didn't simply place Flying Thunder God markers everywhere.

Minato had explained one of the technique's biggest weaknesses.

If the enemy knew where a marker was located, they could prepare a deadly trap around it.

Flying Thunder God allowed instant travel—

But it couldn't reveal what was waiting on the other side.

Arriving blindly could be fatal.

"To think he planned that while escaping..."

"He's incredible."

"Incredible my tail!"

Kurama snorted.

"If someone hadn't been helping him, that little Uchiha brat would already be finished!"

"...Fair point."

Naruto grinned faintly.

"That just proves Kurama's the strongest."

Placing a hand over the seal on his stomach, Naruto looked toward the direction where he had sensed the marker moments earlier.

That connection had already vanished.

The severed leg had likely been burned to ashes.

"But if someone hadn't helped me..."

"This time, I would've been the one who got beaten."

Naruto muttered softly.

The feeling was unfamiliar.

A defeat unlike any he had experienced before.

"Kurama."

"Dad."

"This feeling..."

"Is this what they call... frustration?"

"What do you want to do, Naruto?"

Kurama asked quietly.

—

Elsewhere.

Hidden within a secluded refuge.

Uchiha Shisui's consciousness slowly regained clarity.

"What now...?"

The voice sounded almost like he was speaking to himself.

Black Zetsu had merged into his body and was actively treating his injuries.

The wound in his heart that Black Zetsu had aggravated earlier was currently being plugged by Black Zetsu's own body.

At the very least, it prevented blood from spraying everywhere.

After all, Shisui's heart was one of the few original organs he still possessed.

Though admittedly, it had undergone a few modifications.

"You're asking... me what to do?"

Shisui let out a weak laugh.

"Next time we meet..."

—

At nearly the exact same moment—

Naruto clenched his fist and looked toward the horizon.

For the first time, his eyes held something new.

A burning desire.

"Next time we meet..."

Far apart.

Unable to see one another.

Both men spoke with absolute conviction.

"I'll defeat him completely!"

"I'll capture it completely!"

Their voices echoed simultaneously.

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