"Dear God, what is that?" One of the bandits mumbled as he gazed at the red rib cage with wide eyes.

"An abomination," Another whispered quietly.

"Monster…"

"Freak…"

Whispers surfaced from all around Naruto as the bandits simply couldn't comprehend the existence of the ethereal rib cage.

"Monster, huh…" Naruto blankly mumbled as the words entered his ears.

That was a word he was all too familiar with. After all, that was how he was called his entire life.

His red mangekyou sharingan looked around him as he gazed at the bandits. With this new sharingan, it seemed as if the whole world had changed. Even though there were countless bandits before him, he could see the movements of each and every one. He could see what they were doing now, what they would do the next second, and he, for some reason, felt as if he could destroy all of them now.

With a slow step, Naruto's trembling body rose from the ground. The chains on his body rattled, blood poured out of his wounds and his vision was slightly blurry from the tiredness, but he still managed to stand up.

Step

The first step forward towards the bandits.

The bandits didn't move forward. They only watched as the young boy, protected by the ethereal ribcage, was walking forward.

Step

The second step forward.

Even though he was still a few steps from the bandits, Naruto had a feeling as if he could reach them now.

No.

Not him.

It could reach them.

One half of the rib cage suddenly became unstable and started fluctuating. However, the trade-off was that a skeletal red arm suddenly formed on the stable half of the ribcage.

The bandits watched with wide eyes as the massive arm was raised high, formed a fist and smashed down.

Screams echoed, debris flew all over the place, blood shot upwards like a fountain, and body parts flew in all directions. With just that one punch, 3 bandits were killed.

Before the bandits could even process what had happened, the red claw was raised again and did a sweeping attack. The frail bodies of the bandits were once again sent flying, most of them dying immediately on impact.

"Run…"

"Run!"

"Run faster! He's a monster!"

The bandits started panicking as they saw the massive skeletal structure start massacaring their allies. Some of the bandits tried to retaliate, but their simple iron swords couldn't pierce the red rib cage.

The only strange part was that the red arm would suddenly disappear, and the rib cage would become solid once more when the bandits retaliated.

However, none of that helped. Their strength was too weak to break the ribcage. Meanwhile, the red rib cage would slaughter multiple bandits with a single move.

The morale of the bandits broke down immediately.

By definition, bandits were cowardly creatures. They sought safety in numbers, which also allowed them to fully unleash their vicious and greedy nature. But it was also very easy to break bandits. All you had to do was to show them that their current group could no longer provide safety.

Bandits had no loyalty, so they would run the second they felt that their life was in danger. That was what had just happened. At first, the bandits could still fight against Naruto because everything was going according to their leader's plan. Although Naruto was stronger than expected, and they incurred a lot of casualties, they still managed to persist because they saw that their tactics were effective.

But everything changed once the rib cage appeared.

Common sense no longer worked here.

A floating rib cage that protected the boy like an iron wall.

A massive red arm that was like the scythe of the reaper.

The young boy that everyone thought would die soon was walking around on his feet despite the many arrows sticking out of his body and the leaking blood.

That's why they ran. This kind of battle was already removed from their understanding.

Boom!

The house nearby was smashed to smithereens by Saori's fireball jutsu.

The rogue ninja cursed under his breath as he couldn't kill Saori. "At first it was the blond brat, now there is this black-haired one. Che, what the hell is with the genin in Konoha?"

The rogue ninja was sure that he could eventually defeat Saori, but she was too strong to be taken out quickly. Any other day it would have been fine, but he didn't have enough time to deal with her.

"Fine, I guess I'll pull back today. Count yourself lucky, little lady," The rogue ninja started going through hand seals as he gazed at Saori who was standing opposite of him.

"You!" Saori was startled once she saw that the ninja was about to leave the battle so abruptly.

"Heh, we are ninja. We run as soon as the situation becomes unfavourable to us," The rogue ninja smirked, but his body suddenly froze. A cold shiver went down his spike.

With wide eyes, he glanced back over his shoulder and saw Naruto standing there, his mangekyou sharingan glaring at the ninja's back. Even though no words were said, the rogue ninja could feel the massive amounts of hatred pouring out of Naruto.

"This kid… What kind of monster is Konoha raising?" It was the first time in his entire life that the rogue ninja felt so fearful of another person.

The sheer amount of hatred and killing intent pouring out of Naruto felt inhuman. No, it would probably be correct to say that no human should have been able to show so much hatred and killing intent in the first place. Even he, an experienced ninja, was trembling from fear.

The two mangekyou sharingan in Naruto's eyes widened and started spinning rapidly. The massive rib cage suddenly stopped fluctuating and managed to form a whole rib cage and one arm at the same time.

"Shit!" The rogue ninja cursed loudly as he saw the skeletal arm being raised once more.

He jumped into the air to avoid the attack and watched as the skeletal arm decimated the building beneath him. He felt cold sweat form on his back as he turned his gaze from the skeletal arm to Naruto. Brown eyes met red ones.

Suddenly, his body froze.

"G-Genjutsu…" The rogue ninja stammered as he stared at the rapidly spinning mangekyou sharingan with fear.

He knew that this was the end. The genjutsu of the mangekyou sharingan was too powerful to break out of quick enough, and the massive red arm was already next to him.

The next second, the ground shook with great intensity and all that was left of the rogue ninja was a blood splatter.

The bandits had already scattered in each direction, with only one or another remaining here and there, trying to hide from Naruto. Most of the fighting had already died down, and you could only hear Kakashi fight against Warden in the distance.

With a vacant gaze, Naruto stared at the ground and panted heavily. Blood poured out of him quickly, and the only reason he was still alive was because of his Uzumaki bloodline and the Kyuubi inside of him.

Arrows sticking out of him, his hands bound by an iron bola, and a red rib cage surrounded him, giving him a terrifying image when seen from the side.

"You…" Saori quietly whispered as she gazed at Naruto with wide eyes.

Naruto's mangekyou sharingan turned to the side and locked on to the girl, startling her slightly. Even though he was already about to pass out, Naruto still managed to recognize Saori through her chakra.

Indecision and hesitation appeared on her face as Saori looked at Naruto. She was the heiress to the Uchiha clan, but even she hadn't awakened her sharingan yet. She wanted to take back the eyes of her clan, but she knew she was nowhere strong enough to do it. She couldn't defeat Naruto before, so her chances of defeating him with his mangekyou sharingan had grown even slimmer.

And yet, her thirst for her own sharingan strengthened. Ever since Saori was little, she had always heard of how amazing and powerful the sharingan was, but those were only stories. Seeing it with your own eyes was different. Finally, she had witnessed the true power of the sharingan put on display.

"I could definitely kill Itachi if I obtained this power!" Saori clenched her fist.

Desire welled up inside of her.

She wanted to awaken her own sharingan.

She wanted to awaken her own mangekyou sharingan.

Taking Naruto's eyes might have been a shortcut, but even Saori could recognize that awakening her own sharingan would make her more powerful. That's why she had to make a decision. A difficult decision.

She bit her lower lip and clenched her fists tighter.

She hated him.

And yet….

"Hey, you... " Saori said while trying to repress her anger.

Naruto's eyes cleared up a little as he focused on the girl. His body tensed up slightly and he prepared for her to attack him. After all, now was the best chance for her to take her revenge for humiliating her.

Without saying anything else, Saori started walking forward until she stood right before the red ribcage.

"Open up, I'm not going to attack," Saori said through gritted teeth.

…

Naruto didn't expect such a direct method of approach but couldn't decide what to do. Although Kyuubi's chakra and his bloodline were keeping him alive, he still needed treatment. Multiple arrows were sticking out of his body, and there were many puncture wounds he suffered from the spear attacks. He had studied some medicine in case he was in such a situation. He was no expert, but he could at least give himself some time until he found a real medic. Still, the precondition to that was that he could actually use his hands.

After a moment of hesitation, Naruto opened up the red ribcage and let Saori enter. However, his mangekyou sharingan was glued onto Saori, observing her for even a hint of her trying to attack him.

Her body was tense from the desire to punch Naruto for all the things he had done to her, but Saori still entered the ribcage and used her slender hands to slowly untie the bola on Naruto.

The chains fell to the ground with a rattling sound, and Naruto regained the use of his arms. With a baffled look on his face, he watched as Saori threw him a first aid kit and then turned around to leave.

"There, I helped you. Now you owe me even more than before," Saori suddenly stopped but didn't look back. "If you have even the slightest bit of decency in you, then find out whose eyes are those and tell me."

Awakening her own sharingan would make her far more powerful than if she did a transplant. She hated Naruto, but it's not like Saori could just rip his eyes out and implant them into herself. The very idea felt so wrong that it wasn't funny. She couldn't kill people for the sake of power. If she did, then that meant she was the same as Itachi. She won't be like him. She won't kill other people for power. But there was still an opportunity here. Maybe she could investigate Itachi and the original owner of Naruto's eyes. Perhaps she could find a way to awaken her own mangekyou sharingan.

If helping out Naruto this time meant that she could eventually kill Itachi, then Saori could grit her teeth and push down her anger against him. Even though she hated Naruto, she only hated him for humiliating her. On the other hand, her hatred for Itachi was because he had killed their entire clan. The two couldn't be compared.

And so, she made her choice.

"If not, then I will take those eyes and find out on my own," Leaving those words behind, Saori disappeared from the place.

The only one left in the place was Naruto. He gazed at the first aid kit near his feet with a blurry gaze. Even breathing was getting tough.

"This was the perfect opportunity to take her revenge, but why did she help me and leave?" Naruto was confused.

After a few moments, he shook his head and looked around the place. Although the place was smashed to bits, he could still sense the aura of a few hiding bandits.

Naruto picked up the first aid kit and started walking once more. "Those guys won't give me the chance to heal. Might as well kill them and retrieve the documents for Takeshi while I'm at it,"

…

Clang, clang!

Kunai and chain hit against each other and fell to the side.

Kakashi crashed heavily into the ground and left two long skid marks as he was pushed backwards. With a loud grunt, he pushed himself to the side and avoided even more chains before creating some distance between him and Warden.

Kakashi and Warden were currently fighting in a forest, away from the base. As two powerful ninja, their battle was intense and caused great destruction to the forest around them. There were countless fallen trees, broken chains and kunai all over the place.

Kakashi had already raised his headband and revealed a lone sharingan in his left eye.

Despite battling for a long time, the two had only sustained mild injuries.

Warden was a type of ninja who focused on long-ranged attacks with the usage of his chains, while Kakashi was focused on speed. Both had a very tough time hitting the other.

Kakashi couldn't get close to Warden because of his excellent control over his chains and the sheer amount of them. On the other hand, Warden couldn't hit Kakashi because of his speed.

The battle entered a stalemate as they were searching for an opening, but Kakashi was growing increasingly nervous as he thought about his students.

Swish!

Suddenly, Saori appeared behind Kakashi and looked at the battle before her with a surprised look in her eyes. Kakashi also glanced back and immediately became relieved to know that one of his students was alright.

"Saori, are you alright? How about the other two?" Kakashi asked.

"Only some burn injuries," Saori shrugged as she looked at Warden with a cautious gaze. "Naruto, he… Is injured but still alive. As for Sakura, I don't know," Saori slowly walked up to Kakashi.

Relief washed over Kakashi once he heard that Naruto was also alive. He wasn't that worried about Naruto's injuries because Kakashi was one of the very few people in the village to know of Naruto's Uzumaki bloodline and the Kyuubi.

"As for Sakura… She should be fine, right?" Kakashi comforted himself.

Warden's chuckle broke Kakashi out of his thoughts. "Heh, are you sure you should be taking your eyes off me?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed and turned towards Warden. To his surprise, Warden had retracted all his chains and was standing there leisurely.

"I'll tell you what, you let us go, and I will tell you where your third student is. How about that?" Warden chuckled arrogantly.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "What?"

"Your pink student is with us, is what I'm saying. It is a simple trade: you let us go, we let her go. Also, you better think fast, because she won't remain safe for long," Warden shrugged.

There was only a brief moment of hesitation. "Fine. Where is she?"

"Heh, just like Shin said. Here you go," Warden threw Kakashi a map and disappeared from the place like a ghost.

Kakashi quickly scanned the map with his sharingan while it was still in the air and caught it once he made sure it was safe. The map was very simple and had a red arrow with the words "Pink student here" written.

"Sensei, that eye…" Saori mumbled as she gazed at the sharingan in Kakashi's left eye.

Kakashi turned around to face Saori and pulled down his headband to cover the sharingan once more. "Sorry, Saori, but we will have to leave it for later. Completing the mission comes first,"

"It seems like everybody on this team has a sharingan except for the one Uchiha," Saori mumbled in her head, but still nodded her head outwardly.

"What do we do?" She asked.

Kakashi quickly memorized the map and placed it in his pocket. "We will have to split up. You go and secure the bandit camp; make sure no one comes in or leaves. Meanwhile, I will follow this map and go rescue Sakura,"

Saori nodded her head. "Alright,"

"Also, make sure Naruto is alright. I know you two don't get along, but you two are still teammates. You may not like each other, but maybe he will be the one to save you in the future," Kakashi smiled weakly before turning around and dashing towards Sakura's position at full speed.

"What?" Saori blinked her eyes twice. "Che, yeah right," She mumbled as she turned around and dashed towards the bandit base.