Chapter 59: The Family of Eight Arc: Kirigakure's Civil War

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After shaking off the ninja, Naruto kept walking. This time, he didn't hurry and calmly walked.

'A ninja must rid himself of emotions. At the very least, he should throw them away during a mission.'

This was something that Naruto learned, but never practiced.

He barely paid attention to the academy back in Konoha. Even if he did, he doubted he would gain any useful knowledge. The academy was a trap. Its purpose was to instill Konoha's ideology in the student.

That is to say, it was a slow process of engraving the "will of fire" to every ninja in training.

'I can't say there's anything wrong with the method. I just wished they'd teach more practical things…'

He lamented inside his head.

Because he didn't pay heed to the lectures and the lack of practical teachings in the academy, Naruto only had a rough idea of how a ninja should act.

If he looked back at his prior actions, he could confidently say that…

'I'm unfit to be a ninja.'

Even though his specialization was in fuinjutsu, an art meant to be discrete and silent, the very first sealing formula he created and perfected had the word "explosive" written all over it.

'I guess this mission in Kirigakure is the best time to remedy my ninja skills.'

The first thing he wanted to train was his stealth. He'd always wanted to train his stealth since the konoha invasion, but he never found the right time until now.

'We had to face an alien for goodness sake.'

Right now, he was training his stealth. Even if he was feeling around with no clear goal, he figured it was best to at least start.

'I don't know yet if I'm close to the location or not…'

But it seems that he'll need a lot more patience than he was used to.

The walk toward the north was wholly uneventful. Naruto saw fewer and fewer buildings as he traveled further north, and after three hours of walking, he finally saw the thick wall of trees.

'I just… reached the forest?'

To be exact, he had to cross one massive forest before reaching his location. The entire forest was Kirigakure's ninja camp, and Naruto had to infiltrate it secretly.

There was just one problem.

'Won't I take days if I continue at this pace?!'

According to the map, the area of the village he just passed was around a fifth of the entire journey. Meaning, he has to walk for at least another half a day.

But that half a day would be stretched endlessly if he has to hide from ninjas all day long.

'This isn't working. I can't just walk like a snail. I have to learn how to move fast, but unseen.'

Making up his mind, Naruto slapped a chakra restriction seal to his chest and hid it under his clothes.

'I know that Kirigakure is famous for their Hiding in the Mist Jutsu. There's fog everywhere. If I use even a slight amount of chakra, the ninjas will know. Even then, I'm not guaranteed to be hidden…'

But he has nothing left under his arsenal.

Shaking his head, Naruto jumped and landed on a tree branch. His body swayed for a bit as he balanced himself, frowning after he did so.

'Was I always this clumsy?'

He was used to traveling at high speeds so he never cared about delicate balancing and such. As long as he landed and pushed forward, that would be enough. He'd be flying to another tree before he even noticed anything wrong with his balance.

Now that he was forced to go slow, he suddenly found a lot of errors in his ways.

'Damn. This ain't cutting it... I also have to erase my traces… I've got a long way to go.'

Whilst traveling across the forest, Naruto felt dissatisfied about his speed. He was faster than when he was walking, but he felt like he could be faster if he puts in more effort… yet, no matter how much effort he puts in, his speed didn't suddenly increase.

'Naruto, have a bit of patience.'

'I know. It's just annoying. If I didn't need to cover my trail, this could've been a lot faster…'

Naruto sighed. He was in the middle of enemy waters. If he messed up now, he'd be swarmed by hundreds if not thousands of ninjas, and he wasn't well equipped to face them.

'If only I had father's justu…'

The Flying Thunder God was a useful technique that was for sure. If Naruto had it, he wouldn't need to worry about the ordinary chunin or jonin ninja. They'd be dead in an instant.

'Come to think of it, I haven't opened the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing yet…'

Naruto made a copy of that scroll. He didn't "take it back," as it wasn't Uzumaki property. He was planning on reading it when they arrived at Uzushiogakure, but tough times came and he found himself on another mission before he could take a breather.

'Should I make a clone…? Damn it, I should've made a clone to study the scroll earlier.'

He quickly shut down the idea. He didn't want to risk having the enemy find his clone and steal away his copy of the forbidden scroll of sealing.

'Whatever, the mission comes first.'

Straightening his interests once again, Naruto pushed forward.

"Aino… don't be picky. Eat the bread, or else you'll starve. Come on, do it for mommy, okay?"

Inside a damp cave, a family of eight huddled together as they tried their best to ration their food. It's already been years since the blood mist policy was reinstated, and their family hid inside this cave for all that time.

Just yesterday, a ninja came in and gave them food. Then, that ninja left after saying to wait.

The family was instantly filled with hope. Their food supply had gone dry for a couple of weeks already, and they were doing their best to grow a few edible vegetables and mushrooms. They were successful, but the yield was far from enough.

Thankfully, they were able to pick a few fruits from a nearby fruit tree, and the food given to them yesterday gave them a bit more breathing room.

"Ma, I don't want to eat it. You eat it."

"Tsk, no! Listen to mommy, okay? Eat the bread. If you don't, the bad people will visit your dreams…"

Suddenly, as the mother was coaxing her youngest child to eat the last piece of bread, they heard a commotion outside the cave entrance.

"SHH! Quicl, hide!"

The father whispered and crawled behind a row of stalagmites. The rest of the family followed along and a few readied their kekkei genkai.

Using chakra was exhausting to the body and causes a person to eat more to replenish their energy. Using kekkei genkai was obviously worse, as the user will have to intake more food than the average civilian or ninja.

That's why only the adults in the family readied their kekkei genkai, wishing to die for the younger generation if they had to.

"Don't be scared…"

A voice echoed inside the cave as a man dressed in civilian clothing walked inside the cave.

"If you attack me, I'll kill all of you. But if you behave, I'll bring you to safety. Didn't you get a notice from that ninja yesterday?"

The man said. He was Naruto.

As for the threat, he had no choice. If the family of eight tried to attack him, their location would instantly be exposed. Naruto noticed that the few adults calmed down and stopped rousing their chakra. He smiled, knowing that he can explain more.

"It's good that you've calmed down. I don't want to kill you, but if you activate your kekkei genkai, we'll be exposed. Not only you but also I would be in trouble. Anyway, you should know about Zabuza, the demon of the mist, right?"

Naruto asked and got no response.

"I assume that you do. Zabuza Momochi wishes to save all of you, bloodline users, and bring you to the rebel forces. The rebel force is led by Mei Terumi and she will take care of your family nicely. I'm on their side, and I want to escort you to the west of the country. It's where Mei Terumi's base of operation is located."

After he finished explaining, Naruto saw one man emerge from his hiding spot, his eyes full of vigilance as he stared him down. He was the oldest male in the family, making Naruto assume that he was the father.

"Why should we trust you? I'll give you one minute to explain, otherwise, we don't mind bringing you down with us."

The man said, bravely rousing his chakra as a few crystals of ice appeared on his hands.

"Good bravado. Unfortunately, you are just a mere lamb in front of a shepherd."

Naruto shook his head, disdain leaking from his eyes as he coldly gazed at the man who dared act arrogantly in front of him. Then, a few sealing tags silently made themselves known as they stuck to the family of eight's bodies.

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