Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 147 Accident

The background checks on the second batch of children are almost complete; as expected, some were sent from other countries.

Are there any Lands of Lightning?

Of course.

[Once we find their families, we should try our best to persuade them; we don't necessarily have to appeal to the Land of Earth.]

"…There is indeed a grudge between Lei and Tu, and they value family more, so success is indeed possible."

However, the list of participants in the auction also includes people from the Land of Lightning. How can we prevent them from causing trouble?

This lawsuit may not be won, but it must be widely disseminated; the evidence we have cannot be dismissed as fabricated.

[…I understand, this is a statement and a form of propaganda.]

I'll make the arrangements; hopefully, I can find someone willing to step forward.

The revolution is not yet complete; we must continue our efforts.

Naruto opened his eyes, added some fuel to the dim, smokeless furnace, and confirmed that everyone in the cave was asleep in exhaustion before getting up and stepping out of the cave's barrier. Without needing to get close, he had already assessed the situation in the forest from a distance and even discovered a small village not far away. Until now, he hadn't informed headquarters what had happened, instead waiting for the other side to repent. However, when he stepped out of the cave and met a pair of red eyes in the distance, he knew that the other side wasn't reflecting on their actions.

It seems the only option is to force them to submit; they'd better provide a reasonable explanation.

While Naruto was wandering the world, his specially cared-for shadow clones took over his tasks in Konoha. To prolong the clones' duration, the Seventh Hokage, who had previously used shadow clones for official business, tried every possible method. Now, with the help of ninjutsu developers, they finally figured out how to maintain shadow clones for several days. These clones have no other problems besides not being able to eat and disappearing upon fatal injuries. Generally, the clones actively dispel their illusions; they choose a secluded spot where they won't be detected, leave a mark, and then return to their original form. In emergencies, they can call upon their original form for help or teleport their original form there.

Since Naruto's main body began wandering the world, Konoha's shadow clones had never encountered an emergency, but when they did, it was always a major problem. One clone was stabbed in the back; although it grazed the heart and lungs, it still rendered the clone useless. At that time, Naruto was still outside Fukuhide Castle observing Rōshi's situation. If things got bad, he would definitely rescue him. When the Konoha shadow clone was in trouble, he hesitated for a moment, but his reaction was surprisingly quick. He immediately split into four, sending one to each of his teammates, managing to at least deceive them into thinking he was a clone.

It's important to understand that Naruto is an extremely powerful sensory ninja; even Kagura's Mind's Eye couldn't obscure his senses. Therefore, it's impossible for him to be ambushed, not even by a clone. So how did the clone get attacked? It's because it wasn't prepared for the ambush.

This is an investigation mission, directly assigned by the Land of Fire, to find a shipment of grain that went missing en route. After discussion, Konoha dispatched its most elite reconnaissance team, a squad that integrates nose, eyes, objects, and mind perception. Naruto, an extremely intuitive sensory-type character, was appointed as the captain, leading the entire genin of Team 8 on this mission.

The entire grain transport team survived, but none of them knew what had happened. They only remembered that everything went black and when they woke up, most of the grain was gone.

"It sounds like a group genjutsu." Team 8 has a Jonin instructor who is proficient in genjutsu, so they are quite familiar with genjutsu. Kiba stroked his chin and analyzed rationally, but even ordinary genjutsu cannot control a group that is ten meters long at once.

“It might not have been done by one person, or it might have used some medium, like animals.” As Shino spoke, several flying insects appeared around him.

Hinata's bulging veins around her eyes slowly disappeared, and she said with certainty, "There are residual chakra in their bodies that don't belong to them, confirming that they were under a genjutsu."

Naruto had considered these possibilities as well, but he waited for his companions to share their insights, like a mentor leading the team. "Hmm, it's certain they were under a genjutsu, which means we need to be cautious and never get separated. This meager amount of chakra isn't enough for me to lock onto a target, but thankfully it hasn't rained these past few days, so we still have a chance."

Under everyone's gaze, Kiba proudly raised his neck, and Akamaru stood up on his head. The two even had remarkably similar expressions on their faces.

"As expected, I'm the one who has to step in. Leave it to me! Nothing can escape my nose!"

The other party had indeed overlooked the smell problem. Kiba and Akamaru circled the wagon where the grain had been lost and smelled a strange odor.

"I can't explain it, it felt like they were attacked by moving earth... It's so strange."

Kiba and Akamaru were focused on their pursuit, but Naruto overheard his unintentional complaint. A strange suspicion arose in Naruto's mind, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions before seeing concrete evidence. Therefore, when he saw a disguised Uchiha man setting up a stall by the roadside, he observed him while simultaneously lowering his guard slightly…

"Hello, sir. Have you seen any strange people passing by these past few days?" The only female ninja in the team stepped forward, trying to make the young man relax a little.

"Haha, you guys are the strangest people I've seen these past few days. Want some plum juice? These plums are from our own garden." The shopkeeper smiled broadly, completely oblivious to Hinata's Byakugan.

Naruto stood to the side, frowning, sizing up the Uchiha before glancing at Kiba. Kiba shook his head slightly and stepped forward to order plum juice for four people. However, each person only took a token sip and didn't actually drink it.

“Although the smell was different, he also had the smell of dust on him. I can’t describe what it was…” Ya pondered for a long time, “I just felt that he was not normal, that he didn’t have the smell of ‘human’.”

It would be a miracle if someone reborn through the Impure World Reincarnation technique could have a human scent. They probably realized their oversight regarding the smell, so they hastily borrowed some things from farmers.

"There's no one around here, it doesn't seem like people pass by often..." Hinata's voice trailed off as she cautiously glanced at Naruto. A girl's intuition is always accurate; she had already noticed that Naruto's mood had been low since the tracking began.

"I didn't detect any additives in the insect's drink," Shino said succinctly. "It's like a trap, but the contents are good..."

"My lord ninjas, I have some folding stools here. Would you like to sit for a while?" The voice came from the lonely water stall again. The young man, his hands full, came over with four wooden folding stools.

Naruto instinctively reached out to catch it, unaware of the young man's malice. However, the moment he turned around, a faint spatial fluctuation appeared, and a blade emerged from his chest. He only had time to see three terrified faces before he could no longer maintain his clone and vanished.