That's why Orochimaru and Kabuto got together.
Kabuto lost his memory and everything in the war. After coming to the Konoha Orphanage, he seemed to have found a new purpose in life.
But due to Tanzo's suspicious nature, he planned a fight to the death between Nonou Yakushi and Kabuto, causing Kabuto to lose everything again.
When Kabuto was most doubtful about life, Orochimaru gave him a hand and a new goal.
Now, Naruto Uzumaki not only killed Tanzo Shimura but also offered Kabuto a more attractive condition.
The condition Naruto offered was more appealing than Orochimaru's.
After hearing what Naruto said, Kabuto was really tempted. However, he was no longer the simple - minded boy he used to be.
Kabuto glanced at Tanzo Shimura lying in a pool of blood. He suspected that Tanzo wasn't really dead.
Naruto frowned. He couldn't let Kabuto realize that Tanzo was feigning death, so he said, "Aren't you going to leave? The Konoha Anbu will be here soon."
Kabuto said, "Aren't you afraid that the Konoha Anbu will see Tanzo's body when they arrive?"
"In everyone's eyes, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Even if the whole village of Konoha hates me, they won't suspect me of assassinating Tanzo."
Kabuto smiled. Naruto was right. Even if Naruto admitted that he killed Tanzo, few would believe it.
"Let me tell you another piece of news. Orochimaru's hands are crippled, and he's left Konoha."
Hearing this, Kabuto lost interest in Tanzo and quickly left.
At this time, an eagle circled in the sky above Konoha Village, emitting shrill cries.
Naruto looked at the circling eagle and knew it was a signal for Konoha to counter - attack.
"It seems that the civilians in Konoha Village have been evacuated to the shelter. It's time to start the counter - attack," Naruto said. "It's much later than expected."
After saying that, Naruto looked at the One - Tailed Shukaku in the distance. Gamabunta, Gamaken, Gamahiro, and Gamasu were still besieging Shukaku.
The Konoha Anbu mobilized a large number of people, including ninjas from the Sealing Team, and rushed to Naruto's position.
One Anbu member said, "Evacuating the civilians this time took way too long."
Another Anbu member said, "There's no way around it. The guys from Sunagakure even brought along a monster like the One - Tailed Beast, and that really slowed down our civilian evacuation."
"Thank goodness Lord Jiraiya's summoned beasts managed to keep the One - Tailed Beast pinned down in the southwest corner. Otherwise, the casualties would've been even worse."
"It's terrible. The whole southwest corner has been leveled."
"Look, the One - Tailed Shukaku has been knocked down..."
"That's Naruto Uzumaki!"
The Konoha Anbu were all stunned. They'd already prepared to sacrifice themselves and were dead - set on sealing the One - Tailed Shukaku, even if it meant losing their lives.
But when they arrived, they saw Naruto Uzumaki standing on Gamabunta's head.
Naruto leaped high into the air. Gamabunta, Gamaken, Gamahiro, and Gamasu each held down the One - Tailed Shukaku from four directions.
Naruto jumped directly from Gamabunta's head to the One - Tailed Shukaku's head.
"Take this punch!"
Naruto dashed over quickly and landed a hard punch on Gaara's face.
Gaara, who had used the Feigning Sleep Technique, felt the pain in his sleep and woke up.
When Gaara woke up, the consciousness of the One - Tailed Shukaku was pushed aside, and Gaara's consciousness took control.
Gaara opened his eyes, saw Naruto's figure, and said, "Naruto... It was you who undid my jutsu..."
"Your jutsu is really lousy. Its weakness is way too obvious," Naruto said proudly. "If I didn't need you, I wouldn't have let you stay unconscious for so long."
Suddenly, Gaara felt weak all over, as if his body had been drained. The huge body of the One - Tailed Shukaku instantly collapsed and turned into sand that flowed all over the ground.
Naruto said, "Take Gaara away and bring him to my house."
At this time, Zabuza Momochi carried Tanzo Shimura on his back, while Haku came over to carry Gaara on his back, and the two quickly left.
Everything went so smoothly. Naruto returned to Hinata's side, looking extremely happy. Probably the only dissatisfaction was that the Third Hokage was unwilling to tell the whereabouts of the box.
"Naruto - kun..." Hinata's face turned red again. Whenever Naruto got too close, her face would always turn crimson.
"Hinata, if it weren't for you today, I couldn't have won all this. You are really too important to me."
"It's really great that I could help you, Naruto - kun..."
Naruto put his mouth close to Hinata's ear and whispered quietly, "Hinata, if you can train to master the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms, I'll reward you with a kiss!" After saying that, Naruto even puckered his lips.
"Ah..." Hinata was a bit slow to react.
This was really weird. It's always the girls who use kisses to reward boys. When did it become the boys' turn to do so?
"Naruto! Hinata! What exactly happened here?" The people from the Konoha Anbu rushed over.
"Sigh..." Naruto sighed. Why did these people show up at such a crucial moment? It was really hateful.
"As you can see," Naruto thumped his chest and said, "I took down the monster possessing Gaara."
"Naruto, did you summon those five super - gigantic frogs?"
"Yes," Naruto said proudly. "It's the Summoning Jutsu taught to me by my master, Jiraiya."
"Then have you seen Lord Tanzo?"
"Sniff...," Naruto feigned sobs and said, "He was such a kind old man. To save us, he took the monster's attack... Sniff..." Naruto's fake crying was very obvious.
Naruto's fake crying was so obvious that some of the Anbu ninjas present could tell, but no one would suspect Naruto.
This section isn't over yet. There's more exciting stuff ahead!
Because there simply wasn't any other more reasonable interpretation.
Naruto's interpretation was the most reasonable and the only one. No one could question it.
"Gaara of Sunagakure turned into a monster. I used the Summoning Jutsu taught by Jiraiya-sensei and fought against the monster. Fortunately, a very powerful uncle came out to help me..."
"The monster that Gaara turned into spat out a very powerful jutsu from its mouth, blowing up this whole area like this. That uncle disappeared too. He was probably blown to ashes... Wuwuwu..."
Hinata's expression was a bit strange. She knew Naruto was lying, but she wouldn't expose him.
At this moment, Naruto was being very excessive. Not only was his crying fake, but he also forcefully hugged Hinata, acting extremely heartbroken.
"Wuwuwu... Such a nice uncle is gone just like that..." After hugging Hinata, Naruto forced out tears and snot. He thought to himself: Tanzo, Tanzo, I didn't expect that I could still take advantage of your death news... Let me hug Hinata a little longer... I don't mind mourning for you...
Konoha Anbu ninjas all looked solemn. Tanzo's passing meant that Konoha had lost a pillar of strength.
One of the Konoha Anbu ninjas said, "Damn it! The Third Hokage is dead, and now even Lord Tanzo is gone. Everyone, cheer up and wipe out all the enemies invading Konoha."
"Ah—" All the Konoha Anbu ninjas burst with energy.
"What!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, "Third Hokage is gone? Aaaa... Wuwu..."
"It's so tight... Naruto-kun... You're squeezing too hard..." Hinata was being hugged so tightly by Naruto that it hurt a bit.
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