Chapter 155:
"Koji Kashin… and Delta!"
Kawaki looked up at the two members of Kara.
After the Great Toad disappeared, Koji Kashin and Delta gently landed on the ground.
"Hey, Gray Wolf, what do we do now?" Jiraiya whispered as he walked up to Orochimaru.
Staring at the two figures before him, Orochimaru said, "It's still better for the Vessel to be taken by the Hidden Leaf than by Kara."
At least the Hidden Leaf's location was known. To this day, no one had figured out the whereabouts of Kara's base.
Orochimaru figured that powerful organizations were always like this—he still hadn't figured out where S.H.I.E.L.D.'s foundation was located either.
"Hey, Koji Kashin, what's our move?" Delta looked to Koji beside him. "When I came here, Jigen gave strict orders that I was to follow your lead."
"It seems S.H.I.E.L.D. won't let us take the Vessel back easily. In that case, let's hand him over to the Hidden Leaf. Compared to letting S.H.I.E.L.D. take him, the Leaf having him is still more beneficial for us."
"Mm." Delta nodded slightly.
The prelude to battle began to sound.
"Konohamaru-sensei, what should we do now?"
Konohamaru gave a bitter smile. As an adult, he could clearly sense how both sides were dismissive of the Hidden Leaf. Otherwise, they'd have teamed up to deal with them first.
While he felt slightly relieved, Konohamaru also had mixed feelings. After all, this was the first time the Leaf had been so openly underestimated.
"Sarada, let's bring Kawaki back to the village first."
Sarada nodded. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Boruto and Shuyu approaching.
"Shuyu, Boruto!"
"Sarada." Boruto came to stand beside her. "Big Brother Konohamaru, are you okay?"
"Yeah, much better now," Konohamaru nodded. Although he wasn't much help in battle, at least he could still take care of himself.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kara…" Shuyu glanced at the two forces, then looked at the boy standing apart. "Who's that?"
"His name is Kawaki," Sarada told him. "From what both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kara said, he's apparently the Vessel that came out of that box."
Shuyu looked at Kawaki and said, "Take him back to the Hidden Leaf."
"Mm, that's what Konohamaru-sensei and I were thinking too. It's just…" Sarada glanced at Kawaki and continued, "He doesn't seem to trust the Hidden Leaf at all."
Shuyu nodded and walked over to Kawaki.
"Do you need something?"
Compared to Kawaki, Shuyu looked rather slight and delicate.
A Mangekyō Sharingan appeared in Shuyu's eyes.
There are many ways to take someone away. Protagonists use talk-no-jutsu, villains knock people out, and Shuyu prefers genjutsu.
Looking at Kawaki, now dazed, Shuyu nodded. "Looks like his resistance to genjutsu is pretty low."
Though he could use Ōtsutsuki powers in combat, Kawaki had never learned any ninja techniques—he hadn't even learned how to refine chakra.
Like the Ōtsutsuki, Kawaki had only trained in their style of combat up to now.
The Ōtsutsuki could resist genjutsu because of their eyes—but clearly, Kawaki didn't have the kind of eyes that granted resistance.
"Let's go while we have the chance."
As the Hidden Leaf ninja retreated with Kawaki, the battle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kara gradually ceased.
Even though Kara had approached S.H.I.E.L.D. under the name of the Land of Water's feudal lord, the two sides were technically allies for now. Without direct orders from their leaders, neither dared to go all-out.
Orochimaru and Delta exchanged glances, as did Jiraiya and Koji Kashin.
From the earlier fight, the perceptive Orochimaru had already formed a few suspicions.
For instance, the fact that Koji Kashin used the same techniques as Jiraiya strongly suggested that he might be Jiraiya's clone. And Delta's body was clearly enhanced entirely with scientific ninja tools.
"The Vessel's already been taken by the Hidden Leaf," Orochimaru said.
"You're right."
Koji Kashin responded as he relaxed his stance. Even though they had been locked in combat just moments ago, the mood between them was now beginning to ease.
Hidden Leaf Village.
Hidden Leaf Hospital.
Kawaki suddenly awoke from his coma, gasping heavily as if he'd just had a nightmare.
"You're awake. Sorry—Shuyu didn't hold back when he used genjutsu, since we didn't know your resistance to it was so low."
Hearing the man's voice, Kawaki finally registered his surroundings—an unfamiliar illusion, and a stranger standing in front of him.
"Where is this place?"
"This is the Hidden Leaf Village. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage. Basically, I'm the leader of this village. You're safe here, so don't worry."
Naruto leaned on the bed railing across from Kawaki, with Sasuke and Shikamaru standing on either side of him.
"..." After a moment of silence, Kawaki suddenly threw off the blanket and rushed to the window to jump out—only to find he couldn't move. "...Why… can't I move…"
"Calm down. We're not going to hurt you. Besides, if we really wanted to, we'd have done it already," Shikamaru said as a black shadow connected him to Kawaki.
Naruto stayed seated, exuding calm authority.
With no other choice, Kawaki sat back down on the hospital bed, staring at Naruto.
"The Hidden Leaf will protect you. In exchange, we want to know about Kara."
...
After leaving Kawaki in Sasuke's care, Naruto and Shikamaru stepped into the hospital hallway.
"Hey, Naruto, you're not seriously planning to keep Kawaki in the village, are you? That's too dangerous. You've read Konohamaru's report—both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kara clearly value him highly," Shikamaru warned. "Just dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D. already stretches the village to its limits."
"That's exactly why we have to protect him. We can't let either S.H.I.E.L.D. or Kara take him." Naruto patted Shikamaru on the shoulder reassuringly. "Relax, I'll personally keep an eye on Kawaki. Besides, dealing with those two isn't just the Hidden Leaf's problem."
"The Hokage personally monitoring someone? That's unheard of. Someone this dangerous should be locked up outside the village."
"Shikamaru, I see my younger self in him… Back then, as a Jinchūriki, I should've been locked up too…" Naruto said softly.
With Naruto baring old wounds like that, what could Shikamaru say? He just shook his head in exasperation and said, "Fine. If you insist. But Naruto, according to Konohamaru's report, Ao the guard from the Land of Water—has ties to Kara. You do realize what that means, right?"
"Yeah." Naruto nodded gravely.
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