Chapter 3: We Have Something to Say!

Chapter 3: We Have Something to Say!

The guards lifted Naruto by the collar, dragging him out like a dead dog.

Naruto's eyes darted about, and he spotted his teammates Yamato, Sakura, and Sai in the same helpless situation.

Defeat! They had all lost in an instant!

These guards were indeed terrifyingly powerful!

Just what kind of fearsome country was the Shenwu Empire?

"Captain Yamato, Sakura, Sai! Are you guys okay?" Naruto called out in worry.

"Ugh...look at us. How could we be okay? Ah...my arms hurt..." Sakura replied weakly.

Her whole body was immobilized as well.

"These guys are strong, and their abilities are like nothing I've ever seen before," Sai added, maintaining his usual indifferent demeanor, but Naruto could sense the shock in his tone.

"Cough, cough... Indeed, they are overly strong. Each of them could be a top-notch elite jonin in Konoha," Yamato agreed.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

With four dull thuds, Naruto and his teammates were thrown together like dead dogs.

A crowd of onlookers gradually gathered around them, keeping their distance while pointing and whispering.

The guards who had initially confronted them and those who had arrived later formed a tight circle, trapping the four within. One of the guards spoke up, "Care to explain yourselves? Are you going to come quietly, or are you going to put up a futile resistance?"

"I can't understand you guys," one of the guards said. "You're obviously so weak, yet you dared to attack the Dragon Vein. If you want to die, why not just stab yourselves with your kunai? Why go through all this trouble?"

"These guys must be discarded losers," another guard chimed in. "Isn't that one from the Senju clan? Maybe they wanted to disgust us by bringing him here."

"Despite sharing the same surname and abilities as His Majesty Shenwu, he chose to side with the remnants of the ninja village. They deserve to die!"

"They are willing to give up the honor of interacting with His Majesty Shenwu. These guys are beyond salvation." The guards shook their heads in disgust as they spoke of Naruto and his teammates.

"Well, well, well! Are you calling us weak?" Naruto and his teammates were indignant.

"That's going too far, isn't it? We're elite ninjas from Konoha, and we're not weak at all!" they wanted to retort.

"You're just too strong!" they thought to themselves.

However, Yamato's eyes flickered with a different idea. "There might be a misunderstanding here, my friends. We are not the remnants of the ninja village as you assume."

"You're wearing forehead protectors and attacked the Dragon Vein fortress. Do you expect us to believe you're just cosplaying?" one of the guards scoffed.

"We're definitely not cosplayers," Yamato quickly clarified. "But our identities are quite different from what you presume. This time, we merely wanted to take a look at the Dragon Vein..."

As Yamato tried to explain, Naruto suddenly shouted, "Hey! Hey, hey! Aren't you Kankuro? What are you doing here?"

"!"

Yamato, Sai, and Sakura followed Naruto's gaze, and there he was—a man with a striking resemblance to Kankuro, except he had eight mechanical spider legs attached to his lower body and four mechanical arms on his upper torso. He walked towards them, supported by his mechanical spider legs.

"Kankuro? Is that really him?" Sakura asked, unsure.

The guards who had been surrounding them earlier now bowed respectfully. "Lord Kankuro, why are you here? These remnants are just a bunch of weaklings. They aren't worth your time."

"Kankuro? Is it really him?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

The Kankuro before them was vastly different from the one she remembered. The greasy marks on his face were gone, replaced by a sharp gaze and a more robust physique.

Naruto shouted in surprise.

If his body wasn't immobilized, he would have jumped up in excitement.

"Hmm? You know me? And Gaara, too? Naruto Uzumaki..."

Kankuro, who was approaching, looked surprised as he examined the shouting Naruto carefully.

"Hey, hey, hey! You haven't forgotten about me, have you? The Chunin Exams from three years ago!" Naruto reminded him.

"Shut up! You despicable remnant of the ninja village! Lord Kankuro couldn't possibly know a guy like you! Don't try to get friendly with him!" One of the guards, seeing that Naruto wanted to strike up a conversation, scolded him with disgust.

"But I really do know him!" Naruto said defiantly.

"Naruto Uzumaki... Naruto Uzumaki... That face... and that hair color... How is it that you look so much like the Imperial Capital's Twin Stars?" Kankuro stared at Naruto in astonishment after a long while.

"Twin Stars of the Imperial Capital? I'm Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha! I came here under the orders of Hokage to capture that Centipede bastard! Do you know where that Centipede bastard is? It's all because of that bastard that we don't know why we're here. By the way, where exactly is this place? Why is everything so strange?" Naruto asked, puzzled but still calling out.

"Centipede? That name sounds so familiar," Kankuro muttered.

"Lord Kankuro, a few days ago, this guy named Centipede also came here to cause trouble, but he was eventually caught and thrown into prison," one of the guards informed him.

"So that's what happened. Although I don't know why you look so similar to the Twin Stars of the Imperial Capital, but dare to rebel, then I will never let you off the hook!

Take them away and lock them up, too."

After finishing his sentence, Kankuro turned around and was about to leave.

He seemed completely uninterested in the four in front of him.

Perhaps, in his eyes, these four were just petty thieves.

Hearing this, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato were all shocked.

Locked up? If they were imprisoned, wouldn't they be finished? The guards here were incredibly strong, and they didn't feel confident about escaping.

Unless Naruto used that power... but... was that possible? Doing so would cause him to go berserk and attack indiscriminately! The entire city would be destroyed!

There was no way Naruto could do that! Yamato thought and quickly said, "Lord Kankuro... Lord, although it may seem unbelievable, can you please listen to us explain our origins?"

"Oh? This rebel is surprisingly reasonable.

Then go ahead and explain."

Kankuro's mechanical spider legs twisted flexibly, allowing him to turn back towards Naruto and the others.

Yamato honestly explained everything.

After listening to their story, Kankuro and the guards beside him showed a change in their expressions.

"Are these guys joking with us?"

"I think this is just the rebel's wild imagination!"

"If you want to beg for mercy, you don't need to make up such a reason. Do you think we'll let you off the hook just because of this?"

"It's ridiculous! Konoha ceased to exist twenty-two years ago, and Lady Tsunade currently serves in the Imperial Capital, but she has never been a Hokage." The guards argued, refuting the claims of the four.

"We're not lying! All of this is because of the Dragon Vein and that Centipede bastard! We ended up here because of them, so we wanted to take a look at the Dragon Vein and see if we could find a way back!" Naruto shouted.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end