Devil Fruit Seal in Naruto

They left the town's limits behind.

The sun slowly began to set.

Ahead on the road, a dense forest appeared.

Deep in the forest, two strange and eerie figures hid in the shadows.

They wore black robes embroidered with red clouds.

The deep red color looked like fresh blood slowly moving in the darkness.

They looked like bloodthirsty beasts waiting to hunt, yet also like a faint light ready to break through the darkness.

"Stop!"

In the middle of the road,

Inori suddenly raised her arm and shouted to stop.

"Ouch!"

Nobunaga, sitting in the sedan chair behind, almost fell out because his heavy weight caused the chair to jerk. Frustrated, he lifted the curtain and asked, "What's going on? What's going on?"

Inori ignored him, her beautiful eyes alert as she looked toward the dense forest ahead.

"Raizen-kun, Miss Kurenai, Asuma-san, I sense two deliberately hidden chakra signatures."

"An ambush?"

Asuma's expression turned serious. He had suspected an S-rank mission wouldn't be just an escort.

"According to the battle plan we discussed earlier."

"Understood!"

The four adjusted their positions.

Captain Asuma stood at the front, Uchiha Raizen on the left, Kurenai on the right, and Inori right behind.

Inori closed her eyes, formed hand seals in front of her chest, and focused her sensing ability, her delicate face showing concern.

"This chakra… it's very powerful. Everyone, be careful!"

Uchiha Raizen's heart tightened. He trusted Inori's judgment—this enemy was no ordinary opponent.

In his mind, the name of a famous mercenary organization in the ninja world flashed quickly.

One word suddenly jumped out: Akatsuki!

Could it be the Akatsuki?!

Thinking carefully, it really seemed very possible. At this time, the Akatsuki was carrying out the first step of their "Tailed Beast Capture" plan—making money.

Under Nagato's leadership, the Akatsuki's current goal was to take over the missions of the major ninja villages. They accepted any task, good or bad, as long as they could quickly gather funds.

The noble named Nobunaga behind this looked like a short-lived man. 

Hiring Konoha ninja as escorts probably meant he knew many wanted him dead, so he was willing to pay six million ryō to guarantee his safety.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Uchiha Raizen's muscles tightened all over.

If it really was the Akatsuki, then even with the power of the Azure Dragon Curse Mark as his support, he had to be extremely careful.

Deep in the dense forest.

Two strange figures wearing red cloud black cloaks stopped when they saw the escort wasn't moving forward. They made a soft surprised sound.

"We tried to hide our chakra as much as possible, but they still noticed us? Looks like that blond girl is a sensory-type ninja."

"See the forehead protectors? They're from Konoha. A four-man squad is a common formation for Konoha."

"Hmph, these enemies are troublesome. Should we report back to the leader and retreat? Starting a fight with Konoha, one of the Five Great Nations, isn't part of the leader's plan."

"No, no, no. This trip might bring extra rewards." One figure took out a small booklet and flipped through it.

"Asuma Sarutobi, bounty: twenty million ryō."

"Hey, Kakuzu, are you really that obsessed with money?" complained a big man with a big sword and a few coarse chin hairs, clearly displeased.

"Money is the most important thing, idiot."

"You're the idiot!"

The two started arguing, but the bearded man clearly couldn't win against Kakuzu.

Kakuzu said in a firm tone, "As usual, you go first to test the enemy's strength. I'll support you from behind."

The bearded man grumbled, "You want the money and still boss me around, damn it!"

Though unhappy, he didn't dare disobey Kakuzu because he feared his power.

He had no choice but to grab his big sword and walk out of the forest toward Asuma's team.

"They're coming!" Asuma took out his special chakra blade, ready for battle.

Kurenai clasped her hands, prepared to use her genjutsu at any moment.

Inori reminded, "There's still one person who hasn't appeared."

Uchiha Raizen, seeing the distinctive Akatsuki uniform, knew with bad luck he was right.

His eyes flashed red as his Two Tomoe Sharingan activated instantly.

Carefully watching the Akatsuki member who stepped out, he didn't recognize him well — seemed like just a minor character from the original story.

But he stayed alert and focused on the forest.

If the other Akatsuki member was Pain, it would be the worst situation.

"Quick, protect me!" Nobunaga saw the real enemy attack and trembled all over, quickly hiding back inside the palanquin.

His dozen or so guards immediately surrounded the palanquin tightly, nervously watching how the Konoha ninja would respond.

"Take this!"

Under Kakuzu's watchful eyes, the bearded man had no choice but to lure the enemy by himself. He looked angry and fierce, swinging his sword hard at Asuma.

Clang!

Asuma blocked with his chakra blade.

They struggled fiercely against each other.

The bearded man clenched his teeth, muscles bulging on his arm as he forced out, "You Konoha ninja sure are strong."

Asuma felt the heavy pressure too.

Though just an unknown cannon fodder in Uchiha Raizen's eyes, the bearded man had joined the Akatsuki, so at least he was a Jonin.

"Who exactly are you?" Asuma pushed him back and asked.

The bearded man spat, "That's none of your business."

Then attacked again.

They fought hand-to-hand, their blows striking so fast it was hard to follow.

In the dense forest,

Kakuzu watched for a while, muttering, "He's the Jonin leader of the team, no wonder he's worth a 20 million ryo bounty. He's definitely worth killing. But first, I'll deal with that blonde girl."

Kakuzu had lived for over a hundred years and was very experienced in battle.

You know, if we don't take out the enemy's sensory ninja first, it will be very bad for his actions later.

Kakuzu's fingers moved slightly, and black tentacles quietly stretched into the ground.

Over at Konoha.

Kurenai saw Asuma was not losing, so she didn't rush to help. Instead, she asked Inori:

"What is the other enemy doing?"

Inori frowned slightly: "It's strange, he's just standing there and hasn't moved an inch."

Uchiha Raizen was startled but then realized something.

He quickly looked down at the ground. The soil was slightly moving, but only a Sharingan user observing carefully could notice.

"So that's Kakuzu, working with these Akatsuki randoms."

Thinking this, he rushed toward Inori and Kurenai quickly.

Just as he was about to tackle the two women, a hand suddenly shot out from underground.

It appeared exactly where Inori had just been standing.

Uchiha Raizen's eyes darkened instantly, and the power of the Azure Dragon Curse Mark slowly began to flow through his body.

"That was close, it came from underground!"

Inori and Kurenai were both shocked, especially Inori. If Raizen hadn't saved her, she would probably be in serious danger now.

"Raizen, are you okay?" Inori's beautiful eyes were anxious, and Kurenai also looked at him with concern and gratitude.

"I'm fine." Uchiha Raizen stood up, twisted his neck, and squinted toward the dense forest.

"This enemy is not ordinary, but unfortunately, he's already chosen a path to his death."

Kakuzu was extremely surprised that his sneak attack had failed.

He noticed Uchiha Raizen's eyes full of killing intent. Beneath his mask, Kakuzu's mouth curled into a cold, contemptuous smile.

"Uchiha's Sharingan, huh? No wonder you noticed the movement of the tentacles. But with only two tomoe, you'll have to try killing me in your next life!"

Kakuzu stopped hiding and instantly appeared less than ten meters away from Asuma.

His companion, the bearded man, was still fighting Asuma. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither able to break free.

Without hesitation, Kakuzu formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Head Fire!"

A strange, pitch-black creature suddenly poked its head out from Kakuzu's back. It opened its mouth and sprayed a wide range of roaring flames!

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