Konoha: Naruto's abnormal life choices

Here is your chapter, fully edited into fluent English for a European and US audience, preserving the tone, length, and character names like Naruto Uzumaki:

The whistling, icy wind grew more violent, and the rain steadily became heavier.

Drizzling raindrops pelted her skin, but Inuzuka Hana stood unfazed.

Eyes wide open, she remained rooted in place, watching Naruto Uzumaki clash with the shinobi from Kumogakure. She didn't even notice Akayuki nudging her calf with his head.

Because—

The scene unfolding before her was utterly horrifying.

In the forest, more than thirty enemy shinobi were now surrounded by over three hundred Narutos, each cloaked in red chakra. Ninjutsu exploded across the battlefield like an unstoppable tide.

Amid the screams and agonized wails, shinobi in Iwagakure uniforms fell one after another. Some were decapitated, others pierced through the heart, and many were simply torn apart.

No enemy slain by Naruto left behind a complete body.

It was a massacre.

Once more than a dozen had died, a few of the remaining enemies broke psychologically. They dropped to their knees, begging for mercy—but that mercy never came. Their pleas ended with half their heads lopped off.

The very same shinobi who'd charged forward with deadly intent just moments ago were reduced to severed limbs and blood-soaked remains.

The metallic scent of blood clung stubbornly to the air, one even the downpour and howling wind couldn't cleanse. For someone like Inuzuka Hana, whose sense of smell far surpassed normal, the stench was enough to make her retch.

It was overwhelming.

And yet Hana still considered herself lucky.

Lucky that she wasn't Naruto's enemy—but his ally.

The battlefield quieted after the last cries for mercy faded into the rain.

There had been thirty-four Hidden Cloud shinobi.

Thirty-three now lay dead, all within three minutes.

Only one remained—and not because Naruto had spared him.

He needed information.

Naruto turned toward the last survivor with an emotionless stare.

"Tell me. Where is your unit's base?"

"Don't kill me… Please, don't kill me…"

The man's voice trembled. Fear had shattered his mind, and those were the only words he could repeat.

Naruto clicked his tongue, unimpressed. "What a pathetic coward."

Without hesitation, he drove a kunai into the man, ending him instantly.

If you step onto the battlefield, you must be prepared to die. What point is there in begging your enemy?

Even if Naruto had been given a choice… he would have killed him anyway.

Because when these same shinobi attacked Konoha's forces, they hadn't shown a shred of mercy.

Among the forty bodies now strewn across the forest, six were from Konoha.

When Naruto had arrived, the Cloud ninja had attacked him on sight—and nearly killed Inuzuka Hana.

They'd never spared Konoha, so why should Naruto spare them?

Forgiving your enemies?

That was the thinking of fools.

"Sister Hana," Naruto called, turning to look at her. "Do we have any Yamanaka clan members in our squad?"

Inuzuka Hana flinched at the sight of Naruto's face—young, yet cold and merciless. Her heart thudded violently, and her legs gave out beneath her.

She would have fallen hard if Naruto hadn't reacted in time, darting over to catch her.

"Are you that badly hurt?" he asked, concerned. "You can't even stand?"

Inuzuka Hana's heart pounded in her chest. When Naruto approached just now, a flash of terror had struck her—what if he lost control and killed her too?

As she rose from his arms, her legs still felt like jelly.

"I… I'm okay," Hana said, managing a weak laugh as she forced the fear back down.

She knew Naruto was protecting his allies. But the dismembered bodies all around them were still seared into her mind, and they made it hard to breathe.

"It's fine."

Thinking his words had reassured her, Naruto grabbed the only enemy corpse with an intact head and body.

"Sister Hana, we should have someone in the squad who can read memories from corpses, right?"

"Yes! Yes, we do!" Hana quickly nodded.

Good.

Otherwise, this intel would've gone to waste.

"Let's regroup with the others." Naruto took the body and sprinted back toward the main force.

Hana stared after him, nearly collapsing again.

"Huff… huff…" She struggled to catch her breath. Could she ever walk beside Naruto again and meet his eyes?

Would she even dare?

Unlike Hana, her ninken Akayuki seemed thrilled by the battle. He jumped around excitedly, wagging his tail at both Hana and Naruto.

Then he licked the back of Hana's hand and bolted after Naruto.

With no choice, Hana pulled herself together and chased after them both.

Meanwhile…

Deep in a dense forest along the Fire Nation border—

A large cave glowed with candlelight.

At its center stood a military sand table, carefully arranged.

In the middle was a prominent green flag, symbolizing Konoha. Surrounding it were ten smaller green flags and clusters of red flags representing Kumogakure.

One by one, the red flags were moved closer to the green flags. Then someone would pluck the green ones away and toss them aside.

The person directing the flags was a blond young man in a Hidden Cloud uniform. He looked to be in his twenties, but appearances were deceiving.

This was Xi—an elite Jonin of Kumogakure, right-hand to the Fourth Raikage, and the commander of this covert operation.

Xi stroked his chin, studying the table. Only one green flag remained.

"What's going on with the northern team? They've been gone a while and haven't reported back," he muttered.

A muscular shinobi replied at once, "Lord Xi, they may have gone too far north trying to intercept the Konoha scouts. They might still be searching."

Xi nodded, accepting the explanation.

Over forty men had been sent to intercept Konoha's northbound team. Even if they lost, someone should've made it back. Unless they never encountered the enemy.

The idea that all forty-plus ninja had been killed?

Too far-fetched.

Ninja weren't mindless drones. Even if they were all fools, a few should have been able to escape. Total annihilation was unthinkable.

Still, Xi sighed and gave the order: "Everyone, change into Iwagakure uniforms. If the northern squad doesn't return in twenty minutes, we launch the full-scale assault."

"We'll crush Konoha's escort team and seize Shukaku from the Sand Village."

"Yes, sir!"

As the others left to change, Xi pulled out his own Iwagakure outfit and stared down at the sand table.

"Konoha, huh… Kumogakure is the strongest."

This entire operation had one goal—

To ignite conflict between the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth—and steal Shukaku from Sunagakure.

If successful, Kumogakure could dethrone Konoha as the leader among the Five Great Nations.

The Third Great Ninja War had ended with Konoha victorious, but each time they seemed to grow weaker.

Xi remembered the stories passed down in the village: how Kinkaku and Ginkaku launched a coup and killed the Second Hokage—and Konoha did nothing in return.

How the Hidden Cloud had once kidnapped Uzumaki Kushina, Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails—and still, Konoha sought peace instead of war.

Xi hadn't lived through those events, but he clearly remembered the Byakugan incident from a few years ago.

They had blatantly tried to steal the Byakugan—and Konoha didn't retaliate.

Instead, they sent the head of the Hyuga clan to offer an apology.

Even Kumogakure was stunned.

That wasn't just any shinobi—they sent the Hyuga patriarch himself.

If something like that happened in Kumogakure, even the Raikage would've been forced to step down.

But Konoha bent over backwards.

Since then, Kumogakure understood one thing clearly:

Konoha was a paper tiger. They looked powerful, but lacked the spine of even Sunagakure, the weakest of the Five Great Nations.

Why should such a cowardly village continue to suppress Kumogakure?

Take down Konoha, and Hidden Cloud would rise to the top. They could then plunder resources from the other nations.

And the timing?

Perfect.

Konoha had just finished a bloody war with Sunagakure. Both the Hokage and Kazekage had died in the conflict. Now was the moment to strike—capture Shukaku, and frame Iwagakure.

Once the tailed beast was found sealed inside a Kumogakure shinobi, while Konoha, Iwa, and Suna argued and blamed each other—it would be too late.

Then, Kumogakure could officially declare war on Konoha.

Shortly after—

A Cloud ninja returned, now dressed in Iwagakure gear.

"Lord Xi. Aside from the forty-five in the north, the remaining two hundred fifty-five have all arrived and are ready to launch the assault."

Xi nodded. "Wait five more minutes. If the northern team doesn't report back, we move. This operation is too risky to delay any longer."

"Yes!"

This mission—capturing a tailed beast and framing another nation—was high-stakes.

If Konoha or Sunagakure caught wind of it, Hidden Cloud would face retaliation from all three nations.

To minimize the risk, Xi had removed all Black shinobi from the mission to avoid racial detection—much to the outrage of many in the village.

Even Kirabi's dumb apprentice had caused a stir over it.

Xi sighed. "Idiots… Why can't they be as clear-headed as Lord Raikage? No Black shinobi in other countries. They'd blow our cover instantly."

With that, he pulled the final green flag from the board and tossed it aside.

Thanks to their spies in Konoha, they knew the exact numbers and leaders of the escort force.

"We outnumber them three to one. Sarutobi Hazuki… can you survive this?"

"…No. You're all going to die."

Xi, of course, had no idea.

Konoha already knew about their plan.

The squad he was waiting for?

Already dead.

Or more accurately—reduced to corpses.