Naruto: The new beginning

----

Earlier, Naruto had thrown dozens of Flying Thunder God kunai toward Kakuzu, but the man had blasted them hundreds of meters away in all directions.

And now?

Those kunai were coming in handy.

As soon as Kakuzu began to flee, Naruto had Kurama alert his shadow clone, which had already transported Tsunade and Jiraiya to intercept him.

All that time spent bantering with Kakuzu and Hidan?

It wasn't just to provoke them Naruto had been relaying information back to Konoha and buying time for reinforcements.

And now?

Kakuzu had run straight into a disaster.

Kakuzu stumbled, crashing into a massive crater in the ground.

The diameter of the hole was over ten meters, and the stone beneath him cracked like a spiderweb.

Inside the crater's centre lay one of his heart creatures, lifeless.

On the crater's edge was another one, equally ruined.

The first had been obliterated by Tsunade's "Divine Justice From Above".

The second? Jiraiya's Rasengan special.

Now, Kakuzu was panicking.

Only one heart remained.

It was his Earth Release heart, meaning he could still use Earth Spear for defence but at this point?

There was no guarantee he could withstand another Tsunade punch.

Kakuzu was facing the greatest crisis of his life comparable only to that one time he had been dumb enough to try and assassinate Hashirama Senju.

If he still had two hearts, he could afford to take risks.

But with only one left?

He was done playing.

Kakuzu fully transformed, his arms splitting apart, black tendrils writhing and expanding behind him like a monstrous peacock.

Even his mouth was filled with those same grotesque black tendrils.

This form allowed him to attack from long range, using his detachable limbs like rocket fists while also keeping his distance.

His new goal was simple—

Survive. Escape. Live to make money another day.

But then—

More reinforcements arrived.

Team 7 arrived at the battlefield, fanning out to cover all possible escape routes.

Naruto grinned. "Damn, Tsunade-nee and Ero-Sennin work fast!"

Tsunade cracked her knuckles.

"Of course."

Jiraiya, however, was more serious.

"Don't get careless, Naruto. It's not over until it's over."

Kakuzu scanned his opponents.

Tsunade was limbering up. Jiraiya was ready to weave seals. Kakashi's Raikiri was already active.

Naruto had a Rasengan the size of a person raised overhead.

Sasuke's Kusanagi blade crackled with lightning.

Sakura was tightening her gloves.

Sasuke's Sharingan spun as he muttered,

"The last one is Earth Release. Lightning beats Earth. Leave it to me."

Kakuzu snarled and charged toward Sasuke his arms hardened to rock, preparing to smash the Uchiha's skull.

But at the last second—

He changed direction.

In an unnatural pivot, he suddenly lunged for Sakura instead.

After all—

Why waste time fighting the opponent with the advantage? Why not go for the "weakest" one instead?

Sasuke was furious.

"COWARD!"

He lashed out with Chidori Spear, but Kakuzu was just out of range.

"I GOT HER!"

His earth-enhanced arm hurtled toward Sakura—

"Sayōnara."

Sakura didn't dodge.

She punched back.

"WHAT—"

CRACK!

Kakuzu's entire forearm shattered—not just broken but reduced to gravel.

Sakura's fist then collided with his chest.

And Kakuzu's heart, his last, final heart, was pulverized.

"I… I actually…"

The legendary rogue ninja, who had lived for nearly a century, couldn't even finish his last words before collapsing into nothing.

Naruto smirked.

"I bet he was gonna say, 'The most painful thing in the world is dying before spending all my money.'"

Tsunade and Sakura did a final check to confirm.

And once it was certain Kakuzu was well and truly dead.

Naruto did what he always did.

Loot the corpse.

Just to be safe, he used sensory abilities to ensure no extra hidden hearts were lying around.

"Sakura, nice work." Tsunade grinned.

"You really are like me."

Sakura beamed, eyes crinkling as she happily accepted the praise.

It was rare for Tsunade to compliment her outright.

"Sasuke, that lightning jutsu was you, right?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah."

If Naruto had been the one asking, Sasuke would've turned away, pretending not to care while secretly enjoying the praise.

If Itachi had been the one asking, Sasuke would've blushed, stammered, and prepared for a head pat.

But Jiraiya?

Someone familiar, but not too close?

Sasuke was uncertain how to respond.

So he settled for a simple, polite answer.

Naruto, however, was feeling ignored.

"Oi. What about me? No one's gonna compliment me?"

Jiraiya deadpanned. "For what? Having a big Rasengan?"

Then he whacked Naruto on the head.

"Ow! Ero-Sennin, what was that for?!"

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "For getting cocky before the fight was actually over."

Naruto dodged a second slap, hopping aside. "Fine, if that's how you wanna be walk back to Konoha on your own!"

Jiraiya snorted. "What, like I've never walked places before? That's not a threat."

Naruto, however, grinned deviously.

"Oh? But have you considered this—"

He leaned in and whispered into Jiraiya's ear.

Jiraiya's entire face changed.

Because Naruto had just reminded him that his Flying Thunder God kunai were scattered across multiple countries.

Meaning—

If Naruto wanted to, he could teleport him anywhere.

Instantly.

For "research purposes."

Jiraiya's mind exploded with possibilities.

"Heh… Heh heh… Naruto…"

BAM!

Tsunade fist-smacked him straight into the ground. "DON'T CORRUPT MY LITTLE BROTHER, YOU PERVERT!"

Jiraiya lay face-down, looking like a flattened frog, a massive lump forming on his head. "I'M INNOCENT…"

Kakashi, meanwhile, let out a long sigh of exhaustion.

"Well, that's two missions successfully completed."

Naruto stretched. "Actually, Kakashi-sensei, there's one last thing."

Kakashi groaned. "What now?"

Naruto patted his stomach.

"I'm starving."

----

Don't forget to drop some Power Stones!

For early access to advanced chapters on p@treon.

P@treon/iamxeno

Thank you so much for your support and for reading!