48 Chapter 48: The Mysterious Masked Man
Night.
The village of Konoha was very quiet.
This was because the Anbu ninjas were guarding this peaceful village.
Konoha is the most prosperous and largest ninja village in the ninja world. Other villages inevitably harbor hostility towards Konoha, and even during peacetime, they would not miss any opportunity to probe into Konoha's intelligence.
A group of Anbu ninjas, dressed in gray armor, were constantly leaping and falling around the outskirts of Konoha, patrolling to see if there were any breaches in the village's defenses.
Akihara Kagura had also become one of them.
However, this young Anbu member did not patrol as seriously as the others, but rather casually checked an area and then stopped to rest.
"This kid, slacking off during a mission?"
The pitcher plant monster, hiding underground, was keeping an eye on Akihara Kagura. Its black half-face couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed in the lazy Kagura.
The white half-face of the pitcher plant monster quietly defended, "Kids will be kids, maybe he just likes to play... Is he talking to himself?"
"Let's eavesdrop a bit..."
The pitcher plant monster slowly crept close to Akihara Kagura, close enough to eavesdrop on his mutterings.
"Who is framing me?"
"If the person doesn't continue to kill people using Wood Release, will I never be able to find out who framed me? I must find a way to use Wood Release to kill some people and frame the one who framed me, at least to clear my own suspicion..."
"I must make a bigger commotion..."
"It would be best to create panic throughout Konoha..."
"Just like the chaos caused by the Nine-Tails incident in the entire Konoha..."
"..."
This kid is crazy!
The pitcher plant monster was somewhat shocked.
How could there be such a bizarre person in the ninja world!
Encountering someone using Wood Release to frame him, he didn't think of handling it low-key, but instead thought of committing murders himself, and even wanted to escalate the situation!
The pitcher plant monster thought this kid was too weird and secretly reported to the mysterious masked man to avoid any uncontrollable trouble.
"Framing the murderer?"
The mysterious masked man, upon hearing such information, couldn't help but sneer at the idea: "That kid doesn't even know who I am, how could he possibly set me up? I'm actually curious to see how that kid tries to set me up!"
Yes.
Akihara Kagura does not know his identity.
Everyone in the ninja world probably doesn't know about him, and apart from a few people, nobody knows that there's a mysterious masked man in the ninja world.
However...
Sometimes, to frame someone, you don't need their identity information.
Logically, Akihara Kagura indeed doesn't know the mysterious masked man's information, but he knows who has seen the mysterious masked man in person.
The most ferocious tailed beast.
The Nine-Tails.
The last Nine-Tails disturbance in Konoha Village was caused by the mysterious masked man, and the Nine-Tails harbors deep hatred for anyone who has controlled it!
The mysterious masked man places great importance on the Nine-Tails.
If anything really happens to the Nine-Tails, he will definitely rush over.
If the mysterious masked man refuses to show up, Akihara Kagura has another plan: just by transforming into the appearance of the mysterious masked man, it's highly likely that it would provoke a chakra riot in the Nine-Tails, making many people aware of the existence of the mysterious masked man and unable to resist investigating the truth about him...
Now...
It's time to find Uzumaki Naruto.
Is it easy to meet Uzumaki Naruto?
Very easy.
He could be encountered at any time.
Uzumaki Naruto, the little guy, grew up without parents, not taught how to live.
The living expenses given to him by
Konoha often wasn't enough for his needs.
This little guy would often go fishing by the Konoha River or pick mushrooms in the back mountains late into the night because of extreme hunger...
Tonight.
It just so happens that this little guy is hungry again.
Uzumaki Naruto, jubilantly picking wild mushrooms, has no idea that Akihara Kagura is standing on a big tree, secretly spying on his movements.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
The pitcher plant monster, which has been hiding in this big tree, is also spying on Akihara Kagura and has noticed the little guy, Uzumaki Naruto.
In Akihara Kagura's hands, wooden spikes are gathering, seemingly unaware that someone is eavesdropping on him, carelessly planning his scheme: "The Nine-Tails must be important, right? Is there anything more alarming to Konoha than the mastermind behind the scenes killing the Nine-Tails?"
"..."
Ah?
Ah!
What is this kid talking about!
Both brains of the pitcher plant monster are about to explode!
Why would this kid say such a horrifying thing, how can he so casually talk about killing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Is this kid really a ninja from Konoha?
The most troublesome part is that the Nine-Tails is inside Uzumaki Naruto, and the life of the Tailed Beast and the Jinchuriki are interconnected. Uzumaki Naruto, the Jinchuriki, is very weak; if this kid, Akihara Kagura, kills Uzumaki Naruto, he could indeed kill the Nine-Tails!
This would cause great chaos in Konoha!
No!
It could even cause turmoil throughout the entire ninja world!
"This kid is too extreme…"
"Must we stop all this from happening first?"
The pitcher plant monster's two brains quickly reached an agreement. It could only inform the mysterious masked man to come immediately, as it had no combat ability!
"..."
The mysterious masked man hurriedly used space time ninjutsu to come over.
This dark figure, who had always been hiding behind the ninja world and thought he could manipulate everyone, felt for the first time that things were out of his control.
Although he didn't know what impact it would have on himself if Akihara Kagura killed the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, it was obviously beyond his control!
Especially since…
That guy also wanted to frame him!
Moreover…
The child Uzumaki Naruto…
During the last Nine-Tails disturbance, the mysterious masked man made a life-changing decision to kill his teacher, turning himself from a ninja aspiring to be the Hokage into a behind-the-scenes manipulator trying to overturn the ninja world.
Maybe there's still a bit of conscience left, maybe it's because Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, can still restrain the Nine-Tails, so there's no need to let this child die so early!
Konoha's back mountain.
Akihara Kagura seemed to be patrolling here by chance and saw Uzumaki Naruto, greeting him, "Hey, Naruto, what are you doing here?"
"Kagura!"
Uzumaki Naruto waved excitedly at Akihara Kagura, holding up his hand full of colorful mushrooms, "I just picked these mushrooms, want to have soup together?"
"..."
Green mushrooms…
Red mushrooms…
Aren't these all poisonous mushrooms?
Akihara Kagura frowned, his eyes changing: "After eating these with you, we'll probably see our parents..."
"Eh? Really?"
Uzumaki Naruto seemed somewhat happy.
This little guy still didn't quite understand Akihara Kagura's meaning. Holding a mushroom in his hand, he rushed towards Akihara Kagura, even feeling happy to meet someone who didn't dislike him.
"Don't get close to him!"
A voice suddenly appeared here!
A spacetime vortex slowly appeared between Akihara Kagura and Uzumaki Naruto, and the figure of the mysterious masked man quickly flashed out of the spacetime vortex!
When the mysterious masked man arrived, his brain didn't have time to think of other ways. He could only hurriedly appear in front of the two. Even if he revealed any flaws, he could use the Mangekyo Sharingan to hypnotize them and erase their memories!
Splash!
Blood splattered!
A wooden spike pierced into the flesh!
The moment the mysterious masked man hurriedly used the spacetime jutsu to appear, a wooden spike had already suddenly pierced his body, as if waiting for the moment he appeared, leaving him no time to dodge!
"Good evening, intruder..."
A playful look flashed in Akihara Kagura's eyes.
It was somewhat unexpected that a behind-the-scenes manipulator of the ninja world would be so easily deceived…
