signingbooks Chapter 88 Naruto: Sasuke, you're awesome!
Chapter 88 Naruto: Sasuke, you're awesome!
Chapter 88 Naruto: Sasuke, you're awesome!
A corner of the Death Forest.
The three members of Class 7 were resting, hidden behind a thick clump of grass.
They have been resting here for half a day.
While it's important to race against time, rushing forward will only leave you exhausted and vulnerable to other teams taking advantage of you.
Moreover, compared to Sakura, who was in good condition, Naruto and Sasuke had experienced continuous battles and had consumed a lot of chakra, so they needed to recover their strength at the moment.
The three ate some dry food, washed their wounds and dirt with water, and their water bottles were almost empty.
Sasuke stood up and stretched, then looked around and said casually, "We're almost out of water. I'll go get some more from nearby."
"I'll go, I'll go!" Naruto jumped up immediately upon hearing this, brushed the grass clippings off his clothes, scratched his head, and smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Sasuke, you rest for a while. I can handle this little thing."
Hearing this, Sakura pouted and couldn't help but tease, "Forget it, what if you get lost?"
"I won't get lost!" Naruto's face was full of defiance.
"Pfft—." Sakura couldn't help but chuckle when she saw Naruto's embarrassed and angry expression.
Sasuke had only mentioned it casually, but seeing Naruto eagerly going to fetch water, he sat back down without hesitation, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "Alright then, let Naruto go. Anyway, the river isn't far from us, so there won't be any danger."
"Huh?" Sakura blinked, somewhat puzzled.
Logically speaking, Sasuke has never been very confident in Naruto's way of doing things, so why did he agree so readily this time?
Before she could ask any further questions, Sasuke crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and said with a half-smile, "Naruto is so eager..."
They must be planning to stop by the river to see if they can find that incense, right?
"Huh?" Sakura was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant, and sighed, both amused and exasperated, "Really—"
Not far away, Naruto was carrying an empty water bottle, ready to set off.
Hearing Sasuke's teasing, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, his face flushing slightly: "N-no way! I just went to fetch water!"
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a knowing glance, both unable to suppress their smiles.
Naruto, whose secret had been exposed, chuckled awkwardly twice, then stopped trying to explain and quickly determined his direction before disappearing into the dense forest.
Before entering the Forest of Death, Naruto had looked at a map.
He remembered that deep within this vast, gloomy forest, a wide river flowed through it, and the seventh class, belonging to class 12...
The entrance is not far from the water source.
If Xiang really appears near this river as in my dream, then this might be a chance to meet her.
With an irrepressible sense of anticipation, Naruto quickened his pace and ran towards the river.
The forest was dimly lit, and the smell of decaying leaves mingled with the dampness of the earth.
The surroundings were quiet, with only the occasional chirping of birds and insects.
Naruto walked through the forest for more than ten minutes, and sure enough, he heard the sound of flowing water in the forest.
He perked up and started jogging faster in the direction of the sound.
Before long, the trees in front of them gradually thinned out, and a clear and wide river stretched out in front of them.
The river surface shimmered under the dappled sunlight.
Naruto slowed down and looked around.
There was no one on the opposite bank of the dense forest, and there were no signs of a fight on the nearby muddy ground.
He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
In the dream, I found Xiang's figure in this vicinity, but in reality, I did not see any trace of her.
"Am I overthinking it—"
Naruto muttered something under his breath and, unwilling to give up, searched upstream and downstream along the riverbank again, but still found nothing.
He scratched his head and had no choice but to give up. He then bent down to the riverbank and began to draw water.
The cool river water gurgled into the kettle. Naruto scooped up a few handfuls of water and washed his face, thinking that he might as well fill it up with more so that he could take some back for Sasuke and Sakura as well.
Just as he tightened the lid of the kettle and prepared to get up and return to camp, a sharp, piercing cry from a young girl suddenly came from the depths of the woods behind him: "Ah—!"
Naruto paused, glancing around warily.
Almost simultaneously, he heard a deep roar of a wild beast in the distance, followed by a loud crash, as if some enormous creature had smashed a tree, the creaking sound of breaking wood echoing through the forest.
"A girl's scream, and—a bear?"
Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up, and his heart began to pound faster.
"Could it be?"
Without a second thought, he immediately slung his water bottle over his shoulder and ran towards the direction from which the sound came.
Bushes and branches kept whizzing past him as he raced toward the source of the sound.
A petite figure was seen frantically running through the forest. The person's long, bright red hair was as striking as flames, standing out against the dark, green forest.
She was kneeling and clearly exhausted. Not far behind her, a huge black and brown bear was chasing her frantically.
"Hoo-ha-Help!"
1
The red-haired girl was breathing heavily. Seeing the giant bear roaring and charging at her from behind, she was terrified and screamed.
The little girl's thin legs gradually gave way, and she tripped and fell with a thud into the weeds.
The giant bear let out a low growl, its fierce eyes fixed on its fallen prey, and with a swing of its massive paw, it knocked down a patch of bushes in front of it.
With a deafening roar, the giant bear lunged forward, its massive jaws agape, and lunged at Xiang.
At the critical moment, an orange figure darted out from the side like lightning.
Naruto leaped into the air and delivered a powerful horizontal kick that struck the giant bear squarely in the jaw!
With a muffled thud, the giant bear let out a miserable cry, was kicked and fell to the ground, its huge head slamming hard against a rock. Instantly, its eyes glazed over and it lay motionless.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto subdued the threatening beast.
After confirming that the giant bear had passed out, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned around to reach out to the girl behind him: "Hey, are you alright?"
Xiang remained seated on the ground, clearly terrified.
Seeing that the terrifying giant bear had been defeated, she finally came to her senses.
Looking up, he met Naruto's bright, concerned, azure eyes.
The boy had a big, carefree smile on his face: "Great, you're not hurt, are you?"
Xiang stared blankly at the blond boy with a sincere smile on his face, momentarily lost in thought.
Although we were complete strangers, for some reason, I felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity upon first meeting him.
Moreover, his chakra was warm and bright, as if it carried a reassuring power.
"Um—thank you."
Xiang's cheeks flushed slightly. She adjusted her black-rimmed glasses, which were about to slip off her nose, reached out and grabbed Naruto's outstretched hand. She carefully stood up. "I'm fine—"
The girl's tone was slightly shy, after all, this was the first time she had been held in such a way and shown concern by a boy her own age.
Seeing that she only had a scratch and was otherwise unharmed, Naruto grinned and said, "That's good! Haha, I thought 'Oh no!'"
Before Naruto could finish speaking, Kaori's expression suddenly changed as if she had remembered something. She abruptly pushed Naruto's hand away and shouted anxiously, "Run! There's an ambush!"
Naruto was taken aback: "Ambush? What ambush—"
"Damn it! You treacherous bitch, you're definitely unreliable!" A furious roar came from above!
Before he could finish speaking, a dark figure swooped down from the tree with a sharp whooshing sound, a cold kunai flashing in his hand, aimed straight at Naruto's back!
Xiang's eyes widened, and her heart sank to the bottom: "No! No!"
Without thinking, she lunged forward, seemingly trying to push Naruto away. But she was already swaying as she stood up, and this movement caused her legs to give way, and she fell back to the ground.
As Xiang watched that familiar figure leap down from the tree, her heart sank to the bottom.
She didn't know why she had subconsciously reminded the blond boy she didn't know, but she knew very well that she had made a big mistake.
Shortly after entering the Forest of Death, Xiang's two Grass Ninja teammates forcibly shoved the team's Heavenly Scroll into her hands, saying, "Others will see that you're young and weak, and you're carrying a scroll, so they'll definitely attack you without warning. We'll ambush them in the trees, and once they take the bait, we'll launch a sneak attack and kill them in one blow!"
After saying that, the two of them vanished in a flash.
She understood perfectly well that those two bastards didn't see her as a partner at all, but rather as "bait" to lure out the enemy.
If she encounters a weaker opponent, she'll at worst get a beating and suffer some minor injuries.
But if they encounter a formidable enemy, those two will definitely not show themselves; they will simply watch her die.
What's even worse is that her two teammates, who were worse than pigs and dogs, just stood by and watched coldly from the shadows, letting her be chased by the giant bear without offering any help whatsoever!
Xiang fled desperately until her legs went weak and she was almost exhausted.
She had even begun to despair, feeling that she was probably going to die in the bear's jaws today.
Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, a golden figure descended from the sky and brutally beat the giant bear to the ground. However, now, the golden-haired boy who saved her life may very well be killed because of her.
Xiang's two teammates are utterly inhuman.
She ruined their plans, and they certainly won't let her off the hook afterward.
Xiangxin felt utterly hopeless and closed her eyes in despair, unable to bear witnessing what was about to happen.
However, the expected screams did not occur.
Instead, two dull thuds were heard, followed by a slightly mocking voice: "Is that all you've got? You dare to ambush me?"
Xiang Yi, with a hint of smokiness, opened his eyes.
The once ferocious Grass Village ninja was now pinned to the ground by Naruto's foot, his face contorted in a comical shape, struggling and roaring, "Damn it! Where are my teammates?! Help me! Why am I the only one who came down here?!"
"Are you looking for him?" A slightly low laugh came from above.
Xiang looked up at the sound and saw another black-clad grass ninja who had fainted at some point. He was being dragged down from the treetop by a black-haired boy who was holding him by the back of his collar with one hand.
The boy's figure was like a light bird, and with a few leaps, he landed steadily beside Naruto, casually tossing the grass ninja he was carrying to the ground.
"Sasuke!" Naruto looked up in surprise. "What brings you here?"
The person standing before me was Sasuke.
Not far behind him, Sakura came running up, shouting, "Hehe, I'm here too! But I wasn't much of a help!"
Naruto felt a warmth in his heart, and his nose tingled slightly.
Sassa, you're so kind!