"Damn it! Is it you, you bastard, who's playing tricks?!"
Kado only managed to steady himself after the violent hurricane dissipated. Hearing Menma's cold and murderous declaration, he immediately roared in a fit of rage, trying to mask his inner panic with sheer volume.
"Who exactly are you?! How dare you ruin my plans?! Do you know who I am?! I am the leader of the Kado Group!"
Although he blustered fiercely, his body honestly retreated again and again, quickly hiding behind the group of thugs he had brought, who were armed with sticks, swords, and clearly a disorganized rabble.
On the other side, Naruto continued to cooperatively feign a slightly tired appearance from excessive exhaustion, while secretly watching his Shadow Clone's performance with interest.
Satsuki's expression was extremely grave. Although she didn't know the exact identity of the newcomer, the suffocating pressure was unmistakable. She unhesitatingly shielded Naruto more closely behind her.
"A mask? Who is this person?"
Sakura looked at the eerie fox mask and black robe, feeling as if she had heard of these features somewhere but couldn't recall where at the moment.
She instinctively looked towards the most reliable Kakashi-sensei, seeking an answer. "Kakashi-sensei, this person is…?"
However, her question instantly caught in her throat—because this was the first time she had seen such immense, almost undisguisable…fear in the eyes of the usually calm and composed Kakashi! His pupils were even trembling slightly.
"Naruto! Satsuki! Sakura! Listen carefully!" Kakashi's voice was filled with unprecedented urgency and sternness, but his gaze was fixed on the figure not far away, not daring to move an inch. "No matter what happens next! Absolutely! Absolutely do not engage that person! This is an order!"
A fox mask, a black robe…this combination was a characteristic Kakashi would never forget in his life.
He had seen this figure with his own eyes and had even fiercely battled the pawns of this organization, the [Cinder].
And most profoundly, there was that destructive Ninjutsu called the [Great Spiraling Ring]—it had hung in the sky outside Konoha Village, as if the end of the world had arrived.
That terrifying power capable of easily destroying a country, a Village, that world-ending sight, had long become an indelible nightmare for him.
It's the leader of [Cinder]... Why... would someone of this caliber appear here?... Things are completely out of control!
At this moment, Zabuza Momochi also recognized the newcomer. To some extent, he and Menma were "colleagues"—both were people who tried to change order with force.
But Zabuza knew very well that Menma was completely different from himself, who had failed in his assassination of the Mizukage years ago and could only flee in disarray. The person before him was a terrifying existence at the pinnacle of the Ninja World, possessing the power to single-handedly contend against a Ninja Village, genuinely feared and dreaded by the Five Great Nations!
However, all these considerations of power, influence, and danger were now irrelevant to Zabuza.
Haku was dead…a huge void and despair consumed him. All that remained in his heart was pure…resolve to die.
Menma's gaze, piercing through the fox mask, swept over Kado, who was still cackling, oblivious to death, relying on his numerical advantage, and the group of eager thugs in front of him.
These mere fodder…do they really think they can overwhelm me with numerical superiority?
He slowly raised one hand, pointing it in the direction of Kado and his cronies.
Kakuzu, standing by, bowed slightly and asked respectfully, with a hint of excitement in his voice, "Leader, dealing with these fellows hardly seems worth your personal attention, does it? Leave it to me."
His voice held an undisguised pleasure—the thought of being able to "legitimately" rob one of the world's richest men put the money-loving Kakuzu in a great mood.
"No," Menma said, "You have more important work later. You still remember how to perform the basic interrogation techniques of a Ninja, don't you?"
"Heh heh heh heh…"
Kakuzu chuckled, a dangerous gleam in his green eyes. "That is, of course, ingrained in my bones. Although it has been many years since I personally did it, please rest assured, I will not disappoint you."
He was already calculating how to extract all bank account and treasure location passwords from Kado's mouth.
Kado, on the opposite side, saw Menma raise his hand, was scared out of his wits, and scrambled to hide at the very back of the crowd, screaming hysterically, "Quick! You guys, get rid of that guy who's playing tricks first!"
The thugs, driven by money, let out a chaotic roar of responses, drawing their katanas, spears, and even axes, surging forward.
"Do you think you alone can defeat so many of us…?!"
However, the leading thug hadn't even finished speaking when he suddenly felt a dizzying sensation! He was horrified to find his vision rapidly plummeting, finally hitting the bridge with a "thud."
Immediately after, he realized with terror that he could no longer feel his body at all!
Then…before fear could even fully spread, darkness instantly consumed all his consciousness.
It wasn't just this one thug. Besides Kado, who was deliberately left alive, all the enforcers he had brought were, at the same time and in the exact same manner—their heads instantly severed by invisible yet incredibly sharp wind blades!
And in the split second before all this happened, Naruto had already moved a step ahead, quickly raising his hand and covering Satsuki's eyes from behind.
"Satsuki, don't look," Naruto's voice whispered in her ear.
Satsuki's body stiffened slightly, and then she heard the sickening sound of flesh being cut and the dull thuds of heavy bodies falling one after another. She immediately understood what was happening outside.
No! I must protect Naruto! Intense worry made her instinctively want to pull away from Naruto's hand.
But just then, Naruto spoke again, "Trust me, listen, it'll be okay."
This sentence seemed to flip a switch, causing Satsuki's recently tensed body to instantly relax again. Naruto had discovered long ago that whenever he used this tone to make Satsuki obey, Satsuki would…can't help but obey?
On the other side, "Kakashi-sensei…?" Sakura's vision was also timely and thoroughly blocked by Kakashi's hand.
Although the path of a Ninja was destined to be accompanied by slaughter and blood, for these newly graduated Genin, witnessing such large-scale instant death was still too soon. Kakashi absolutely did not want his students to suffer lifelong psychological trauma at this moment.
In an instant, the battle—or rather, the massacre—was over.
Kado trembled like a leaf, staring in disbelief at the hellish scene before him—all his reliance, the dozens of thugs he had hired, were now all headless corpses scattered across the ground. Blood spread like a stream across the bridge.
The man in the fox mask merely raised a hand…no one even saw what he did…and all his "forces" were…annihilated in an instant!