Chapter 23: The Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre
"Oh, right! Then I'll go to the hospital to find Iruka-sensei right now. Sasuke, do you want to come with me?"
Naruto suddenly jumped up from the ground and looked at Sasuke, hoping he would accompany him.
"No, I'll practice here a bit longer. You go by yourself. I have to work hard to surpass my brother!"
Sasuke shook his head and refused. He wanted to train now so that next time his brother had time to practice with him, he could give him a big surprise!
"Alright then. Make sure you go home early after training. I'm going to find Iruka-sensei!"
Naruto waved his hand and quickly left. He had already noticed the sudden increase in Anbu around them and guessed that tonight was the night.
Because he was certain, he needed to leave even earlier.
He ran straight to the hospital. After pitifully complaining that he had been hungry for two days, Iruka, as expected, gave him some money to buy ramen himself.
"Ramen… Ichiraku Ramen…"
Naruto took the money with an excited face and went to Ichiraku. After devouring a large bowl, he suddenly smirked and hid the remaining money.
"This way I won't have to worry about going hungry next time!"
Iruka had given him enough for three bowls, but Naruto didn't have time to eat all three before going home.
After giving a clear excuse for the hidden watchers to hear, he ran back home with an excited expression, repeatedly touching the pocket where he had hidden the money along the way.
His pathetic, money-obsessed behavior made the observing Anbu relax. After he lay down in bed, only one Anbu remained to monitor him while the others quickly left.
The Anbu were very busy tonight. With manpower shortages, they had to pull people from other posts.
'First time using it… don't fail me now!'
In a very good mood, Naruto hugged his blanket and lay down while the sky was still not fully dark. His happy appearance made the Anbu outside the window think he was just excited about finally having money.
But in the next moment, the Anbu only felt a breeze pass by. When he looked back into the room, Naruto was already hugging his blanket and smiling as he fell asleep.
Seeing Naruto asleep, the Anbu let out a sigh of relief and crouched outside the window, listening for any movement inside. If nothing unexpected happened, he would stay like this until dawn.
However, all of this was merely an illusion Naruto had cast.
It was his first time using the Sharingan's genjutsu ability in reality, although he had practiced it many times inside the seal space…
'I have to make it in time… I can't miss this!'
What was lying in the bed was only a shadow clone. If anyone approached too closely, it would definitely cause a disturbance.
He had also prepared a follow-up defense: if anyone attacked the "sleeping" him, a layer of Nine-Tails chakra he had just extracted tonight would erupt. At most, Konoha would think the Nine-Tails seal had loosened slightly.
At least, no one would discover that his real body had left.
Right now, his body was cloaked in genjutsu, blending perfectly with the surrounding scenery no matter where he went.
After finally reaching the Uchiha clan district, Naruto watched Uchiha Itachi and the masked man carrying out their slaughter. He tried his best to suppress and relax his presence…
Thankfully, the amount of Nine-Tails chakra he had extracted over the past year was enough. Otherwise, there was no way he could have hidden from these two.
He quietly stayed in a corner until he saw Itachi walk out of a house with a grief-stricken face and head toward the main gate. Only then did Naruto quickly rush inside.
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