How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

The explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb disrupted the chakra flow around, making it chaotic. Right now, Naruto's sensing ability mostly relies on Kurama's sense of good and evil. His own chakra sensing, which is linked to the development of the Kagura's Heart Eye, is still in its beginner stage.

In this situation, with Kazahana Doto hiding in the chakra disturbance, Naruto couldn't sense the exact location.

But Kurama's sense of good and evil doesn't rely on chakra. The moment the malicious intent was released, Naruto was able to detect the opponent's exact position.

Of course, since the seal hasn't been broken yet, Naruto's sensing range isn't as powerful as it would be in the later parts of the original story. At least, he couldn't detect the four revived Hokage on the battlefield during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

However, in short-range situations, Naruto's sensory ability can accurately capture all chakra units. In terms of sensitivity to chakra, it's even better than the Byakugan, but it only works for chakra units, and other things can't be sensed. Also, the range isn't as wide as the Byakugan.

The main point here is this:

Naruto detected eight Snow ninjas who survived the Tailed Beast Bomb. In total, with Kazahana Doto, there were nine survivors.

These guys managed to survive an attack that even high-level ninjas couldn't easily block, which definitely exceeded Naruto's expectations.

Among them, one particular chakra signature stood out: Nadare Rouga.

Naruto cautiously positioned Kazahana Koyuki behind him, with his red chakra forming into the shape of a fox cloak around his body. However, this time, he didn't pass chakra to Koyuki. He could do it temporarily, but if he kept doing it for too long, Kurama's chakra would affect her since she wasn't a ninja.

Two tails floated behind him as Naruto looked toward Kazahana Doto, mocking, "I sensed nearly thirty ninja chakras on the airship, but now there are only nine left. Seems like your armor in the Land of Snow isn't as great as you said."

That armor was useless.

Clearly, Kazahana Doto wasn't interested in talking anymore. He held back his anger and waved his hand, ordering, "Kill them!"

He didn't care about manners anymore. Now, even if he had to kill Kazahana Koyuki, he needed to get the hexagonal crystal. The treasure could only be his!

Upon hearing his order, the Snow ninjas, including Nadare Rouga, jumped out from their hiding spots and immediately unleashed powerful jutsu towards Naruto.

"Ice Release: Snowstorm!"

"Ice Release: Ice Vine!"

"Ice Release: Nadare Rouga!"

"Tch." 

The mockery failed, and Naruto, facing the sudden barrage of ninjutsu, quickly grabbed Koyuki and leapt up, dodging the flying shuriken and kunai. His figure darted in the direction where there were no enemies.

"Give way!"

Ahem, no choice here. Naruto could handle multiple enemies, and even if he couldn't win right away, he wouldn't lose quickly. But with Kazahana Koyuki next to him, it was difficult to protect an ordinary person while already being at a disadvantage.

Kazahana Koyuki didn't say anything. She was very considerate and remained still in Naruto's arms.

Kurama, watching this, shook his head: "If you had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique earlier, you wouldn't be in this situation. You could have just used it to escape."

"You make it sound so easy!" Naruto retorted while dodging ninjutsu and weapons, "The Flying Thunder God is an S-rank jutsu, and even Rasengan is only an A-rank! It's not that easy to learn!"

"That just means you still have a long way to go," Kurama said calmly.

With that, Kurama turned over and continued, "Kakashi's Raikiri is also an S-rank jutsu. Even though the incomplete Chidori is an A-rank, if you keep being so lazy, Sasuke is going to catch up to you. Without my chakra, I feel like you wouldn't even be able to beat Sasuke without the curse mark."

Naruto was frustrated, but he couldn't argue back.

Sasuke's progress recently could be described as if he were riding a rocket. The Uchiha clan is famous for their exceptional abilities, and Sasuke's Three Tomoe Sharingan gives him an extraordinary learning ability. 

Although Jiraiya hasn't taught them much Ninjutsu lately, he has provided a lot of guidance on Taijutsu and tactics. Just with those moves, Sasuke can handle a one-on-one fight with Nadare Rouga. Without using the cursed seal or Kurama's chakra, Naruto might not even win.

Indeed, Naruto has been a bit too lazy lately. Ever since mastering Rasengan, his strength hasn't improved much. Compared to Sasuke, it's like night and day.

"Mastering stronger Ninjutsu but not using it is no different from not knowing it at all," Kurama said calmly, looking at Naruto.

Considering Sasuke is almost mastering sealing techniques while Naruto is stuck in place, Jiraiya is probably frustrated with him. It seems like this mission is also meant to teach Naruto a lesson.

Naruto rolled to avoid a Ninjutsu attack from behind. When he couldn't avoid the shuriken, he used Kurama's chakra to block it. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I'll study sealing techniques and chakra nature properly when we get back! Kurama, you have to come up with a plan!"

He was about to be caught!

This was the Land of Snow, and Naruto had never fought in the snow before. The ninjas behind him were experts in snow combat, so Naruto couldn't outrun them.

Plus, there was Kazahana Doto watching from the sky. How was he supposed to escape?

"Don't worry," Kurama said with a squint and a smile, "Didn't you notice? They clearly want to drive you to a specific place. Otherwise, Kazahana Doto could've attacked you from the sky, and you wouldn't be able to dodge at all."

"Isn't that worse?" Naruto dodged another attack, glancing up at Kazahana Doto. "I'm already at a disadvantage. If they get me into their own territory, won't it be even harder to fight?"

"I think I know where they're trying to lead you," Kurama said with a smile, rubbing his hands together. "And honestly, I'm curious to see what the ultimate technology of the Land of Snow is like."

That technology that transformed the entire Land of Snow from a harsh winter storm into a warm spring in less than ten seconds.

Naruto nervously swallowed. "Are you sure I won't get killed?"

"I'm not sure," Kurama shrugged. "But what other choice do you have? If you stop, you'll die. It's better to keep running and think of a way out."

"You're right," Naruto nodded.

Although the situation was bad, Naruto didn't give up hope. He kept running forward while dodging the attacks from the snow ninjas behind him.

I have to say, the Land of Snow really is all the same. Everywhere is white, just white and more white. Naruto felt like he was about to get snow blindness. He missed the warmth of Konohagakure and his own bed so much.

"Stop chasing me!" Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore and yelled at Kazahana Doto. "If you keep pushing me, I'll go berserk and take you all down with me!"

Kurama leaned against the sealing door, rubbing his back and making a satisfied noise while mocking him. "If you go berserk, the first one you'll kill is Kazayahana Koyuki in your arms. My chakra doesn't care about you."

If Naruto went berserk, it would be Kurama's negative emotions controlling his body. That part of Kurama doesn't care about anything, including protecting Kazayahana Koyuki. It only wants to kill. Anyone will do.

"Damn!" Naruto swore loudly.

**(ps1: In addition to the rank of Ninjutsu itself, there is also a learning difficulty level. For example, Flying Thunder God is an S-rank Ninjutsu with an S-rank learning difficulty, Raikiri is an S-rank Ninjutsu with an A-rank learning difficulty, and Chidori is an A-rank Ninjutsu with an A-rank learning difficulty.)**

**(ps2: Rasengan is an A-rank Ninjutsu with an S-rank learning difficulty. But honestly, I'm not sure, because the materials didn't specify. I just remember that the original work seemed to mention it, but I couldn't find the exact episode or manga chapter. So, when I wrote about learning Rasengan last time, I didn't include it.)**

**(ps3: Raikiri and Chidori were originally two separate Ninjutsu. After being taught by Hayate, they were combined into one, but later split again. The official explanation is that Chidori is the unfinished form of Raikiri, just like how Rasengan and Big Ball Rasengan are related. So, these two Ninjutsu could be seen as one or as two.)**

**(ps4: PS doesn't count toward the word count; I added it after finishing my writing to fix typos. The word count for last night's Qixi Festival special is indeed more than the two chapters I posted yesterday. Mainly, I saw couples walking around outside, and I got a little (struck-through) emotional, so I ended up writing more than I expected.)**

**(ps5: No particular reason. I heard someone wanted to see a PS5?)**

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