Naruto: Reborn with the Template System

The Three Tails, now without a Jinchūriki, had been sealed by the Mist Shinobi in a massive lake that connected to the sea just beyond the village.

Its chakra was suppressed by a series of advanced sealing techniques.

Terumi Mei had long been hoping to find a suitable new host but no one had fit the criteria.

Among Kirigakure's younger generation, the most promising were Chōjūrō and Suigetsu.

But both were unsuitable candidates.

And so, the beast remained unsealed within a lake, waiting and vulnerable.

According to intel Guts received from Shisui, the ones targeting the Three Tails were likely the "artistic duo": Deidara and Sasori.

Guts didn't bother hunting them down.

Instead, he planted himself right at the source.

He stayed by the lake.

No pointless searching. No endless scouting. Just simple logic.

If they're after the Three Tails, they'll come here eventually. So I'll wait here.

The only downside?

No late-night company from Terumi Mei.

But considering the gravity of the situation and Mizukage's unshakeable sense of duty he could forgive the drought.

"It really is a spectacular sight."

Suigetsu, now officially a Jōnin of the Mist, strolled up with one of the legendary Seven Ninja Swords strapped to his back.

He stood at the edge of the lake, gazing at the enormous form of the Three Tails—its armored shell shimmering under the water, sealed in place.

Chōjūrō stood beside him, his Bluntsword Droplet slung across his shoulder. He pointed upward.

"Suigetsu. Look up there."

"Hmm?"

Suigetsu followed the line of his vision...then froze.

High above, casually seated on the back of the beast's armored shell, was Guts.

"…Whoa. Mizukage-sama really pulled in a monster."

Suigetsu let out a low whistle.

He'd seen Guts in action before during the Konoha Chūnin Exams three years ago.

He still hadn't recovered from the trauma.

At that moment, Guts rose to his feet.

His gaze shifted sharply to the upper-left quadrant of the sky.

The Mist ninja, including Suigetsu and Chōjūrō, immediately picked up on the tension and followed his line of sight.

There, faint as a dot on the distant blue, was a massive white bird soaring in their direction.

Only the most observant could make it out at this distance.

One of the shinobi pulled out binoculars. His voice trembled.

"Red clouds… on black cloaks… That's Akatsuki!"

Instantly, the atmosphere changed.

Weapons were drawn. Focus narrowed. Tension spiked.

Standing on the back of the Three Tails, Guts casually lifted a hand.

"Pass me a cannonball. No—wait, a rock. Just give me a rock."

He corrected himself mid-sentence, remembering this wasn't Konoha and they didn't have cannonballs lying around.

Confused but obedient, a nearby Jōnin ran up and handed him an irregularly shaped boulder—roughly the size of a basketball.

Guts bounced it in his palm once, then grinned.

"…Haven't used this trick in a while."

Above, riding the clay bird, Sasori sat inside his grotesque puppet body, his raspy voice muffled from within.

"The Mist ninja below are starting to stir. Something's wrong."

Deidara pulled aside his bangs, revealing his left eye—a mechanical prosthetic modified for telescopic and genjutsu-resistant viewing.

He narrowed his gaze.

And then—

"Master Sasori! MOVE!!"

Before Sasori could ask, the bird lurched sideways.

BOOM!!

The white clay bird shattered in midair. Sasori's puppet armor cracked and tumbled as something smashed directly through it.

Sasori's real body jumped free in a flash, landing mid-air on the falling debris, face pale with shock.

"…A rock…?!"

Yes.

It was a rock.

A goddamn rock just annihilated their transport and shattered his puppet armor in one hit.

Deidara acted fast, molding a new bird from his explosive clay and leaping aboard. Sasori reconnected via chakra threads and joined him in the air.

Deidara's hands shook slightly as he peered through his mechanical eye again.

His voice cracked.

"Master Sasori—it's Guts. That's Guts down there!"

Sasori's heart dropped.

He remembered what Pain told them before departure:

"If you encounter Guts—abandon the mission. Do not engage."

This wasn't just a precaution.

It was an order—one not even Akatsuki's top members took lightly.

When Onoki gave the same warning about the Yellow Flash, it was aimed at regular shinobi.

This warning?

It was for Kage-level members.

Down below, Guts gave a cheeky wave.

"More rocks, please."

Suigetsu and the others, still stunned, scrambled to deliver them like an assembly line.

"Throwing rocks at them? Really?" Suigetsu muttered.

Then—

WHOOOSH!!

The sky lit up with dozens of stone projectiles, each launched with the force of a meteor.

Each one faster than the last.

"Too many! Master, it's a whole f*cking barrage!" Deidara screamed, swerving hard.

They were too high for standard ninjutsu to reach—ninety percent of shinobi wouldn't be able to hit them at this distance.

But Guts wasn't ninety percent.

He wasn't even human by this point.

Each stone flew with the power of an A-rank jutsu... maybe more.

Sasori cursed under his breath and summoned his strongest weapon:

The Third Kazekage puppet.

Streams of iron sand poured out, forming a magnetic barrier.

Even then, the sky rained boulders, and dodging became hell.

"This isn't worth it," Sasori growled. "We're leaving!"

As much as he hated to admit it—his pride couldn't withstand this.

Guts had hurled a rock,a rock and shattered his strongest puppet.

Forget capturing the Three Tails.

This wasn't a mission.

This was suicide.

"Fall back!" Sasori barked.

Deidara didn't argue.

They retreated.

Fast.

Watching the two dots fade into the distance, Suigetsu blinked.

"…Did they just… run away?"

CRACK!!!

The ground shook violently.

The Mist shinobi turned just in time to see Guts standing at the edge of the lake...punch the base of a mountain.

The entire mountainside cracked.

A section of it lifted off the ground.

It wasn't like watching an ant lift an elephant.

It was like watching an ant lift a whale.

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