In Naruto With Pocket Hunting

[Hokage's Office]

Minato's silent arrival had been anticipated by Hiruzen.

Kneeling on one knee before Hiruzen, Minato said while still wearing his ANBU mask: "Forgive me, Hokage-sama, I failed this mission."

"It's alright," Hiruzen responded with his authoritative voice. However, his eyes did not convey their usual warmth when looking at Minato as he continued: "It's fortunate that Nawaki-kun resolved this. I simply didn't expect that boy to leave a clone in the Senju Clan."

Three years ago, it was different. At that time, Nawaki didn't appear with a clone. And, just like now, Nawaki was supposed to be on a mission. However, he sent a shadow clone to complete the task. Even though Hiruzen wanted to reprimand him for sending a shadow clone on missions, the fact remained... The mission had been completed successfully.

How could someone be blamed for doing a job well done?

And, he hadn't thought about it before, but from what he saw from a distance in the crystal ball, Nawaki had left his mark all over the Senju Clan's territory.

Seeing that, it became clear that it was foolish to try to fight Nawaki in his own domain.

'That boy... Has Nawaki evolved this much already?' Hiruzen thought. 'And, it seems he's even improved the Flying Thunder God to the point of not needing to touch the mark when teleporting... I'll need to have a conversation with him about that.'

Even so, it wasn't as if he could blame Nawaki for hiding his progress. Such a thing was nonexistent. Especially since Nawaki was the heir and current leader of the Senju Clan, one of the founding clans, the same clan as the first two Hokages.

The truth was, even for him, controlling Nawaki was difficult. His deeds in the war, as well as those of his ancestors, made it hard to even attempt to point a finger at Nawaki.

Looking at Minato, he felt a warmer sensation, as if looking at a "son." Yes, someone like Minato was good for him. Even Jiraiya, but in Jiraiya's case...

Sigh...

"Minato," Hiruzen said in his deep voice. "Since this has already been resolved, I have another mission for you."

"Yes!"

--

--

While Hiruzen kept his composure, the same could not be said for someone else.

In a closed room, a man was furious behind his office desk.

"Break!"

"Damn, damn!" shouted the man, muttering after punching the desk in front of him upon reading a report, breaking it in half. "It's him again, that wretched boy again! I knew I should have gotten rid of him when I had the chance. Now he's become an irritating stone in my shoe that I can't remove..."

He didn't want to admit it, but Nawaki had grown so much that he no longer had the confidence to kill him.

The problem wasn't even a matter of power. The fact that Nawaki had learned the Flying Thunder God made him a difficult target to handle.

How do you deal with someone who, if they so wish, could simply teleport?

And it wasn't for lack of attempts, but as a sensory type, even traps didn't work on him.

Whenever he was about to fall into a trap, he would simply teleport and not return. He was decisive and not at all hot-headed, seeking revenge against whoever was behind the trap.

How nice it would be if he were just a little more reckless. Why was he so mature at such a young age?

Narrowing his eyes, the man dressed in black shouted: "Veiper!"

In an instant, in the middle of the messy room, a ninja appeared like a flash of dark light, wearing a mask that completely hid his face, kneeling before the man who looked down at him haughtily. "At your orders, Lord-sama!"

"Send my message," he ordered. "Tell 'him' he did a good job and can 'rest' in peace."

Behind the mask, the ninja's eyes glowed with understanding. "As you wish!"

--

--

Several ANBU ninjas arrived to clean up the mess that had occurred in the Senju Clan.

This made Nawaki think of the classic scene in movies where the police only show up after everything is over.

The disdain and contempt Nawaki felt, he didn't even try to hide.

The ANBU members could only clean everything up in silence while receiving such treatment.

Were they not to blame?

Of course they were. Their fault was having a useless leader.

And, like it or not, it was their job to protect Kushina, but look at the result.

With his arms crossed, Nawaki said to the ANBU next to him: "Tell the Third that we need to have a long conversation afterward."

The ANBU swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes!"

Disappearing from the scene, the ANBU left.

"Nawaki..." Kushina tugged at the sleeve of his long shirt.

"It's alright, Kushina." Nawaki turned to look at her, and all the coldness he had been radiating vanished as if by magic.

Touching her head, he continued, "I did nothing wrong. They are the ones who failed us. We can't let them act like this, or else, what's the point of having these useless people who can't even protect you within our own village?"

Although his voice was gentle when speaking to Kushina, his words were loud enough to make the ANBU members lower their heads in shame.

They had no right to complain, even if they wanted to. The truth was, everything Nawaki said was true. They had failed to protect her, and she had almost been captured again.

Again?!

They didn't even have the face to look Nawaki in the eye, nor did they dare to make excuses now. All they could do was hope that the Third Hokage would resolve this as he had before.

--

--

Two hours later, in the northwest of the Land of Fire...

"I lost his signal," Sakumo stopped on a tree.

Who he meant didn't require a genius to understand—he was talking about the traitor they were chasing.

There had been a mark on Sakumo's hand earlier, but now it was gone.

There were two possibilities: the first, the target discovered he was being tracked and managed to erase the mark—unlikely. The second, the target was completely destroyed—very likely.

Inwardly, Nawaki scoffed.

After everything that had happened, he even believed that this mission had been staged.

"Then we'll head back." Nawaki placed a hand on Sakumo's shoulder, preparing to use the Flying Thunder God.

"But…"

"Sakumo-san," Nawaki said, "No matter how I look at this, there's no point in continuing. The mission has failed. We lost the target, whether because he discovered the mark or not. If we insist, we'll only walk straight into a possible trap waiting for us."

Nawaki's words made Sakumo imagine such a scenario. He hadn't thought of it before, but it made sense.

'Why does it feel like this has happened to him before?' Sakumo wondered.

And he wasn't wrong.

Before becoming known as the "Red Lightning of Konoha," Nawaki, who had not yet shown the ability to use the Flying Thunder God, nearly fell into a similar trap after losing the target he was pursuing. On that occasion, his team decided to continue the chase.

In the end, it was a meticulously planned trap, filled with explosives. Half of the four-ninja team was annihilated, and Nawaki managed to save only one companion who had been close to him.

That case was closed and silenced. Perhaps not even Sakumo knew about the tragedy Nawaki had faced on that mission.

It seemed the Third Hokage had worked hard to cover up the incident, and even Danzo hadn't made any noise about it.

Since then, Nawaki had begun to stand out as the ninja who mastered the Flying Thunder God. His rise was swift, and he gained fame on the battlefield as the "Red Lightning of Konoha."

One could say all his pent-up frustration was directed at enemy ninjas. Nawaki didn't mind wading through the blood of his adversaries. It seemed that, in some way, it calmed the storm in his mind.

In a flash, Nawaki and Sakumo disappeared from the spot where they had been standing.