I'M NARUTO UZUMAKI

Spiral Danger

The moonlight poured down like water, casting silver streaks across the treetops and illuminating the dense forests surrounding Konoha.

Naruto stood atop a towering tree, gazing at the brightly lit Hidden Leaf Village in the distance. For a brief moment, nostalgia washed over him.

No matter how much he resented Konoha, it was still the place where he had grown up, the village that held all his memories. If not for the discrimination from the villagers and the Third Hokage's indifference, would he have ever considered leaving?

Exhaling softly, Naruto turned his gaze to the vast, open wilderness. Away from Konoha's endless scheming and backstabbing, the harsh reality of the ninja world felt more like a true battlefield—one where the strong ruled and the weak perished. A world where he could carve out his own destiny.

But just as he basked in the freedom of the night, a familiar oppressive presence shattered the tranquility.

"Since you can't let go of the village, why are you trying to defect?"

A cold, calculating voice rang out from below. Leaning on his cane, Shimura Danzo stood in the clearing, his single exposed eye locked onto Naruto. Around him, the masked elite of Root—Konoha's most secretive and ruthless black ops force—had already encircled the area.

Naruto's gaze swept over the group of silent, heavily armed shinobi before landing on Danzo himself.

No doubt about it—this was the Shimura Danzo, the shadowy leader of Root, the man who manipulated events from the darkness while sacrificing others for his own twisted version of "the greater good."

With a scoff, Naruto dropped from the treetop, landing lightly on the forest floor. He curled his lips into a smirk.

"You're too old to be out so late, Grandpa Bandages. Shouldn't you be in bed instead of poking your nose into my business?" He crossed his arms, his tone laced with mockery. "You wanna know why I left? Because I felt like it."

Danzo's expression darkened. Sarutobi let this brat run wild for too long… he thought, frowning.

It wasn't too late to correct that mistake. The Kyūbi jinchūriki was a valuable weapon, a tool that should have been shaped by Root from birth—isolated from distractions like friendships and emotions, conditioned to be an obedient war machine under strict control.

If Sarutobi had failed to do that, then Root would.

Without hesitation, Danzo raised his hand in a silent command. The Root operatives stepped forward in coordinated formation, closing in on Naruto. Their intent was clear—capture, subdue, and drag him back to their underground base, no matter what.

But Naruto had been expecting this.

Through his shadow clones, he had long since sensed Danzo's pursuit. There was only one way to ensure his escape: eliminate his pursuers here and now.

Before the Root shinobi could advance any further, the bushes around them rustled.

Boom!

A sudden gust of wind erupted as multiple shadow clones burst forth from the underbrush, hands flashing through a sequence of seals.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)

A small hurricane formed, whipping up debris and pulling the enemy shinobi toward its center with powerful force.

Amidst the chaos, the real Naruto charged forward, a Rasengan forming in his palm.

With a forceful thrust, he slammed the spiraling sphere into the nearest Root ninja. The explosion sent the unfortunate shinobi hurtling backward, crashing through several tree trunks before coming to a stop—unconscious, if not worse.

Danzo's eye narrowed as he took a cautious step back, reassessing the situation.

This level of power… it's no wonder Kakashi and Gai failed to bring him back.

Naruto wasn't just strong—he had grown to the level of an elite Jōnin. And that made him both a greater asset and a greater threat.

Sarutobi… what have you done?

Danzo clenched his cane, but inwardly, he was pleased. A Kyūbi jinchūriki with this level of power would be a valuable pawn—if properly controlled. If Naruto could be bound by Root's ideology and branded with a curse seal, his usefulness would surpass even the Sannin.

With that goal in mind, Danzo signaled his two personal guards—one from the Yamanaka clan, the other from the Aburame clan.

The Yamanaka operative's hands formed a seal.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" (Mind Transfer Jutsu!)

Simultaneously, the Aburame Jōnin released a swarm of nano-sized venomous insects—so small they could infiltrate an enemy's body undetected.

The insects spread like a dark mist, but before they could reach him, Naruto responded with a burst of wind chakra, scattering them in an instant.

Then—

Naruto froze.

His eyes went blank, his body unmoving. The Yamanaka's technique had landed.

A smirk played on Danzo's lips.

It was over.

But before anyone could react, the Yamanaka operative suddenly cried out in agony, clutching his head.

"ARGH! MY MIND—!"

His body convulsed before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Deep within Naruto's consciousness, behind the bars of the Kyūbi's cage, Kurama sneered.

"A mere human dares to invade my host's mind? Pathetic."

With a dismissive burp, Kurama expelled the intruder's consciousness, shattering the technique instantly.

Back in the real world, Naruto blinked, his awareness snapping back.

"That was annoying," he muttered.

He turned just in time to see the Aburame Jōnin smiling—until his expression froze.

His insects had died. Every single one of them.

Naruto lifted his arm, revealing a thin, glowing layer of chakra. It wasn't golden—it was dark, swirling with malice.

A tailed beast shroud.

And it had completely nullified the poison.

Danzo's grip on his cane tightened. His Root operatives were falling one by one. The Kyūbi jinchūriki was proving to be far more dangerous than anticipated.

It was time to step in himself.

With a swift motion, Danzo threw his cane aside and tore off the bandages covering his right arm—revealing an array of embedded Sharingan eyes.

Naruto's brows furrowed.

"Sharingan?" His gaze darkened. "Why does an old geezer like you have Uchiha eyes?"

Danzo ignored the question.

Instead, his single uncovered Sharingan gleamed ominously.

"I'll give you one last chance, Jinchūriki. Come back to the village with me."

Naruto's response came in the form of a rapidly forming Fūton: Rasenshuriken.

With a deafening roar, the spiraling shuriken tore through the air, aimed directly at Danzo.

Danzo barely had time to react before the devastating technique exploded upon impact, obliterating everything in its path.

As the dust settled, Naruto approached the crater left behind. His eyes scanned the wreckage—before stopping at a severed arm lying on the ground.

Naruto exhaled, his lips curling into a smirk.

"Izanagi, huh?"

He knew Danzo wasn't dead.

The old warhawk had most likely sacrificed one of his stolen Sharingan to rewrite reality and escape.

Tossing the arm aside, Naruto cracked his knuckles.

"Guess I'll just have to hunt you down later, Grandpa Bandages."

Kurama chuckled darkly.

"Now you're thinking like a real shinobi."

As the wind carried the last remnants of destruction through the forest, Naruto turned his back on Konoha—walking forward, towards a future entirely of his own making.

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