Naruto: Starting with the Granted Strongest Eye

"What a cute little guy!" When Samui and Darui appeared, they immediately noticed Pikachu on Tō's shoulder. Of course, they simply thought it was a pet kept by a child.

However, Kute was the one who noticed Qing's gaze on Pikachu. The ninja beast on Qing's shoulder was a powerful one. Otherwise, Qing wouldn't have shown such an expression.

"Oh! Finally, you're all here! Hehe... So, are you planning to charge in like this?" The black-robed leader sneered.

He looked at the ninjas with an air of confidence. The four black-robed individuals behind him discarded their cloaks, revealing their true forms.

They wore black ninja uniforms, much like the ninjas in front of them. Moreover, the height and physique of the four were almost identical.

The energy radiating from their black ninja uniforms suggested explosive power. The four sneered as they looked at the ninjas before them, while the hundreds of cultists behind them seemed reassured and began to gather closer.

"How boring... It's such a letdown to have things turn out like this," Darui muttered, looking unenthusiastic.

Behind him, Akira stood out as the most combative. In an instant, he drew his ninja blade, igniting it with flames, and charged toward the black-robed man in the lead. "Now this is the kind of fight I've been waiting for!" he shouted.

Just as the flaming blade was about to strike, one of the four behind the black-robed man stepped forward and, with a bare hand, blocked Akira I's attack.

At the same time, another cultist delivered a powerful kick to Akira I's chest.

Bang! Bang! The sound of several quick exchanges echoed as Samui intervened, pulling Akira back. He shot him a frustrated look. This guy was truly the epitome of reckless!

"The one who stopped the sword earlier is surrounded by a dense layer of chakra. His power is immense. The other one, though, seems to excel in speed. It looks like he's channeled all his chakra into his legs!" Qing observed, analyzing the situation, before stepping back.

"Now, are we officially allied?" Tō turned to Kakashi, asking with a somewhat innocent expression. Shisui, not waiting for Kakashi to reply, patted Tō's head and said, "Of course! Now, it's real ninja versus cultists! Hehe..."

At Shisui's words, all the ninjas scattered.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and his team rushed toward the cultists. His usual ninja sword was gone, replaced with a special ANBU blade.

If you observed, you'd see that Kakashi's sword skills were remarkable. In terms of combining taijutsu and kenjutsu, even Tō couldn't claim to be a match for him at the moment.

Tō couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. Kakashi's swordsmanship was impressive. But if he and Itachi teamed up against Kakashi, they'd undoubtedly defeat him!

"It seems these guys want to deal with the cultists outside first. But don't disappoint me. This shouldn't be too difficult," the black-robed cultist sneered, as the four figures behind him instantly flashed to the battlefield outside. The Grass ninjas seemed to have teamed up with the Mist ninjas.

After all, the Mist had the fewest members at the moment, and the dense fog would temporarily give them the advantage of obscuring the cultists' vision.

However, Kakashi's team was in for some trouble. They had bumped into two of the four powerful cultists.

The pressure was certainly mounting.

"We're not like those cultists, you can kill at will. We are the true protectors! So... watch out!" the black-robed cultist sneered.

"Kaneko Yūten, go!"

"Hehe, I'll go first, Hasegawa!"

The man named Kaneko Yūten moved with astonishing speed, appearing right in front of Kakashi in an instant. He threw a punch straight at Kakashi's head.

In terms of taijutsu, Kakashi was also highly skilled. With a swift leap, he avoided the punch, and instead, his ninja sword shot straight for Yūten's eyes.

But Yūten didn't seem to be fazed. A Dark Ninja from Kakashi's team grabbed Yūten's arm from behind, freezing him in place.

At that moment, Kakashi's sword managed to graze Yūten's eyelid. With a metallic clang, a spark flew, as if their weapons had clashed.

Kakashi and the Dark Ninja froze for a moment, but Yūten seemed to predict this and swiftly kicked out.

Unfortunately for him, Shisui appeared out of nowhere and sent him flying with a well-placed kick. Yūten slammed into the ground and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.

"These guys are much stronger than the cultists we fought before! They're much more formidable than the ones we encountered outside," Shisui remarked, a frown forming on his face as he looked at the stunned Kakashi and Dark Ninja.

"I see... Qing was right. These guys are certainly more powerful. They've concentrated their chakra into either offense or defense, boosting their power and speed exponentially."

"Hehe... seems like these guys know a lot about us!" Kaneko Yūten chuckled coldly as Hasegawa suddenly moved.

After leaving behind a series of afterimages, Hasegawa appeared before Shisui, swinging his scythe downward. As he did, he opened his mouth wide, unleashing a jet of black, toxic gas toward Shisui at high speed.

The speed was so quick that even Shisui, known for his Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker), almost got caught. But just almost.

Shisui's Shunshin was so fast that only a select few could hope to catch him. In midair, Shisui quickly formed hand seals. At the same time, Tō and Itachi appeared at his side.

The clash of weapons sounded as they blocked Hasegawa's scythe strikes. Meanwhile, Itachi, helping Tō block the incoming attacks, began to form seals with one hand.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!" Shisui's technique erupted, his sword flashing as he slashed at Hasegawa. Just as the attack was about to land, Hasegawa twisted his body at an unnatural angle and evaded.

At the same moment, he swung his scythe directly at Itachi.

"Ah!"

A painful cry escaped Hasegawa as he was struck by Pikachu's Thunderbolt, causing him to twitch and fall to the ground.

Boom!

The blast sent up a cloud of dust. Meanwhile, Itachi completed his jutsu: "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu!" A fire dragon materialized and roared as it shot toward the fallen Hasegawa.

Boom!

The explosion echoed, sending plumes of smoke into the air. As the dust settled, the figure of Hasegawa began to rise.

Shisui and his team looked on, their brows furrowed.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, who was still locked in battle with Kaneko Yūten, and the Dark Ninja who was dealing with other cultists, couldn't help but be amazed. The teamwork displayed by Tō, Itachi, and Shisui was flawless, like the famed Ino-Shika-Cho team from Konoha.

From afar, Kute noticed this as well, pausing for a moment. These kids were the ones who killed the four Mist ninjas a few days ago.

Their teamwork was impeccable. But Kute's eyes lingered on the small creature on Tō's shoulder. It had no chakra fluctuations but was able to perform ninjutsu. If it had been a regular ninja fight, they would've probably been dead by now!

"Hehe... it seems the foggy area is the most dangerous now. Should I lend a hand? Hmm... no, no... better deal with the Cloud ninjas first! Their taijutsu is too good, and the Forest of Trees might suffer as a result!"

With that, Kute disappeared in an instant.

Meanwhile, at the Cloud Ninjas' battle

The Cloud ninjas were dominating, especially Killer Bee. This guy was truly a swordsmanship machine.

His body twisted and contorted in strange positions, allowing him to control seven swords simultaneously. He launched an unrelenting series of attacks, and though the cultists took several hits, they didn't seem to suffer any damage. Some of them absorbed the force of the blows, using their bodies to mitigate the damage.

Blood had already appeared on Killer Bee's arms and legs from the counterattacks.