Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess

Just as Riku finished speaking, a voice called out from the side.

"Itachi."

Hearing the voice, Riku turned his head—Sasuke was standing at the end of the corridor.

Naruto had already gotten up from the floor. When he heard Sasuke’s voice, he ran out of the room and looked in his direction.

Riku smiled. "Yo, Sasuke. You’re here too."

At the same time, Itachi Uchiha turned his head slightly to glance at Sasuke. "Sasuke," he said calmly.

It seemed even Itachi hadn’t expected Sasuke to show up here.

But his expression remained cold and serious, completely indifferent to Sasuke’s presence.

Seeing this, Sasuke instantly recalled the night the Uchiha Clan was annihilated. Rage surged within him as he clenched his fists tightly. "I wasn’t strong enough to beat you back then," he said, voice shaking with fury. "But now, I’ll kill you!"

As he spoke, his Sharingan activated, and he began weaving hand seals for Chidori.

Crackle!

Electricity surged to life. Though Chidori required hand seals, it was only six—not too many.

Kakashi had even simplified it down to two.

As for Riku—he didn’t need hand seals at all to release it.

But Sasuke still had to go through each hand seal carefully.

Itachi eyed the Chidori surging in Sasuke’s hand, eyebrows twitching. "Oh? Kakashi’s Chidori? I didn’t expect him to teach you this jutsu."

As Sasuke charged toward him, Naruto stood frozen, not fully grasping the depth of hatred between the two brothers.

Meanwhile, Riku leaned casually against the doorway, watching the scene unfold with an amused expression.

Itachi watched Sasuke approach, his Chidori flashing dangerously. He narrowed his eyes. "You’re still too weak."

Sasuke moved fast. In an instant, he was right in front of Itachi, lunging forward with his Chidori.

At the last moment, Itachi moved.

He caught Sasuke’s wrist with precision and overwhelming force.

Boom!

The Chidori’s energy burst violently, blowing apart part of the hotel wall.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, staring at Itachi who now gripped his arm tightly. "All these years, I’ve..."

He had so much to say, so much pain, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still too weak. He and Itachi were not on the same level.

As Sasuke tried to speak again, Itachi delivered a brutal kick to his stomach.

The blow launched Sasuke backward down the corridor, where he crashed hard against the far wall.

Without hesitation, Itachi appeared before him again, staring down coldly. "You’re just like before," he said, voice quiet but cutting. "Still too weak. So weak, I don’t even feel like killing you."

As Sasuke struggled to move, Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan activated.

Tsukuyomi.

The moment the technique took hold, Sasuke screamed—and then collapsed unconscious.

Lowering Sasuke to the floor, Itachi turned his gaze toward Riku and Jiraiya, speaking calmly, "It seems this can’t be done."

Then, in the next instant, he disappeared.

Riku remained unfazed, but Naruto rushed to Sasuke’s side, supporting him—clearly the one most concerned for him.

Jiraiya had been preparing to step in, but Sasuke’s sudden charge had caught him off guard. If he’d made a move earlier, he might have ended up hurting Sasuke in the process.

Jiraiya and Riku walked over to Naruto.

Naruto was seething with anger. He thought back to their mission in the Land of Waves—back when he and Sasuke had fought Haku. Even though they didn’t win, Naruto had come to see Sasuke as his most important friend.

Jiraiya frowned. "It seems they’ve already located Naruto."

Riku nodded calmly. "But you’re here, aren’t you? If Naruto had been in Konoha right now, the consequences would’ve been catastrophic."

Aside from Jiraiya, there was no one in Konoha strong enough to face both Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki.

Of course, Itachi would always find a reason for his mission to "fail."

But Jiraiya didn’t know that Itachi was a spy working from the shadows.

Jiraiya glanced sideways at Riku. "Even if Naruto was in Konoha, you’d still be there, wouldn’t you?"

"I’m guessing you could handle both of them on your own."

Riku waved a hand. "I don’t have much experience dealing with Mangekyō Sharingan."

Of course, that was nonsense. Riku’s own Mangekyō Sharingan wasn’t just for show. Even without it, he had more than enough techniques to counter genjutsu.

His Sage Mode training and enhanced body were already resistant to most illusions.

He even possessed ninjutsu that could reflect illusions.

Jiraiya smiled knowingly. "Don’t give me that. You not being able to handle the Mangekyō Sharingan? Please. It might be troublesome, but for someone like you, it’s not that big of a deal."

Clearly, Jiraiya had a lot of faith in Riku’s strength.

As they were talking, footsteps approached from behind.

"Master Jiraiya, Riku!"

Jiraiya turned around. "Guy?"

Riku looked over and smiled. "Mr. Guy, you’re here too?"

Might Guy frowned as he saw Sasuke unconscious on the ground. "I was chasing after Sasuke. He ran off as soon as he heard about Itachi."

He walked over to Sasuke and crouched down, inspecting him. "Did Sasuke fall under Itachi’s illusion too?"

Naruto, who was still fuming, turned to Guy and asked, "Too? Who else fell under his illusion?"

Guy hesitated, glancing briefly at Riku.

Riku gave a faint smile. "Kakashi-sensei also fell victim to his illusion. Sharingan genjutsu is extremely powerful. It causes severe mental trauma—even I can’t cure Kakashi-sensei."

Guy nodded gravely. "At times like this, I always wish that person was still around..."

Jiraiya gave a confident smile. "We’ll definitely find her this time."

Riku understood that Guy was talking about Lee. In truth, Riku could heal Lee—but he simply hadn’t had the time recently.

Besides, Lee’s condition required surgery. Riku wasn’t confident he could guarantee a full recovery, so he hadn’t dared to attempt it yet.

The Healing Pills Riku possessed could restore physical damage, but Lee’s body was still riddled with Gaara’s sand.

That was what truly made the injury so deadly.

Riku smiled faintly. "Yes, this time we’ll definitely find her."

Naruto turned to the others, confused. "Who’s this person you keep talking about?"

He had no idea who they were looking for. As far as he knew, this trip was just a training journey with Jiraiya to find some beautiful women.

He had no clue that this "beautiful woman" was Tsunade, and he definitely didn’t know what she was capable of.

He was only following Jiraiya because the Sannin had promised to teach him a jutsu stronger than Chidori.

He had no idea they were searching for a legendary medical ninja.

Riku turned to him. "She’s just like Master Jiraiya—one of the Three Legendary Sannin. A powerful medical ninja, probably the strongest in the entire shinobi world. If we can bring her back, she can heal Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and even Lee."

Guy’s eyes were filled with hope. Kakashi and Lee were both important to him, and their injuries weighed heavily on his mind.

Naruto looked up, his eyes bright. "There’s really someone like that? Her medical ninjutsu is the best?"

He sounded skeptical. After all, he thought the director of the Konoha Hospital was the most skilled in medical techniques.

Riku chuckled. "She’s far beyond that. The absolute best. For decades, no one’s surpassed her in medical ninjutsu. She was the one who perfected Konoha’s entire medical system. Back when she was still in the village, she was in charge of the whole program. Isn’t that amazing?"

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