Naruto: Different Path

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Ryusen said, "At that time, my father never expected my uncle Ryuto to conspire with ninjas, so he didn't hide the treasure map elsewhere; he kept it in a secret chamber within our family estate." 

"Though the map is well hidden, my uncle has taken over our entire property." 

"On one hand, he is relentlessly searching for me, and on the other, he's doing everything he can to find the treasure map." 

"Even if he hasn't caught me yet, he'll eventually find the map."

Naruto replied, "From what you're saying, we need to act quickly. If Ryuto gets the map, things will get complicated." 

"I'll take you with me, and if we encounter any danger, I'll send you back."

"Understood, sir," Ryusen said as he donned the black attire Naruto had prepared for him. Under the cover of darkness, the two set off. 

They were cautious along the way and, after some effort, arrived at what used to be Ryusen's family estate. 

From the outside, it looked more like a small city than an ordinary household, with countless buildings spread across a large area. 

It was clear that Ryusen's father had been quite wealthy. However, the entire estate was heavily guarded, with guards patrolling constantly. 

Even those inside the compound were subject to strict checks, and outsiders were completely prohibited from entering. 

While these ordinary guards posed no threat to Naruto, it was inconvenient to bring Ryusen along. 

Ryusen explained that the map was hidden in a secret chamber in the garden, and activating the mechanism would open the chamber door. 

Naruto instructed Ryusen to show him the exact location before sending him away. Naruto then returned alone.

Without the presence of ninjas, infiltrating was relatively easy. Naruto soon slipped into the estate. 

When he reached the garden Ryusen had mentioned, he immediately noticed something unusual. 

High walls had been erected around the garden, sealing it off completely. Only a small gate, guarded by two masked ninjas, allowed access. 

Naruto sensed that these ninjas were at least of Jonin's level. 

He heard tools clanging and voices speaking inside the walls, indicating that many people were working on something.

It wasn't clear what they were doing, but Naruto knew he couldn't risk killing the guards and charging in, as that would alert everyone. 

He noticed a house not far from the small gate. 

Judging by its structure, it had once housed the garden's caretakers but was also heavily guarded. 

As Naruto considered sneaking closer to investigate, a middle-aged man hurried past him. 

The man was not particularly tall and had two long, drooping moustaches. His expression was as sleazy as Ryusen had described him—this was Ryuto.

The guards immediately opened the door to the house for Ryuto, who rushed inside. 

Seeing Ryuto's urgency, Naruto became even more certain that something important was inside that house. 

Naruto quietly climbed onto the roof, pressed his ear to the surface, and listened in. 

Inside, he heard the sound of a sword being drawn, followed by Ryuto's voice pleading, "Please, sir, don't! I'll do whatever you ask. Just give me more time."

It sounded like someone had placed a sword at Ryuto's throat. 

In a harsh tone, the person responded, "Didn't you say the treasure map was definitely in this garden?" 

"We've been digging for days and haven't found a clue. Are you playing us for fools?" 

Another voice inside the room added, "Have you still not found that kid Ryusen? At this rate—" 

A woman's voice interrupted, "Well, that's because you killed everyone! Otherwise, we would've—"

The other man cut her off, "Enough! We'll give him three more days. If he doesn't make progress by then, he'll regret it. Now get out of here!" 

Soon after, Naruto heard the door open and saw Ryuto scurry away, clearly shaken. 

Naruto didn't bother to chase him and remained on the roof, continuing to listen.

The man who had drawn his sword spoke again, "Captain, our mission is to find the treasure map, but we've been digging here for almost a month and have found nothing." 

"If this continues, I'm worried we won't complete the mission, which could cause big problems." 

The Captain replied, "Don't rush just yet. We don't have a better option right now. Ryuto is, after all, his brother." 

"If even he can't find the map, no one else can. And we haven't located Ryusen yet, either. We must keep things quiet; making a scene would only hurt us."

The woman then said, "Captain, you're the smart one. Some people only know how to kill, kill, kill." 

The man who had been scolded snapped back, "You want me to kill you instead?" 

"Heh, if you think you can go ahead," she taunted. 

"Enough bickering. Get some rest. I'll take the first watch," the Captain ordered, and the room fell silent.

Naruto had gathered enough information. He climbed down from the roof and headed towards the garden to investigate. 

The high walls blocked sight but posed no real obstacle for a ninja. 

Naruto found a spot that wasn't being watched and used chakra to climb the wall slowly. Inside, workers were digging, transforming the once beautiful garden into a construction site. 

Naruto couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the secret chamber, but at the rate they were digging, they were bound to find it sooner or later. 

Fortunately, the chamber was deep and well-concealed, and they hadn't discovered it yet.

Naruto noticed that no ninjas were working inside the garden. 

It seemed the enemy was short on manpower, focusing their efforts on guarding the entrance. 

As Naruto pondered his next move, someone shouted, "There's brick down here! We've found the secret chamber!" 

The workers quickly gathered to help dig out the entrance. Before long, a hole was uncovered, revealing the chamber.

Just as Naruto had overheard, the ninjas quickly arrived at the scene—four of them, all masked and quite strong. 

The large man leading the group was the first to jump into the chamber, followed closely by the female ninja. 

The other two stayed outside, guarding the entrance. Naruto, hidden on the wall, observed them closely. 

Seeing that the lead ninja had been down there for a while, Naruto realized that getting the treasure map would be difficult, even if they had found it challenging. 

According to Ryusen, the map was hidden well within the chamber, so locating it would take time.

Naruto initially assumed the enemy would use Earth-style jutsu to locate the map quickly, rendering all this digging unnecessary. 

Yet, strangely, they hadn't used that ability. Surely, with so many ninjas present, one of them should have been capable of Earth Style.

Unable to make sense of this, Naruto decided to wait and see what would happen next.

As Naruto was racking his brain, the ninja, the Captain, emerged with the female ninja, holding a blue treasure box in his hand. 

The box emitted an unusual glow, and the words "Treasure Map" were visible from afar. 

Naruto thought, "As expected, this isn't just any ordinary item. I didn't expect to gain such a benefit by chance."

The group of four was pleased with their find. The leader said, "It was well-hidden, but in the end, it still fell into our hands. It looks like this mission was a complete success."

As the four celebrated, a shadow suddenly darted past them, and the treasure box disappeared from the Captain's hands. 

A mysterious figure dressed in black appeared in front of them—it was Naruto. 

The Captain, an experienced ninja, immediately realized his opponent's skill. 

Even though his momentary lapse of focus allowed Naruto to steal the box, he knew Naruto's strength was no small matter. 

He signalled to his comrades, and the four swiftly surrounded Naruto.

The Captain said, "You're alone, and there are four of us, not to mention the two outside—so six in total." 

"Hand over the treasure map, and I'll consider letting you go."

Naruto smiled. "As expected from an experienced ninja, emphasizing your advantage to make your opponent give up voluntarily is a smart move." 

"But you must also understand that numbers don't always make a difference in battles between skilled fighters."

Realizing Naruto wouldn't be easily fooled, the group exchanged glances and launched their attack. "Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!" 

The hot-tempered ninja performed a series of hand signs, and several earthen spears shot up around Naruto. 

He quickly moved forward, dodging the attack while rushing toward his enemies. 

The female ninja immediately performed her hand signs, "Water Style: Great Water Flow!" 

A torrent of water surged toward Naruto, but he activated his Lightning Armor and continued his advance.

Seeing this, another ninja performed hand signs, "Earth Style: Earth Flow River." 

The earth and water styles combined created a mudslide, but Naruto increased his power and pressed forward. 

The earth and water techniques had little effect on the Lightning Armor. 

At this moment, the group leader began his hand signs: "Earth Style: Falling Rocks!" 

A massive boulder plummeted from the sky, forcing Naruto to draw his Sword of the Thunder God and slice the boulder in two before it could crush him.

Just as Naruto was about to counterattack, he suddenly realized that four more ninjas had been hiding the entire time. 

These four also performed hand signs and prepared a combined jutsu. Naruto was about to retreat when a huge shadow descended from above. 

"Earth Style: Earth Prison Drop!" A massive earthen prison fell from the sky, trapping Naruto inside. 

The ground below was also surrounded by earthen walls, forming a barrier-like jutsu. 

Through the earthen walls, Naruto could hear the ninjas' laughter outside. Judging from the sound, the walls were at least a meter thick.

The Captain said, "From your earlier moves, it's clear you're a powerful opponent, but you didn't seize the opportunity to escape." 

"Now that you're trapped here, you've run out of options."

Naruto hadn't expected four other hidden ninjas, and now that they had used such a powerful jutsu to trap him, he realized he had made a miscalculation. 

Judging by their jutsu, most of these ninjas specialized in Earth-style techniques, meaning they were likely from the Land of Earth. 

Using this tactical approach when they were outnumbered was indeed a clever choice. 

Naruto observed his surroundings and noticed that the earthen prison was slowly shrinking. He would likely be crushed if he didn't find a way out soon.

He channelled a large amount of chakra into the Sword of the Thunder God, and by building up momentum through a rapid sprint, he attempted a powerful thrust. 

While not as strong as the Raikage's attacks, Naruto was confident that this move could break through Orochimaru's Rashomon Gates. 

The blade pierced the earthen wall, causing it to tremble violently. Outside, the ninjas could even see the glow of the Thunder God's sword.

One of the four ninjas said, "That's some impressive penetration power. This prison has never been broken through before, but that kind of attack..." 

"I didn't expect anyone to pull off something like that. Still, it's useless if it can't break through in one strike."

Realizing that his first strike hadn't penetrated the wall, Naruto acknowledged the strength of this earthen prison. 

Even though Lightning Style usually had the upper hand against Earth Style, and his sword was exceptionally sharp, it hadn't broken through. 

Worse, the wall seemed to be slowly regenerating. But Naruto wasn't worried. He gathered more chakra for a second strike.

Before the wall could fully recover, Naruto struck again. The moment the dust settled, however, he saw another earthen wall in front of him. 

It turned out that while Naruto was attacking one side of the prison, the four ninjas had been performing hand signs to reinforce the walls with new layers. 

It became clear that only a single, decisive strike could get him out.

Naruto increased the chakra he used and tried again, but the result was the same. 

From outside, the Captain of the four said, "Impressive strength, but it's pointless. We've reinforced the walls, and now they're even thicker." 

"You'll be crushed soon enough."

Naruto noticed that the prison walls were closing more rapidly, clearly intending to finish him off. 

He considered using the Flying Thunder God technique to escape, but doing so would risk revealing his identity. 

With no immediate solution, Naruto considered they could break through the walls together if he were with his teammates. 

But now, he was alone. Then it hit him—the earthen prison wasn't like Jirobo's, which could absorb chakra. 

When the jutsu was cast, Naruto didn't feel any interference with his chakra. Realizing this, he quickly created a shadow clone. 

The clone gathered a Rasengan while Naruto himself prepared a Lightning-style attack. 

First, the Rasengan struck the earthen wall, causing visible damage. 

Outside, the ninjas couldn't tell what technique Naruto was using but sensed the wall weakening. 

The Captain signalled to the others, and they began reinforcing the wall again.

But just as they added another layer, a lightning bolt burst out from inside, and the reinforced wall collapsed too late. 

Naruto emerged, holding the Sword of the Thunder God, his black cloak billowing in the wind.

The ninja who had cast the earthen prison said, "I didn't expect you to be able to continuously use such powerful jutsu." 

"Normally, an attack of that strength requires a buildup of chakra. To use it in such rapid succession—even the Raikage might struggle with that. Who are you?"

It appeared that the ten ninjas had been divided into two groups, but the leader of the original four was the overall commander, including the guards outside. 

Though Naruto had broken free of the prison, the outside guards had joined the group, surrounding him again. 

The Captain said, "I admit, your strength is impressive, and you're a worthy opponent. But with the ten of us surrounding you, it's only a matter of time before we take you down. I'll say it again—hand over the treasure map."

Naruto replied, "Are you worried that I might destroy the treasure map in a panic? Looks like you care about it even more than I do." 

"Tell me, what's the secret of this treasure map? Maybe then I'll consider giving it to you."

The Captain, now angered, shouted, "Since you're so determined to die, don't blame us for getting ruthless!" He began forming hand signs once more.

Naruto thought these ten might have some strange techniques, and taking them all out instantly would be challenging. 

He threw down several smoke bombs and used the Flying Thunder God technique to escape.

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