Chapter 41

It had been a few days since Naruto had left Kirigakure.

At this time, Naruto was heading towards a place called Demon Desert in Sunagakure. According to the information he learned, the 2nd stage of the chunin exam would be there.

He finally approached the Demon Desert After traveling for a while. But he did not feel the presence of many people there.

"Damn, am I late?" Naruto thought.

He quickly came up with a plan to find his target after thinking for a while.

Naruto made dozens of clones of himself using kage bunshin. He then sent the clones around to look for someone with a high amount of chakra.

They would probably find either Gaara or his target, the jinchuriki. He would know it was him even if he found Gaara because he could easily recognize Shukaku's chakra signature.

Dozens of clones scanned the environment in a short time and easily discovered the target person.

"Looks like I came just in time." Naruto sensed people wearing red cloud-patterned cloaks near the target.

At this moment, a green-haired kunoichi had a joyful expression as she approached the two ninjas in front of her.

"Nice to meet you, Kakuzu-senpai. I've always wanted to talk to you, how about we have a long chat over tea?" She said excitedly.

"I didn't come here today to be your friend." Kakuzu said in an emotionless voice.

At that moment, two Takigakure ninjas who were Fu's bodyguard immediately called out to her, "Fu! Back off!"

As Fu quickly backed away, the other Akatsuki member, who was next to Kakuzu, started to attack quickly.

The other Akatsuki member was wearing a red cloud-patterned cloak and was carrying a Triple-Bladed Scythe.

"Hidan, I leave this one up to you." Kakuzu said before leaning against a tree.

"Sure, Jashin-sama will be pleased with new victims." Hidan said as he looked savagely at the enemy ninjas.

"Remember, you must not harm the target." Kakuzu said.

"Sigh* All right, I won't hurt her." Hidan said while feeling uncomfortable.

The two Takigakure ninjas looked at each other and made a decision, then started running towards Hidan. As they ran, they said, "Fu! We will try to hold them back. Run to Takigakure right away!"

Fu shook her head in agreement after a moment of stupefaction. Then, wings like insect wings appeared on her back and she flew away quickly.

The two Takigakure ninjas who stayed behind were able to stall Hidan for a short while before being sacrificed for Jashin.

Fu, on the other hand, was running towards her village in fear. But after a short while, she noticed Hidan rushing towards her.

Hidan was chasing Fu with an insane expression, someone else's blood on his face.

Hidan swung his scythe at Fu's feet after got closer.

Just when the scythe was about to hit his target, an obstacle appeared in front of it.

Naruto's clone was able to stop the scythe with the metal plate on his arm. Of course, because the scythe was so strong, the plate became unusable.

At that moment, the real Naruto appeared with a red flash next to the clone.

"How did you suddenly appear! Anyway, Jashin-sama will be glad to see a new victim." Hidan said angrily.

"Are you going to make me a victim? Looks like I'll have to have a talk with Jashin about him worshipers." Naruto said.

"How dare you talk to him in such a disrespectful way!" Hidan was very angry after hearing that, so he started attacking quickly.

Naruto looked at Fu after dodging the scythe and said, "You keep running, I'll come for you when I'm done."

Fu nodded and continued to run away.

"You are wrong if you think she can escape. It will be her turn after I kill you." Hidan said.

"We'll see." Naruto said as his eyes turned into Mangekyou Sharingan.

Hidan wouldn't die no matter how much damage Naruto did after the two of them fought for a while.

"HAHAHA! You can't kill me! I am a servant of Jashin-sama!" Hidan said.

Just then, Kakuzu appeared from the bushes.

"Still not finished? We have a lot of work to do. Ha? Who is this?" Kakuzu said.

"This guy appeared in front of me when I was about to pick up the girl! Tsk Tsk* I couldn't get his blood somehow. That armor-like thing is preventing me from reaching it." Hidan said while looking at Susanoo, who was standing firmly.

"Hmm... I've decided. You are valuable. You would make a very good lab rat. What do you say you want to be my lab rat? I am sure we will have a lot of fun." Naruto said with a serious expression while looking at Hidan.

"Lab rat? Yours? How dare you!" Hidan said angrily.

Kakuzu thought as he studied Naruto's eyes, "So he has a Sharingan. Good good! I can finally have a sharingan of my own. Also, he has apparently advanced ones."

"He seems to be strong, let's both attack together and finish him off right away. Then you will go for the target." Kakuzu said.

"Just take care of that armor, and I'll get his blood when the opportunity arises." Hidan said while grinning psychopathically.

"I think we can talk nicely about you still being my lab rat. If you accept it now, you will live a happier life in the future." Naruto still said with a serious expression.