Zero Shinobies ( Shinobi Hunter Naruto)

ch 22

"When I broke out of my cell after the lights went out and told Rea and her friends to run, I went back in to see who was attacking the police station," Naruto began, once again drawing several sets of eyes toward him- including the Hokage's- once he began doing a breakdown of the night's events. "I ended up ambushing this prick when I lured him into a ruined corridor and dropped down on top of him through the ceiling. After he was done stumbling around after taking three dozen knife stabs to the face, he ripped off his mask and showed me that ugly mug. Scar and all." The blond then slipped his hands into his pockets. "He managed to slaughter every single Jonin and Chunin in the police station all by himself. It was crazy. I was actually really lucky I didn't get killed."

Had his encounter with the assassin taken place under normal circumstances- squaring off in the day time, out in the open, with no corners or obstacles to hide behind, and both of them were fully aware of the other's presence- Naruto was a hundred percent positive the man would've killed him.

No. Not just killed. Destroyed. The element of surprise, topped with the fact that the mysterious murderer grossly underestimated him when they eventually ended up meeting face to face- and had decided to take that time to monologue instead of get the job done- meant that Naruto was able to escape with only a few minor cuts and bruises.

There was no way, even with his impressive taijutsu skills and toughness, that he would've been able to beat the guy on his own.

After gaping at the paper for several seconds longer, as he too recognized the person printed over it, Gai's gaze quickly snapped back to the blond. "What else do you remember about him?"

"That the guy was fast… that he moved like a black haze, I'm guessing from a shunshin technique… and that he wore an old Uchiha war mask with a flame pattern on it," Naruto continued without missing a beat, his composure not losing out for a second. He then turned to glare at the sketch in front of him. "He also used this really strange technique that made things go through him- kunai, shuriken, fire, metal, everything. Heck, he even managed to walk through solid walls like a ghost… almost like he could make himself intangible. I'm guessing that's how he was able to kill all those Uchiha so easily when he entered the station, because he could slip through everything they threw at him."

The only reason Naruto had been able to touch him was because he was able to get the drop on him when his back was turned and the guy had no idea where he was. Not to mention the assassin could only phase through things if he wasn't already interacting with them- e.g. touching the harmless insulation sheet that fell over his head, which then allowed Naruto to trap him.

Kurenai could only shake her head as she heard everything that came out of the boy's mouth. "And you managed to get all of this information from just one encounter? How the heck did you manage to escape him?" Surely someone that efficient and powerful wouldn't have let a kid spot him and then run for it. He probably would've run him down and killed him before he even had a chance to breathe a word of his discovery to anyone.

At this, Naruto grinned and shrugged. "I blew him up… along with the entire block." He then casually raised his hand and waved. "You're welcome, by the way."

Everyone was stumped. After hearing what Naruto had to say and in processing all of his information, all the adults in the room could do was shake their heads and stare at the child like he'd grown a second head. Disregarding the fact that he actually survived a brush encounter with a dangerous assassin and caused the explosion that damaged a good portion of the Uchiha Clan's district, but he also managed to bring them a profile of a person that they all thought to have died long ago.

When Naruto noticed several of the men looking down at the picture with mixed expressions of disbelief and confusion, the blond frowned and turned his attention to Kakashi. "You all know who this guy is… don't you?"