Naruto: I Traveled with a Max Level Account

Chapter 383: Chapter 383: If You’re All Going to Bail, Why Can’t I Just Leave Too?



Chapter 383: You All Can Walk Away, So Why Can't I?

Regardless of whether it was Konoha or any other village, the treatment of prisoners of war was far from kind. They would chop some wood, make a large cage, throw the people inside, and call it a day. Imagine a group of people crammed into one place, forced to eat, drink, and relieve themselves all together-the thought of it was dark and unbearable.

Snapping his fingers, Takuya gave Pakura a sharp reminder, "You were captured by me. You're a prisoner, and me treating you a little better is entirely up to me. You can't dictate terms with me. If you insist on doing so, I have no problem playing hardball and tossing you in with the others. I believe you know well what happens to prisoners when they get thrown in those places."

Pakura knew this wasn't a game-she wasn't some fresh academy graduate. She fully understood how villages treated their captives. The mere idea of being shoved into a cage or a basement, crammed with a bunch of others, forced to handle all of life's necessities in that cramped space-her face turned pale at the thought.

Forget being a shinobi-Pakura was also a woman. A beautiful, proud, and dignified woman. Being thrown into such a place would be worse than being killed. At least then, she wouldn't have to endure the humiliation.

"No, Sunagakure isn't Kirigakure! At least, I haven't heard anything from Lord Kazekage discussing that. As for whether he'll decide to bring Shukaku to the battlefield in the future, I can't say for sure." She gritted her teeth as she finished speaking, lowering her head to avoid Takuya's gaze, her hands clenched tightly.

It seemed the Third Kazekage had some sense after all-using a Tailed Beast's power recklessly was not a good move. Sunagakure had a Tailed Beast, a Jinchuriki, but so did Konoha. And Konoha's Tailed Beast was even more terrifying. Unless absolutely necessary, the Third Kazekage wasn't going to take that kind of risk.

The Third Mizukage might have been crazy enough to take reckless actions, but the Third Kazekage was not. The Mizukage's goal was to drain the strength and resources of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, whereas the Kazekage's purpose in waging war was to make Sunagakure stronger, not to turn into a lunatic intent on taking Konoha down at all costs. There was a fundamental difference between them.

Takuya stared at the thick stack of documents piled on the table, along with the neatly organized scrolls. He rubbed his forehead in exasperation-if he stayed at the command center much longer, he felt he would lose his mind. The worst part was, these were all already sorted through by Nara Shikashige.

If Takuya had to go through all of it from start to finish, it wouldn't be a matter of almost going crazy-he would've already gone mad.

Konoha really knew how to push someone to the brink.

Every time Takuya scratched his head in frustration, Pakura's lips twitched slightly. She genuinely couldn't understand why Konoha's higher-ups had entrusted command to someone like Takuya, a complete novice. Was it just because of his strength?

But strength and leading a command center were two very different things. People said Hatake Sakumo wasn't suited for these kinds of tasks, but Takuya seemed even worse. Far

worse.

Screw it!

Why should he put up with this? When Sakumo was in charge, Nara Shikashige handled all sorts of matters, allowing Sakumo to focus purely on the fighting. But now that it was his turn, Shikashige kept making excuses.

You don't want to get caught up in the internal politics, huh?

Everything's dumped on me, huh?

Fine. I'm done with it.

Choosing to "opt-out," Takuya carefully studied the map, compared Sunagakure's military positions, and then decided to make his move-grabbing Pakura and making a run for it.

Nara Shikashige, after finishing a document and sipping his tea leisurely, said, "Well, at least Takuya's reasonable. If it were that stubborn Sakumo, he would've refused from the get-go." Thinking back to the days of the Second Shinobi War with Sakumo, Shikashige felt a tinge of frustration.

Dumping everything on an old man like him-was that fair?

Of course not.

"Sir," one of the ANBU members entered the tent. Shikashige straightened up. "What is it?" After a moment of hesitation, the ANBU ninja finally said, "Lord Takuya... he's gone." "Gone?" Shikashige blinked. "Are you kidding? A man that conspicuous just vanished under your watchful eyes?"

"Oh no!" Shikashige's eyelid twitched, realizing the trouble he was now in. He rushed out of the tent, heading for the command center.

On the table in the command center was a new document, with just two big characters: "See ya." One glance at the handwriting, and it was clear that it was from Takuya.

That little brat actually ran off!

Shikashige was fuming, his mustache practically twitching in anger. Just a few minutes ago, he had praised Takuya as being more reasonable than Sakumo, at least willing to listen. And now? His words came back to bite him almost instantly.

Sakumo would at least play games, shirking duties onto others-Takuya, on the other hand, simply took off.

Keep bringing up Tsunade, huh?

Well, I'm done. I'm outta here-good luck dealing with it yourselves.

If it weren't for worrying about his reputation and Tsunade possibly coming after him, Shikashige would've already started cursing up a storm.

"I knew it. Just like Sakumo, that brat would never be content just staying at the camp," he muttered, doing his best to hold back the urge to start swearing.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Where's Pakura?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Takuya had run away, which brought up another problem-what about Pakura, who had been following him?

"And didn't you ANBU guys notice he was leaving?"

"She's also gone," replied the ANBU member, sweat forming on his brow. Nervously, he continued, "Two of our men were following Lord Takuya, but they were put under a genjutsu. You know Lord Takuya's skills in that area..."

When it came to genjutsu, many considered Takuya the strongest-even the Uchiha had to take a back seat. After all, Takuya had taken down the Third Kazekage with genjutsu not long after graduating from the academy. Time had passed, and putting two ANBU members to

sleep with ease was par for the course.

Shikashige could only stare, utterly at a loss for words.

With Takuya's strength, if he wanted to give ANBU the slip, they wouldn't be able to keep tabs on him. Maybe Hatake Sakumo could keep up, but would Sakumo do that sort of thing? "Forget it, forget it," Shikashige sighed, feeling the tension release. What else could he say at

this point?

The trap had already been sprung. Shikashige was certain-Takuya wouldn't be back anytime soon. Now everything at camp fell squarely on his shoulders. As for Hatake Sakumo? There was no point even hoping for his help.