Toyomiketsunomikoto

5:02 AM.

The rain sealing off Tianmen Mountain in the Land of Lightning showed no sign of letting up.

Naruto sat on the veranda outside the house, a half-eaten lunch box beside him.

A dark figure sprinted through the rain, appearing before the Pine Forest.

Splashing through puddles, Sasuke landed in front of Naruto, his single arm shaking water droplets from his black cloak.

"How is it?"

"I've ruled out the possibility that Darui was manipulated by genjutsu."

Naruto let out a long breath. If even the Raikage of the Five Great Nations had been controlled by genjutsu, the scope of this affair would be far too vast.

When had he been manipulated? Which critical ninja world plans had he participated in since then, and what decisions had he made? Could the other Kage also be compromised? Investigating one by one would trigger an earthquake sweeping through the Five Great Nations in an instant.

For now, the problem remained between Konoha and Chen, something he and Sasuke could resolve with a single battle, just like they had dealt with Shin Uchiha yesterday.

"But I picked up some new intel on Chen. He had a younger brother, right?"

"Yeah, Shikamaru mentioned it. Called 'Jin'."

"Darui said Jin and Samui, a former Kumogakure kunoichi, were married. They even had children."

"Huh? Is that true?" Naruto's mouth fell open in surprise, his mind conjuring images of peaks more magnificent than Hinata's—or even Tsunade's.

Sasuke said, "After Jin died, Samui requested to return to civilian status. She took her younger brother Atsui and her two children and left Kumogakure. Their whereabouts have been unknown since..."

"That... doesn't sound related to Chen, does it?"

Sasuke shook his head, speaking cautiously. "I don't know this Samui well, but she's said to be a veteran ninja who participated in the Fourth Great Ninja War."

"Hard to imagine someone like that leaving the village that raised her for years. Besides, she had two children. Staying in Kumogakure would have given them the best security and livelihood, right?"

Naruto rubbed his chin, nodding thoughtfully. "Mm... that does make sense."

Sasuke flipped his cloak aside and sat down beside Naruto. "So I've been wondering if Chen played a role in Samui's unusual actions."

"According to Shikamaru's intel, Chen amassed a huge fortune. But his own residence is perfectly ordinary. If such massive funds weren't spent on personal luxury, where did they flow? That makes you think..."

"In any case, Chen's background might be more complicated than we imagined!"

"Doesn't matter. After tonight, we'll beat him to the ground, drag him back to Konoha, and let Ibiki interrogate him." Naruto smiled, picking up the lunch box and handing it to Sasuke.

It seemed Chen's affairs weren't as important as making sure Sasuke got a meal.

Sasuke took the lunch box, set it flat on his lap, and picked up chopsticks with his one hand, deep in thought. "I have a feeling Ibiki won't crack this Chen. I'll handle it myself then. I'll use the Rinnegan to make him confess everything—his background, his wealth's flow, and his purpose for stealing Madara's corpse. Then we'll decide his fate."

With that, he lowered his head and started eating... but a piece of tamagoyaki stopped just short of his mouth.

He and Naruto both looked up at the rain, toward the far end of the Pine Forest!

"Shwoosh!" A black vortex settled. Chen glanced at his watch: 5:07:43.

He spoke to the air behind him. "You two, please go as far from me as possible."

Madara and Obito, their presence erased by 'Haniyasu', exchanged a glance before vanishing in a flash!

Chen slowly raised his face.

At that moment, lightning split the night sky, illuminating a pair of breathtaking Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!

"Now then..."

"Boom!!" Naruto landed in the pouring rain before the house, blazing golden light engulfing him, transforming into the golden cloak of Kurama Chakra Mode. The chakra storm spreading outward even slowed the falling rain!

"Sasuke, you finish your lunch first. I'll go deal with this troublesome guy~!"

"I'm coming with you!" Sasuke set down the lunch box.

"No!" Naruto shouted firmly. "That's Sakura's loving wife lunch box for you—don't waste it!"

Sasuke said, "But he has a Mangekyo Sharingan's dojutsu!"

Naruto's eyes gleamed. "Yeah, I know! But the one thing in this world that can't be countered is overwhelming 'speed'! Getting stabbed by Shin yesterday made me rediscover my 'Reflex Nerve' after a long time!"

"I'm going to use speed that surpasses his dojutsu's reflex nerve and put him on the ground in an instant!"

With those words, Naruto transformed into a golden beam of light, sweeping through the trees as he charged forward!

"Let's go, Kurama!!"

"Don't get careless! I can feel his chakra is incredibly strong!"

"Relax, I've got this!!"

The face suddenly in his vision—Naruto's eyes burned with anger!

"Where did you take Uchiha Madara's corpse? Spill it now!"

"Whoosh!" The fist blazing with golden light abruptly slowed one inch from Chen's face!

"Sorry, but one inch in front of me is my world."

Chen swayed lightly, dodging past.

Up above, watching from the peak, Madara chuckled softly: Heh, Chen even dodged Rinbo, let alone your body flicker, Naruto. If it were you fifteen years ago... you might have had a chance to touch him!

"Boom!"

The golden light smashed into a massive boulder, collapsing it into rubble.

Naruto crouched in the ruins, startled and uncertain. "What's going on... that 'delayed feeling' just now?"

Chen turned his head and muttered to himself, "You really are the unexpected No.1 ninja, Naruto. You make my opening move feel incredibly comfortable."

Naruto, as long as you don't activate the Heavy Particle Mode, you're just a stat monster in my eyes.

Like Obito's Kamui, all my mechanics are naturally designed to hard-counter stat monsters.

Sasuke's Rinnegan is the only thing that gives me a bit of trouble.

"Zzzt!" Chen's right eye focused on Naruto, flashing a crimson light!

-- Toyomiketsunomikoto!

"Crack!" A bone palm burning with a dark, Mithril-colored aura tightly gripped Naruto's body from behind!

Naruto stared at the Susanoo skeleton that had materialized behind him out of thin air, his face filled with shock. "Susanoo... how did it suddenly appear behind me!?"

Toyomiketsunomikoto, the third dojutsu of Chen's right eye.

Like Mizuha, it was inherited from his younger brother Jin's Mangekyo.

This technique possesses two major traits: [Energy Storage] and [Flash Strike].

[Energy Storage] allows chakra itself or casting formulas to be stored within the eye. [Flash Strike] enables the stored technique to be unleashed as a dojutsu, striking the focal point of the user's gaze!

With Toyomiketsunomikoto, Chen could pre-store techniques in his right eye during daily life and release them at will in battle, consuming only the dojutsu power of Toyomiketsunomikoto itself, not his current chakra!

Susanoo, the five elemental ninjutsu, secret techniques—any technique built from chakra could be [Energy Stored].

Of course... Sage Chakra was no exception.

"Next, I'll be using my 'dojutsu' relentlessly. This mode is indispensable."

"Zzzt!" Chen's sclera turned a deep gray, and Mithril-colored eye shadow formed around his nose bridge and eyelids. His chakra and aura grew even more unfathomable!

"Chen, you really do have it too..." Madara stared deeply.

-- Shikkotsurin Sage Mode!