"Is that the monster inside your body?"
Gaara's voice came from Shukaku's mouth. He was merely borrowing Shukaku's power; the real Shukaku had not fully awakened yet. Only when Gaara fell asleep would he awaken. Gaara knew that Naruto had something inside him too, just like himself, but he had never expected Naruto to be able to release it completely.
"It's not a monster. He's my friend!"
Naruto stood steadily atop the Nine-Tails' head. He had thought the Nine-Tails would emerge in a far more violent way, like tearing through his clothes as he grew huge or something. He had not expected the two of them to coexist like this.
"First, speed."
The Nine-Tails left a red afterimage where he stood. When he appeared again, he was already behind Shukaku. Shukaku's mountain-like left arm was severed at the root, flung into the sky, then crashed to the ground and kicked up a shockwave.
"Then, strength."
Before Shukaku could react, the Nine-Tails' claws seized his thick tail. Bracing himself, he began spinning in place. After several dozen rotations, he hurled Shukaku thousands of meters away, carving a deep trench through the ground.
"Looks like I'm not old yet."
The Nine-Tails looked over the apocalyptic scene around him and nodded in satisfaction. Years of confinement had not robbed him of his strength.
"You idiot, Nine-Tails! We came to stop him, but you've wrecked the forest even worse!"
Naruto stared speechlessly at the Nine-Tails, whose destructive power was even greater than Shukaku's, then rapped him on the head.
"Brat, you haven't seen my true strength yet. If I wanted to, I could reshape the terrain."
"Please don't!"
"What kind of power is this...?"
Only then did the Shukaku transformed from Gaara crawl up from the ground and shake his head. It was terrifying.