A massive golden hand reached out from the Golden flames, bypassed the red-haired woman before the wooden coffin, transformed into a hand that blotted out the sky, and grabbed at Orochimaru in the tree!
Bang!
The entire tree Orochimaru stood on was smashed into fragments by the giant claw of Golden Chakra. Yet Orochimaru, whose body had undergone the Soft Body Modification Technique, twisted at an unbelievable angle like a slippery snake and slithered away from the attack.
"Judging by your expression... you recognized Kushina Uzumaki. Is she your mother?" The excitement in Orochimaru's eyes intensified. This Jinchuriki, who according to Kabuto's intelligence had excelled at the Ninja Academy since the age of six, really was quite interesting!
Something seemed to have changed within him...
"Don't you dare mention my mom's name again! You bastard!" Naruto roared, his entire body engulfed in blazing Golden flames, his eyes fixed on Orochimaru with eerie vertical Demon Fox pupils.
Naruto-kun's mother... Hinata stared in shock and concern at the person who had stepped out of the wooden coffin. Life was gradually returning to that once stiff, wooden face covered in strange cracks.
Pupils also appeared in her eyes.
Naruto's presence... was even stronger than back then! Sasuke clenched his fist. Is this the height you "will" reach? You've actually become this strong...
Glaring at Orochimaru's detestable face, Naruto instantly gathered a sphere of Chakra in his right hand. He pushed off the ground, about to flash to Orochimaru's side and beat him senseless, but then—
Clatter, clatter...
Dense chains flew from behind Naruto to the front. With a snap, they bound him tightly!
Those are Kushina's chains! Naruto, she's suppressing my Chakra!
Kurama said from within Naruto.
Naruto's body trembled, but he did not dare turn around. Tears welled up in his eyes as he gritted his teeth. "Mom, can you let me go? I'll go beat up the guy disturbing you right now... Mom..."
Creak, creak...
There was no response. The chains only tightened further.
"Rasengan? Heh, somehow I'm not all that surprised..." Orochimaru licked his lips.
Naruto, fight back! Kushina's suppression is too strong! And she has an Impure World Reincarnation body now, so she doesn't even need to consider the burden on her own body! She can suppress me even more powerfully than she could while alive! Kurama roared inside Naruto.
"Shut up, Kurama!" Naruto shouted, trembling. "How could I possibly attack my own mom?!"
Have you lost your mind?! That's just an Impure World Reincarnation!
"Shut up! Shut up!" Naruto nearly shattered his teeth from gritting them so hard. His nails dug into the flesh of his clenched fists, yet he did not feel it at all.
Was he... talking to the fox inside him? Orochimaru watched Naruto talking to himself. This Jinchuriki... seemed to have accomplished something even Mito Uzumaki, the First Hokage's wife, had never managed.
The chains continued tightening.
A woman's voice sounded behind Naruto. "Is that... Naruto?"
Orochimaru had not erased Kushina's consciousness. Looking at the person bound by her secret technique, Adamantine Sealing Chains, she saw his short golden hair, his back, the Chakra on his body...
"You're my child... Naruto?" As Kushina's consciousness gradually cleared, she asked in a trembling voice.
But to her horror, although she had regained awareness, she could not control her body... Was she actually hurting her own child?!
"Hehehe... What an interesting mother-and-son reunion..." Orochimaru chuckled mockingly from nearby, leisurely watching the mother and son sink into anguish.
Kushina's gaze turned sharp as she looked at Orochimaru and coldly demanded, "Was this your doing, Orochimaru? This is the Second Hokage's Impure World Reincarnation, isn't it? You bastard, you actually researched such a forbidden technique!" Her tone could not conceal her fury.
Orochimaru smiled unconcernedly. "Kushina, isn't it thanks to me that you and your son were fortunate enough to meet?" Then he continued, "I preserved a sample of Minato's blood back then as well, but unfortunately, I couldn't summon his soul back from the underworld... How interesting... What exactly happened when Minato sealed the Nine-Tails back then?"
"You disgust me with your despicableness, Orochimaru."
Kushina's voice was icy. She knew full well why the Reaper Death Seal was the forbidden technique among forbidden techniques of the Uzumaki Clan. It was not merely because the caster would die. More importantly, the caster's soul would... forever sink into that mask, unable to live, unable to find release.
"Hmph..." At that moment, Sasuke darted out from behind Naruto and charged at Orochimaru!
"Sasuke!" Hinata cried out.
Though he did not fully understand Naruto's current situation, everything had been caused by this man called Orochimaru... As long as they dealt with the caster, the technique would naturally be broken.
Sasuke ran forward and pulled out a shuriken.
Orochimaru looked at Sasuke and extended his tongue to lick his lips.
"Come back, Sasuke! Watch out!" Naruto knew perfectly well that Orochimaru wanted to plant a Curse Mark on Sasuke. Letting Sasuke approach Orochimaru now was no different from walking into a trap.
Now that he had revealed his strength, Orochimaru surely wanted to plant the Curse Mark on Sasuke as soon as possible. Only then could he calmly choose whether to leave or stay.
A golden Chakra arm extended from Naruto's shoulder and grabbed Sasuke.
Red Demon Fox Chakra immediately covered Sasuke's body. Stopped so abruptly, he asked in confusion, "What are you doing, Naruto?" Naruto pulled him behind himself without a word, then took five shuriken from his ninja tool pouch.
With a flick of his wrist, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—five shuriken flew toward Orochimaru.
Thunk, thunk. Three missed, calmly evaded by Orochimaru, while the other two nailed themselves into trees a short distance behind him, one on each side.
"Did seeing your mother make your hands shake, Naruto Uzumaki?" Orochimaru mocked, while secretly pondering the purpose of those two deliberately missed shuriken.
That Nine-Tails brat had already forced Orochimaru to regard him as an equal opponent.
Orochimaru appeared relaxed, but he was already feeling the pressure.
Any Chakra claw strike Naruto unleashed in that golden form would injure him even if it merely grazed him.
Scrape, scrape.
Naruto was tightly bound by the chains. He struggled to force himself forward, his feet scraping against the ground. Behind him, Kushina watched her son suffer under her own technique, overwhelmed with guilt yet utterly helpless. The only thing she could do now... was continuously strengthen the chains' binding force.
Fury piled up in Kushina's heart.
Bringing her back with Impure World Reincarnation was one thing, but using her to deal with her child... She would rather destroy herself right then than harm her child in the slightest.
She and her husband had already owed this child far too much before they died. She had never expected that even after death, they would still bring him trouble...
"Naruto..." Kushina called through tears. She was deeply relieved that her child seemed to have mastered the Nine-Tails' power. She did not know how much suffering he had endured to achieve it, how many bitter tears he had swallowed over the years, but... Damn it... Curse you, Orochimaru...
She did not even have the strength to reach out, embrace her child, and comfort him.
Perhaps it was the bond between mother and son, but Naruto seemed able to sense Kushina's pain behind him, just as he could sense her struggle through the chains around him...
He slowly raised his hands. "Mom... don't worry..." Naruto looked coldly at Orochimaru. "I'll deal with this guy soon..."
He formed hand seals.
The other Shadow Clones scattered throughout the area were dispelled. Then, in the very next instant, his remaining Shadow Clones immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Technique...
Behind Orochimaru came a voice both familiar and unfamiliar to him. It was once a voice he had respected, but it had now grown old enough to disgust him.
"Impure World Reincarnation... Orochimaru, you really did use this technique that desecrates the dead!"
Orochimaru's heart sank in an instant.
He did not have the Sharingan, nor did he possess such terrifying dynamic vision. Even if he did have a pair of Sharingan, he likely would not have noticed without prior knowledge... the Flying Thunder God Technique markings drawn on those shuriken.
Only that technique—if it had not been the Flying Thunder God Technique... there was no way these people could have gotten so close behind him without him noticing!
Orochimaru's expression darkened. He had not expected this brat... to have mastered such a troublesome technique as well.
"Can't even beat a brat anymore? How pathetic, isn't it... Orochimaru?"
That woman Tsunade had actually returned?
Orochimaru whipped his head around, his expression horrendous. On the trees to either side stood the Third Hokage in battle gear, holding a staff, and Tsunade, who still wore a mocking expression after her sarcastic remark.
Beside each of them stood three ninjas wearing Konoha ANBU masks, along with two of Naruto's Shadow Clones.
Orochimaru looked back toward Naruto. On trees some distance behind Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, Kakashi stood on one side with his Sharingan exposed, while Jiraiya stood on the other with two old toads perched on his shoulders.
Jiraiya's left hand was wrapped in bandages, and his appearance had changed. Orochimaru knew that Jiraiya had entered Sage Mode.
Each of them was likewise accompanied by three ANBU and two of Naruto's Shadow Clones.
There had already been Flying Thunder God markings on those trees... Had that Nine-Tails brat noticed long ago that I was following them and deliberately led me into this area where he had left his markings?
Orochimaru no longer needed to look. At this moment, he understood one thing with absolute clarity... He had been set up by this bunch from Konoha! Orochimaru had fallen into this trap from the very beginning!
And the most crucial figure in this trap... was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who had somehow learned the Flying Thunder God Technique!
Before you continue