"It's coming for me." Naruto stared at the map, "It's looking for Chakra of Asura."
"So you can't go!" Shikamaru slapped the table, "You are the bait and the last piece of the puzzle. If you are swallowed by it, who knows what will happen!"
"If I don't go, will I eat up Kikyo Castle just by watching it?" Naruto asked in return.
Shikamaru is speechless.
"Don't worry, I'm measured." Naruto patted Shikamaru on the shoulder, "Besides, I have "bodyguards" this time." He pointed at Sasuke behind him.
"I'll go too."
A childish but firm voice came from the door. Boruto stood there, holding the kunai tightly in his hand, Forehead Protector tied it upright.
"No." Naruto refused without thinking, "This is not a task that Genin can participate in."
"I have a wedge!" Boruto said anxiously, "That thing is Otsutsuki's creation, right? My wedge can sense it and even absorb its magic!"
"Boruto." Sasuke spoke.
Boruto looked at his master.
"Listen to your father this time." Sasuke said calmly, "This is not a competition of ninjutsu, but a fight. Your current awareness is not enough."
Boruto bit his lip and lowered his head unwillingly.
Naruto walked up to his son and squatted down. He wanted to reach out and rub Boruto's hair, but he was afraid that the mud on his hands would stain him, so his hand stopped in mid-air and fell down.
"Take good care of your home." Naruto said softly, "Protect mom and Xiaokui. This is also S-rank's mission."
Boruto turned his head away, his eyes slightly red. "... I know. If you lose, I won't spare you."
"Ah, I can't lose."
Naruto stood up and Sacred Robe threw an arc behind him.
"Let's go!"
The night was dark and the rain was pouring.
The ancient city walls of Kikyo Castle are looming in the rain. The once bustling streets are deserted at this moment. Only the broken lanterns rolled by the strong wind are rolling on the ground.
Naruto and Sasuke stood on the eaves at the top of the tower, rainwater sliding down their bamboo hats.
"Here we come." Although Sasuke's Rinnegan is temporarily disabled, his only remaining right eye Sharingan is emitting scarlet light in the darkness.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor huge Chakra pressure. An eerie silence enveloped the entire city. Immediately afterwards, there was a strange sound.
It was a "crunching" sound similar to chewing brittle bones, mixed with the sound of rain, which seemed particularly harsh.
At the end of the street, a figure slowly appeared.
It looked like a human, but its limbs were disproportionately long and the joints were bent backwards, like a spider that walked upright. Its skin was gray-white, covered with black incantations, and it had no facial features, only a large mouth split to the base of its ears, filled with fine fangs.
That is the "container".
"Is this... the discarded product numbered "Zero"?" Naruto frowned, "It looks really random."
"Don't be fooled by appearances." Sasuke lowered his body and pressed his hand on the handle of the knife. "Its Chakra reaction is very strange... it comes and goes, just like..."
"It's like a black hole." Naruto answered.
The monster stopped. It seemed to smell something, and its eyeless face suddenly lifted up and turned towards the direction of the tower.
"A... Xiu... Luo..."
The hoarse sound was like two rusty iron pieces rubbing against each other, penetrating the rain curtain and hitting the eardrums.
"It seems it recognized me." Naruto unbuttoned Sacred Robe's collar, revealing the black combat uniform underneath, "Since it's coming for me, it's easy to handle."
"Don't be impulsive." Sasuke reminded, "Try the attack."
Before he finished speaking, the monster suddenly disappeared.
It was not Body Flicker Technique, but pure speed. The stone slabs on the ground exploded instantly, and a gray-white afterimage tore through the rain curtain and appeared in front of Naruto instantly.
Too fast!
Naruto's pupils shrank suddenly. The body's specially trained muscle memory came into play at this moment. He did not try to Hand Seals, but instinctively raised his arms and crossed them to protect his chest.
Bang!
A huge force came, and Naruto felt like he was hit by a high-speed Lightning Chariot. He flew backwards, crashed through the roof of the city building, and slammed into a private house.
"Naruto!" Sasuke drew his sword out of its sheath, and Kusanagi Sword slashed at the monster's neck with lightning.
The monster did not hide. It raised its skinny arm and actually grabbed Kusanagi Sword's sword blade. Purple electric arcs danced in its hands, but disappeared without a trace like a mud cow entering the sea.
"Absorb ninjutsu?" Sasuke's eyes turned cold.
The monster's palm suddenly exerted force, trying to crush Kusanagi Sword. Sasuke reacted very quickly, let go and abandoned the sword, and at the same time kicked the monster in the chest, using the force to roll back.
"Fire Style·Great Fireball Technique!"
Huge fireballs erupted at extremely close range.
However, the moment the flame came into contact with the monster's skin, it was as if it had been sucked away by a vacuum cleaner, without even a trace of smoke coming out.
"Hungry..." The monster opened its mouth and let out a contented sigh, "I still want..."
In the ruins, Naruto pushed away the beam that was pressing on him and crawled out in disgrace.
"Ahem... this guy is so strong." Naruto wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. In that moment, if Kai's devil training in the past two days hadn't taught him how to unload force, he would have probably broken several ribs.
"Ninjutsu is ineffective." Sasuke landed next to Naruto, holding Kusanagi Sword in his hand again, "Taijutsu's attack is effective, but its skin is very hard, and its power is stronger than you and me."
"In other words, we can only fight head-on?" Naruto moved his sore shoulders, "It's really troublesome. What I lack most now is strength."
"Cooperate." Sasuke said briefly, "I attack the lower plate, and you attack the upper lane. Don't give it a chance to breathe."
"Understood!"
The two looked at each other, and there was no need to say anything at this moment about their years of tacit understanding.
Naruto rushed out first. He did not use Shadow Clone, because Chakra was too precious. He took out two kunai from his ninja bag, held them in his hands, and walked with strange steps - it was a variation of the "Drunken Fist" step taught by Kai. Although it was ugly, it was erratic.
The monster swept forward with its long arms. Naruto was short and sliding to avoid the attack. At the same time, the kunai stabbed the monster's knee joint hard.
Ding!
Sparks flew everywhere. The kunai seemed to be stabbed on the steel, making Naruto's mouth numb.
"So hard?!"
At this moment, Sasuke's attack arrived. He took advantage of the gap created by Naruto, Body Flicker Technique appeared behind the monster, and Kusanagi Sword accurately penetrated the gap in the monster's spine.
Pfft.
Black liquid spurted out.
"Roar!" The monster roared in pain. Its back suddenly split open, and several tentacles whipped towards Sasuke behind it like whips.
"Chidori Stream!"
Sasuke's whole body erupted with electric current, trying to paralyze the tentacles. But this time, the electric current was absorbed again. The tentacles wrapped around Sasuke's waist without any hindrance and threw him to the ground.
"Sasuke!"