Nine-Tails

Aburame Torune's Phosphorus Corrosive Insects were different from the ordinary bugs of the Aburame clan—they were nanobugs, extremely tiny, with a lethally potent poison. Touch them, and death was instant.

But by the same token, these nanobugs were very hard to control, unable to distinguish friend from foe.

So during combat, Aburame Torune would often coat the surface of his body with these nanobugs, charge straight at the enemy, and engage in close-quarters fighting.

If someone didn't know the intel beforehand and recklessly traded blows with him, carelessly landing a punch, they'd immediately be entangled by the nanobugs and killed on the spot.

Against an opponent like him, the best tactic was to attack from a distance with various Ninjutsu and secret techniques—never let him get close.

However, Uchiha An was a natural counter to the Aburame clan. Once he activated Susanoo, Chakra energy served as the perfect barrier.

"Haha..." He laughed madly, swinging the scepter in his hand, bringing it down on Aburame Torune's head with reckless force.

"Don't you love close combat?"

"Come on!"

"Try taking my attacks!"

Aburame Torune's feet never stopped moving; he jumped and dodged with difficulty, but the massive scepter slammed into the ground, kicking up Sand and Stones that scattered like buckshot. Their speed and power rivaled Kunai, and they came in a dense volley with no room to evade.

In just a moment, his body was covered in bloody scratches from the flying debris. Blood seeped from the wounds and was immediately devoured by the nanobugs.

Aburame Torune's face was as dark as water. After circling Susanoo a few times without finding an opening, he made a hand signal.

The Root Ninjas in the distance, who had been avoiding the area like it was a venomous snake, immediately changed their attitude and began running toward him.

Once they got close, one ninja rapidly formed Hand Seals.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Spear!"

Uchiha An caught sight of his Hand Seals and immediately leaped backward, taking Susanoo away from his previous position.

A slight tremor ran through the ground as several sharp stone spears burst forth like bamboo shoots in spring, stabbing diagonally upward and covering the spot where he had just stood.

"Ninjutsu on this level can't hurt me!"

Uchiha An formed Hand Seals just as quickly. Susanoo opened its mouth, and a sky-filling blaze swept toward the ordinary Root Ninjas.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

The flames raged, scorching the air until it warped and twisted.

Suddenly, from a blind spot, a pitch-black shadow shot out like a venomous snake from the darkness, cleverly using the cover of the flames' shadows to silently lunge at Uchiha An.

"Secret Technique: Shadow Binding Technique!"

It was the Ino-Shika-Cho team, who had already rushed nearby and begun their covert assault.

But Uchiha An had long been on guard against them. With the dynamic vision of his Mangekyo Sharingan, this level of ambush had almost no chance of success.

"Tch, birds of a feather flock together—so you've finally joined forces, have you?"

He tilted his head, and the direction of the flame jet shifted slightly. The scorching firelight blew the thin shadow away like smoke.

But the ground beneath his feet softened. A quicksand-like whirlpool suddenly appeared, pulling Susanoo's body downward relentlessly.

"Earth Style: Ant Hell!"

It was the same Earth Style ninja from before, striking again.

"This Susanoo has no legs—really inconvenient!"

Uchiha An grumbled inwardly, then swung his scepter in a full arc, bringing it down on that ninja's head.

Any Ninjutsu required the caster's control; once they dodged, the follow-up effect would naturally dissipate.

But to his surprise, facing this lethal attack, the Root Ninja didn't move an inch. A look of death-defying resolve flickered in his eyes as he completely abandoned defense, stubbornly maintaining his Hand Seals and pouring out Chakra with reckless abandon, pushing the Ant Hell's power to its limit.

The scepter came down. "Pfft." It easily crushed the Root Ninja into a pulp, blood and flesh smeared across the ground.

But in the time he had wasted, even more Ninjutsu landed on Susanoo.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Split!"

"Earth Style: Earth Prison Dome!"

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

Perhaps because intel had leaked, Konoha had already learned that Susanoo's weakness was its lack of a lower half. As a result, half of the Root Ninjas who came this time were Earth Style users.

Just as the quicksand trap that had pinned Susanoo began to solidify, the ground suddenly split apart to both sides, opening a massive fissure several meters wide and bottomless.

Another tactic specifically designed against him!

Uchiha An's feet found nothing beneath them, and he and Susanoo both fell into the chasm.

At the same time, the ground around the fissure suddenly rose upward. Rubble climbed on its own, rapidly converging and sealing the top, forming a massive earthen prison that trapped him and Susanoo inside, beginning to drain his Chakra.

Then, the ground beneath him rippled like water. A ninja leaped up from underground, Explosive Tags flickering with firelight under his clothes, charging at him with his head down.

This was a human bomb!

Whether he lived or died, the massive number of Explosive Tags on his body would inevitably detonate in this confined space.

"Such petty tricks, and you dare show them off!"

Uchiha An hung in midair, roaring in fury as the Mangekyo in his eye spun wildly. Susanoo's energy body suddenly surged upward, sprouting two thick legs that planted firmly on the ground, shielding him completely. He swung his arms like swinging a golf club, sending the charging Root suicide soldiers flying.

But the moment he struck, all those Explosive Tags detonated at once.

The violent shockwave from the chain explosion expanded outward, slamming into the surrounding earth and stone. In an instant, it rebounded multiple times within the cramped space, drastically amplifying the damage at the blast's core.

Outside, everyone saw the stone prison just as it formed suddenly bulge outward. After a few Earth Style ninjas barely held it together for a moment, it exploded with a thunderous roar.

A pillar of fire shot up from within, spiraling like a smoke column through the gap in the stone prison, reaching straight into the sky.

The flying gravel and crushed stone were more dangerous than any Kunai. Even the Root ninjas couldn't help but retreat and dodge.

Did it work?

Aburame Torune stared intently into the smoke column, ready to pounce and finish the job at any moment.

Within Root, the mission came first. Life was secondary.

They didn't even care about their own lives, let alone anyone else's.

In Torune's heart, only Yamanaka Fu counted as a friend. The other Root ninjas were mere tools. He had no hesitation in ordering them to sacrifice themselves to create an opening.

Traps, fissures, stone prisons, human bombs—a series of killing moves came one after another, forming a net-like encirclement.

This was the most effective attack he could muster when the Phosphorus Corrosive Insects had failed.

As the flames died down, a tall silhouette emerged from the rolling smoke and dust.

It was Susanoo's form!

Uchiha An floated within Susanoo's chest, breathing heavily. His left eye was half-closed, a trail of blood tears slowly flowing down his cheek.

He stuck out his tongue and gently licked the blood tears into his mouth.

Tasting his own blood again only made his already frenzied heart even more unhinged.

"Haha..."

"You're not bad, not bad at all!"

He laughed madly at the sky, his hands forming a Hand Seal in a flash. Then, to the horror of the Konoha people, a glow of Explosive Tags lit up beneath the clothes of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki they held.

The battle had been too fierce. Though they had rescued the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, they had no time to check him over. They didn't realize that Uchiha An had long set an Explosive Tag trap on Naruto's body in a hidden spot.

Now, with Uchiha An activating it from here, the Explosive Tags detonated instantly.

The next moment, amid a violent explosion, a fiery red Great Fox appeared out of thin air within the Konoha ranks.