It's All Your Fault!

Sasuke's mindset constantly swung between two extremes.

At times, he would appreciate the beauty of a peaceful life, and at others, he would become radicalized by the belief that revenge was his lifelong destiny.

He couldn't find a balance, which led him to be considerate and thoughtful sometimes, and volatile and uncontrollable at others.

But all of this was built upon his own thoughts, when facing ordinary things and ordinary people.

The moment he saw Itachi Uchiha, his own brother and the mastermind behind everything, all of his reason shattered instantly. He only wanted to kill that man.

He didn't even consider or acknowledge the difference in strength between them.

A pale blue Chidori crackled with electricity, its user charging forward into the hospital garden, carving a trench in the ground – the most dazzling light in the world at that moment.

Facing the ferocious Sasuke, Itachi Uchiha remained utterly calm. So calm, it was unclear if Sasuke was even in his line of sight. This calmness only fueled Sasuke's rage and chilled him to the bone.

In Naruto's eyes, Itachi Uchiha was like a crouching beast. This was akin to a lamb walking into a tiger's den. Sasuke could act recklessly, but Naruto couldn't just stand by and watch.

In the instant they passed each other, Naruto blocked Sasuke's legs and struck his back, sending Sasuke's entire body diagonally into the ground, embedding him into the tiles.

Bang!

Dirt and stones scattered. The impact was considerable, creating a crater over three meters in diameter.

Sasuke leaped into the air, turning and shouting, "Naruto! Don't interfere! I'm going to kill him myself. This is my fight!"

Itachi Uchiha remained indifferent, as if watching a farce. "I have no interest in you right now."

These words were like dropping a bomb into an already murky lake, churning up the mud and making it impossible to discern its original state.

Sasuke gathered Lightning Release Chakra once more, retreating to create distance and gather power, letting out an inarticulate roar.

"Naruto, take Sasuke and go. Leave this to me." Kakashi formed a hand seal and slammed his palm onto the ground. "Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

A wall of earth rose to divide the courtyard, but as soon as it appeared, flames erupted from it. A massive Great Fireball Technique scorched the earth wall, causing it to crack and shatter.

Naruto had intended to assist Kakashi, but Sasuke at this point was more than just a burden; he was like a hostage willingly walking into the kidnapper's hands.

Run with Sasuke? Leave Kakashi alone?

No, that wouldn't do.

"Either we run together, or we fight together. More than a Sasuke who's lost his mind right now, I don't want anything to happen to you, Kakashi."

Naruto covered the Kubikiribōchō with Chakra and looked at Kisame. "Three on two, the advantage is ours!"

Kakashi said no more, forming a hand seal for Raikiri and following the charging Sasuke towards Itachi Uchiha.

Kisame grinned menacingly, staring at Naruto. "You want to hold me off?"

"Hold you off? Damn it, I'm going to kill you!" Naruto swung his sword, unleashing a Hell Slash.

"Too slow." Kisame seemed to teleport, shifting two meters to the side, letting the slash graze past him as if deliberately showing off.

However, the next second, his expression changed drastically, and he immediately raised his club.

The Bandages on the club were torn apart, revealing a monstrous weapon covered in deep purple, fleshy barbs. The tip of the weapon was a gaping maw, breathing as if alive.

Kisame roared, raising the weapon to strike Naruto.

A hand, however, landed on his shoulder. "Don't be rash. Don't forget our objective."

It was Itachi Uchiha.

His eyes had changed. Within his blood-red irises, the pupils had become black Three-Pronged Shuriken.

Meanwhile, the combined Chidori and Raikiri attack from Sasuke and Kakashi had been silently neutralized.

Kakashi panted heavily, his face pale and contorted in pain. Sasuke's head was smashed into the flowerbed soil, his body trembling uncontrollts.

"Naruto! Don't look at his eyes!"

Naruto closed his eyes. "This is wicked, truly wicked."

Kakashi had just endured a terrifying nightmare. Countless Itachi Uchihas in his dream had pierced him repeatedly with their swords for seventy-two hours straight, without a single second of rest.

After enduring it, only a brief moment had passed in reality.

At this moment, both his mind and body were in extreme agony, and he was barely standing, held up only by sheer willpower.

This was no longer a contest of Ninjutsu.

"Lord Jiraiya and the Jonin reinforcements will be here soon. Do you want to die here? What exactly do you want to do?"

"I've come to retrieve the Fourth's remains." Itachi Uchiha said to Naruto, "Kisame, proceed. Be mindful of your strength."

"Haha! Don't worry, I won't kill this kid!" Kisame leaped five meters into the air, swinging his weapon sideways to charge up power before smashing it down in front of the closed-eyed Naruto, aiming for his legs.

As long as he's alive, being crippled is no big deal, right!

But Naruto jumped ahead, causing the attack to miss. It was as if he could see Kisame's every move with his eyes closed. Then, Kisame swung horizontally and vertically, but Naruto either dodged or blocked every single one, parrying them all.

Kisame grew angry and surprised. He was known for his love of battle and his close-combat prowess, possessing immense, innate strength that rarely met its match.

Yet, this small Naruto could withstand his heavy blows. His physical talent was simply outrageous.

And his weapon, the Great Sword: Samehada, was tearing into and devouring Naruto's Chakra with every clash, having eaten seven or eight mouthfuls and still not being full.

Naruto closed his eyes, relying on his sensory abilities and the Chakra he had released into the air to observe Kisame's attack trajectory.

His strength was inferior to Kisame's, purely relying on the rotation of his Chakra for reinforcement, with each exchange reducing his Chakra by about one-thirtieth of the total amount.

The harder the collision, the more was reduced.

The two strangely shaped greatswords, without using any sharpness, were purely used for brute force impact. The ground could not withstand the power at all, cracking and collapsing everywhere.

Naruto had initially thought the opponent was here to capture Sasuke, but from Itachi Uchiha's words and the fact that Sasuke had abandoned his belongings without a care, the target was likely himself.

The Fourth's relic?

To be described in such terms truly angered him.

Thus, Fire also erupted from him, a blood-red fire.

"Gah! You're all forcing me! Forcing me to borrow external power! Kurama! Let me see your limit!!"

"Heh, this Heavenly God has no limit!"

Vast, immeasurably vast Chakra surged from the Eight Trigrams Seal on Naruto's abdomen, like a gaping maw spewing forth flames incessantly.

Naruto's facial skin cracked like molten lava, clearly unable to withstand this berserk Chakra.

Hateful roars echoed in his ears and skull, seeking to consume his sanity, driving him mad, to destroy everything he could see before him.

But would Naruto be controlled?

No! Absolutely not! Because his will was that strong! What could control such an unparalleled powerhouse, what could extinguish his ambition?

"Yah! Chakra rotation: Fifty Thousand! Hell-Shaking Blade!"

Naruto shifted from defense to offense, carrying the momentum of a volcanic eruption, and swung his flaming greatsword down in fury.

"Is this Kurama's Chakra?!" Kisame's transparent white pupils instantly widened, and he leaped back a step.

He heavily swung Samehada, the hilt suddenly extending over ten meters. The barbed blade twisted and flew out, its great mouth coiling and biting upwards.

BOOM!

Samehada was smashed into the already ravaged ground, and the surroundings shook.

Amidst the dust, Naruto opened his vertical pupils and stared at Samehada, which was still tenaciously wrapped around the greatsword and writhing sickeningly, pouring out even more surging flames.

He raised his sword again and slammed it down.

"I'll see how much you can absorb!"

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!