You Think You Can Kill Me!

They say that when two paths cross, the bravest wins.

Naruto was braver than mountains and rivers, so he was bound to win.

Both sides were poised to strike.

The pale skin covered in Kimimaro's Cursed Seal darkened from within, growing darker and darker until he and his face were stained a deep brown-black.

His red eye markings became dark circles, and the red dot between his brows spread into thick, painted eyebrows.

Six enormous, ivory-colored bones grew from his back, spreading out like wings.

"God gave humanity only one freedom: the freedom to seek the meaning of one's life. I found the meaning of mine the moment I met Lord Orochimaru."

Kimimaro charged like a raging bull. Abandoning his elegant sword dance, he stomped the ground, leaped into the air, and brought a powerful punch down on Naruto.

His speed and strength had increased more than tenfold.

Naruto met his punch head-on. "Thirty thousand units of Chakra! Whale Killer Hegemonic Fist!"

Boom!

Their fists collided like a sledgehammer striking steel, shaking the air with a thunderous crash.

Kimimaro was sent flying several meters, while Naruto's feet sank slightly into the ground.

More than half of Naruto's misgivings vanished. Before the fight, he'd been somewhat wary that his opponent might have some trick up his sleeve.

But all Kimimaro had done was boost his strength and speed.

Before, Naruto had thought of him as an iron turtle shell. His bones were just hard. Now he'd turned into a reckless turtle, sticking out a claw to smack him.

"Guys like you? I'll beat down as many as you send!"

He planted his sword in the ground, formed a Rasengan in each hand, and charged toward Yakushi Kabuto.

His combat instincts told him to take out the squishy one first.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Rasengans rained down in a relentless barrage. Naruto didn't bother with power; he just formed them and threw them.

Yakushi Kabuto took out a medicine bottle and swallowed two more pills. He calmly watched Naruto's movements, predicting where each Rasengan would land and nimbly dodging every one by the narrowest margin.

He could hardly believe Naruto had so much Chakra. Kakashi could only use Lightning Blade four times a day, and the Rasengan consumed about as much Chakra as a jutsu of the same rank.

Even if the damage to the ground and rocks he'd observed was only about a fifth of what Lightning Blade could do, that still didn't explain how Naruto could toss Rasengans around like Kunai.

Seeing Naruto change targets and repeatedly attack Yakushi Kabuto, Kimimaro's calm expression turned angry. Kabuto was his teacher.

But every time he charged at Naruto, Naruto swatted him away like a fly. His internal organs had suffered severe damage.

But he was already mortally ill, so he didn't care. He'd come out only to help Orochimaru achieve his goal.

He hated his illness. It kept his body from being of use to his lord, from becoming part of his lord and helping him realize his grand ambitions.

He activated the Kekkei Genkai of Shikotsumyaku, condensing and refining it again and again. Bone cells rapidly formed and coiled around his right arm, until they had shaped a spiral drill nearly two meters long.

It was sharp and hard—surpassing anything found in nature.

His efforts weren't in vain. Naruto turned to look at him, his gaze fierce.

With Yakushi Kabuto free to move, he and Kimimaro attacked from opposite sides, closing in on Naruto.

Not far away, Gamabunta and Manda battled with earth-shaking force, churning the ground into layer upon layer of deep ruts. Jiraiya and Orochimaru rapidly formed Hand Seals as Wind and Fire jutsu swept across the open field.

"Kimimaro, my good child, you'll live on in my heart forever."

Kimimaro seemed to hear the call. The veins in his face bulged, and his expression settled into devout serenity. "I have five sword dances in all. There's no need to use the first four anymore. My final dance: Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Fern. Lord Orochimaru..."

"Orochimaru your dad or something? You never stop going on about him!" Naruto rolled his shoulders, Chakra surging along both arms. He stopped protecting his body and concentrated it all into Hell Swords.

Kimimaro didn't get angry. Instead, his expression turned almost blissful. "I wish it were true."

Naruto's expression grew serious. "I understand your conviction now."

His arms formed swords, and the Wind Release Chakra solidified like ice crystals. "Wait for me in hell. Sooner or later, I'll send Orochimaru to join you. In your next life, I'll let him be your dad."

Kimimaro calmly raised his drill-covered arm. Chakra surged out from him in such an overwhelming amount that it even surpassed Naruto's, filling the entire field of vision.

Yakushi Kabuto stopped moving.

Naruto's senses told him that the jutsu was drawing out Kimimaro's life force. It was a deadly move that consumed his life.

He couldn't afford to let his guard down.

Then, in an instant, the ring of fire went out, and the world dimmed.

Pale bones burst from the earth like trees, growing wildly into a dense forest of white bones.

Naruto leaped into the air, swinging both arms. His Hell Swords swept through the sky, every stroke cutting down the rigid bone trees that thrust toward him.

But the bone trees were only the prelude. Naruto knew perfectly well that the real danger was coming from behind!

He turned and crossed his arms above his head.

Kimimaro's upper body, his hair hanging loose, grew out of the thickest tree trunk.

The razor-sharp spiral drill, carrying the full weight and force of his life, bored toward Naruto's head.

"Lord Orochimaru!" he rasped, shouting with all the faith he had left.

Fast, hard, impossible to dodge.

Could Naruto withstand this strongest killing move, launched at the cost of Kimimaro's life with the hardest drill Shikotsumyaku could produce? How could he stop it?

The answer was strength! The answer was rising to the challenge!

If it couldn't be done, he'd do it anyway!

At that moment, inspiration flashed through him, transforming into an unmatched sword dance wielded by his arms!

His senses, his eyes, his Chakra!

As if he could see through matter itself, he spotted the delicate, fragile points connecting Chakra to bone within the spiral drill. He saw its weakness!

"Chakra rotation: forty thousand units! Hell Storm Sword!"

With death a hair's breadth away, a storm of sword energy sliced into the bone drill.

Unbelievably sharp. Unbelievably precise.

Naruto could no longer consciously control his movements. The instinct born of countless sword swings guided his arms, shoulders, and waist.

In that brief instant of clashing, before the bone drill could pierce his brow, he unleashed an innumerable flurry of sword strikes.

The drill's tip stopped three inches before his eyes, then broke apart with a sharp crack!

The spiral bone drill, its density many times greater than steel, shattered into twisted fragments and fell uselessly to the ground.

The one who'd controlled that attack—Kimimaro—had already died. His eyes stared wide beneath his gray hair.

His fist and arm were still driving forward.

Naruto balanced with both feet on a pair of bone spikes. His hands trembled slightly, and the pores and acupoints across his skin were red from the violent burst of Chakra in such a short time.

It was as if countless fiery needles had pierced him, only for the pain to freeze and go numb.

Without a moment's pause, a sinister sneak attack was already upon him.

Yakushi Kabuto gripped a sharp bone fragment and stabbed toward Naruto's heart from behind.

Naruto had no time to turn. He bent his left arm backward to block. As the bone spike pierced his palm and began to enter between his ribs, he clenched his hand around it.

The bone felt smooth and hard.

He shoved it away as he turned and broke free.

But his left hand had already gone numb. The Chakra Scalpel had severed its tendons.

Yakushi Kabuto remained completely calm. He didn't pause for even a moment to grieve Kimimaro's death. He leaped after Naruto, driving the bone spike toward his throat.

"Rasengan!" Naruto formed one in his right hand and hurled it.

Yakushi Kabuto dodged. "That won't work. I can predict your—"

Boom!

The Rasengan, already past him, struck him in the side.

"Disgusting."

Yakushi Kabuto was knocked off course, then immediately pressed the attack again. Yin Healing Wound Destruction repaired his injuries at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In that brief opening, Naruto had already steadied himself. He clenched his one remaining fist and roared with furious eyes, "You think you can kill me?!"

He stepped forward, ready to fight again.

Yakushi Kabuto couldn't understand it. He was in perfect condition—how could he fail to finish off someone who was almost out of strength?

At that moment, an explosion erupted at the edge of the bone forest. The immense noise was like a giant beast smashing through mountains and plowing into the woods.

A woman in a green robe and sandals, her toenails painted bright red, vaulted through the air with force. Her eyes and brows were full of spirit.

"How can I let a child protect me?!"