The mighty Susanoo gave Hiruko all the confidence he needed. He glared at Naruto. "This ends now!"
The panic he'd expected never came. Naruto simply watched him quietly, without the slightest hint of fear.
"You little brat!"
Hiruko's expression grew more and more twisted.
Naruto's calm sent his anger blazing. The last person who had dared to look down on him had at least been an Otsutsuki.
Now even a brat like Naruto dared to dismiss him. He couldn't accept it.
"!?"
Naruto naturally had no idea why Hiruko was acting so hysterical.
Not long ago, he'd fought Sasuke's Complete Body Susanoo at the Valley of the End. So facing Hiruko's half-body Susanoo now wasn't anything worth making a fuss over!
If anything, he was relieved he'd lured Hiruko out of the village. Otherwise, a battle against a Susanoo inside the village would inevitably have put innocent people in danger.
Enraged, Hiruko abandoned his composure and poured all his Dojutsu into the Susanoo, driving the dark purple figure to swing its blade down at Naruto!
Boom!
As the blade came down, trees were smashed flat in swathes. The entire forest rumbled, and dust billowed into the air!
Hiruko's heart lurched. Damn it, did I just kill that brat?
His mission was to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. If he'd killed Naruto Uzumaki outright, the mission would still count as a failure.
Just as he began to grow uneasy, a golden figure shot through the smoke and closed in on him with a whoosh.
Hiruko's pupils contracted, and shock instinctively showed on his face.
Then he remembered that he was protected by the Susanoo. His startled expression immediately settled, replaced by a taunting look that said, What can you do to me?
But before Hiruko could fully reveal his sneer, his expression