Madara's Fierce Battle, Part Two

"I know!" Naruto nodded. He didn't look at Sasuke; he couldn't afford to let himself get distracted in the middle of a fight. With his other hand, he grabbed the Truth-Seeking Orb behind him, turned it into a staff, and slammed it hard into the invisible figure in front of him.

"Thwack!"

The stalemate didn't last long. Madara's shadow retreated, slowly returning to his body.

Sasuke had been keeping his eyes on Madara and noticed what happened.

"I see. The shadow can't stay out forever. It has to return to his body after a while?" Sasuke said thoughtfully.

Suddenly, he glanced over and noticed the wrinkles on Madara's body. They were wounds caused when the shadow had taken Naruto's Rasengan Shuriken head-on.

As if he'd figured something out, Sasuke called to Naruto, "Naruto, that guy's shadow can only exist for a limited time. After that, it returns to his body, and any damage the shadow takes is transferred to him!"

"Is that how it works?" Naruto said, suddenly understanding. "I thought there were no limits to that move! If it really couldn't be hurt at all, wouldn't that be way too broken?"

What an idiot! Uchiha Chen cursed inwardly as he watched Naruto's sudden realization. The two of them were fighting so badly Chen couldn't bear to watch. Several times, he'd nearly jumped in to take over, but the powerful stranger hiding nearby kept him from acting on his restless urge.

"What do we do now?" Naruto took two steps back until he stood beside Sasuke, then asked in a low voice.

"What else? We make the best of it," Sasuke replied irritably. Why couldn't this guy use his head?

Even if Sasuke had a plan, he couldn't explain it now. If he did, Madara might be prepared for