Doubles

On the arena floor, the sphere of light and the fat, sand-sculpted raccoon were still locked in a struggle.

The two sides had been at a stalemate for a minute, and the situation had shifted twice already.

The first time, Uzumaki Naruto was nearly swallowed by Gaara's sand, but relying on a technique no one had ever seen before, he pushed through while carrying a sphere of light.

The second time, Gaara's technique was on the verge of being shattered by Uzumaki Naruto's sphere of light, but his chakra suddenly surged, the shape of his technique shifted accordingly, and he pushed the sphere of light back in turn.

And now, the situation had changed for a third time—just as everyone thought Uzumaki Naruto was out of options, a burst of orange-red chakra suddenly erupted from his body, as if a giant orange-red fox were letting out a roar.

Those who still had an impression of this chakra immediately grew tense.

Fortunately, the chakra on Naruto quickly receded, transforming into a golden chakra cloak marked with black patterns.

Sensing the strengthening of Kurama's chakra, Shukaku did not forget to remind Gaara: [Kid, that stinking fox on the other side has started to exert itself too. I will share as much chakra with you as I can, so hit him hard!]

Seeing the change in Naruto's appearance, Gaara was somewhat curious: "Shukaku, we are both borrowing your chakra, so why can the jinchuriki on the other side transform, but I cannot?"

Shukaku: [Who said you can't? There are conditions, and you haven't reached them yet.]

Gaara: "What conditions?"

Shukaku did not want to say: [You wouldn't reach them anyway, so there's no point in telling you.]

Gaara: "Just because I can't now doesn't mean I won't. Tell me, and I will show you that I can do it."

After a moment of silence, Shukaku finally spoke: [Only when a tailed beast and its jinchuriki are in perfect sync, and the jinchuriki can withstand the negative emotions contained within the beast's chakra, can they transform like that. However, every tailed beast has unique abilities, and that will be reflected in their appearance. Even if you transform in the future, it won't necessarily be the same as that jinchuriki over there.]

Gaara was in a good mood: "Knowing this much is enough for now."

The conversation finished, and Gaara began his counterattack. While maintaining the Shield of Shukaku, he extracted black iron sand from the surrounding sand: "Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower!"

Naruto glanced at the iron sand, continuing to focus his spirit and chakra to push against the Shield of Shukaku in front of him.

Kurama grew anxious: [The enemy's attack is coming, are you not going to dodge!?]

"You help me defend."

Naruto stared ahead: "I'm going to break this shield first."

Kurama controlled the chakra, extending two chakra arms from the cloak to block the iron sand, while grumbling: [Are you planning to compete with that panda kid over there to see who has more chakra? Although I am stronger than that fat raccoon even with only half my chakra left, don't you find this boring?]

"It is a little boring."

Naruto affirmed: "But Gaara just said the Shield of Shukaku is his strongest defensive move! Breaking the strongest, don't you think that sounds super cool?!"

[...It does, indeed!]

[But can't you switch to a different technique? The patterns on that fat raccoon's body are actually a natural sealing formula; it's almost impossible to break through it using only the Spiraling Ring.]

"So it's a sealing technique? No wonder it felt familiar!"

Naruto decisively stopped outputting chakra, letting the Spiraling Ring in front of him dissipate on its own. He concentrated his chakra into his hands, clenched his fists, and two characters appeared on his knuckles: [Yu], [Ra].

"General Unsealing Style: Yura Unsealing."

Naruto whispered the name, his fists striking in a high-speed barrage, the characters "Yura" landing continuously on the Shield of Shukaku. With every "Yura," the patterns on the shield would fade a little, and the sand would scatter away.

Naruto struck quickly; in about two seconds, the Shield of Shukaku was completely pierced.

Looking at Gaara's slightly stunned expression, Naruto bared his white teeth: "Your strongest shield, I've broken it!"

"Indeed."

Gaara quickly regained his composure: "But I haven't lost yet."

The Magnet Release chakra controlled the surrounding black iron sand, condensing it into needles the thickness of fingers: "Magnet Release: Iron Sand Giant Needles."

The number of Iron Sand Giant Needles was fewer than the Iron Sand Shower, but their firing speed was faster and their power greater—enough to penetrate the chakra cloak on Naruto's body.

Kurama was somewhat worried: [Naruto!]

Naruto moved his body slightly, dodging the volley of giant needles by a hair's breadth: "I know, I'll be careful to dodge."

With Shukaku's full support, the Magnet Release chakra flowed out endlessly, and Gaara began a sustained, fierce assault: "Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"

The black iron sand condensed into strips, lifting Gaara high into the air. At the same time, hundreds of iron sand strips emerged from the sand on the arena floor, their sharp tips stabbing toward Naruto.

In the spectator stands, the Third Hokage said in surprise: "That is... the Third Kazekage's technique!"

"It is not only your jinchuriki who can inherit the techniques of a Kage."

The Fourth Kazekage spoke at the right moment to show off: "I wonder how long your jinchuriki can hold out."

The Third Hokage pulled his hat brim down slightly, feeling uncertain: "Back then, Minato sealed half of the Nine-Tails. I wonder if the half of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto can defeat the complete One-Tail."

On the arena floor, although Naruto had not unleashed any further, stronger chakra, he looked relaxed, strolling leisurely amidst the attacks of the iron sand strips controlled by Gaara, even chatting:

"Ha, this attack density is still far too lacking compared to the training Master put me through."

[That may be true, but can you not talk about that while we're fighting!?]

"Then let's change the subject. That one over there... the fat raccoon you mentioned, it seems to know Magnet Release. You always say you're the strongest among the tailed beasts, surely you know some special release techniques too?"

[My chakra is the strongest among the tailed beasts, but I don't know any release techniques. If you must talk about something special, that would be Sage Arts. But the Sage Chakra I refine is different from the Sage Chakra you use... that Sage Mode your Master taught you is completely different from what I know.]

"I see, then I guess I'll have to go to a little more trouble."

Naruto swiftly threw a kunai through a gap in the iron sand strips, then instantly appeared beside the kunai, grabbed it, threw it again, and appeared beside it once more... Repeating this maneuver, Naruto quickly moved out of Gaara's attack range—the amount of iron sand on the field was limited, and although Gaara was continuously extracting it from the sand, it was not yet enough to cover the entire arena.

Naruto pressed his palms together: "Sealing Technique: Type Two."

The black markings representing the seal did not appear on Naruto's skin, but rather on his golden chakra cloak, connecting with the existing black patterns to form a new design as the shape of the chakra cloak shifted slightly.

Gaara stood at a high vantage point, taking in Naruto's transformation: "The chakra on his body seems to have weakened."

[Idiot, that stinking fox has nothing if not an endless supply of chakra; how could he possibly run out in such a short time?]

Shukaku warned: [The jinchuriki over there used a sealing technique on himself. Though I don't know what effect it has, he certainly wouldn't make himself weaker.]

Gaara controlled the iron sand, gathering it into a triangular pyramid over ten meters tall that spun at high speed before launching it toward Naruto: "Try it, and you'll know..."