Humanoid Tailed Beast Mode 2

After leaving the Hokage Office, Qiuyang followed the directions on the map and hurried toward his destination without stopping.

By the time he reached the site where Choji and Neji had fought, someone had already rescued them. They had probably started their battle earlier, and all that remained were the bodies of Jirobo and Kidomaru.

The battlefield where Kiba, Shikamaru, and Rock Lee were fighting already had Sand shinobi helping them. Qiuyang took one look and continued on his way.

He went straight to the Valley of the End, arriving just as Sasuke gave up on killing Naruto and prepared to continue on to Orochimaru.

"Hmph. Is there anyone else who wants to stop me?"

Sasuke turned and saw Qiuyang. He activated his newly upgraded Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his expression still cold.

"You came to stop me too, Qiuyang?"

Can't you show some respect and call me big brother, like Hanabi does? Qiuyang grumbled to himself, then shook his head to show he hadn't come to stop Sasuke from defecting.

As one of the only two Uchiha left in the world, Sasuke still felt some affection for him.

"I'll leave the task of restoring the Uchiha Clan to you. With your current strength, I'm sure Konoha will value you."

As for avenging the clan by killing Itachi, he would handle that himself, now that he was the one turning to darkness.

"Hey, don't just assign me random tasks, Sasuke-kun... I'm just a guy who likes taking it easy. You can handle those tasks yourself."

What did taking it easy mean?

Sasuke didn't know what the phrase meant, but it certainly sounded like something negative. He shot Qiuyang, who had no sense of clan loyalty, a cold glance, then left without looking back.

What a rebellious little brat. Qiuyang shrugged, then turned to see Naruto lying unconscious in the water. With a helpless sigh, he went over.

"You're my junior, after all. Right, Naruto? I'll fish you out of the water."

But Qiuyang's actions caused Naruto to regain consciousness for a moment. In his dazed state, Naruto mistakenly thought he was still fighting Sasuke.

Naruto had been determined to keep Sasuke from leaving, but his chakra was already completely depleted. What would happen when those two things collided?

The answer was obvious.

Gurgle... gurgle...

Qiuyang immediately noticed something was wrong with Naruto.

"Hey, hey! This is bad!"

Panicking, Qiuyang slapped Naruto's catlike face several times and shouted, trying to bring him around.

"Naruto, look carefully! It's me, Qiuyang, not Sasuke, your precious bond!"

But it was already too late. Naruto's body kept making gurgling sounds as thick, crimson chakra began to seep out around him.

The chakra was filled with hatred, and anyone who got close was affected. Qiuyang soon couldn't take it anymore. He had no choice but to set Naruto down and retreat a dozen steps to watch.

He stared in horror, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The chakra seemed alive. It lifted Naruto into the air, then suddenly compressed itself into his body.

Aside from his facial features, Naruto's entire body transformed into a red, humanoid Tailed Beast form.

What horrified Qiuyang even more was that this blood-red thing sprouted four swaying tails from its backside, while a skeletal frame slowly grew over its body from head to toe...

What the hell? This was Humanoid Tailed Beast Mode 2.

"Something terrible is about to happen."

Qiuyang watched with a bitter smile, guessing that Naruto, the guy who was always getting his senior into trouble, had mistaken him for Sasuke and was determined to break his limbs and drag him back to Konoha.

He didn't hesitate. He immediately activated the Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye and unleashed Frost of Frozen Void.

He wanted to freeze Naruto in space, then take him back to the village so Yamato could suppress him with Wood Release.

But this technique, which had always worked without fail, performed so badly today that Qiuyang was left dumbfounded.

The moment the white mist capable of freezing space formed, the Nine-Tails Chakra pouring out of Naruto canceled it out and melted it away. The space simply wouldn't freeze.

No good. He had to freeze this thing. Otherwise, once its chakra stabilized, it would attack him.

Blood ran from Qiuyang's eyes as he pushed his right eye's Mangekyō Sharingan ability, heedless of the strain.

The white mist formed rapidly, and for a brief moment, it really did restrain Naruto in his Tailed Beast Transformation.

"Uh... huff... huff..."

Thinking he had succeeded, Qiuyang dropped to one knee, covered his right eye with a hand, and panted heavily.

He figured he really couldn't use the Mangekyō often. His vision was already starting to blur...

Roar...

Unexpectedly, Naruto, still in his skeletal Tailed Beast form, suddenly went berserk. Four chakra arms emerged from within him and broke through the spatial seal of Frost of Frozen Void.

Three of the arms furiously pummeled his restrained body. The fourth aimed at the one responsible and threw a punch.

Damn it, the Nine-Tails was way too overpowered!

Qiuyang barely dodged the heavy blow by instinct. The chakra arm grazed his scalp and slammed into the water...

Boom...

The impact was like a mountain-sized boulder crashing into the water. The sonic boom from the fist striking the surface seemed to burst Qiuyang's eardrums, leaving them ringing.

Then the waves swept him up, tossing him into the air before slamming him back into the water.

He hadn't even managed to stand steadily on the water before the corner of his eye caught a brilliant flash from Naruto's direction.

Shit...

Qiuyang's adrenaline surged. He didn't dare turn around and waste time checking what had caused it.

Moving as fast as he could, he smeared the blood from a cut caused by the rushing water onto his left thumb, then rubbed it into the palm of his right hand.

Then he formed Hand Seals at lightning speed. "Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon!"

Rashomon had only risen halfway when the energy beam struck it.

Compared to the enormous Rashomon, the tiny energy beam seemed like it would be easy to block.

But when the beam hit Rashomon, it caused a massive explosion.

Energy beams reflected by Rashomon kept flying out, exploding in midair and underwater. The resulting chaos was even greater than when Qiuyang had used Great Dragon Fire to burn Rashomon.

Rumble—

When everything finally went quiet, not a trace of Rashomon remained.

As expected of an energy beam formed from Nine-Tails Chakra. One shot was enough to take out a single Rashomon gate.

Qiuyang, who had been hiding behind the gate, was naturally swept away by the explosion's waves again. When he resurfaced, much of his body was stained red with blood.

He looked utterly battered.

And utterly furious.

Nine-Tails, you've got some nerve. I haven't even mastered this technique yet, and you forced me to use it today.

That was how Qiuyang's feud with the Nine-Tails began.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd taken such a beating. The previous time had been during the clan's massacre, when he'd faced Obito!

Fine. You're the second one to do this to me, Nine-Tails. Just you wait!!!!

For now, though, Qiuyang was all talk. He knew full well that with his current strength, he couldn't face Humanoid Tailed Beast Mode 2 head-on.

If the Nine-Tails had been completely released, he could have controlled it with genjutsu. The problem was that Naruto was still in human form, and this state was difficult to affect with genjutsu.

What was he supposed to do now?