Kurama VS Shukaku

Outside.

Naruto's Shadow Clone felt the boundless chakra surging within his body.

"You two, take this Sand ninja and get far away. This next battle isn't something you can interfere in."

Kiba and Rock Lee were about to argue, but the terrifying chakra erupting from Naruto forced the words back down their throats.

"Let's go." Shikamaru hoisted Temari over his shoulder and spoke to the two of them.

His chakra had already been exhausted. Staying here would only make him a burden.

"Shikamaru, come here!" Naruto held out a fist.

"What does that mean?" Though puzzled, Shikamaru still bumped fists with him.

"Sorry, I can't give you too much. Dealing with that big guy takes a lot of chakra," Naruto said softly.

"...This is already enough."

Shikamaru buried all his shock deep inside.

Giving chakra to someone else?

Such a ninjutsu...

After the others disappeared from sight, Naruto slowly exhaled. The last time he had faced an enemy this large, when was that again...

As he thought, crimson chakra gradually wrapped around his body, and three crimson chakra tails slowly took shape behind him.

"Tch. Jinchuriki really are absurdly tough..."

Naruto gripped Kusabimaru's blade in his left hand and dragged it hard across himself. Protected by the Tailed Beast Cloak, the blade did not touch his skin.

This Tailed Beast Cloak did not merely greatly enhance his defense. He could even feel his stamina becoming far more abundant.

No, not more abundant. His recovery speed had been enhanced!

Feeling his exhaustion steadily fade away, Naruto thought to himself.

Compared to human chakra, Tailed Beast chakra was more condensed and tenacious.

Naturally, it was also far more violent...

Naruto was slightly alarmed. If Kurama had not willingly shared this chakra with him, the spiritual energy contained within it might already have crushed him.

"Tch..."

Seemingly sensing Naruto's surprise, the Nine-Tails, lying prone, gave a disdainful snort.

This was nothing. He had endured less than a tenth of his power and was already this surprised.

What a foolish Jinchuriki.

"One-Tail Shukaku, let me experience a Tailed Beast's power firsthand!"

The fighting spirit that had lain dormant in Naruto's heart for so long surged forth once more.

Having fought and killed all his life, how could he not yearn to battle the strong?

Drawing his blade against stronger opponents and constantly honing his skill—this was the teaching Isshin Ashina had imparted to him when he taught him the Ashina Style, and Naruto had always kept it firmly in his heart.

But after being reborn into this world, with his range of activity limited to Konoha Village, where could he find opportunities to draw his blade against stronger foes?

The passage of time had not cooled his heart.

On the contrary, the longing for the strong and the thirst for battle that had always been suppressed in the depths of his heart only grew fiercer.

Heart Piercing Style: Crescent Moon!

An immense amount of crimson chakra gathered along Kusabimaru's blade before Naruto swung it out.

A blade arc roughly six meters long and one meter wide slashed toward the roaring Shukaku in the distance.

Heart Piercing Style was a school of swordsmanship he had created by taking the strengths of many styles and combining them with his own abilities.

It might not have been the strongest sword style, but it was the one most suited to him.

Roar!

Atop Shukaku's head, Gaara could clearly sense the threat coming from behind. He wanted to evade, but because he could not freely control Shukaku's body, he could only take the slash head-on.

"This attack?!" Beneath Shukaku's body, Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.

Feigning Sleep Technique! Realizing that he could not possibly control Shukaku's body to fight an opponent of this level, Gaara decided to relinquish his consciousness and let Shukaku's own consciousness take control of the body.

"Hehehe! I'm finally out!!"

Shukaku's tone abruptly changed. He sounded like a deranged madman as he flailed about.

"This presence?"

Shukaku's gaze immediately focused, locking onto Naruto standing atop the tree—or rather, Kurama within him.

"Stinking fox, seeing you puts me in a foul mood!"

Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!

The ninjutsu used by One-Tail Shukaku and the one used by Temari were practically two entirely different things.

Temari's was, at most, a somewhat stronger gust of wind. Shukaku's Wind Release was a natural disaster!

There was simply no way to evade it.

Naruto gripped his sword with both hands and slashed upward. Another long, narrow blade arc flew toward Shukaku.

"You call that ninjutsu?" In the distance, Kiba and the others desperately clung to a massive tree so the incoming gale would not blow them away.

They had it relatively easy. Uchiha Sasuke, who was caught in the center of the battle, was swept into the distance together with the trees.

Pfft...

A splintered piece of wood grazed his arm, slicing open a wound so deep that bone was visible.

Sasuke's expression was grim, or perhaps numb. In just one short month, he had gone from realizing he was weak—thinking he had become strong after beating Gaara—to realizing he was still weak.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a chunk of wood the size of a washbasin flew straight toward him. Sasuke's face changed, and he immediately leaped from the speeding tree trunk.

He had every reason to believe that if he remained there, he would die.

With a deafening bang, the spot where he had been standing and the incoming chunk of wood were both reduced to even smaller fragments.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The relentless gale stung his cheeks, but Sasuke had no mind to care about that now.

If he did not find a suitable foothold soon, falling from this height would leave him dead or crippled.

"Hurry, move!" Shikamaru estimated the wind's strength and shouted at his companions in the distance.

Kiba and the others hurried after him. They had already understood that they were not even qualified to watch this battle.

"Hehehe!" Shukaku looked at the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki below, so tiny he was almost invisible, and burst into wild laughter.

"Stinking fox, don't you have lots of tails? I'll give you lots of tails! Lots of tails!"

Several massive palms came crashing down in succession. Relying on the powerful physical abilities granted by the Tailed Beast Cloak, Naruto dodged again and again.

Through Naruto's body, Kurama mocked him. "You can't even beat my Jinchuriki."

The instant Kurama finished speaking, the surrounding earth transformed into countless grains of sand, a creation of Shukaku's chakra.

The sight was spectacular, but Naruto felt helpless. Fighting such a colossal creature was frustrating in this regard.

One of their ordinary attacks was comparable to your ultimate move.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Countless grains of sand surged up from the ground. Naruto had nowhere to dodge and was tightly wrapped in the yellow sand.

This move of Shukaku's was very similar to Gaara's Sand Coffin, but for Gaara, it might have been a killing move. For Shukaku, it was probably just a matter of how much strength he put into it.

"Stinking fox, you've really pissed me off!" Shukaku clenched his front paw. That bastard would not die anyway. Rather than remain imprisoned inside a Jinchuriki, he might as well vent some of the rage in his heart.

Boom!

A crimson figure burst through the yellow sand, then leaped several times and landed directly on Shukaku's body.

Holding Kusabimaru, Naruto slashed out a blade arc more than ten meters long. It swept past and severed one of Shukaku's hind legs.

"That hurts like hell!"

Shukaku immediately jumped in pain.

Whoosh!

Seeing the tail whipping toward him, Naruto quickly curled into a ball. Shukaku's tail struck him like a tennis racket, smashing him viciously toward the ground.

Naruto's trajectory carved a trail of smoke several meters high through the air.

"He's not dead, is he?" Seeing this, Kiba's eyelids twitched wildly.

"I don't know whether Naruto is dead, but I know that if we don't run now, we're definitely going to die!!!"

Shikamaru's expression changed drastically as he watched visible chakra gather inside Shukaku's mouth.

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