The Despairing Gap, the Terror of the Sage Body

The mist in the underground fortress hall had not yet completely dissipated.

When Gikazo got up from the ground, his knees were still trembling.

He glanced at the five leaders behind him, and the six of them exchanged a look.

Twenty years of experience in Blood Mist taught him only one lesson: if you can't beat someone, gang up on them.

"All of you, attack together! What are you standing around for? Beat him up!"

More than three hundred missing-nin got up from the ground and surged forward in a dark, dense mass.

The blades flashed so densely they resembled a net, simultaneously slashing at the blond boy from sixteen directions: front, back, left, and right.

Naruto didn't dodge.

He didn't even raise his hand.

He continued walking forward.

The pace was neither fast nor slow, like taking a walk on a rainy day.

"Clang--!"

The first Ninja Blade struck his left shoulder.

Spark.

The forged steel blade chipped a nick the moment it touched his skin, and a fragment flew out and pierced the wielder's own cheek.

"Clang clang clang clang--!!!"

Dozens of knives fell simultaneously.

Shoulders, back, arms, thighs—everywhere burst forth with clusters of orange-red sparks, forming a continuous pattern that looked like a string of firecrackers.

Not a single knife could cut through it.

The skin wasn't even broken.

The muscle fibers of the Perfect Sage Body exhibit a metallic texture at close range.

The feeling of those blades cutting into his body— the missing-nin knew better than anyone—was like chopping down a mountain.

"Holy crap, this is unbelievable..."

The missing-nin in the first row hadn't even finished speaking.

Naruto walked past him, casually reached out with his right hand, grabbed his face with his five fingers, and flicked him to the right.

The man's body flew out like a rag doll, knocking down seven or eight of his companions behind him, before crashing into the rock wall with a loud thud and becoming embedded there.

Naruto continued walking.

Another knife came down.

This time, they cut his neck.

The moment the blade touched the skin on the side of his neck, a crisp cracking sound rang out—the entire knife broke in two.

The broken blade flew out, spinning as it sliced off half an ear from a nearby missing-nin.

The man holding the knife looked down at the Ninja Blade, now only the hilt remained in his hand, and stood there stunned.

Naruto glanced at him sideways.

"He's using some junk to do gua sha."

He pulled his left hand out of his pocket and flicked the man's forehead with his index finger.

"Bang--"

A muffled thud.

The man's body flew backwards, smashing through three people before finally hitting a stone pillar, which cracked.

The missing-nin in the hall finally understood one thing.

The twelve-year-old brat in front of me—is not human.

"Water Release! Quickly Water Release to blast him!! Don't go in with your sword and get yourself killed!! Fight him from a distance!!"

Gikazo's voice boomed, "Stop using your sword!! It's useless at close range!!"

Dozens of missing-nin retreated simultaneously, Hand Seals.

"Water Release: Water Bullet Technique!"

"Water Release: Iron Cannon Ball!"

"Water Release: Water Chaos Waves!"

More than a dozen Water Release of varying sizes surged in from different directions, forming an encirclement around Naruto.

Naruto stopped in his tracks.

I twisted my neck.

"Boring."

He lifted his right foot.

The moment their feet touched the ground, everyone in the hall felt their heart skip a beat.

It wasn't stomping my feet.

Just a place to stay.

But from that point of impact, the stone slab surface rippled like water – not a visual illusion, but the physical impact of the air waves lifting the slabs layer by layer.

The dozen or so Water Release were like steam blown away by the wind in front of the shockwave, Kakuzu of Naruto's clothes.

I already said that.

Naruto raised his head, his azure eyes showing no trace of killing intent.

What's more despairing than murderous intent is—boredom.

"Are you playing house here? Is this all you've got?"

Gikazo's crotch was wet.

He lived for forty-seven years, crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood six times, and had more than three hundred lives on his hands.

At this moment, his body was telling him something.

Run.

You can run anywhere.

But Naruto didn't give him that chance.

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore."

The blond boy pulled both hands out of his pockets and wiggled his ten fingers a couple of times.

He took a deep breath.

"Eight Gates"

The sound wasn't loud.

But everyone in the hall could hear it clearly.

"The Sixth Gate-- "

"Open the Gate of View!"

The entire underground fortress was shaking.

It's not a localized vibration.

Everything—from the dome to the ground, from the rock walls to the stone pillars, from the oil lamps to the iron gates—was trembling violently.

Blue flames erupted from Naruto.

It wasn't the gentle glow of Chakra emanating from the body; it was a violent energy like liquid flames, accompanied by a visible, distorted heat wave that instantly turned the air within a three-meter radius around the body into a vacuum.

The remaining water on the ground evaporated completely within a second.

All the oil lamps in the hall went out.

It wasn't extinguished by a blast of air—the lamp oil vaporized instantly under high temperature.

In the darkness, the only source of light was the blue-white flame on Naruto's body.

More than three hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on that ball of flame.

Some people's legs were trembling.

Someone's teeth were chattering.

Someone had already wet their pants; warm liquid was dripping down their thighs.

Naruto moved.

No one saw how he moved.

Only results matter.

"Boom--!!"

The rock wall on the left side of the hall exploded.

It wasn't shattered by a fist—it was as if more than a dozen human bodies were simultaneously embedded in the rock wall, flesh and blood mixed with rubble, making it impossible to distinguish which were people and which were part of the wall.

The sonic boom echoed repeatedly in the underground space, mingling with the cracking sound of bones shattering.

Naruto appeared in the center of the hall.

His right fist was stained with blood.

It's not his.

"One."

With a wave of his left hand, a wave of energy swept across the area.

The three missing-nin were swept up and slammed onto the dome, then fell back down with a series of thuds.

It was no longer human-shaped when it landed.

"Two."

He kicked it out.

The force of that kick carved a half-meter-deep furrow into the ground, and the eight people at the end of the furrow were kicked in two.

"Three."

Count.

He is counting.

Gikazo finally broke down.

"Run!! Retreat to the second floor!! Everyone, unleash your ultimate attacks and blast him!!"

He roared and ran backward, while the other five leaders were already deathly pale.

The surviving missing-nin dropped their weapons and surged wildly towards the entrance of the passage, pushing and trampling each other, their cries and screams filling the entire underground space.

Naruto stood in the center of the hall, watching the group of people scatter and flee like startled ants.

Blue flames danced quietly around him.

More than a hundred corpses lay on the ground.

Some were still twitching, while others were no longer recognizable.

It took less than five minutes in total.

He glanced down at the bloodstains on his right hand and casually wiped them on his trouser leg.

"Run my ass!"

He followed after him.

"Weren't you just bragging about going to Mizukage Building?"

"Keep installing."

On the ground.

Terumi Mei's hand, which was pressed against the ground, trembled slightly.

The vibration has changed.

Previously, there were intermittent, rhythmic "booming" sounds.

Now it has turned into a continuous, dense "boom boom boom boom boom--" sound that is so loud that the number of times is indistinguishable.

It sounded like dozens of giant drums beating at the same time.

It's like a giant machine in operation.

A machine that crushes everything.

Heat rose from the cracks in the ground, carrying the smell of rust and burning.

Terumi Mei's throat bobbed.

Her emerald green eyes were fixed on the widening crack in the ground, her lips pressed into a thin line.

--one person.

--It really was just one person.

A bloodcurdling scream, so shrill it seemed inhuman, echoed from the depths of the earth, only to be drowned out by an even louder roar.

Terumi Mei gripped the hem of her battle robe tightly.

The knuckles are turning white.

Then--

Suddenly, a series of rhythmic, synchronized growls came from underground.

Dozens of voices converged and resonated together.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique - Convergence!!!"

The ground trembled violently.

A terrifying surge of water Chakra erupted from the ground, and scalding steam billowed from the crack in the ground, so hot that it burned the back of Terumi Mei's hand.

She abruptly withdrew her hand and stood up.

Complex emotions churned within his emerald green eyes.

--Combination Ninjutsu.

--They combined everyone's Chakra.

--That kid...

Her heart was pounding so fast she could hear it echoing in her own chest.

Deep within the crack, a blue light suddenly flashed.

Then—it went dark.