Make Him Bring a Coffin

The raging black-purple flames, following the cracks in the chains, resembled a hungry venomous python, its gaping maw lunging straight at Naruto's face.

They were so close that even the air seemed to be sucked away. Samui, standing atop the rock face, instinctively closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of flesh and bones turning to ash.

Naruto didn't dodge.

He didn't dodge; he didn't even pull his left hand out of his pocket.

"You really want to swallow this kind of filthy stuff of unknown origin that was just randomly put into your body?" Naruto sneered, his right palm suddenly flipping over. "I'm a clean freak."

Buzz!

The brilliant Golden Yang Release Chakra was compressed to an extreme degree in his palm, and the spiritual fluctuations of the Great Evolution Divine Soul Art were seamlessly connected. Naruto's five fingers formed a claw, ignoring the demonic fire that could melt steel, and directly pierced through the black and purple fire wall, pressing it down on the center of the giant cat head of the rampaging Two-Tails.

Time seemed to stand still in that second.

The chaotic cave ruins, the fallen rocks, and the howling demon cat were all frozen in time by a layer of golden ripples.

Naruto's consciousness surged through his palm, forcefully smashing through Yugito's chaotic mental barrier.

Tick-tock.

The sound of damp, cold water dripping echoed in my ears.

This is a dark and enormous Water Prison Technique. Thick iron pillars, engraved with Hidden Cloud Sealing Jutsu techniques, stand all around. In the center of the pillars, countless heavy iron chains covered with barbs crisscross, tightly binding a huge, dark blue demonic cat.

Two-Tails, Matatabi.

At this moment, a dark red Cursed Seal, resembling rotten mud, was crawling around Matatabi's neck. This Cursed Seal burrowed into its body like a vampire, frantically stimulating its ferocity.

"Roar--!"

Upon seeing Naruto suddenly burst in, Matatabi's hair stood on end, and his eerie blue demonic flames surged instantly. The heavy iron chains were stretched taut, emitting a sickening metallic scraping sound.

"Humans..." The Matatabi eyes stared intently at Naruto, a low, thunderous growl rumbling from his throat, "You greedy insects! You're only ever good at sealing, exploiting, and betraying!"

It opened its mouth, and a ball of extremely compressed, high-temperature fireball rapidly formed in its throat, about to blast towards Naruto's spiritual body.

Naruto yawned and picked at his ear with one hand.

"Alright, stop reciting lines." Naruto glanced at it, his tone casual. "I'm sick of these lines. The Big Fox inside me used to say way worse things than you."

The Matatabi paused, the fireball stuck in his throat. Big Fox?

Before it could react, Naruto snapped his fingers.

Above the previously dark mental space, a huge golden rift suddenly tore open. A crimson Chakra, far more violent and vast than that of the Two-Tails, crashed down like a waterfall.

A pair of ridiculously large, blood-red fox eyes peered through the crack.

"You brat! Don't confuse me with this stupid cat that only sheds fur!" Kurama's huge paws gripped the edge of the crack, and he snorted hot breath at Naruto with a face full of displeasure.

This sudden turn of Matatabi completely brought Two-Tails to a standstill.

It stared blankly at the grumpy fox head above it, completely unable to process what was happening.

Nine-Tails? That arrogant Kurama? Why isn't it locked in a cage? Why isn't it suppressed by layers of Sealing Jutsu? Why is it arguing with its Jinchūriki like a grumpy but helpless tenant staying in someone else's house?

This attitude of equal dialogue shattered the worldview that Two-Tails had held for decades.

Naruto ignored the bickering Nine-Tails and looked past Matatabi, his gaze landing on the deepest corner of the cage.

The Yugito was curled up there.

She wasn't Hidden Cloud Jonin of Kumogakure; she was only draped in a thin white robe, and her hands and feet were bound by illusory chains. The arrogant Two-Tails Jinchūriki who was known outside was, here, just a trembling, self-isolated prisoner.

Sensing Naruto's gaze, Yugito abruptly raised his head, his eyes like those of a frightened lone wolf.

"What are you doing here..." Yugito bit her pale lower lip, staring intently at Naruto, "Have you come to see how the most perfect weapon of Hidden Cloud goes out of control?"

Naruto strode through the puddles and walked step by step toward her.

Without further ado, Naruto raised his hand and grabbed the iron chain locked to her wrist. Yang Release Chakra, and with a "crack," the chain shattered into specks of light.

Yugito shuddered, instinctively shrinking back half an inch, his breath catching in his throat.

"You are not her cage, and she is not your weapon." Naruto looked down at her, his voice not loud, but carrying an unyielding sense of pressure. "You two have been pushed around by those old fogies sitting in their offices for too long. So long that you've really started to see yourselves as a weapon."

The Yugito's fingertips tightened instantly, gripping the cold ground tightly. Blood seeped from under her fingernails, but she seemed oblivious to the pain.

"If I let go..." Yugito's voice trembled, revealing her deepest fear, "Will Hidden Cloud... still need me? Will Lord Raikage still acknowledge me?"

Naruto stared into her eyes and suddenly laughed. His laugh was filled with undisguised arrogance.

"Need? Approval?" Naruto suddenly leaned down, his hot breath brushing against Yugito's ear. "Listen carefully, sister. From today onwards, you tell that Raikage, that brute—if he doesn't understand respect, he can forget about touching a single hair on your head. If he dares to object..."

Naruto straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the still bewildered Two-Tails, his cold voice echoing loudly in the mental space.

"Let him bring his coffin and knock on my door in Hidden Leaf. I'll personally teach him a lesson."

Yugito's pupils contracted sharply. Her heart skipped a beat. Never before had anyone dared to trample Raikage underfoot or stand up for her. The cold assessment data in her mind and the fearful eyes of the villagers were shattered at this moment by this extremely domineering sentence.

"Roar..." In the corner, the fierce light in the eyes of the Two-Tails Matatabi gradually faded, replaced by a complex silence.

Just then, the dark red Cursed Seal attached to Matatabi's neck seemed to sense the weakening of its host's spirit. It suddenly twisted violently, splitting into more than a dozen thin red lines that shot towards the unsuspecting Yugito like venomous snakes.

The mastermind behind this wants to take advantage of the wide-open defenses and forcibly take control of this body!

"Trying to use such underhanded tactics in front of me?"

Naruto's eyes suddenly turned cold. Without even turning his head, he slapped Naruto across the air.

Buzz!

The extremely pure golden Yang Release transformed into a giant hand the size of a door panel, slamming down on the Two-Tails' neck with overwhelming force. This supremely Yang and powerful life energy is the absolute nemesis of all Yin and evil things.

"Sizzle--"

Before the dark red Cursed Seal could even utter a scream, it instantly emitted a large amount of white smoke, which was directly evaporated into nothingness by the high temperature of Yang Release, leaving not even a trace of Chakra residue.

Matatabi a sense of lightness throughout his body, and the fierce aura that had been suppressing him completely dissipated.

It gave Naruto a deep look, then looked up at the Nine-Tails yawning in the crack, and slowly lowered its massive body. The dark purple demonic flames gradually subsided, eventually returning to their original, ghostly blue.

"I've remembered, brat." The Matatabi closed his eyes, transforming into a sky full of blue light. "Call out my name, and the fire will go out."

The mental space shattered like glass.

The real world.

The fierce winds beneath Lightning Cloud Gorge suddenly ceased. In mid-air, the enormous black-purple cat shadow, standing over ten meters tall, let out a short whimper before transforming into countless swirling blue Chakra spots and rapidly retracting into Yugito's body.

The Yugito, having lost its support, fell from mid-air.

Naruto took a half step forward, firmly wrapped his right arm around her waist, and pulled her into his embrace. With his left hand, he ripped off his half-torn coat and roughly but tightly wrapped it over her bodysuit, which was badly damaged due to the removal of the Tailed Beast Cloak.

Yugito's chin slammed heavily onto Naruto's shoulder.

The tips of my ears were burning hot.

Her throat tightened as she pressed against the man's broad, hard chest, and she could even clearly hear the powerful, drum-like heartbeat emanating from his body. The man's hand pressed against her lower back through the fabric, the heat of his palm like a branding iron, scalding her and making her feel weak all over.

The Yugito figure avoided eye contact, not pushing the coat away, but gripping its edge tightly with its fingers, the knuckles turning bluish-white from the force.

A full three seconds passed.

Naruto voluntarily let go and took half a step back. The distance between them was just right, without any hint of clinginess or taking advantage, but rather exuding a sense of casualness.

Yugito stumbled, barely managing to steady herself. She lowered her head, gasped for breath, and then raised her clear eyes to look at Naruto.

"This time... consider it something I owe you." Yugito's voice was hoarse, her eyes still flushed from exhaustion. "If it weren't for you, the Eight-Code Market would be gone, and I would have become a complete monster."

"Alright, stop being so quick to give me the 'good guy' card." Naruto dusted off the ashes on his hands, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "I'll settle the score with Hidden Cloud at the border in three days."

Yugito looked at his composed demeanor, a bitter smile appearing on his lips, his gaze suddenly turning extremely serious.

"You'd better leave now, don't wait three days."

She raised her head and looked at the sky above the abyss, which had been turned upside down. Above the canyon, which had been dried up by the heat waves of the Two-Tails, thick, suffocating Black Lightning had gathered at some point.

"Why?" Naruto followed her gaze.

Click--!!!

Without any warning.

A terrifying bolt of lightning, as thick as a water vat, carrying the destructive power of heaven, instantly shattered a hundred-meter-high mountain peak on the outer edge of Lightning Cloud Gorge!

A deafening thunderclap echoed through the abyss, and the immense air pressure forced the Samui trio above the rock wall to their knees, making even breathing incredibly difficult. It wasn't natural lightning; it was an outward phenomenon resulting from compressing Lightning Release Chakra to the limits of human capability.

A massive, ferocious figure, as imposing as an iron tower, stood atop a mountain shattered by lightning, his body crackling with blinding blue electricity. The air in the entire canyon seemed to groan in agony the moment he descended.

Yugito took a deep breath, her fingers gripping her coat trembling slightly.

"Because... there's no need to wait three days at all. Lord Raikage has already personally taken to the field."