Pulling the Plug on the Main Base, Sasuke's Refusal to Back Down
The Giant Stitching Beast, wreathed in a violent death aura, crashed down, the resulting gust of wind nearly blowing away the front-row cover. The thing had three heads, pieced together from the thick body of an unknown ferocious beast, its body flowing with black, mud-like Impure World Reincarnation, and eerie green flames burning in its empty eye sockets.
Zabuza's Impure World Body involuntarily took a half step back, instinctively feeling a tremor.
His face was as still as water, and he quickly raised his hands to form Hand Seals.
"Conserve your Chakra."
Naruto abruptly interrupted her, not even forming hand seals, and stomped heavily on the ground with one foot. The rock strata collapsed with a roar, and with the violent reaction force, he transformed into a golden meteor, shooting straight into the air.
"I don't care what kind of trash you are, get down on your knees!"
Naruto's right arm muscles bulged, and with pure physical Monster Strength combined with tangible Yang Release Chakra, he delivered a powerful low slash that slammed into the head of the person in the center.
Click!
The sound of skull shattering was deafening. The enormous beast was slammed into its knees by the kick, creating a crater more than ten meters in diameter.
Before it could struggle, Naruto flipped his palm, and five golden Chakra Chains, each as thick as a wrist, shot out, piercing the giant beast's limbs and spine with the precision of steel nails.
"Town!"
Yang Release Chakra surged wildly along the chains. The giant beast let out a shrill roar, its massive body disintegrating rapidly within seconds, like butter thrown into a hot pan, turning into a puddle of sludge emitting pungent white smoke.
Naruto landed steadily on the edge of the pit, and with two fingers, he pulled a talisman paper that glowed with an eerie green light from the mud. It was covered with densely packed, chillingly twisted jutsu patterns.
Karin pushed up her red-rimmed glasses and ran over quickly. She didn't mind the dirt; she took the talisman directly, gathered a wisp of Chakra at her fingertips, and slowly poured it into the talisman along the lines.
"Naruto, something's fishy about this thing," Karin said with certainty. "This isn't an ordinary summoning talisman. The Chakra circuits inside are a complete mess. Kabuto Yakushi, that madman, forcibly crushed the consciousness of these dead people and stuffed it into the very bottom."
Shikamaru squatted to the side, twirling Kunai in his hand, his brows furrowed. "This is troublesome. If it's this deep mental deprivation, Kabuto definitely couldn't handle such a massive flow of information by himself. The entire Shinobi World is full of dead people right now, and his brain isn't a supercomputer; it would have burned out long ago."
"You mean, he's cheating?" Kakashi stepped forward, his remaining right eye scanning the talisman.
Shikamaru nodded. "Yes. He definitely set up a local area network... I mean, Chakra Main Control Relay Station. He uses that base station to amplify and distribute his control signals. As long as we find that base station and destroy it, the Edo Tensei Army on this battlefield will be paralyzed."
Kakashi stroked his chin. "Kabuto is always careful with his life, and his main body Hanzo thousands of miles away. But that signal base station, to ensure control strength and low latency, is definitely nearby."
"Far away, yet right under our feet."
A cool, clear voice drifted down from above everyone's heads.
Countless white sheets of paper fluttered down, quickly converging in front of the command platform to form Konan's figure. Without uttering a single word, she raised her hand and waved it, causing hundreds of sheets of paper to intertwine and piece together in mid-air, instantly transforming into a sophisticated three-dimensional topographic map.
Konan extended her slender finger and pointed to a red dot directly below the valley on the east side. "When Nagato was still alive, the Akatsuki dug an underground intelligence station here. To guard against Byakugan and sensory ninjas, the walls were filled with high-density lead and Chakra- insulating materials."
She turned to look at Naruto, her eyes calm. "Those reckless dead men up there aren't the main assault team at all. They're just a shield, used to draw the Allied Shinobi Forces' fire and block the entrance to the underground."
Naruto stared at the holographic map, a dangerous smile playing on his lips. "A feint attack while secretly plotting. That bastard Kabuto, hiding in the shadows playing dirty tricks, he's got some nerve."
He casually crushed the control talisman into ashes and clapped his hands.
"Now that we know where the hideout is, it's simple. Tenten, Bai!"
"Here!" the two responded in unison.
"You take the Sixth Battalion and continue to hold this position to the death. Don't let a single one of the Impure World Reincarnation soldiers get past. The rules remain the same: kill them all!" Naruto gave the order, swift and decisive.
"Kakashi-sensei, Konan, come with me to the underground area. We need to unplug Kabuto's 'internet cable'."
Just as Naruto was about to Flying Thunder God Technique, a tall, slender figure blocked his way.
Sasuke.
His thumb pushed the Kusanagi Sword at his waist forward half an inch, revealing its gleaming blade. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan, slowly rotated, finally settling on a complex six-pointed star shape, exuding a sharp, unapproachable aura.
"I'll go too." Sasuke spoke slowly, but with great emphasis.
Naruto stopped what he was doing and stared into Sasuke's eyes.
He knew what Sasuke was thinking. Not long ago, in the Tsukuyomi World at the site of the old Lightning Cloud Gorge, Itachi Uchiha tore open the bloody truth of the Night of the Massacre his clan without reservation. The shackles of hatred were broken, but the pride in Sasuke's bones remained. He desperately needed a battle, a battle that could prove that he, Sasuke Uchiha, was no longer hiding under his brother's wing, nor was he a piece of trash who could only be saved by Naruto.
"The situation underground is unclear; it could be a trap." Naruto didn't immediately agree.
Sasuke didn't back down, his gaze fixed intently on Naruto: "This time, don't leave me behind."
The two stared at each other for a full three seconds.
Naruto suddenly laughed. He stretched out his fist and punched Sasuke hard on the shoulder.
"Okay. Stay close, don't expect me to come back and rescue you."
A fleeting smile played on Sasuke's lips as he sheathed his Kusanagi Sword with a clang. "Mind your own business."
Naruto rapidly Hand Seals, and a dazzling golden light instantly enveloped the four of them.
"Konan, Coordinates!"
"Three hundred meters underground, fifteen degrees northeast!"
Swish!
With a sudden whooshing sound, the four figures vanished from their original positions in an instant.
The valley on the east side is 300 meters underground.
A strong musty smell mixed with a nauseating stench of blood assaulted the nostrils.
Naruto and his companions found themselves in a dark, narrow stone passage. The surroundings were eerily quiet, save for the soft patter of water dripping onto the rocks. There was none of the clamor and chaos of a surface battlefield; instead, an eerie stillness permeated the air.
Konan held two origami butterflies between her fingers, letting them lead the way. "The main control room door is just ahead. Strange, there isn't a single White Zetsu guard along the way."
Kakashi gripped the Kunai in his hand tightly, his Sharingan scanning the darkness warily. "Something's not right. Everyone be careful."
Sasuke walked at the front, his Mangekyō Sharingan's perception at its maximum. He raised his foot and kicked open the heavy steel door at the end.
There were no Explosive Tag traps, no poison gas, and no ambushes.
Behind the door was an extremely spacious hemispherical cave. The walls of the cave were densely covered with talismans bearing the names of the dead. Hundreds and thousands of black Chakra Threads extended from these talismans, eventually converging on a huge circular altar in the center of the cave.
That's Kabuto's main control relay station.
But what made the four of them tense up instantly was not the complex formations.
It was the person sitting on the stone chair in the very center of the altar.
The figure wore a tattered black robe with red cloud patterns, and his long black hair was casually tied behind his head. His eyes were closed, and there were no cracks on his body Impure World Reincarnation; one could even hear the strong heartbeat in his chest.
Hearing the sound of the door hinges turning, the person slowly opened their eyes.
A pair of scarlet Sharingan, with three Tomoe connected end to end, exuded a terrifying sense of oppression that froze the surrounding air.
Kakashi's single eye shrank sharply, and his breath caught in his throat.
Sasuke was struck dumb, the veins on the back of his hand gripping the Kusanagi Sword bulging, and his teeth grinding together.
Even if he turned to ashes, Sasuke still recognize that face, those eyes.
"Uchiha... Itachi?" Kakashi uttered the name with difficulty.
Sitting on the altar, "Itachi" didn't look at Kakashi, but instead fixed his gaze on Sasuke, a stiff, mechanical smile like that of a marionette tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Foolish little brother, you've finally... found me."
Naruto's brows furrowed tightly. In his mind, the sensory network of the Great Evolution Divine Soul Art was frantically issuing warnings.
Wrong!
This guy doesn't have a trace of a living person's soul fluctuations, but he possesses a perfectly healthy and vibrant physical body!
This isn't Impure World Reincarnation at all! What kind of monster did that madman Kabuto create here?!