The Power Called "Despair"

"This... this is impossible!"

Beside the Water Prison Technique, Zabuza Momochi's real body stood frozen. The only visible part of his face, his eyes beneath the bandages that perpetually wrapped him, were wide as bells!

His mind went blank. In that instant, reason and experience were shattered to pieces.

What was the Kubikiribōchō?

It was the ninja blade that had followed him for years, one of Hidden Mist's seven weapons of terror, famed for being indestructible and capable of regenerating by drinking blood!

Yet now, in the hands of a twelve-year-old brat, it was like a fragile piece of pottery, crushed... crushed barehanded into hideous dents?!

This had surpassed everything he knew about the ninja world!

This wasn't taijutsu at all. This was a monster!

A pure, humanoid monster!

"Is that all the strength you've got? Didn't you eat?"

Naruto's words, dripping with utter contempt, rang out again.

It was not a question, but a scornful verdict.

A verdict that the strength Zabuza had been so proud of was nothing more than a ridiculous joke before true violence.

Before his words had even faded, Naruto's right hand, still gripping the blade, suddenly clenched inward!

"Crack—!!!!"

This time, it was no longer the teeth-grinding sound of metal warping, but an incomparably crisp explosion of shattering!

The crack Naruto had squeezed into the blade spread wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Zabuza's Water Clone Technique looked down in horror. The fearsome weapon in his hand, the blade said to be "impossible to break," was now covered at its edge in terrifying spiderweb cracks, like steel that had been struck by a giant hammer!

"Y-you monster!"

The Water Clone Technique roared, its voice full of terror and fury.

But Naruto had already lost his patience for playing with him any longer.

"Too noisy."

He spat out the three words coldly and abruptly released the blade with his right hand.

At the same time, his body twisted at an unbelievable angle. The muscles in his waist and abdomen tensed in an instant, turning his whole body into a powerful bow drawn to its limit!

His right leg, wrapped in an unmatched force of blood and vitality, became a golden whip-like blur that tore through the air as it lashed out violently!

There was no chakra enhancement from any ninjutsu behind that kick. There was only the purest, most primal, most savage... power of the Perfect Uzumaki Sage Body!

"Boom—!!!"

A supremely muffled blast erupted!

That kick landed squarely in the Water Clone Technique's chest!

Something bizarre happened.

The clone made of highly concentrated chakra and water did not burst into a spray of droplets upon taking the blow. Instead, as if it had been fed into an ultra-high-pressure water cutter, the "water" forming its body was instantly pierced through, scattered apart, and shaken into billions of tiny suspended droplets too fine for the naked eye to distinguish!

It had been "disintegrated"!

Then the force of that mountain-toppling blow continued unabated, piercing through the water mist that had spread in an instant and smashing viciously into the empty bridge deck!

"Boom!!!!!"

A thunderous crash shook the heavens and earth, like an ancient beast beating a war drum!

Centered on where Naruto stood, the hard marble bridge deck instantly sank beneath his foot, leaving behind a distinct footprint. Spiderweb cracks spread wildly from its edges, reaching three or four meters in every direction!

Countless chunks of stone jumped from the impact. A violent shockwave exploded outward from Naruto, forcibly blowing a huge hole through the thick mist that had blanketed the bridge!

"Thud!"

Sasuke, sprawled on the ground, and Sakura, limp with shock, did not even have time to cry out before the violent blast of air sent them rolling backward several times in utter misery.

Inside the Water Prison Technique, Kakashi's jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

His prized Sharingan stared fixedly at the cracked bridge deck and that tall, upright back, his heart trembling violently.

That pure, unreasonable physical destructive power... even Lady Tsunade's Monster Strength was probably no more than this, right?!

No!

Lady Tsunade's Monster Strength came from supreme chakra control.

But Naruto... this wasn't a technique at all!

This was something he had been born with!

He was like an ancient beast wearing human skin!

Was this fucking monster really a genin?!

"Cough... cough, cough..."

Sasuke, who had been thrown away by the shockwave, clutched his already agonizing chest and coughed violently.

But he could not feel the pain.

Every trace of it had been completely drowned out by the overwhelming shock brought by the hellish sight before him.

He stared blankly at the man standing at the center of the cracks.

That man had used only one kick.

And he had shattered the enemy Sasuke could not move no matter how hard he tried, along with the solid ground beneath him!

What kind of gap was this?

This was not the gap between an ordinary person and a genius.

This was an ant looking up at a meteor crashing down upon it!

The despair and unwillingness that had surged up when he was instantly defeated had not faded in the slightest. Instead, under the catalyst of this even more absolute power, it twisted into an extreme... jealousy and longing!

Sasuke's nails dug deep into his palms, piercing the skin and drawing blood. That sharp pain gave his trembling body something to brace against.

For the first time, doubts arose in his mind about his own path of revenge.

This kind of power...

This was... true power!

The glory of the Uchiha genius I've been chasing, Fire Release, the Sharingan... before this, it's all fucking bullshit!

They're toys for children playing house!

Killing that man... with my current strength, it's nothing but a joke!

I need... I need this kind of power!

I have to obtain it!

Before absolute power that crushed all living things, every scheme was meaningless.

For the first time, Sasuke understood with perfect clarity just how laughable and insignificant his obsession with revenge was without power to match it.

The mist over the bridge was blown apart at one corner.

Sunlight spilled down again, illuminating the wreckage.

Naruto slowly lifted his foot and stepped onto the shattered stones, producing a soft crunch.

The knotted, bulging muscles that had erupted across his body were gradually settling, returning to their original lean and well-proportioned form, as if that earth-shattering scene had only been an illusion.

But the cracked and ruined bridge deck silently proclaimed how real everything that had just happened was.

Naruto did not even glance at the two companions behind him, who had been completely stunned senseless.

Slowly, he turned around.

Those azure eyes were calm without a single ripple as they crossed dozens of meters and locked precisely onto the Hidden Mist Demon, whose entire body had gone rigid beside the Water Prison Technique.

"Release Kakashi."

His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable command as it rang clearly across the deathly silent bridge.

"I'll leave you an intact corpse."