Dead silence.
A tangible dead silence weighed on everyone's heart.
Zabuza Momochi, the Hidden Mist Demon who delighted in slaughter, felt for the first time what it meant for a chill to seep from the depths of his bones.
It was not the gravity of facing a powerful enemy, nor the tension of standing on the brink of life and death, but... the pure terror of a top predator suddenly becoming prey.
Everything he had taken pride in—his experience, skills, and fearsome reputation—had crumbled the instant that boy crushed the Kubikiribōchō with his bare hands.
"Tap."
A soft sound shattered the frozen air.
Naruto stepped over the ruins he had created with his own hands, walking out from the center of the collapsed crater one unhurried step at a time.
The terrifying muscles that had bulged across his body during that burst of power were visibly settling, returning his physique to the lean, well-proportioned build of a boy.
No one thought he had grown weaker, because that world-shattering sight had already been branded forever into the souls of every witness.
"Release Kakashi."
Naruto stopped beside the shattered bridge, his azure eyes calmly watching the stiff figure on the water as he repeated himself.
It was neither a threat nor a negotiation.
It was a statement of fact, an unquestionable command from one above to one below.
"Y-you monster..." Zabuza forced the words through clenched teeth.
Humiliation, fear, rage... every emotion churned violently within his chest!
A beast driven into a corner erupted in one last burst of madness!
"Don't... don't look down on me, you little brat!!"
Zabuza roared. One hand maintained the Water Prison Technique while the other desperately began forming seals!
"Water Release: Water Dragon—"
"Too slow."
Three icy words, utterly devoid of emotion, boomed beside his ear like thunder!
They had not come from the bridge, but from right next to him!
What?!
Zabuza's mind went blank in an instant as he sharply turned his head—
A golden bolt of lightning, carrying a shriek that tore through the air, leaped down from the bridge!
That was not the Body Flicker Technique. It was a far purer, more savage, terrifying charge that drove the body's explosive force to its absolute limit!
Naruto appeared on the water's surface almost instantly, right at Zabuza's side!
"Opening Gate, open!"
Naruto let out a low roar in his heart as the first gate of the Eight Gates burst open within him!
A surge of chakra and vital energy far beyond the ordinary, like a breached flood, instantly poured into his right leg!
At that moment, Naruto could even hear the faint wail of his leg muscle fibers as they struggled to withstand that violent force!
But he did not care in the slightest!
His right leg swept high, transforming into a golden battle-axe that lashed viciously toward the sphere of water trapping Kakashi with the will to crush everything!
"BAM—!!!"
A deafening explosion rang out!
That A-rank Water Release ninjutsu, said to be nearly impossible for even a jonin to break free from, did not last even a second beneath that kick!
Like glass struck head-on by a battering ram, it instantly filled with cracks before exploding apart!
Water sprayed skyward in every direction.
"Pfft—!"
The technique was forcibly shattered, and the tremendous backlash slammed into Zabuza's chest like a heavy hammer.
An irresistible force sent his entire body flying backward as he violently spat out a mouthful of blood!
Within the Water Prison Technique, Kakashi broke free and gasped for breath.
Ignoring his disheveled state, he stared fixedly at Naruto with his Sharingan, a monstrous storm raging in his heart.
That aura just now... was the Eight Gates?!
And the destructive power of that kick was practically a replica of Lady Tsunade's Monster Strength!
No, it was rougher and even more violent!
Forcibly combining the explosive power of the Eight Gates with Monster Strength's chakra-control techniques... how did this kid manage that?!
This was not genius at all. He was an unreasonable madman!
On the bridge.
"Gulp."
Sakura swallowed with difficulty, having completely given up on trying to think.
Sasuke, however, was in an entirely different state.
He sat collapsed on the ground, but his newly awakened One-Tomoe Sharingan spun madly at an unprecedented speed, greedily capturing and analyzing everything before it!
Helplessness?
Despair?
What were those supposed to be?!
The instant he saw Naruto's kick, every negative emotion born from his crushing defeat was burned away by a hotter, more obsessive flame!
That flame was called [Desire]!
"Eight Gates... and that technique for instantly erupting chakra... is that where his power comes from?"
Sasuke's nails dug deeply into his palms, yet he was completely unaware of the blood seeping out.
His mind raced wildly, carving every detail recorded by his Sharingan—Naruto's muscle movements, the flow of chakra, the instant of eruption—into his soul!
The revenge he had once spoken of so proudly truly seemed laughable before that power.
But that did not mean he should give up!
It only meant that the Uchiha bloodline, Fire Release, Shurikenjutsu... everything he had always been proud of was the wrong answer!
True power was right before his eyes!
That "dead last" hid a shortcut that could allow Sasuke to reach "that man"!
"I need... I need this kind of power!"
Sasuke's breathing grew heavy, and an unhealthy gleam flickered in his eyes.
"I have to obtain it! Naruto Uzumaki... no matter what secrets you're hiding, I'll dig every last one of them out! Become my whetstone, or... become my stepping stone!"
At that moment, Naruto was no longer a companion in Sasuke's heart, but a living [treasure trove of power] on the path of revenge—one that had to be analyzed, surpassed, and even devoured!
On the water.
Naruto slowly withdrew his right leg, and ripples spread across the water beneath his foot.
He frowned slightly, feeling waves of stabbing pain coming from his right leg.
[Warning: The forced combination of the Eight Gates (First Gate) and Sage Body eruption has caused a 7% tear in the right leg muscle group.] [Sage Body repairing at high speed... Estimated repair time: 60 seconds.]
"Tch, was that still too much..."
Naruto felt somewhat annoyed. It seemed his body was still nowhere near strong enough to use that power as freely as he wished.
He turned around, his azure eyes locking onto Zabuza in the distance as he struggled to flee.
The intelligence was completely wrong!
That was the only thought left in Zabuza's mind.
The twelve-year-old boy before him was a super monster who could forcibly open the Eight Gates, use Monster Strength, and possessed an unknown Kekkei Genkai!
Retreat!
He had to retreat immediately!
Enduring the agonizing pain, he began forming hand seals with both hands, intending to use the Hidden Mist Technique to escape this hellhole!
Yet, just as his seals were about to be completed—
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Several piercing whistles suddenly shot out from the shadows of the distant forest without warning!
Dozens of Ice Senbon glittering with a chilling sheen descended like dense raindrops, shooting toward Naruto, who had just erupted with power and was in a brief moment of stiffness!
The strike was ruthless, and the timing was vicious—it had seized precisely the opening between Naruto's old strength fading and new strength not yet arising!
Someone was launching a sneak attack!
Kakashi and Sasuke's hearts tightened at the same time!
Naruto, however, could not even be bothered to turn his head.
He merely murmured softly, as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.
"So you're finally willing to come out."
Before you continue