Rampage and Soothing
Karin collapsed at Naruto's feet, her red hair a mess from the wind, a shattered lens on her red glasses, and her arm covered in countless old, self-inflicted teeth marks. She trembled all over, holding her scarred arm to Naruto's mouth.
"Naruto! Haku said... said you need to replenish your Chakra! My blood... the Uzumaki Clan's blood can heal you! Please... please bite me!"
His voice trembled violently, but he didn't retract his raised hand.
Naruto looked down at his arm. Every old scar was evidence that she had been used as a expendable resource by the Grass Ninja. His eyes darkened for a moment.
He reached out, grabbed Karin's head with one hand, and pulled her into his arms. Xianglin froze, her mind going blank.
Naruto didn't bite the arm covered in scars. He pressed down on Xiangxun's raised arm, lowered his head, and gently bit down on the inside of her wrist where the fewest teeth marks were.
It doesn't hurt. It's even a little warm.
The pure Uzumaki bloodline transformed into immense life force, surging wildly into Naruto's body through his blood. The scalding life energy, carrying the bloodline's resonant frequency, was like strong liquor entering his throat.
The system notification in his mind exploded. "High-purity life force of the same kind detected! Sage Body activation reserves rapidly recovering! 12-hour weakness period forcibly lifted! Cell activation reserves: 4% → 31%! Yang Release slightly restored! The first Third Gate of the Eight Gates can be safely opened!"
Naruto released his grip. Only a faint tooth mark remained on Karin's wrist. Her face was flushed red to the roots of her neck, and her eyes behind her glasses were so wet they were about to overflow.
"Get back." Naruto didn't turn around, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I'll thank you after I beat that fat tanuki to a pulp."
The words had barely left his mouth when the tremors in the distant valley reached their peak.
Gaara in his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, swelled to the size of a small mountain, with yellow sand gathering from all directions. His upper body emerged from the top of the sand shell, his hands clasped together in a bizarre gesture, and he let out an inhuman roar.
"The Feigning Sleep Technique!"
Gaara lowered his head, closed his eyes, and completely surrendered control of his body to Shukaku.
Boom!
The entire valley floor collapsed three meters. A sand-colored behemoth, five stories tall and covered in blue runes, descended completely. Its massive tail swept across, crushing all trees within a fifty-meter radius to the roots, and the resulting sandstorm blotted out the sun.
"Hahaha! I'm out! I'll slaughter every living thing here!" Shukaku's voice was like scraping the bottom of a pot with a piece of iron, so sharp it sent chills down your spine.
A level 12 sandstorm rose from the ground. Temari's Iron Fan was swept away by the gale, and she was sucked into the air like a kite with a broken string. Not far away, behind a tree, the Snake Mark on the back of Sasuke's neck was writhing wildly under the stimulation of the Tailed Beast Chakra, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He was unwilling to give up. He concentrated all his Chakra in his right hand, and with a flash of Lightning Release, he unleashed a Variant Lightning Release Thrust slammed into Shukaku's mountain-like sand shell.
The difference in their levels was like an insurmountable chasm. The Lightning Release only penetrated half an inch, but the violent recoil of the Tailed Beast Sasuke and the lightning flying dozens of meters, crashing into three giant trees and collapsing to the ground, coughing up blood.
Despair spread. Temari closed her eyes tightly in mid-air.
"Boom!"
A blindingly bright blue barrier, radiating intense heat, shattered the thick sandstorm barrier in an instant. Naruto's figure blurred into a blur as his right hand swiftly and forcefully Temari, who was falling from the sky, in his arms. His boots created a sonic boom that shattered the yellow sand as they stepped through the air.
He landed steadily atop a towering tree, looked down at the pale-faced Temari in his arms, and a wicked smile curled at the corner of his lips, "What are you trembling for? Be careful. I'll be heartbroken if you hurt these beautiful legs."
Temari, still shaken, looked up at Naruto's sharply defined jawline and the terrifying energy burning on his body. The despair of death she felt just a second ago was instantly replaced by this unreasonable sense of security, and her entire face burned bright red.
Naruto placed the limp Temari on the thick tree trunk, shook his right hand, which was now full of explosive power again, and the knuckles cracked sharply. His expression changed from playful to calm.
31. That's enough. Even if it's not enough, it has to be enough.
"Xiang Yao, hide!" He stomped his feet, and an Ice Release path condensed beneath his feet, extending upwards. "Gate of Healing - Open! Gate of Life - Open!"
Green steam rose again from the body surface. It wasn't a nuclear explosion storm of the level of Gate of Limit, but rather the output of the Third Gate precisely controlled to the extreme.
Shukaku furiously opened its abyssal maw, and Yin -Chakra converged wildly in proportion, instantly forming a colossal Drilling Air Bullet ten times larger than before, enough to flatten a mountain, which locked onto the direction of Hidden Leaf's outer walls.
Naruto ascended rapidly on the icy path, unleashing a powerful strike with his left palm. "Ice Release: Absolute Zero Domain!"
A massive ice wall solidified along the trajectory of the Drilling Air Bullet. The ice wall was pierced, frozen, pierced again, and frozen again— Naruto continuously pushed out seven layers of ice walls, each layer weakening the energy. When the seventh layer of ice wall shattered, the power of the Drilling Air Bullet had diminished to the point that it could no longer cause a devastating blow to the city wall.
The backlash followed. Ice crystals spread from Naruto's left arm to his elbow. He gritted his teeth and smashed the ice shell against a tree trunk, losing feeling in his fingertips.
Shukaku roared and charged at Naruto. Its sand tail slammed into the ground, and sand bullets rained down. Naruto darted around the giant beast at high speed, stepping on the constantly forming ice pillars. The speed of the Third Gate was not enough; a sand bullet grazed his thigh, tearing open a bloody gash, and another grazed his ribs.
He's bleeding.
Temari watched from afar as the bloodied figure charged upwards continued, her lips bleeding from biting them. Tears streamed down her face. It wasn't her enemy fighting desperately; it was the man who had promised to take her back to Hidden Leaf and raise a big, fat boy, fighting to save her younger brother.
Amidst the ruins, Sasuke, struggling to lift his head, looked down at Sasuke, Naruto was surveying the colossal beast from above. His eyes were a mixture of fanaticism and utter helplessness. He suddenly crawled out of the bushes. The black markings of the Snake Mark covered half of his body, while the Yang Release Mark on his shoulder emitted a faint but tenacious golden light.
Using the abnormal speed provided by his Snake Mark, Sasuke charged towards Shukaku's back, his hands Hand Seals: "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The fireball, enhanced with the Snake Seal, was three times larger than usual and struck Shukaku directly on the back of the head. Shukaku turned around angrily.
"Enough, Sasuke! Step back! Don't misuse that thing on your shoulder!" Naruto's voice came from behind Shukaku.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand; the black markings of the Snake Seal slowly retreated under the suppression of Yang Release.
This three-second window is enough.
Naruto stepped onto the last ice pillar and, using his Pure Byakugan to spot the extremely thin Chakra crack in Shukaku's neck—the hidden damage Sasuke had left with Chidori —rushed into the sand shell. Darkness enveloped the area; the Tailed Beast Chakra was like a poisonous sea. He held his breath, using his Sage Body to resist the corrosive effects.
Gaara's sleeping body was right in front of me.
Naruto pressed his right palm down. The last bit of Yang Release golden light in his palm dissipated—not a domineering suppression, but a soothing penetration with warmth. Golden lines spread along Gaara's forehead.