At the bottom of the cooling pool, the raging chakra storm gradually subsided.
Naruto looked down at his abdomen. The deep wound that had pierced straight through him was undergoing an astonishing change. Red Nine-Tails chakra intertwined with the Dragon Vein's golden energy, forming a dense web of healing power. Flesh grew back before his eyes. In mere seconds, the fatal hole closed completely, leaving smooth new skin without the faintest scar.
He drew a deep breath. The tearing pain in his lungs was gone. Naruto released Sara, then took her by the shoulder and gently pushed her toward Minato.
"Stay on your feet." Naruto's voice was low, his tone cold and absolute.
Nearby, Sasuke gripped his nicked scrap-iron sword, his face icy. Dense chakra surged into the blade, and Chidori Sharp Spear flared to life. Blinding lightning tore through the darkness of the underground hall, illuminating everything like daylight. Electricity crackled sharply in the air, and the water around him rapidly boiled and evaporated from the heat.
The Aberration had been retreating out of instinctive fear. But when it sensed the pressure of three immense chakra sources, its Chaos core erupted with a desperate will to survive.
It stopped retreating. Purple-black slime surged like a tsunami of acid, spreading wildly in every direction. Scattered granite blocks, the wreckage of abandoned cranes, and even Anrokuzan's massive steel shell were all sucked into it. The slime dissolved the surface of the metal and forcibly absorbed it into its body.
The Aberration swelled in an instant. It became a mountain of metal and flesh dozens of meters tall, reeking of death and rust. With its sheer mass and higher-dimensional power of assimilation, it tried to regain control of the underground hall.
With a shriek of grinding metal, the surface of the fleshy