Naruto was still in midair.
Scarlet tailed beast chakra had already surged from every pore, wrapping his entire body tightly in red light!
The red glow was astonishingly hot, boiling the damp chill of the forest into a crooked trail of white vapor wherever it passed.
The whisker marks on his cheeks grew thick and dark, as though someone were tracing them over and over with a brush soaked in red paint.
Sharp claws pushed out from his fingertips.
Behind him, a crimson tail spread and lengthened inch by inch, its tip sweeping through the air with a muffled boom.
"Naruto-!"
Sakura's voice chased after him from behind. She couldn't help shouting a warning:
"Be careful!!"
This wasn't the first time she had seen Naruto in this state.
On the bridge in the Land of Waves, there had been the same dazzling red glow.
The Naruto inside that glow couldn't distinguish friend from foe. He had been like a wild beast.
Yet now, Naruto turned his head in midair.
His face had already become half-inhuman, his features twisting slightly in the red light as though an invisible flame were scorching them.
But when his eyes swept across half the battlefield and settled on Sakura-
They were still those same blue eyes, and he nodded at her.
Then he plunged into the center of the battlefield, red light enveloping him.
This time, he wouldn't lose his mind again!
Watching that red figure crash into the fray, Sakura bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, turned, and hurried back to Hayashi. Without a word, she helped him to an old tree and pressed him down to sit, then knelt beside him.
"Hayashi..."
She fumbled a roll of bandages out of her Ninja Tool Pouch.
When she saw the wounds