The crimson firebird beat its wings and swooped toward him, its searing wind pressure already scorching the fine hairs on Naruto's cheeks.
Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his right hand high. Condensed chakra spun rapidly in his palm, transforming into a wheel of light with four sharp points around its edge.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!!!"
Naruto let out a deep shout and hurled the ninjutsu in his hand.
The instant the Spiral Shuriken left his hand, it tore through the air with a piercing whistle. The silver-white wheel spun rapidly, slicing through the heat waves straight toward the giant firebird's chest.
The wind blades plowed a deep furrow through the soil along its path, whipping up stones and instantly grinding them to dust.
"You fell for it!"
Hidden in the smoke and dust, Momoshiki Otsutsuki sneered.
Just before the Spiral Shuriken struck the firebird, Momoshiki vanished into thin air. A second later, he appeared directly in front of the rapidly spinning Wind Release Ninjutsu.
He opened his right hand, aiming his palm at the edge of the Spiral Shuriken.
The Rinnegan in his palm blazed with purple light. The instant it touched the ninjutsu, the Spiral Shuriken shrank at a visible rate, finally breaking into tiny fragments of chakra that were swallowed completely into the Rinnegan in his palm.
Naruto's eyes instantly widened.
"Damn!"
The cry escaped him almost instinctively.
When he had unleashed his Big Ball Rasengan earlier, Momoshiki had not absorbed it, which had unconsciously caused him to let his guard down.
Moreover, Momoshiki had been obscured by the clouds of smoke and dust stirred up by Inukai Takeru no Mikoto, and Naruto had thought he had turned to deal with Sasuke.
But this was precisely the opportunity Momoshiki had been waiting for.
The instant he finished absorbing