No Solution

Sarada opened her eyes in a daze. Her Sharingan etched every detail of her surroundings into her mind, while the memories from before she lost consciousness flooded back like a breached dam.

"It hurts!!!" Sarada cried out.

There was no one around, so her voice was very soft, yet it carried far into the distance. The hollow surroundings reflected Sarada's empty heart, a heart completely at a loss.

She tried to get up. The instant that thought entered her mind, sensation finally returned to every part of her body. What followed was unimaginable, crushing, unbearable pain.

If pain reached its limit, one should have let out a heart-rending roar. But Sarada could not make a sound at all. A rusty taste kept surging through her mouth, and blood filled her entire chest.

"Oh, I remember now. I must have fallen from the sky. That mysterious person was really ruthless, just abandoning her without a care."

The intense pain continued, constantly reminding Sarada of her condition. There was no doubt that she was crippled. Yet strangely, spasms of pain kept running through her body, as if reminding her that she could still be saved.

Because she could feel pain, it proved that her body was still "alive." If she truly felt nothing, if no sensation reached her at all, perhaps that would have been even more despairing than this torment.

A long time passed. For Sarada, it was undoubtedly agony. Every second, tearing pain ripped through her body. Even if she tried to pass out, the pain would wake her again.

Before she realized it, she seemed to see Naruto's figure, launching mad, lethal attacks. In her memories, Naruto had always treated others gently. She had never imagined that someone as sunny as Naruto could attack with such deranged frenzy.

That had gone beyond the realm of humanity. He was more like a beast going on the attack—the kind of beast that, after starving for days, spotted rich, delectable prey and lunged forward without fear of death, opening a hideous maw packed with fangs to tear apart its prey's skin and gorge itself on fresh blood.

"The Seventh Hokage...?"

What was he holding on for? His body was already so weak, visibly hollowed out by an exhaustion that not even Chakra could replenish, an exhaustion rooted in his spirit.

Naruto proved again and again through his actions that he was clinging to the bold vow he had made before. He launched relentless attacks without pause, while several Shadow Clones on the ground gathered Sage Mode, barely sustaining his uninterrupted assault.

Kurama could not bear to watch any longer and urged, "Enough, Naruto. If Sarada is really dead, wasting Chakra here won't change anything. Why not try another way?"

The weakened Naruto stubbornly repeated the same motions, gathering a Tailed Beast Ball, firing it, then crushing it.

"Sealing techniques. Against an unreasonable enemy like this, sealing techniques are undoubtedly the most direct and brutal method. Brutal enough to imprison me for centuries," Kurama sighed.

Hearing that, Naruto slowed his attacks. Facing the White-Robed Man, who clearly stood before him yet seemed endlessly distant, Naruto gritted his teeth and began forming the hand seals for a sealing technique.

"I thought Lord Hokage had finally decided to rest. So you merely changed your method of attack?" The White-Robed Man spoke with deep emotion, still unmoved.

"If you were truly invincible, you wouldn't have stood here letting me attack you this whole time, even if none of my attacks were effective," Naruto's weak voice said.

The seals were completed. The complex technique drew upon the lingering Chakra in the area, but even the peerless sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan were like sand falling into the sea before the White-Robed Man—utterly powerless.

"Even sealing techniques won't work?"

Naruto muttered to himself. He could not think of any other way to launch an effective attack.

Can't find it by searching the book title? Try searching for the author instead; it may have simply been renamed!

Perhaps they could only wait for Sasuke to arrive. With the ocular power of his Rinnegan, it might work against the Mangekyō.

The White-Robed Man seemed to see through Naruto's thoughts and mocked, "Why do you think I separated the two of you? It was to defeat you one at a time, Naruto. With your current stamina, you can probably barely even release a Rasengan, right?"

The White-Robed Man's leisurely mockery undoubtedly enraged Naruto. But Naruto truly was weakened to the extreme. Even staying afloat was being maintained by Kurama. If Kurama stopped, Naruto would likely fall from the sky.

Only then did Naruto's expression turn ugly. He regretted being too impulsive. At this point, aside from placing his hopes on Sasuke arriving as soon as possible, all he could do was stubbornly hold on.

One of the two lonely Shadow Clones on the ground immediately dispersed, providing Naruto with another infusion of pure Chakra. The Chakra within him had long been exhausted, but now it was like dead wood welcoming spring.

The White-Robed Man raised an eyebrow. Having remained motionless all this time, he finally acted. Yet he merely aimed his Mangekyō at Naruto. Sensing danger, Naruto immediately retreated to a safe distance.

"Don't waste your effort. No matter what you do, you cannot escape this ninjutsu," the White-Robed Man said confidently.

Naruto sensed that something was wrong and was about to resist when he suddenly lost all perception of Chakra. Even the Nine-Tails was temporarily cut off from him. Without Kurama supporting him, even Naruto could not resist gravity and plummeted toward the ground.

"The strangest death of a Hokage in history—falling to his death!!" The White-Robed Man burst into laughter.

At that moment, Sasuke and Boruto finally arrived. Sasuke was still confused about how they had suddenly gotten here when he saw the weak and helpless Naruto. He immediately used his Rinnegan's ocular technique, swapping places with Naruto using Amenotejikara.

Boruto had originally been beside Sasuke. Seeing him switch positions, he immediately grabbed Naruto's hand. But among everyone present, only Sasuke could fly, and that was only with Susanoo activated.

Thus, Boruto and Naruto still fell helplessly from the sky. Seeing this, Sasuke did not hesitate to activate Susanoo, preparing to catch them.

But the White-Robed Man acted. His Mangekyō flashed as he simply unleashed a Fire Release technique: "Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

This was a Fire Release ninjutsu with a fast casting and spreading speed, more like a straight flaming spear as it struck toward Sasuke's Susanoo.

Sasuke did not think much of the power of a single Fire Release attack. But when the flaming arrow struck Susanoo, it shattered Susanoo with ease!

"What?!" Sasuke was jolted with shock.

The fall was unavoidable, so Sasuke directly summoned his summon beast, Garuda. A powerful falcon swept past, allowing Sasuke to avoid crashing into the ground.

Sasuke quickly rescued Boruto and Naruto. As they glided through the sky on the hawk's back, Naruto's spirits were low. His defeated expression had lost its usual vigor. Anyone could see that he had already given it everything he had.

"You've worked hard, Naruto. Sarada, she..."

"Sorry, Sasuke, I..." Naruto lowered his head, unable to face him.

"I can tell. The enemy is very strong. He even shattered my Susanoo with ease," Sasuke said calmly.

"The enemy has an ability similar to Kamui that lets him completely evade attacks, and its duration lasts an entire afternoon!!"

"Even sealing techniques are useless," Naruto said.

Sasuke could not help frowning. Such a troublesome ability...? No wonder Naruto had been defeated despite his strength.