Crimson Other Shore

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

After several crisp collisions, the three formed a triangular formation and launched fierce, crisscrossing attacks at Sarada from three directions.

Even with the Tailed Beast Cloak protecting her, its defense was eventually breached under the relentless barrage, and blood soon stained the kunai she wielded.

With all three attacking at once, Sarada had already been at a disadvantage in taijutsu. On top of that, her opponents were elite shinobi hardened by countless battles, superior to her in every respect.

Just because they could not use ninjutsu did not mean Sarada held an absolute advantage or was guaranteed to win.

But she would not lose either!!

This was not the first time the three had covered Sarada in wounds, yet after every consecutive assault, she healed at a terrifying speed.

"Pant... pant... pant."

"Damn it, what is going on with her? Infinite healing?" By now, they were nearly exhausted, yet Sarada looked as though nothing had happened.

"Maybe this is her Mangekyō's ocular ability, granting her recovery that is practically immortality," Aici guessed.

During their previous battle, they had tried to torture Sarada to death by bleeding her out. Yet after waiting for most of the day, she was still lying there, gasping for breath, and even her injuries had nearly healed.

"At this point, it seems only sealing techniques can restrain her," Aici said.

The three nodded and assumed their stances again, remaining in three separate positions as they trapped Sarada at the center of their encirclement.

Seeing this, Sarada crooked a finger, her provocative gaze sweeping over their faces. Her expression and gesture seemed to say—

"Come hit me!!"

Then, the three formed hand seals in unison. Under Sarada's puzzled gaze, a three-dimensional triangular barrier rapidly enveloped all four of them.

Sarada frowned deeply as she sensed trouble. Carefully, she tried using the crystal in her hand to absorb the barrier.

She was not sure whether the crystal would work against a barrier.

In theory, sealing techniques were a branch of ninjutsu. But restrictive barriers were not exactly techniques. Though they still counted as ninjutsu, they should...

If Sarada could think of that issue, then naturally Aici and the other two could as well. That was why they had trapped themselves inside the barrier with her.

Their purpose was to exhaust the crystal to its limit. With the space restricted, Sarada had pitifully little room to evade.

All they needed to do next was unleash ninjutsu and stall until the crystal burst from overload.

Sarada immediately understood why they had done this. Her expression changed drastically as an overwhelming wave of attacks came crashing down on her.

The barrier was not particularly spacious. Within that limited area, all three unleashed wide-range ninjutsu at once, hoping to force Sarada to use the crystal to absorb them.

And Sarada had no choice but to comply. Although she possessed an "immortal" ocular ability, she was fundamentally only a Shadow Clone. Once the damage she took reached a certain threshold, she would immediately disperse!

Thus, faced with the surging waterfall and lightning, she had no choice but to use the crystal's properties to absorb the ninjutsu.

At the same time, she began to fight back. If the three truly succeeded, the Sharingan she had only just reclaimed would be lost again.

"Chōmei," she called softly in her heart.

"I already contacted the version of me with the main body. I informed that 'me' about everything happening here long ago, but strangely, there has been no reply."

Chōmei was also confused. If the main body did not want to say more, it had no way of knowing what was happening over there.

"Could the main body have encountered an enemy?" Sarada frowned deeply. If this continued, she would eventually be beaten apart.

"No matter what, ensure your safety first. The Chakra I send next may burst this clone body of yours. Keep Other Shore activated at all times."

Chōmei warned her.

The tide of ninjutsu continued to batter her. Water and lightning, fire and wind—two combined ninjutsu were unleashed in alternating waves.

Sarada, at the center of the torrent, suddenly stopped resisting. An even deeper crimson Chakra swiftly spread across her body, and the density of her Tailed Beast Cloak instantly rose several levels.

—Tailed Beast Cloak: Two-Tails Form!

At this stage, Sarada had already begun to transform into a monster. Tailed Beast Chakra constantly eroded the surface of her skin like a potent poison seeping into her flesh, disrupting the structure of the cells within her body.

With Other Shore activated, all negative conditions were reversed. Destruction and restoration fought on equal footing, reaching a delicate balance.

In her Two-Tails Form, Sarada could even walk freely through a pool covered in lightning. While the Tailed Beast Cloak damaged her body, it also granted her formidable defense.

Her speed was incredible, at least four times faster than before. And do not forget, she also had a pair of wings!

Aici and the other two stared at the approaching figure with pounding headaches. Without a powerful means of restraint, it would be difficult to have any effect on her in this state.

However, activating the Tailed Beast Cloak would continuously cloud its user's consciousness, eventually turning them into a monster that only knew how to attack.

At this point in the battle, they had no need to risk themselves. They calmly withdrew from the center of the barrier, each opening a corner of it and silently stepping outside.

Since the crystal absorbed Chakra without distinguishing between friend and foe, the sudden surge of Chakra inside Sarada had already burst it. Without a means to absorb ninjutsu, they only needed to maintain the barrier and wait for Sarada to exhaust herself to death.

Then, just as they calmly envisioned their plan, Sarada silently crouched down, dropping to all fours like a fierce tiger. Her front "claws" pressed against the ground as she raised her head and stared at one point on the barrier.

"Hey, that pose... don't tell me she's going to...!" Iwashi watched the scene nervously.

"Everyone, stay alert! Supply the barrier with Chakra at maximum capacity to reinforce it!" Aici shouted.

The three immediately poured Chakra into the barrier frantically. Especially the section of the barrier wall Sarada had locked onto—two-thirds of all their Chakra was concentrated there.

—Tailed Beast Ball!

A dark purplish-black ball of Chakra condensed before Sarada. The beast opened its fanged maw, revealing its ferocity and cruelty to its prey.

The Tailed Beast Ball continued to gather at Sarada's mouth, slowly converging into a sphere about the size of a basketball. It even stirred the high-density Chakra within the barrier. Before it was even fired, its terrifying power had already begun to tear the barrier apart.

"Can we block that Tailed Beast Ball?" Heimulin asked uncertainly.

"We have to block it even if we can't! I already reported the situation here to the nearest outer-line members. They'll be here soon!"

"Ah, so that means... goodbye, everyone. To live and die alongside you has made this life complete. I have no regrets," Iwashi said softly.

"It's fine. I knew this day would come sooner or later. I just didn't expect it to arrive so suddenly," Heimulin sighed.

"We were alone and helpless to begin with. If Lord Victor had not offered us aid, we would have died in the Fourth Shinobi World War long ago."

"To suppress that detestable Uchiha at the final moment might count as avenging our great hatred. Though we cannot witness it ourselves, she will definitely die!" Aici said with certainty.

Resolute expressions appeared in their eyes. They pulled camouflage-colored injectors from their pouches, filled with mottled, multicolored liquid as beautiful as a dreamlike starry sky.

Without hesitation, they pressed one end of the injectors, aimed the needles at their own arms, and injected that exquisite liquid into their bodies.

Technology and ruthless ingenuity from Amado—the power of a low-grade Karma, containing a small amount of Ōtsutsuki life matter.

In an instant, the Chakra within their bodies increased severalfold. Its density was beyond what ordinary Kage-level shinobi could possess, a raging torrent of Chakra.

The defensive power of the three-way barrier rose dozens of times in an instant. Sarada's Tailed Beast Ball did not even make it tremble, and the barrier even continued shrinking under the pressure!

Even as they increased the barrier's density, their Chakra output was no less than before. The three intended to compress the barrier directly and crush Sarada to death!

Seeing this, Sarada immediately began gathering a second Tailed Beast Ball. Since her first attempt had been her first time using it, she had not been very proficient. The second one gathered much faster than the first.

Boom—!!

The second Tailed Beast Ball detonated almost at the same spot. The rampaging Chakra swirled into a storm, but being trapped inside the barrier only ended up affecting Sarada instead.

"What is going on? How did they suddenly become so much stronger?" Sarada asked in confusion.

She even suspected that all three of them were freaking Jinchuriki!

Chōmei inside her naturally noticed this as well. In its perception, a familiar power reflected into its heart. That was... the power of the Ōtsutsuki.

Chōmei spoke in despair.

"Ōtsutsuki? What is that?"

"You have not reached the level where you can come into contact with that yet. In any case, even I may be unable to defeat the 'godlike Ōtsutsuki'!"

Sarada froze. The barrier had shrunk until her room to move was unbearably narrow. Left with no choice, she extended a Chakra arm and pressed it against the barrier wall, trying to stop its contraction through brute force.

"Hold on, Sarada! I'm already calling for help from the main body, and even... Naruto!!"

"!!" Sarada's eyes widened. Her lips moved as if she wanted to make a sound, but she remained strangely silent, voicelessly expressing her unwillingness.

"I know, Sarada. But this involves the level of the Six Paths. This is no ordinary battle anymore—it is a catastrophe capable of destroying the Shinobi World!!"

"When necessary, we can only abandon this Shadow Clone and that Single Tomoe Sharingan."

Chōmei's voice was like a heaven-shaking hammer crashing into Sarada's heart, making her instantly abandon her resistance. The barrier continued collapsing inward. In only a few more breaths, it would crush her into a thin sheet.