Crackling noises echoed...
Chidori and the Big Ball Rasengan continued to clash, the blinding radiance outshining even the sun.
The two spheres of light ground against each other, distorting minutely under the immense pressure, like balloons on the verge of bursting, locked in a contest to see which would rupture first.
The surrounding area was bathed in a dreamy blue glow, but under that unstable flicker hid an immense danger.
The smaller of the two light spheres began to be pushed back, with grass reduced to ash in its wake, branches snapped clean through, and uncontrollable torrents of energy exploded outward.
Cyclones cracked like whips, lightning bolts darted wildly in chaotic arcs, and the violent detonations tore up the forest like it had been swept through by a tornado.
Amid the twisted Chakra and overwhelming force, the scene had long ceased to resemble any ordinary fight.
Logan slammed into a tree with a thud. The hardness at his back gave way in seconds, shattered by the furious impact.
Rocks, shrubs… everything in his retreat path was obliterated. He bit his lip, ignoring the pain in his body. Even under this crushing pressure, he held Chidori aloft, unyielding.
'One slip and things escalated to this mess...'
Logan didn't know what to make of the feeling in his chest. He calmly stared at the distorted, roaring technique in front of him, and through the blinding wall of blue between them, he saw a flash of that eerie crimson glow in Naruto's eyes.
He could use his other hand to fire off the Railgun, but at this close of a range... with a shot that could tear apart the world, even with Naruto covered in Biju Chakra, the outcome was unpredictable.
He couldn't gamble with the kid's life.
Taking a deep breath, Logan clamped his left hand over his right. The proud lightning in his grasp blazed even brighter.
Saplings were uprooted and hurled into other debris. The grassy field had turned charcoal black. Naruto maintained his full-powered charge, his vision narrowing until it only held a fragment of what was ahead… just that one annoying ball of light.
Like a shrinking lens, everything outside that focal point began to blur and fade, with his awareness thinning alongside it.
Somewhere in the chaos, Naruto realized he didn't even know when his shadow clone had disappeared. The Big Ball Rasengan now surged forward solely by his own power.
He could only feel his prized technique colliding with Logan's Chidori, grinding to a halt.
Doubt crept in as his control slipping.
More precise Chakra Control, more overwhelming chakra suppression... it wasn't supposed to end up like this.
The creeping sense of powerlessness, of facing a tidal wave, made him furious. The greater the resistance pressing back against his palm, the more he wanted to shatter it… overcome it.
That single-minded obsession flowed as naturally as water, and it summoned the Kyubi.
Naruto's pupils unknowingly shrank into vertical lines, with red flooding in. A violent Chakra erupted from deep inside, engulfing his body and merging into the Big Ball Rasengan.
It was like a seal had shattered, and power surged out of him, swallowing him as it drove him forward.
The blood-red fox eyes gleamed with uncontainable savagery.
The Big Ball Rasengan turned crimson. Naruto's gaze still held only the path ahead, just that one sphere standing in his way.
Everything else around him faded into darkness.
When Logan saw the flare of red, he knew his suspicions were confirmed. The Chakra's surge this time was nothing like the earlier gentle wave, and it now pressed down with brutal force.
His Lightning Attribute Chakra exploded at full output. Electricity sizzled and crackled, wrapping his entire body and extending outward in a wide radius.
Thunder cracked overhead, with thick bolts streaking across the sky. At S-Rank power, he had conjured a literal thunder domain.
His Chakra drained rapidly, but Logan didn't care. He held nothing back, determined to suppress this ominous red Chakra!
"Naruto, snap out of it!"
Red and blue lights screeched and annihilated each other.
The once lush grass was long gone. Cracks webbed outward endlessly, radiating like a shattered mirror. Tree canopy spiraled in reverse, flung into the void. Any unfortunate thing in their path snapped like paper. The entire forest rocked and groaned under the violent storm.
Crack!
The Chidori Current lashed out, wrapping around Naruto's body. The scent of burnt ozone filled the air. But Naruto gritted his teeth… his weak yet pure resolve pushed past the pain and numbness.
He thought he heard a voice, distant and muffled, enter his ears. But he no longer had the strength to process it.
This had become a battle of sheer attrition.
…
Facing an opponent who had overcome countless hardships, enduring the endless darkness…
Yet even that would eventually come to an end.
Reflecting all light in his cold gaze, Logan watched. Those who bore heavy burdens would stand firm because of them… just like him.
'Retreat…'
Logan gripped his undying Chidori, the crackling lightning swirling behind him like banners in a storm.
In terms of Chakra Reserve, he couldn't compete with the Kyubi… but endless Chakra couldn't be unleashed all at once.
With the advantage of skill and experience, he steadily controlled the situation, maintaining a delicate balance to prevent their techniques from exploding in a catastrophic release.
Step by step…
What seemed like an instant in the clash of lightning was, in reality, a prolonged and intricate battle of attrition. Slowly but surely, Logan ground down the relentless red Big Ball Rasengan.
The roaring gradually weakened. As the desperate, unsustainable force diminished, the speed of their collision slowed.
Crack, crack!
Branches snapped, but the sound was no longer as violent as before.
A brief silence settled over the battlefield.
Finally, they stopped.
"Hah… hah…"
Logan's hand trembled. Lingering wisps of scorched energy drifted in the air as he weakly lowered his arm.
With a thud, as if signaling the end, Naruto collapsed in front of him.
The view in front of him opened up. Logan looked up, and across the hundred-meter-long scar torn through the earth, there was nothing but empty devastation.
Behind the fallen Naruto, a path had been violently carved out… jarring in its sheer clarity.
"…Damn."
Logan's face was pale, and the brink of physical exhaustion made him want to curse.
He looked down, and saw that Naruto's eyes were shut tight, and the red Chakra had also dissipated. It seemed the danger of Biju Transformation have passed.
A duel that wasn't even meant to be special had ended up triggering Naruto's Biju power. That sudden full-force attack had drained everything. With his spirit broken, Naruto had lost consciousness.
'The damn thing finally stopped.' Logan took a long moment to catch his breath, then rubbed his aching, numb right hand, 'I definitely need time to recover and train more.'
Looking at Naruto who was sleeping soundly, he thought to himself, 'No matter how much someone bounces off the walls when they're awake, they always look quiet when they sleep.'
Logan glanced around. It was getting late and this wasn't a place to linger.
But just as he turned to leave, he froze.
A hand had grabbed his ankle.
"…Don't go."
Logan was stunned by this, 'He's still conscious after that?'
"You bastard…"
With the corner of his mouth twitching, Logan turned around. As expected, Naruto was awake.
Despite his utterly worn-out state, he had still reached out, using the last of his strength to grab hold of Logan's pant leg.
"I really wonder where you get the strength."
Their clothes were in tatters. Logan's gaze fell on the hand clutching his ankle, battered skin with not a patch unscathed.
"Hattori-sensei..."
"…Why didn't you come back?"
Naruto raised his head with difficulty, eyes half-open, struggling not to let them close completely. The crimson hue of the Kyubi was gone. What was left in those eyes, like still, blue water, was something usually hidden, bundled tightly beneath layers of bravado.
We all keep parts of ourselves hidden, only letting them show when we're at our most vulnerable.
"..."
"Naruto…" Logan crouched down with a faint smile on his face.
A few minutes ago, they'd been going at it like enemies. But with the sun quietly shining down, their voices softened naturally.
"Even if I came back… things wouldn't go back to how they were."
Logan knew it was hard to explain.
Lifting Naruto by the collar, he hesitated… but in the end, he didn't show any gentleness, and simply tossed the boy beside a half-shattered rock.
"The sun that rises tomorrow is a new day. Look around you. You've grown this much, and yet your thinking's still so damn simple."
"You've been on your path for a long time. Everyone else has, too."
Naruto didn't even have the strength to resist. His position shifted from lying flat to a seated slump. The rough handling made every part of his wounded body ache, but he couldn't even cry out.
He just leaned weakly, staring at his former teacher with his hollow eyes.
The other party stretched out his hand towards him.
'Damn it, what are you going to do? Are you still going to hit me after all that?'
'Is he still not done? Is he still mad? What the hell was he even talking about…'
'And when did I… accidentally go into Biju Transformation...?'
Flick.
Logan knew there was no way to explain it all.
So he just stretched out his hand and gently flicked the stubborn boy on the forehead.