Amidst a stretch of crumbling ruins, Naruto walked slowly.
From a shadowy corner, a snake-like black shadow snaked through the crevices of the remnants, slowly approaching him.
The distance between the two grew shorter. The snake shadow, like a viper that had spotted its prey, moved with even greater care and caution.
The forked front of the shadow, like the venomous fangs of a viper, was coiled and ready to strike.
Just then, Naruto, who had been walking steadily, suddenly stopped.
The slowly spreading snake shadow also froze its movement, the shadows among the ruins providing its best cover.
Just as the "snake" thought it had been discovered and was about to strike directly, the target began to move again.
"My luck is pretty good." Naruto bent down and picked up a coin.
Many traveling merchants passed through these ruins; this coin likely belonged to one of them.
Pocketing the coin, he continued forward, seemingly unaware of the danger ahead.
The distance between them grew ever closer.
Three steps…
Two steps…
One step! In an instant, the snake shadow, like a true viper, shot out from the darkness.
"Shadow Imitation Technique?" Naruto's brow twitched slightly. To be honest, he really didn't want to encounter this ninjutsu in such a situation.
"Success!" Hideki thought, his mind settling as he saw this.
Even a Jinchuriki, if caught by the Shadow Imitation Technique inscribed with sealing formulas, would lose connection to their own chakra, just like Inuki had.
But in the next instant, he permanently lost all perception of this world.
Naruto drew Kusabimaru and turned his head to look towards the distant chakra source.
Terai's eyes flickered. Hideki was not a regular Root member but had been specially invited by Lord Danzo from the Nara clan for this mission.
As far as he knew, Hideki's true identity was somewhat special.
Lord Danzo is in for some trouble… Terai thought to himself. Nara Shikaku was no small fry that could be easily dealt with.
"He's coming over!" the sensor ninja in the team suddenly called out.
Everyone's expression turned grim. In their vision, the Jinchuriki was still standing in the original spot.
"A shadow clone or something else?" they pondered, their feet not stopping.
"Left side, underground!" the sensor ninja warned.
"Earth Style: Tectonic Core!"
A Root ninja formed hand seals and slammed his hands heavily onto the ground.
With a rumble, a square section of earth, infused with chakra, abruptly rose!
Discovered, Naruto abandoned any thought of a sneak attack and directly entered Kurama Chakra Mode. Protected by the golden chakra, he leaped out from the splashing stone fragments.
A Root ninja dashed past his comrades, creating two shadow clones, and charged at him with blades drawn.
"Dance of the Crescent Moon!"
Naruto's eyes flickered. He was all too familiar with this ninjutsu. A large amount of Wind Release chakra instantly surged into the blade of Kusabimaru.
In swordsmanship, he feared no one!
"Kanshin-ryu: Horizontal Slash!"
Their figures flashed past each other.
Naruto's gaze shifted, quickly locking onto the next target.
As for the Root ninja, he was sliced in two in mid-air, along with the short sword in his hand.
The death of a comrade had no effect whatsoever on the Root ninja.
For them, who had long since eradicated their emotions, as long as the mission could be completed, comrades were also disposable.
The moment Naruto's feet touched the ground, he felt it tremble. Looking intently, he saw the Earth Style user from before was using chakra to forcibly alter the ground beneath him.
"Earth Style: Tectonic Core!"
Naruto's figure was rapidly lifted high into the air, instantly becoming the target of concentrated fire from the Root ninja.
"Earth Style: Iron Rock Cannon!" "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" "Lightning Release: Thunder Snake!" "…"
Five ninjutsu of varying elemental natures, under the control of the Root ninja, successively landed on Naruto.
Boom!
The raised platform was instantly blasted away by a third.
"Sen! Behind you!" Before the Root ninja could even lower their hand seals, the sensor ninja observing the entire field shouted loudly.
The Root ninja named Sen's pupils constricted. Before he could react, an azure blade light flashed across his neck.
"When did he appear there?" Glancing at this scene, a ripple appeared in Terai's usually calm eyes.
He was certain that the person on the platform was the Jinchuriki himself, not some shadow clone.
With that kind of ninjutsu encirclement, even the fastest Body Flicker Technique would have resulted in injury, yet this fellow was completely unharmed. It simply didn't make sense.
The Body Flicker Technique was merely a high-speed movement art, not a space-time ninjutsu.
Naruto looked at the remaining five enemies, lightly touched a nearby crumbling stone wall with his left hand, and his figure once again vanished from the spot.
And on the dilapidated wall, four words were left behind: Dragon Heritage Power!
Although it was the first time he had used the Flying Thunder God Technique in actual combat, Naruto found himself liking this feeling of coming and going freely.
"He's coming! Straight ahead!" the sensor ninja hurriedly warned his comrades.
"What's going on? Why isn't he continuing to attack from our rear?"
Watching the Jinchuriki, who had almost become a golden afterimage, Terai's mind was filled with doubt.
Although the Jinchuriki's current speed was terrifying, the danger he posed was far less than before.
If he were the Jinchuriki, facing a numerical disadvantage, he would definitely press the attack to quickly even out the numbers, or even end the battle directly.
Meaning, there was some kind of limitation to the movement he used to evade the ninjutsu earlier.
Terai's eyes fixed intently on the golden afterimage. He had to find this limitation quickly.
Four chances left… He glanced at his remaining comrades, a sense of urgency rising in his heart.
Naruto locked his gaze on the sensor ninja at the very back of the group. His speed suddenly increased, and with a feint, he appeared directly at the sensor ninja's side.
As if guessing his intention, Inuki quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to block in front of the sensor ninja, a fierce Konoha Strong Whirlwind lashing out at the attacking Naruto.
Clang!
The Strong Whirlwind accurately kicked the incoming Kusabimaru. The sound of clashing metal echoed at their point of impact.
"Reinforced with metal?" Naruto's eyes flickered.
Seeing his defense was effective, Inuki quickly adjusted his point of leverage and threw another sharp spinning kick.
The seamless attack gave Naruto no chance to defend. Just as the spinning kick was about to hit his face, a golden claw suddenly shot out from his golden chakra cloak, tightly gripping Inuki's ankle.
Just as Naruto was about to finish him with a single blow, a sense of crisis suddenly welled up in his heart. He instinctively leaped backward.
In that mere instant, several sharp earth spikes appeared where he had just been standing.
Having escaped the danger, Inuki quickly retreated to his comrades' side.
"His chakra cloak can manifest limbs for auxiliary attacks! Avoid close combat with him!" Inuki relayed the intelligence he had gathered.
"Additionally, his sword is a chakra metal blade imbued with Wind Release! Those without special weapons should not engage him in armed combat!"
"Have you had enough fun yet?" Kurama's voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Wasting so much time on a few small fry."
"Well, it's my first time fighting someone in this mode. It's hard not to get a little excited." Naruto sheathed Kusabimaru and brought his hands together.
A massive amount of golden chakra erupted outwards, continuously gathering and forming around him.
"Stop him, quickly!!" The sensor ninja seemed to have seen something terrifying and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Hearing his terrified voice, Terai's pupils violently constricted. The sensor ninja was a veteran member of this team, highly experienced. For him to warn them in such a terrified tone, it was hard to imagine what he had sensed from the Jinchuriki.
"The Nine-Tails!!!!"
In the distance, a golden Nine-Tailed Fox came into view.
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