"ROOOAARRR!!"
Naruto's face began to contort into a beastly snarl, resembling that of Son Goku. Fangs and claws sprouted from his limbs. His body rapidly expanded, and thick fur burst out from all over him. In just moments, he was completely covered in hair—transforming into a towering beast. His muscles swelled at an unnatural speed, and a powerful, thick tail emerged from behind.
In less than a minute, a giant ape the size of a small mountain appeared before Sasuke and the others.
Orochimaru, pitifully, was now gripped in the giant ape's massive hand. His long white neck dangled like a tiny grub caught between its fingers.
His once-formidable jutsu were utterly useless before the giant ape—he couldn't even attract the beast's attention.
"What is this monster?!" Orochimaru could feel his neck being crushed, and his brain felt like it was being shaken into mush.
"Isn't Uzumaki Naruto the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki? Did the Nine-Tails turn into a monkey? Or is this the Four-Tails?"
---
"Sasuke, are you alright?!" Sakura quickly supported him and moved him to a safer area. The giant snake that had been holding her earlier had tried to rush in to save Orochimaru—only to be stomped to death by the ape in one casual step.
"Orochimaru! What did you do to Naruto?!" Sasuke shoved Sakura aside, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and roared furiously at Orochimaru, who was still dangling in the giant ape's grip.
His fury eclipsed the pain in his body.
From Sasuke's point of view, he had clearly seen Orochimaru's head fly toward Naruto—right before Naruto transformed into this terrifying creature. Combined with the curse mark now burning on his own neck, he assumed Orochimaru was responsible for Naruto's transformation.
As Sasuke's emotions spiraled out of control, a string of black runes began to emerge from the bite mark on his neck. The runes rapidly spread across his body.
Curse Seal of Heaven—Orochimaru's latest creation.
It enhanced the bearer's physical abilities to a degree.
A degraded version of Sage Mode.
For average shinobi, this was a valuable buff—albeit with high risk. But for Sasuke in his current state, it was of little help.
"G... GET... BACK!" Sasuke gritted his teeth and roared with pure rage. His chakra exploded, more than doubling in strength. The tomoe in his Sharingan began spinning wildly.
Orochimaru's precious curse mark, was being pushed back by Sasuke's sheer will and fury.
And that wasn't the end.
The tomoe in Sasuke's eyes began spinning faster and faster—until they almost merged into one.
His rage had unleashed a power far beyond imagination.
---
The giant ape began pounding its chest furiously, its deafening roar shaking the heavens. A suffocating aura of death and destruction rolled off its body in waves. The entire Forest of Death trembled. Every living creature aside from humans froze in place, paralyzed by instinctual terror.
All sensory-type shinobi within dozens of miles instantly felt the monstrous chakra. Without exception, their bodies trembled—some even fainted from the sheer pressure.
That overwhelming sense of despair was inhuman.
---
"Whimper..." Akamaru burrowed into Kiba's arms, shivering uncontrollably. No matter how much Kiba tried to comfort him, it didn't help. Soon, the scent of fear—the distinct musk of canine panic—wafted into the air.
Even Akamaru, a trained ninja hound, had wet himself in terror.
"Akamaru says... he senses a monster."
"My kikaichū are saying the same thing," said Shino, lifting his hands. Tiny black specks appeared across his palms—dead insects.
They had died simply from sensing the chakra of the giant ape.
---
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata seemed to sense something. Activating her Byakugan, she immediately recognized the massive, now unrecognizable figure—it was Naruto.
Without hesitation, she ran toward him. Her teammates couldn't even react in time to stop her.
Even though her legs trembled violently and her heart was filled with fear, her concern for Naruto triumphed over all else.
---
Elsewhere in the forest, Neji's team was also speeding toward Naruto's location—Lee and Neji dashing with all their might.
---
"W-What is that thing?!" Shukaku, the One-Tail sealed inside Gaara, suddenly screamed in panic within his host's mind. He began frantically urging Gaara to flee from the Forest of Death—even going so far as to threaten him.
It was the first time Gaara had ever seen Shukaku this frightened.
"There's something terrifying out there! Get out of here now, you idiot!!"
As Gaara struggled to make sense of it, he too began to sense the monstrous chakra radiating from the giant ape.
Kankurō, nearby, noticed something terrifying.
Gaara was trembling.
---
All across the forest, the same scene was playing out.
---
"NARUTO!!!" Sasuke shouted with everything he had.
His Sharingan finally evolved completely—the three tomoe merging into a new, unique pattern.
But Sasuke wasn't even aware of this. All he cared about was stopping Orochimaru's influence and bringing Naruto back to normal.
Then—his left eye glowed with a rotating red hexagram.
> "Entity detected. Analyzing."
A mechanical voice rang in Sasuke's mind.
> "Cannot comprehend. Cannot comprehend!"
---
At that moment, the mountain-sized great ape stopped pounding its chest. Its blood-red eyes swept across the area. Then it lifted one arm and gently swung it forward.
A gust of wind roared out, carrying the force of a Category 10 hurricane, just from the physical pressure alone.
Then, the beast opened its massive, fanged mouth.
In just a few seconds, an orange-yellow sphere of energy began to form inside it.
"WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!"
"Detected ultra-high energy. Threat level: XXXXX. Annihilation imminent."
"WARNING!"
That mechanical voice echoed in Sasuke's mind again and again.
But even without it, Sasuke could sense how terrifying that energy was.
His concern for Naruto only grew deeper.
---
Just as Sasuke stood frozen and helpless, the clinking sound of chains dragging along the ground reached his ears.
Before he could react, dark black chains erupted from the ape's navel, spreading outward like a spiderweb and wrapping tightly around its massive form.
Naruto's Adamantine Sealing Chains!
The pitch-black chains radiated a chilling, unearthly aura—like something straight from the underworld.
As the chains locked in, the red light in the ape's eyes began to fade—until it disappeared completely.
The giant ape froze, like a machine that had lost power, head hanging low, body completely motionless.
But the sheer pressure that still radiated from its body made even seasoned shinobi instinctively back away.
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