Seeing this, Mukade made a quick decision. He immediately swept his massive hand at the swarm of Naruto's shadow clones, trying to eliminate the annoying distractions and interrupt Naruto's jutsu.
But unfortunately for him, thanks to Uchiha Hikaru's earlier Susanoo attack, much of his puppet body had already been damaged. Although shards of the puppet were continuously being reintegrated, he had only managed to restore about half of his original form. His arms could barely fend off the clones.
Just as he was about to break through their defenses—
Naruto and two shadow clones had already formed Rasenshuriken, the wind screeching with a high-pitched whirr as they raised the jutsu overhead.
"Not good!" Mukade's senses flared with danger. It was faint, but unmistakably lethal.
Several massive hands slammed the ground, his lower body coiling in an attempt to somersault into the air and knock Naruto away. Even if he lost the lower half of his body, he could still keep fighting.
But Naruto, the king of unpredictability, wasn't going to let him escape so easily.
The two shadow clones behind Naruto suddenly threw him forward.
"Kono-pressure!"
"Don't even think about running!!!"
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!!"
Mukade saw the blinding, spiraling jutsu hurtling toward him. Panic finally appeared on his face.
No! It's going straight for my head—damn it!
But people facing death often unleash unexpected potential.
Several chakra threads shot from the puppet's mouth, wrapping tightly around Naruto's limbs and suspending him in the air.
Naruto froze.
"Wait—seriously!? You can do that!?"
"You sneaky bastard! Shameless! Disgusting!!" (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Mukade burst into manic laughter. The danger was over, and triumph surged through him.
Uchiha Hikaru, the most troublesome opponent, had been blasted aside. Naruto, his old nemesis, was now in his grasp.
The remaining three-man team hadn't even shown up. There was no way they could harm him now.
It's over!
"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just walked away, Naruto?"
"Why come all the way to Rōran and get in my way?"
"If you hadn't, you might've lived a little longer... before I raze Konoha to the ground."
Even while suspended, Naruto desperately maintained the Rasenshuriken in his hand.
After all, he hadn't yet mastered Sage Mode—or figured out how to throw the damn thing.
Mukade's smug voice echoed in his ears until Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. He clenched his teeth and made up his mind.
Screw it. I'll take the hit too!
He stopped supplying chakra.
The Rasenshuriken detonated in midair.
Wind-style chakra exploded violently, engulfing both Naruto and Mukade's puppet in a storm of slicing blades.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Screams erupted from both the puppet and Naruto.
"Which road has more roads—" (???) The phrase cracked through the chaos.
Suddenly, a massive black Susanoo arm surged from behind a crumbling wall and reached straight into the vortex of wind.
At the same moment, a golden flash streaked across the storm, and Minato reappeared beside Sarah, safely carrying Naruto in his arms.
Uchiha Hikaru controlled his Susanoo to grab Mukade's puppet and drag it deeper into the raging Rasenshuriken.
Through his chakra perception, Hikaru could tell that half the refugees had already made it to safety underground. This warm-up exercise was almost over.
Mukade's puppet thrashed violently, giant hands clawing at the ground to pull itself out.
While they were locked in a stalemate, Minato looked down at the wounded Naruto in his arms, eyes filled with anguish.
Though he had only been within the Rasenshuriken's blast radius for a moment, Minato could feel his cells torn open. The agony was unbearable even for him.
Naruto's body was a bloody mess.
His heart felt like it was being sliced by a thousand blades and pierced by needles.
Even Kurama, inside Naruto, felt the light fading in the boy's consciousness.
The Nine-Tails grumbled in frustration.
"You stupid brat... Why'd you go so far?"
"Using your own body to tank that jutsu..."
"If you die, I'll have to wait years before I'm resurrected." (¬_¬)
"Tch... fine. I'll save you."
Kurama surged with chakra, forcing it out through the seal.
Minato instantly noticed the chakra's emergence.
"Kyuubi! You're not trying to take Naruto's body now, are you!?"
But in the next second, Minato saw Naruto's wounds rapidly close.
The blood evaporated into smoke. New skin grew over the cuts.
Minato gently leaned Naruto against a nearby wall.
"Your Highness, please take care of him."
Sarah wiped away her tears and nodded firmly.
"Leave it to me."
Minato drew two kunai from behind his back, spun around, and charged into battle.
He hurled dozens of Flying Thunder God Kunai into the walls and ground.
Then, he rapidly formed hand seals and summoned more weapons.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Super Flashing Samsara Dance Queen Chishiki—!!"
Dozens of clones surrounded the battlefield, launching shurikens from all angles toward Mukade's torso.
Meanwhile, Naruto's storm had dissipated, and Uchiha Hikaru was still grappling with Mukade.
Half of Hikaru's Susanoo was intercepting Mukade's mechanical attacks, hammering the puppet with brutal punches.
From Mukade's perspective, the hundreds of incoming shuriken were laughable. Worthless!
But then... something changed.
The shuriken began multiplying.
Hundreds... thousands... tens of thousands... hundreds of thousands!
His scalp tingled. A flood of shuriken rained down on his puppet body at breakneck speed.
Ding ding ding...
Crack crack crack...
Mukade's puppet exterior began to rupture under the storm of steel.
Like relentless termites, the barrage began tearing him apart.
A sinister smile spread across Uchiha Hikaru's face.
(＾▽＾) "They're finally... all out."
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Send Power Stones
Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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