"Chakra… it's gotten even stronger."
Senju Haruto and Uchiha Itachi were racing back toward the village at full speed when the Nine-Tails' chakra suddenly surged again.
"Another tail?" Haruto muttered under his breath. Based on what he knew, once Naruto fully transformed into the Nine-Tails, Minato Namikaze's lingering will would manifest inside Naruto's mindscape and restore the seal.
From the way the transformation was progressing, Haruto guessed Naruto was now in the seventh-tail stage.
"We have to hurry," Itachi said quietly, though inside he was far from calm. After all, he still held deep affection for Konoha.
"Yeah," Haruto nodded, fully understanding the urgency.
But even at their top speed, it would still take time to reach the village.
"Moving the Uchiha compound all the way to the village outskirts was… not a wise decision," Haruto couldn't help but think.
He understood Danzō's reasoning, but with such a distance, if anything happened inside the village, the Uchiha clan would be hard-pressed to respond in time.
If that didn't deepen the rift between them and the rest of Konoha, it would be a miracle.
What Haruto didn't expect, though, was that in the middle of their rush, another chakra signature suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Hm?" Haruto frowned and stopped instantly, turning toward the source.
A man in a black cloak, wearing a mask patterned with yellow swirls, showing only a single eye.
Itachi sensed him too and immediately shifted into a defensive stance.
But before Itachi could act, the man was already there, one hand clamping down on his shoulder.
"You!" Itachi's eyes widened in shock, instantly realizing who it was.
"Itachi, we need to talk," the man's deep voice rumbled, completely ignoring Haruto. He clearly had no intention of fighting them, nor of delaying their movements.
The moment he activated his ability, the space around them began to twist.
Even though Itachi tried to break free, he was a heartbeat too late.
In less than three breaths, both he and the masked man vanished without a trace, right before Haruto's eyes.
"Obito…" Haruto murmured the name to the empty ground.
In that instant, he felt like he understood why Naruto had suddenly appeared back in the village.
"…Forget it."
Even though Obito had taken Itachi, Haruto wasn't worried. Obito still needed Itachi for his plans, and if it came to a fight, Itachi's strength was not inferior to his.
"I should head to the village first."
With that, Haruto continued forward at full speed.
Meanwhile, even though Naruto had only manifested seven tails, the sheer burst of chakra shook the entire Hidden Leaf.
The night of the Nine-Tails' rampage years ago was still a nightmare etched in the minds of many.
So while Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elite jōnin of the village worked together to restrain Naruto, other shinobi were already taking action—either moving to support the Hokage or helping evacuate civilians.
"This amount of chakra…"
Yugito Nii jolted awake in her ANBU cell, feeling the Two-Tails Matatabi inside her stirring restlessly.
"A jinchūriki?"
She glanced outside her cell, but there wasn't a single guard in sight.
"Did a jinchūriki lose control?"
Her eyes narrowed as she stepped to the barred window, gazing out at the moonlight.
Boom!
No matter the reason, Yugito had no intention of wasting this rare opportunity. She immediately drew on Matatabi's chakra and smashed her fist into the wall, blasting open a gaping hole.
Yet she didn't immediately flee the Leaf Village.
A jinchūriki was an invaluable military asset to any hidden village—especially to Kumogakure, the only village that had mastered creating perfect jinchūriki.
If she could take the Nine-Tails back with her, it would only be a matter of time before they dominated the shinobi world.
"…Breathe…" Yugito took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm.
Her options were clear—escape straight home, or hunt the Nine-Tails.
The temptation was immense, even for her.
After a few steadying breaths, she made up her mind. She pinpointed the direction of the Nine-Tails' rampage and darted off at full speed.
"Nine-Tails…" she thought, excitement rising within her.
"Bringing me back to Konoha will be the greatest mistake you ever made."
Elsewhere, Naruto, cloaked in seven tails of burning red chakra, shattered Hiruzen's layers of restraint and leapt onto the arm of Chōza Akimichi.
Nara Shikaku, Hyūga Hiashi, and Hyūga Hizashi all launched attacks at the same moment.
"Pressure points!"
Hiashi moved first, unleashing Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms at full strength, targeting the chakra points on Naruto's body.
Hizashi quickly followed, perfectly syncing his own assault with his brother's.
But faced with the Hyūga brothers' combined offensive, Naruto's body suddenly swelled.
Countless miniature, bestial chakra limbs erupted from all over him, swinging wildly in every direction.
Even Hiashi and Hizashi hadn't expected such a technique.
In an instant, Hiashi was forced from offense to defense, and Naruto's power and speed far exceeded his expectations.
Even with the Byakugan's 360-degree field of vision, Hiashi could only see Naruto's movements—his body couldn't keep up at all.
Bam! Bam!
Two heavy impacts landed—Naruto's fists smashed into Hiashi's jaw and Hizashi's stomach, the overwhelming force nearly rupturing their organs.
"Clan Head!"
The Hyūga branch members, shocked, rushed forward to catch the brothers as they were sent flying.
"Got you!"
Shikaku seized the opening created by Hiashi and Hizashi's efforts, casting Shadow Possession Jutsu to pin Naruto's shadow in place.
"Synchronization complete," he muttered.
Only now did Shikaku truly realize the monstrous scale of Naruto's chakra.
He clenched his teeth, straining with every fiber of his being just to hold him for a few seconds.
Each passing moment felt like an eternity.
"Hokage-sama…" Beads of sweat the size of raindrops rolled down his forehead.
Chōza, fully cooperating, gripped Naruto's body with both massive hands, trying to ease Shikaku's burden.
"Sarutobi-sensei!"
Seeing the struggle, Hiruzen dispelled Enma and leapt toward them.
"Adamantine Prison Wall!"
With a sharp shout, the adamantine staff flew from Hiruzen's hands, splitting into dozens of rods midair and forming a cube-shaped cage that dropped over Naruto.
Chōza was forced to release his grip, and at the same time, Shikaku reached his absolute limit—his shadow slipping away from beneath Naruto's feet.
"…Monkey King…" Hiruzen gritted his teeth, silently praying the Adamantine Prison Wall would hold him.