A surge of black flames suddenly ignited across the masked man's eye!
It was none other than Amaterasu's black flames!
The sudden change caught both the masked man and Sasuke off guard!
"Ugh—ah!"
With a cry of pain, a strange spatial vortex appeared before the masked man's eye!
And in the very next moment, the supposedly inextinguishable black flames of Amaterasu vanished in a bizarre fashion!
After extinguishing Amaterasu, the masked man let out a breath, speaking with lingering fear:
"Itachi really didn't want me to have any contact with you."
Sasuke, not quite understanding, frowned and asked:
"What do you mean? And just now—what was that black flame?"
The masked man explained:
"That flame was Itachi's Amaterasu. He must have placed a Transcription Seal on you before he died."
"As long as your gaze met my Sharingan, it would automatically trigger…"
"How ruthless—he actually wanted to burn me to death with Amaterasu…"
The masked man's face twisted with self-mockery and ridicule.
"Anyway, Sasuke, you've seen it for yourself. Even in death, Itachi was still thinking of you."
"So, what will you do?"
"Will you uphold his will and become Konoha's sacrifice…"
"Or will you stand up for him, and reclaim all the injustice he suffered…"
...
Land of Earth.
Shinju and Naruto piloted the aircraft through the clouds.
The closer they drew to Mount Shumisen, the darker the sky became, and the thicker the clouds pressed down!
Naruto raised his hand, pointing at the shrouded mountain in the distance.
"A place this creepy—if you told me it was haunted, I'd believe you (ー_ー)!!"
"Wouldn't surprise me if it actually was," Shinju joked lightly.
At that moment, a sharp eagle's cry rang out from the clouds above them!
The next second, a giant eagle burst from the black clouds, diving straight toward their aircraft!!
Naruto's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Shinju, let me handle this one! ୧⍢⃝୨"
With that, he flipped onto the top of the plane, wind-style chakra already gathering in his hand.
"Whirrr—"
The Rasenshuriken quickly formed, accompanied by a piercing screech!
Time passed. When Shinju noticed Naruto still hadn't thrown it, he called out:
"It's been this long, and you still haven't finished it?!"
Naruto sounded troubled.
"He's riding the eagle—way too agile, I can't get a clean shot! (′д｀σ)σ"
"Give you a chance, and you still can't pull it off…" Shinju muttered helplessly.
Then—
"Whoosh!"
Shinju suddenly canceled the airplane jutsu.
Both he, in the cockpit, and Naruto on top of the plane immediately dropped into freefall!
"Whoa—!!"
The sudden drop startled Naruto, making him hurl the Rasenshuriken out of reflex!
"Crackkk—"
Before they could fall too far, Shinju swiftly formed ice beneath their feet, catching himself and the plummeting Naruto.
He grabbed Naruto by the collar and snorted:
"Next time, I'll summon you a hawk instead. Not being able to fly is just a pain."
"Rumble!!"
Lightning raged in the clouds ahead, thunder rumbling ominously.
Through the storm, a massive shadow flitted back and forth in the clouds.
Shinju frowned.
"You want to play? Fine—I'll play along."
He formed hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Thundercloud Net!!"
"Crackkk—"
In the thundercloud ahead, countless bolts of lightning surged at once!
They wove into a massive net within the storm, instantly ensnaring the great bird within!
Naruto gawked in shock (꒪⌓꒪).
"Hey, Shinju, Lightning Release can be used like that?!"
Shinju explained casually:
"Perfectly normal. That storm cloud already held tons of electric charge. I just gave it a little nudge with Lightning Release ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )."
"This way, I'm using the power of nature itself—it doesn't even cost chakra."
"I told you before—master math, physics, and chemistry, and you'll never fear the world. But nooo, you didn't listen. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Naruto swallowed hard, nodding.
"Y-Yeah, makes sense… But, uh, Shinju, could you maybe cut off the lightning? I think you just fried that bird."
At his words, Shinju sniffed the air—and indeed, the scent of charred flesh lingered in the wind…
"Damn. I was hoping to capture him and get some intel. Did I just kill him instead? ⊙_⊙"
Quickly, Shinju used his chakra to disrupt the thundercloud, halting the lightning.
Then his right arm transformed into a vine, lashing out to snag the scorched man atop the giant bird.
Pulling him in close, Shinju froze.
"…He's really dead."
Naruto: --003d_--003d
"Life really is fragile."
Seeing Mount Sumeru ahead, the two abandoned flight and chose to approach on foot.
...
On the ground.
A leather-clad woman stood with several huge dogs at her side, squinting toward the sky to check if her ally's ambush had succeeded.
"Is Eagle gonna pull it off or what? Why's it gone quiet already?"
No sooner had she spoken than a charred giant bird came tumbling from the heavens!
Startled, she took a wary step back. As she recognized the bird, her eyes widened in shock.
"T-That's summon—what the hell, why's it completely burned bald?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
The next instant, the bird's corpse smashed into the ground before her, splattering into mangled flesh…
Ni: "…Well, shit."
"These enemies… might be tougher than I thought!!"
Her eyes flicked skyward again, nervous something else might fall from above.
And sure enough, two figures descended.
Terrified, she leapt onto her giant summon hound, forming hand seals for her strongest technique!
"Chimera Technique!"
Chakra surged as her legs fused with the giant dog's head—
Fusion complete!
"Bang!" Shinju and Naruto landed at that very moment.
And instantly, their eyes fell upon the grotesque beast before them. Shinju squinted, muttering:
"What the hell kind of messed-up combo is this? (≖╻≖;)"
"A real-life Beauty and the Beast?!"
From atop the hound's head, the woman sneered at them.
"You, red-haired kid—you're Konoha's Shinju, aren't you? Got a decent face, I'll give you that."
"But since you dare to oppose Hiruko-sama, I can't let you walk away alive!"
She swung her arm forward!
"Woof, woof, woof!!"
The massive hounds behind her howled and charged straight at Shinju!
On this side, Naruto noticed Shinju starting to form seals and quickly grabbed his hand.
"Shinju, this time—let me do it! ❛‿˂̵✧"
With that, Naruto created thousands of clones, each throwing themselves into the fray against the dogs!
Though Naruto's power was still shy of Shinju's, against a few giant dogs he was more than enough!
Thousands of clones striking at once—fists, kicks, and Rasengan combos—soon overwhelmed the pack!
Now, only one enemy remained!
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!!"
Naruto hurled a Rasenshuriken, blasting a massive crater into the mountainside!
At the center of the explosion, the dog woman's leather armor shredded under the raging chakra, revealing… far more than expected.
Shinju: "…"
"Nice one, Naruto. Totally inappropriate. (๑‾ ꇴ ‾๑)"
Naruto: "W-Wait, no—th-this wasn't on purpose!! (°Д°≡°Д°)"