Chapter 422: Sasuke's Sharp Senses
Ten minutes later.
Naruto and Sasuke, who had been using their Ten-Tails ability frequently, were now two kilometers away from the Nine Tails.
"Naruto, you go find the Nine Tails!"
Sasuke said, keeping a close watch on Li Yao through chakra perception. Once Li Yao tried to interfere with Naruto and the Nine Tails' fusion, he would use Ten-Tails to move Li Yao away, not giving him a chance to disrupt their plan.
"Got it."
Naruto responded, then shot off toward the Nine Tails, who also started running toward him. The other Tailed Beasts did the same.
"Hmm... This guy?"
Sasuke watched Li Yao, who stopped and showed no intention of attacking. His brow furrowed in confusion.
Strange!
It was so strange!
Li Yao, from the moment he started attacking them... no, more precisely, when he started attacking and entangling with Naruto, it seemed like... he had been waiting for something?
This guy... it seemed like he wasn't actually planning to kill Naruto!
Why?
After pausing briefly to calm down, Sasuke thought back to the earlier battle and immediately noticed the oddity.
Why wasn't Li Yao trying to kill Naruto?
And now, he was watching Naruto merge with the Nine Tails without trying to stop him?
What was he trying to do?
What was his goal with Naruto?
Sasuke discovered a huge problem, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out the reason behind Li Yao's strange behavior.
After all, the ability to copy Six Paths-level chakra through close combat perception was too extraordinary. Even someone as talented as Sasuke didn't dare to consider such things.
But the truth was, the process through which they had gained their powers was the true defiance of the heavens.
Naruto, who had never even mastered a bloodline elimination technique, had, with the help of the Six Paths Sage, not only mastered the Six Paths Yang Release but also gained control of the Truth-Seeking Balls. That was the true defiance of the heavens.
Sasuke, who didn't have an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, had somehow obtained the Rinnegan and the Six Paths Yin Release in a seemingly miraculous way.
But ultimately, the powers granted to them were still granted.
In the later Boruto timeline, when Naruto and Sasuke were significantly weaker, this might have been the reason.
Back to the present.
At this moment, Naruto and the Nine Tails' fists collided.
"Naruto!"
"Kurama!"
Inside Naruto's spiritual space, without the seal gates or any restrictions, the chakra of the Nine Tails and Naruto perfectly fused together.
Buzz!
The Nine Tails voluntarily entered Naruto's body and merged with him, activating the golden Nine Tails mode.
The golden Nine Tails chakra formed a Nine Tails body around Naruto, with Naruto himself inside the Nine Tails' head. This was Naruto's most powerful form after merging with the Nine Tails.
And now, with the Nine Tails chakra's protection, Li Yao couldn't teleport next to Naruto and attack him up close.
"Sasuke!"
After completing the transformation, Naruto shouted and rushed into the sky to confront Li Yao, signaling Sasuke to move and absorb chakra from the other Tailed Beasts.
"Good!"
Li Yao also flew higher into the sky. Naruto, eager to follow, quickly engaged Li Yao in combat.
Li Yao's black hole space ninjutsu remained invincible.
But now, with the help of the Nine Tails, Naruto no longer remained in a passive position. He even started using shadow clones to assist in his attacks.
He was responsible for dodging Li Yao's attacks, while the Nine Tails launched smaller Tailed Beast Ball attacks aimed at Li Yao's head.
As a result, there were several close calls, and it was Li Yao who had to frequently use teleportation to dodge Naruto and the Nine Tails' attacks.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sasuke below activated his full-body Susanoo, using it as a vessel to absorb the chakra of the other eight Tailed Beasts.
The eight Tailed Beasts didn't resist and allowed Sasuke to absorb their chakra.
Back when they were inside Madara's body, with the help of Minato's chakra, they had already established a connection to the Six Paths Sage.
They knew that in order to defeat Li Yao, this being from another world, they had to rely on their combined powers with Naruto and Sasuke.
Thus, for the sake of the Shinobi World, and for themselves, as well as for the Six Paths Sage, they temporarily put aside their hatred of humans and helped Naruto and Sasuke deal with this otherworldly invasion.
The eight ionized chakras surged into Sasuke's Susanoo like endless lightning.
With the immense chakra flowing into it, Sasuke's previously somewhat transparent full-body Susanoo became solid, with the white lightning chakra tightly compressed inside.
Crack!
The terrifying chakra caused the Susanoo to crack in parts.
Under Sasuke's powerful Rinnegan control, the chakra stored in the eight Tailed Beasts was completely drained, and the terrifying power turned Sasuke's Susanoo into an armor, worn over the eight Tailed Beasts' chakra clusters.
Powerful!
The terrifying strength filled Sasuke's body and mind, and he felt an unprecedented surge of power.
"Kid, you must defeat that otherworldly intruder!"
"Our power is temporarily yours!"
"Kid..."
Below, the eight drained Tailed Beasts lay like exhausted dogs on the ground, their eyes glaring at Sasuke on the Susanoo. They weakly spoke of defeating Li Yao.
Whoosh!
Sasuke didn't even glance at the eight Tailed Beasts, let alone respond. He immediately flew up toward the high sky where Naruto and Li Yao were fighting.
This sight angered the eight Tailed Beasts, who wished they could get their chakra back.
"Damn it, so close."
In the sky, a mini Tailed Beast Ball exploded, but Li Yao had already teleported far away and charged toward Naruto again.
Whoosh!
Before Li Yao could get close to Naruto, he suddenly swapped places with the arriving Sasuke. Sasuke, controlling the massive Susanoo, flew to Naruto's side.
"Naruto, that guy seems to be targeting something on you?"
"Targeting me... what do you mean?"
Naruto asked, confused, looking at Sasuke.
Fifty meters ahead, Li Yao watched Sasuke's words with interest, secretly thinking that Sasuke had indeed detected his thoughts.
Could he guess my intentions?
Li Yao thought.
Sasuke, watching Li Yao not make a move, became even more certain of his suspicion.
"Didn't you notice?" Sasuke said coldly. "From the start, that guy has been attacking you, but he's always used physical attacks. The black hole spheres that devour space ninjutsu are no longer in use."
"I thought he wanted to kill me first, since I don't have space teleportation ninjutsu." Naruto frowned. "I didn't realize there was more to it."
Naruto didn't have many doubts about Li Yao's focus on him. After all, compared to Sasuke, who had space-time movement abilities, he was easier to deal with.
But now, with Sasuke's reminder, Naruto also realized something was off.
Li Yao hadn't used any other space techniques, like that special alternate dimension or the black space ability that devours everything. He had only been using the stick that could devour the Truth-Seeking Balls.
Although powerful, the attack was simple. Even without Sasuke's Ten-Tails ability, as long as Naruto focused on dodging, he could keep himself alive.
Logically, if Li Yao wanted to kill him, he should use all his techniques to attack.
But now it seemed... that Li Yao had never really intended to kill him!
At least not for now.
Why?
Naruto furrowed his brow, unable to understand.
Sasuke then glanced at Naruto and continued, "I don't know why he's doing this, but it's obvious that there's something on you that's stopping him from killing you."
"At least, not until he gets what he wants from you."
Sasuke added.
Sasuke was truly sharp. What he said was already very close to Li Yao's actual intentions.
Li Yao indeed needed the Truth-Seeking Balls chakra from Naruto.
Until he copied that chakra, he wouldn't kill Naruto.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997