Chapter 154: Bidirectional Gravity
"Let me show you my true speed."
Haku's voice carried an undeniable resolve. In the next moment, his figure flickered like a phantom through all the ice mirrors at incredible velocity! His speed was so fast that it was impossible to track his real body's location.
Satsuki immediately activated her Sharingan to its fullest extent, desperately trying to lock onto that high-speed moving figure... There! She could see it!
Although the visual effect seemed like instant teleportation, under the Sharingan's dynamic vision, Satsuki clearly caught on—this wasn't true spatial jumping, but rather Haku using the smooth surfaces of the ice mirrors combined with some special footwork technique to elevate his movement speed to an incredibly frightening level!
However, despite her eyes barely being able to keep up, Satsuki grimly discovered a fatal problem—her body's reaction speed couldn't match his movements at all.
Her brain issued commands to block or dodge, but her muscles couldn't respond fast enough! This feeling of watching attacks come while being powerless to respond left her feeling helpless.
Clang!
Just as Haku's true form thrust out from an ice mirror, his senbon aimed at Satsuki, a crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out.
A kunai positioned itself perfectly in the senbon's path, steadily blocking it! Gripping the kunai was Naruto, who had somehow appeared in front of Satsuki.
For the first time, Haku's expression beneath his mask showed obvious change—a mixture of shock and disbelief.
"What?! You can actually keep up..."
Naruto's lips curved into a confident arc. "Sorry about that, but since you were moving as slow as a turtle, I couldn't help but intercept you."
This wasn't mere boastful mockery, but a statement of fact. For Naruto, who had once used Flying Thunder God Technique and clashed with the Fourth Raikage renowned for his speed, experiencing that realm of ultimate velocity, Haku's current displayed speed was indeed... lacking.
Seeing this, Haku knew something was wrong and immediately used the counterforce to retreat rapidly. His form seemed to melt into water as he silently disappeared back into the ice mirror behind him, trying to readjust his strategy.
The next moment, Haku decisively changed his attack method. He no longer sought close-range surprise attacks, but began moving irregularly between all the ice mirrors at even greater speed while simultaneously hurling countless ice senbon from all directions like a violent storm!
These ice needles came from every possible direction—above, below, left, right—nearly sealing off most avenues of escape!
Facing this type of saturated coverage attack, Naruto simply calmly formed hand seals—
"Wind Style: Cyclone!"
Instantly, a powerful yet controlled whirlwind formed with Naruto at its center, enveloping him and Satsuki like an invisible shield!
No matter how cunningly Haku attacked or how many ice senbon he threw simultaneously, once they entered the whirlwind's range, they were immediately deflected by the chaotic but powerful air currents—either colliding with each other or being blown away entirely. Not one could penetrate this wind barrier.
"Alright, do you have any other tricks? I still need to go help Kakashi-sensei, so I can't waste any more time here."
Naruto looked at Haku, who was still moving at high speed through the ice mirrors and constantly probing for openings. He decided in his heart not to drag this out any longer. He silently called out: Please, Kurama, lend me some of your chakra.
Communication with the giant beast within was unusually smooth. Almost the moment the thought crossed his mind, vast and warm orange-red chakra surged forth from within his body like boiling water.
The blazing energy cloak instantly covered Naruto's entire form, radiating an ominous yet powerful aura. Gradually, a solid and restless red tail formed behind him, constructed of pure chakra.
For dealing with Haku, the power of just one tail was more than sufficient. After all, in his identity as "Naruto," he couldn't use techniques like Flying Thunder God or Spiraling Ring. The Tailed Beast Chakra Mode was currently his fastest method of ending battles while maintaining his "Uzumaki Naruto" identity.
"...This form still can't be maintained for too long..." Naruto deliberately frowned, speaking in a slightly strained tone. "I need to finish this battle quickly before my body can't handle it anymore."
His seemingly vulnerable words immediately had the desired effect. Satsuki, who had been somewhat frustrated and mentally confused by Haku's absolute speed advantage, was instantly jolted awake by this statement and snapped her head up.
"Wait... Naruto! Could this form be...?!"
Satsuki immediately remembered Kakashi's previous warning—that Naruto had a powerful and dangerous force sealed within him, and overuse could cause irreversible damage to his body! Enormous fear instantly gripped her heart.
Hearing Satsuki's worried cry, Naruto quickly turned his head and tried to comfort her in as relaxed a tone as possible. "It's fine, Satsuki. As long as I finish this battle quickly." He even deliberately added a small lie: "If I fail... I'm counting on you to take over."
By saying this... Satsuki shouldn't feel despair due to the power gap, or even develop those extreme thoughts, right...
Naruto thought to himself. He still had lingering fears about Sasuke's defection due to the power gap in the original story.
Although he really didn't want it to come to that... if Satsuki truly left again, Naruto would definitely spare no cost and use all of "Ember's" resources. Even if it meant exposing his identity, he would search base by base, eliminate Orochimaru first, then properly bring Satsuki back—tied up if necessary.
Naruto felt somewhat troubled, hoping his overly heavy feelings wouldn't pressure Satsuki instead.
However, Naruto had no idea that he was still vastly underestimating the true weight represented by the "Beyond Calculation" bond level already displayed on the system interface.
The 5000 point reward seemed like merely the numerical upper limit the system could provide, as if it only corresponded to about ten levels worth of quantity. But in reality, this was simply because the system's capabilities were limited.
If every emotion Satsuki felt because of him, every deepened bond could be completely converted into specific points, then Naruto would probably immediately gain enough massive energy to instantly fly into space and twist off the heads of those arrogant Otsutsuki to use as soccer balls.
For the current Satsuki, with both parents alive, a warm family, and revenge against Uchiha Itachi no longer being the core driving force and sole dream supporting her desire to grow stronger.
Now, there were perhaps only two extreme situations that could drive her toward the path of defection.
The first would be if Naruto himself chose to become a rogue ninja—she would undoubtedly follow without hesitation.
The second... would be Naruto's death. And if that second situation truly occurred, many people would likely be dragged into the consequences.
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