Sasuke's body hung in mid-air, the dazzling lightning glow from his right hand gradually fading. In the instant he had shot past Ran, a clear look of annoyance had flashed across Sasuke's face. Damn it, he dodged it! The opportunity he and Naruto had created with their surprise attack had been wasted just like that. And more critically, if the enemy wasn't killed, Sasuke himself was now in a perilous position, airborne and vulnerable.
The giant flying beast flapped its wings gently. Ran, perched on its back, clutched his injured right arm, his face contorted in a mask of pure rage. He had actually been wounded by these two little brats! This was simply unforgivable!
"Die!" Ran roared, looking down at Sasuke, whose body was slowly descending. He then manipulated the flying beast beneath his feet to flap its wings again. Dozens of feathers, each inscribed with special seal markings, shot towards Sasuke like a deadly volley.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of explosions erupted in mid-air once more.
"Sasuke!" Below, Naruto and Sakura, witnessing this, both cried out in alarm.
Watching the area where Sasuke was now enveloped by a continuous chain of explosions, the furious expression on Ran's face finally eased slightly. However, before he could make any other move, from within the smoke and fire of the explosions above, a gigantic snake tail suddenly whipped out, lashing towards Ran and the flying beast beneath him with incredible speed and force.
CRASH!
The snake tail struck with immense power, directly swatting Ran and the flying beast out of the sky. The massive tail also completely dispersed the lingering smoke from the explosions, revealing a colossal blue snake now hovering in the air where Sasuke had been.
After sending Ran and his mount crashing to the ground, the giant blue snake also began to descend rapidly from the low sky.
THUD!
The earth trembled slightly as the massive serpentine body slammed onto the ground. The blue snake was over forty meters long, and the cloud of dust kicked up by its landing didn't even reach halfway up its towering form. Perched steadily atop its massive, uplifted head stood Sasuke.
"Wha-wha-what a…" Seeing this incredibly impactful and astonishing scene, Naruto's mouth hung open, utterly speechless. Beside him, Sakura was also completely dumbstruck, her face a mask of shock. However, after the initial shock, her wide, watery eyes began to sparkle with tiny stars of admiration.
Within the terrified merchant caravan, one of the guards, witnessing this unbelievable display, murmured under his breath, his voice filled with awe, "This… this is a Genin from Konoha Village who just recently graduated from the Ninja Academy?" Since when had the standard for Genin become so terrifyingly high?
Amidst the stunned silence of the onlookers, Sasuke, with his arms crossed over his chest, looked down at Naruto from his lofty perch atop the giant snake's head, his expression one of clear, smug superiority. The unspoken message was perfectly clear.
After a moment, Naruto finally snapped out of his shock. He immediately pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke, who was still atop the snake's head, and roared in outrage, "Sasuke, you cheated! You actually summoned Teacher's summoning animal!"
Watching the furious, indignant Naruto, an almost imperceptible smirk touched the corner of Sasuke's lips. His voice was cool and indifferent as he replied, "Naruto, a summoning animal is also a part of a ninja's strength. Teacher has already allowed me to sign a summoning contract with Seiryu."
Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto's eyes turned crimson with frustration and jealousy. "What? Teacher actually gave you his summoning animal? Damn it! Teacher is so unfair!" At this moment, the sour taste of envy practically overflowed in Naruto's heart. Why him?! He was the one who met Teacher first! If he had also signed a summoning contract with Seiryu, Naruto was confident that with his own strength, he too could have successfully summoned the great snake. Then he wouldn't be subjected to Sasuke's blatant, condescending taunts like this.
After showing off sufficiently in front of Naruto, Sasuke didn't bother to bicker with him any further. He turned his head, his gaze fixed on the direction where Ran had been knocked down. "Seiryu-sama, let's go!"
Seiryu swayed its massive body and began to slither rapidly in that direction.
"Sakura-chan, you stay here! I'm going after them to see what's happening!" Seeing this, Naruto gritted his teeth, threw out a quick instruction, and then also rushed off in pursuit.
Watching Sasuke and Naruto depart one after the other, Sakura opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it, a look of dejection settling on her face. In Team Seven, she really was the one lagging behind!
Cough, cough~
In the distance, Ran struggled to climb out from under a pile of rock debris, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood. He looked up towards the direction where Naruto and Sasuke were, a mixture of terror and bitter unwillingness flashing in his eyes. The appearance of the giant blue snake, Seiryu, had made him realize that defeat was inevitable. Even if he continued to fight, he had absolutely no chance of winning.
Ran quickly scrambled over to his downed fusion beast, mounted its back once more, and merged his lower body with it. Then, he manipulated the injured flying beast to rapidly ascend into the sky and flee.
By the time Sasuke, riding atop Seiryu, arrived at the scene, all that could be seen in the sky was a rapidly shrinking black dot in the distance. Gazing in the direction Ran and his flying beast had fled, Sasuke's expression turned grave once more. That was the direction Kakashi-sensei had gone.
Swoosh~
Behind him, Naruto quickly caught up. He leaped agilely onto Seiryu's head and immediately started yelling at Sasuke, "Sasuke, how could you let him get away?"
Sasuke shot Naruto an irritated glance but didn't bother to respond to the loudmouthed idiot. Following Sasuke's earlier gaze, Naruto also quickly spotted the retreating flying beast. His voice became urgent. "Sasuke, that's the direction Kakashi-sensei went! He must be in danger! We have to get Seiryu-sama to take us over there, quickly!"
Sasuke, hearing this, didn't waste any words. He directly urged Seiryu to move rapidly in that direction.
In the distance, amidst a low-lying, barren Gobi desert filled with rock formations, a round, pot-shaped building was cleverly hidden. If one wasn't observing from a high vantage point and looking very carefully, it would be very difficult to spot this concealed structure.
The woman and the androgynous man who had left earlier were now standing on a floating rock platform not far from this building. Hearing the faint cry of a hawk from the distant sky, the woman couldn't help but turn her head in that direction. "That guy Ran… he wouldn't have actually blown them all up, would he?" she mused, a hint of surprise in her voice. Less than ten minutes had passed since they had left the main group.
Beside her, the man casually blew a stray strand of long hair away from his lips. "How much time could it possibly take to deal with a few little brats?" he said dismissively. As he spoke, his head didn't turn; his gaze was fixed intently on the entrance of the building before them.
In front of the entrance to the tall, pot-shaped building, Kakashi now stood at the bottom of a short slope, his expression complex as he looked at the slender figure standing before the building's main door. A long white robe concealed the figure's entire body, and their mouth was covered with white bandages. Their physique looked almost like that of a young boy. This person was none other than Hiruko, the one who had implanted the Puppet Curse Mark on Kakashi so many years ago.
"Kakashi, we finally meet again," Hiruko said, his voice carrying a cheerful, almost gleeful tone as he looked at Kakashi. For this day, he had waited for a very, very long time. Today, his dream was finally about to be realized! Before him, Kakashi, who had been marked with his Puppet Curse, had absolutely no chance of turning the tables. As long as he successfully fused with Kakashi's Sharingan, he would become the perfect ninja, possessing five Kekkei Genkai. Conquering the entire ninja world would then be within his grasp!
Huh? Just as Hiruko was preparing to deliver a grand, self-congratulatory speech, he suddenly sensed that the condition of Ran, who was flying towards them in the distance, seemed to be somewhat… amiss.
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