Sasuke walked behind the ink-drawn "Uchiha Fugaku" with a deadpan expression and pierced right through the gay lovers with a Chidori Sharp Spear.
Splat.
The pair burst into a massive puddle of ink, splashing all over Sasuke's face.
Sasuke wiped his cheek with his hand, treating the dark liquid like his enemy blood.
He glared at Sai, then instinctively licked a drop of ink from his fingers.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed. "Why does this taste so strange?"
As the second son of the noble Uchiha Clan, Sasuke had, like many children, accidentally tasted calligraphy ink before.
He knew what it was supposed to taste like.
But this ink... it lacked the faint, clean scent of crushed charcoal.
Instead, it carried the distinct taste of the sea.
"Oh, my apologies," Sai explained, scratching his head and smiling with his eyes closed. "I ran out of my own supplies on the boat ride over. I borrowed this new batch from Killer Bee-san. He had the Eight-Tails spit some out for me... Don't worry, it's edible. Haven't you ever had squid-ink rice, Sasuke-kun?"
"..."
Squid-ink seafood rice—of course Sasuke had eaten it.
But this ink was spat out by Killer Bee.
And thinking about what Killer Bee was supposedly doing to Naruto, and how that bodily fluid must have been produced...
Zzzzt.
With zero wind-up, Sasuke vanished and instantly reappeared before Sai, the Chidori crackling furiously in his raised hand!
Naruto, who had been watching intently, immediately shoved Sai aside.
He struggled, grabbing Sasuke's wrists with both hands.
"Sasuke, co—"
Naruto instinctively wanted to say, "Sasuke, cool down."
But he quickly realized their current mission was to provoke Sasuke, not calm him down.
He had to change his words mid-sentence!
"IF YOU'RE COLD, WHY ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE THAT?!" Sasuke roared, his eyes scanning Naruto's current attire—a tight tank top and shorts, as if he were heading to the beach for a swim.
(Naruto: I WAS going to the beach for a swim!)
"NARUTO, LET GO!" Sasuke demanded, trying to rip his hands free from the blonde's grip, but failing.
"I'll kill him first, then we'll talk!"
"No..."
"NINJA ART: SUPER BEAST MIMICRY!"
While Naruto and Sasuke were locked in their close-range struggle, Sai, having regained his footing, decided to strike while the iron was hot.
This was the perfect opportunity to attack the Uchiha while he was restrained.
A small, pure-white Six-Tails Saiken leaped from the scroll.
Without hesitation, the ink slug began spewing thick, sticky fluid all over Sasuke.
Sai's ink creations lacked raw offensive power. Their attacks were limited to primitive tackles and the ink they were made of. Fortunately, the ink wasn't useless.
The fluid from Sai's jutsu naturally possessed sealing properties, just like the Eight-Tails' ink.
Therefore, even a simple splash attack could disrupt chakra.
However, Sai intentionally held back the sealing effect. He just gave Sasuke a faceful of ink.
Then, Sasuke made a horrifying discovery.
Sai's jutsu didn't just use black ink this time, it used white ink.
The black ink was from the Eight-Tails octopus... but was the white ink also from the octopus?
Why did it smell exactly the same?!
"NARUTO, LET GO OF ME! DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!"
For the moment, Sasuke hesitated to use his Chidori Stream on Naruto. He knew Naruto's body was already bruised and battered from the Cloud Village's supposed "breeding program."
But if Naruto kept interfering, he wouldn't hold back.
As he swore from the start, he would drag Naruto back to Konoha, even if it meant breaking all five of his limbs!
"NARUTO, DO YOU REMEMBER?! YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO BECOME HOKAGE! LOOK AT YOURSELF NOW!"
Pushed to his absolute limit, Sasuke ironically resorted to using Talk-no-Jutsu on his rival.
"It's fine," Sai chimed in, gleefully fanning the flames. "Naruto is the Raikage's man now. It's basically the same thing."
"GAH!"
Sasuke couldn't take it anymore!
He unleashed a full-body Chidori Stream, zapping Naruto at point-blank range.
"AAH! AAH!" Naruto's slender frame convulsed as the electricity ripped through him.
Wrenching himself free from the stunned blonde, Sasuke drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist and slashed directly at Sai's neck.
Incredibly, even while paralyzed, Naruto managed to struggle to his feet at the last second.
He shoved Sai aside, and a mysterious, invisible force blocked Sasuke's blade.
'Is that Naruto's Frog Kumite? Was he gathering natural energy for Sage Mode this whole time?' Killer Bee, having spent days training with Naruto, recognized the jutsu.
He immediately identified the invisible parry as Frog Kumite.
Without using Tailed Beast chakra, Naruto's speed had suddenly skyrocketed.
To block Sasuke's sword barehanded, he must have activated Sage Mode.
Sure enough, when Naruto looked up, his blue eyes had transformed into golden toad-like pupils, ringed by distinctive orange pigmentation. But the effect lasted only a few seconds before the pigmentation faded.
Sage Mode deactivated.
Either he hadn't gathered enough natural energy, or his current emotional turmoil was too great to maintain the delicate balance.
Naruto managed to enter Sage Mode so quickly thanks to Sasuke's Chidori Stream.
He marveled inwardly.
Sasuke's Lightning Release stimulated his cells, allowing him to absorb natural energy rapidly, while his own Wind Release and Toad Oil could amplify Sasuke's Fire Release.
The bond between them truly seemed fated by the heavens.
"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Sasuke was furious.
He felt Naruto was shamelessly interfering, taking advantage of the restraint he showed earlier.
"I just don't want you to hurt him! He's a Konoha comrade too! I can't let you stain your hands with a comrade's blood, Sasuke!" Naruto explained, his voice thick with fake melodrama.
His reasoning was simple.
Naruto knew this was all an elaborate play, so he couldn't let Sasuke actually murder a fellow Konoha ninja.
But in Sasuke's eyes...
"I..."
Splat. Splat.
Just as Sasuke was about to scream, Sai used his brush to quickly sketch two small water guns.
The ink toys materialized and squirted black and white fluid right into Sasuke's eyes.
"YOU'RE AFRAID I'LL HURT HIM, BUT YOU AREN'T AFRAID HE'LL HURT ME?!" Sasuke roared, violently swatting Naruto's hand away like a heartbroken lover.
Coincidentally, the sky had grown dark with storm clouds, and heavy rain began to fall.
Sasuke wouldn't even need to use Dragon Flame Jutsu to prepare the atmosphere.
He sneered, raising his hand high toward the thunderous sky. "NARUTO, I'M ABOUT TO UNLEASH KIRIN! LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN PROTECT HIM THIS TIME!"
"WHAT?!" Naruto looked up at the sky in shock.
With Sage Mode deactivated, his sensory abilities were greatly diminished.
However, having trained so hard at Mount Myōboku, his perception of natural energy was still sharp.
He could feel a massive, terrifying amount of static electricity gathering in the clouds...
This Kirin technique Sasuke mentioned must be a devastating jutsu!
"Nine-Tails..." Naruto muttered, closing his eyes.
[MY NAME IS KURAMA, DAMMIT!] a booming voice echoed in his mind.
"Kurama, help me!"
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