[Naruto, open up some distance first, then activate Sage Mode! With dual perception, see if you can sense the exact moment he appears.]
While frantically thinking, Kurama provided Naruto with a makeshift tactical retreat.
They had one margin of error left. It was the perfect buffer for testing the waters.
"Got it!"
Naruto spun around on his heel, crouched low, and transformed into a blazing streak of golden light, leaping far into the desert distance.
[Yes, exactly like that! If you can't touch Makoto, you can't win, but if Makoto doesn't touch you, he doesn't win either! No need to worry about running too far. Focus your energy on maintaining distance and stalling for time!]
Kurama encouraged his host while aggressively brainstorming counter-strategies.
To protect his own purity and properly advise the boy, the fox felt he had used his brain more in the past few days than in the preceding thousand years combined!
Naruto took flight, sprinted across the dunes for a while, and finally planted his feet.
Though his legs stopped, his hands kept moving, furiously cranking and rubbing together in a repetitive motion to gather natural energy.
He surveyed his surroundings.
The environment was a boundless, empty desert without a single obstacle.
In Naruto's mind, pinpointing Makoto's location in this barren wasteland should be incredibly easy.
However, he looked around and saw no sign of Makoto.
Naruto realized Makoto might have used Earth Release or a similar ninjutsu to dive under the sand, masking his approach.
He needed to enter Sage Mode immediately!
Only the overlap of dual perception could confirm Makoto's hidden location!
Naruto immediately lower his pants, "Shado..."
"That's two."
Tap.
Just as Naruto prepared to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu to speed up his Sage Mode entry, he heard Makoto's calm voice echo in his ear and felt a distinct tap on his metal forehead protector.
By the time he wildly swung his head around, Makoto had already vanished.
Makoto didn't even bother to fully manifest this time.
The main reason was that Naruto's current actions were far too outrageous, Makoto simply couldn't bear to look at him.
"KURAMA, THINK OF SOMETHING! WE'RE DOWN TO OUR LAST CHANCE!" Naruto grew frantic.
He begged the giant fox for help while preparing his hand seals to create clones.
[STOP! DON'T USE THAT STUPID SAGE MODE, IT'S USELESS!] Kurama roared. [Listen to me! It is not that his speed is too fast, IT'S TIME JUMPED! Sensory abilities are completely useless against this. You need to think of another way!]
"Time jumped?! What does that mean?! And Kurama, how did you notice?! Why didn't I feel anything?!" Naruto was entirely bewildered.
[I...]
"KURAMA, TELL ME!" Naruto urged, panic setting in.
Kurama felt deeply conflicted.
Admitting this out loud was utterly humiliating.
But what if he stayed silent? This test concerned the key to resurrecting Naruto's mother.
Kushina had died by his claws.
Helping Naruto resurrect her would definitively settle their blood-soaked past.
According to Kurama's original, cynical thoughts, leaving this grudge unresolved was perfect to prevent Naruto from getting too close to him and fulfilling the Toad Sage's prophecy.
But spending all this time linked to the blonde idiot had inexplicably changed the beast's heart.
If Naruto failed this test, he would be absolutely heartbroken, right?
Of course, Kurama would never openly admit to actually wanting to help the brat.
He had to find a plausible excuse.
'What if Naruto claims me as his mother if I don't help him find his real one?!'
[Naruto, you should know I synchronize with all of your physical sensations. It was the exact same just now...]
"Just now? Wait, Kurama, do you mean...?"
Naruto's consciousness appeared in his mindscape, staring wide-eyed at the giant fox.
There was nothing physically hitting them.
"How did you feel that?" Naruto scratched his head in confusion.
[NEVER MIND THE DETAILS, I JUST FELT IT! LET'S TALK BUSINESS!] Kurama snapped, his massive ears burning with embarrassment.
Kurama's anatomical situation matched what had been established earlier.
Tailed Beasts lacked certain organs simply because they didn't need to manifest them.
Yet, when Naruto hit Shukaku with an explosive tag via One Thousand Years of Death, Shukaku definitely felt it, even though the tanuki technically lacked the corresponding anatomy.
"Okay, okay, Kurama, just say it! I won't bring it up!" Seeing the Nine-Tails genuinely angry, Naruto wisely backed down.
He could tease the fox normally, but not when the stakes were this high.
[Alright, Naruto, listen closely. Just now...]
Kurama meticulously described the bizarre sensation.
Naruto had been running and frantically cranking his hands together, focusing all his attention on guarding against Makoto and entering Sage Mode.
Kurama was different.
He stayed safely tucked away in the mindscape without any external distractions.
The fox noticed that while Naruto was furiously cranking his hands, at a highly specific point in time, the physical sensation abruptly jumped to the next stage of friction.
It felt exactly as if Naruto had used a Shadow Clone to jerk off, then suddenly dispelled the clone, immediately returning the accumulated sensory feedback to the main body all at once.
But Naruto hadn't used a Shadow Clone.
So, where did that unprovoked, sudden jump in sensation come from?
True to being the smartest Tailed Beast in existence, Kurama deduced the terrifying reality of Makoto's ability.
"I GET IT! THANKS, KURAMA! I FOUND A WAY TO CRACK THIS!" Naruto clenched his fist and extended it toward the giant fox, grinning brightly for a celebratory fist bump.
[SCRAM! DON'T FIST-BUMP ME WITH THAT SWEATY HAND YOU USED TO JERK OFF!] Kurama barked, swatting the boy's mental projection away.
[Also, you figured out a way?! What way?!]
"Huh? Kurama, didn't you tell me to stop and avoid using Multiple Shadow Clones for this exact reason?" Naruto asked in confusion.
After saying that, Naruto resumed beating his meat in the real world, cranking his hand in a rapid, continuous circle.
This time, his goal wasn't to gather natural energy for Sage Mode.
His goal was to detect the exact timing of Makoto's time-skip ability.
As long as he kept a continuous, repetitive physical action going, a sudden jump in sensory feedback—skipping from point A to point C instead of progressing normally through point B—would definitively indicate that Makoto had just erased time.
Grabbing that exact timing offered a flawless window for a counterattack!
Miles away, Makoto perfectly saw Naruto's brilliant, albeit deeply embarrassing counter-strategy through his foresight ability, Epitaph.
Considerate as always, Makoto wanted to give Makoto a shred of actual hope, so he briefly manifested.
Naruto, who was intensely cranking his hand, instantly felt the sensory jump.
He stopped his actions dead in their tracks.
The golden chakra cloak on his body rapidly formed a giant, glowing arm, sweeping blindly behind him like a massive pendulum.
Makoto casually took a single step back, letting the golden fist breeze past his nose.
This time, however, Naruto actually saw Makoto's physical figure, vastly boosting his confidence.
"MY METHOD WORKS!" Naruto cheered.
Makoto simply smiled and vanished again.
Naruto eagerly resumed beating his meat, waiting for the next sensory jump.
However...
Fully understanding exactly how Naruto planned to crack King Crimson, Makoto chose a different approach.
He simply left the desert entirely, teleport back to the Hidden Rain Village to accompany Hanabi and the girls for an afternoon of shopping and a movie.
Sitting comfortably in the cinema theater with a bucket of popcorn, Makoto simply activated King Crimson every few minutes, casually erasing and skipping time from afar.
Meanwhile, out in the blazing desolate desert, Naruto stayed highly vigilant, furiously beating his meat without a second's rest. (Damn)
"I can't relax! Makoto-ni wants to stay hidden on purpose to wear me down and then manifest to win the test!" Naruto muttered, sweat dripping down his face.
"AHHH—I WON'T GIVE UP!"
As the scorching hours passed, Naruto's physical stamina reached its absolute limit.
Left with no other choice, he created a single Shadow Clone to take over the embarrassing burden while the main body rested.
When that Shadow Clone reached its limit, he created another one.
As long as the previous clone wasn't dispelled, the accumulated, agonizing sensory fatigue wouldn't flood back into the main body.
With his immense Uzumaki-level chakra reserves, playing this bizarre waiting game posed absolutely no problem for him!
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator