Chapter 48
Konoha Barrier Squad Headquarters.
The on-duty sensory ninja suddenly looked up. A ripple of red light appeared on the crystal ball in front of him.
"This is…"
The sensory ninja's expression shifted: "It's the jinchūriki using Nine-Tails chakra!"
The Nine-Tails incident years ago had produced an even stronger fluctuation, and there had been one other occurrence a few years back.
Though the intensity this time wasn't particularly strong, the mere fact that it appeared meant the situation was far from ordinary.
The report of the anomaly was quickly relayed to the Hokage Tower.
At the same time, a message was sent to the Konoha Military Police Force, responsible for village order and patrols, to investigate the site.
Uchiha Tekka, on night duty, glanced at the map after receiving the report.
"The jinchūriki's anomaly? What is Uzumaki Naruto doing in such a remote place so late at night?"
Over the years, Naruto had frequently traveled between the Hyūga clan grounds and the Uchiha compound, wandering all over the village.
Moreover, he had a very good relationship with the captain's youngest son, so the Police Force naturally knew him well.
A sudden thought struck him: Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't happen to be with Uzumaki Naruto, would he?
With that, Uchiha Tekka led several figures and vanished into the night, heading toward the incident location.
…
In front of the abandoned warehouse
Mizuki stared at Naruto suddenly enveloped in a gold-red tailed beast cloak. His beastly instincts felt an intense shiver of dread.
"What the hell is that?!"
Mizuki forcibly suppressed the overwhelming pressure: "No matter what you've turned into, you're still no match for me! Die, demon fox!"
Roaring, he charged forward. Relying on the curse seal's power, he threw a punch that tore through the air straight toward Naruto's face.
But now Naruto was in a state of extreme enhancement.
In his eyes, Mizuki's once-proud speed now moved like slow motion.
Bang!
Naruto simply raised one small hand. Nine-Tails chakra wrapped around his palm. He effortlessly caught Mizuki's full-force strike.
"Too weak."
Naruto calmly evaluated.
The next moment, his grip tightened.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bones rang out especially clear in the silent night.
"AHH——"
Mizuki screamed. Before he could react,
Naruto's other chakra-wrapped fist slammed heavily into his abdomen.
The situation reversed instantly. Now it was Mizuki who lost all ability to resist.
Smack!
Mizuki flew backward like a rag doll, smashing through the wall and crashing into the warehouse ruins.
"Impossible! Impossible!"
Mizuki crawled out of the rubble covered in blood. The potion's side effects had driven him completely insane.
"I'm invincible!!"
Roaring, he pushed the curse seal into its second stage. More natural energy was forcibly converted into curse seal power.
His body transformed into an upright yellow-white tiger. His aura surged again. His hands became sharp tiger claws.
"Die!!"
Yet what greeted him was still Naruto's eerily calm gaze after entering this state.
With Xuanming's assistance, chakra surged. A second tail appeared.
The chakra cloak around Naruto also split, forming four chakra arms.
They reached out through the air, seizing Mizuki's body and pinning him down tightly.
No matter how Mizuki roared and struggled, those gold-red arms didn't budge.
"It's over."
Naruto dragged the immobilized Mizuki in front of him. The two tails behind him rose high—
then slammed down hard.
BOOM!
Xuanming used Nine-Tails chakra to interfere with and suppress Mizuki's curse seal transformation.
Dust scattered. The black curse seal patterns on Mizuki's body rapidly faded.
His body deflated like a punctured balloon and he fell into complete unconsciousness.
The battle ended in an instant.
… Deep in the forest.
Kabuto, who had been controlling the small white snake to spy, felt helpless.
His tone carried a trace of exasperation: "Lord Orochimaru, it seems we won't be collecting any useful data today."
Aside from showing a bit of power in the first wave, Mizuki was crushed like a dead dog by the jinchūriki afterward.
Orochimaru leaned against a tree trunk, a playful smile on his face.
"No matter."
He replied in that signature hoarse voice: "Since it's over, we should leave."
Through the white snake, he also saw the blond boy.
A flicker of appreciation passed through his eyes: "As expected of Minato's legacy…"
To master the most terrifying tailed beast power at such a young age was truly exceptional.
But he quickly looked away.
He studied biological technology. Tailed beasts—pure chakra weapons—didn't help much in his pursuit of the truth of life.
On the other hand…
Orochimaru's gaze fell on the other side.
On the black-haired boy with a shocked expression.
"Uchiha… Sasuke…"
Orochimaru licked his lips.
According to his intelligence network, this child had very likely awakened the Uchiha clan's Sharingan just a few days ago.
Awakening the Sharingan at this age—this kind of talent.
It reminded him of that man who once caused him serious trouble—Uchiha Shisui.
As an S-rank wanted criminal of Konoha, the village had always dispatched elite Anbu to hunt for his whereabouts across the shinobi world and destroy his research bases.
Back then, Anbu member Uchiha Shisui had coincidentally stumbled upon one of those bases.
With his exceptional skill and boldness, Shisui had once again demonstrated what a true Sharingan could do.
He nearly left Orochimaru there permanently.
Fortunately, after abandoning that research base, Orochimaru managed to escape.
That incident made Orochimaru deeply realize how weak his resistance to the Sharingan was.
Thinking of Sasuke possessing similarly outstanding talent, greed surged in Orochimaru's eyes.
"Should I… make some small moves before leaving…?"
Just as Orochimaru hesitated whether to act,
at the center of the battlefield,
Xuanming immediately sensed that gradually intensifying, sticky malice.
"Getting greedy, huh."
Through the perception of the white snake they were using to spy,
Xuanming directly intervened, sending a surge of Nine-Tails main body mental pressure through the link.
Buzz!
Kabuto—who was receiving the feed—was caught completely off guard.
In that instant, endless darkness flooded his mind.
A terrifyingly massive Nine-Tailed Demon Fox phantom loomed down at him like a natural disaster.
Those vertical pupils were filled with suppressed savagery.
"Ugh!"
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Kabuto's body. He automatically severed the chakra connection to the white snake.
His whole body staggered back two steps, gasping heavily.
"We've been noticed…"
Orochimaru watched the scene. Instead of anger, he let out a low "heh heh" chuckle.
The warning was unmistakable. Now was not the time for direct confrontation.
"Then we'll meet again, Sasuke-kun…"
Orochimaru took one last deep look in that direction. Together with the still-recovering Kabuto, the two vanished into the depths of the dark forest with a flicker.
With the enemies gone, the red-gold cloak around Naruto slowly dissipated.
He returned to normal Uzumaki Naruto.
"Haa…"
Naruto let out a long breath. While using the chakra cloak,
he had also sensed the distant malice through Xuanming.
"You okay?"
Sasuke pursed his lips and stepped forward: "That power just now…"
He had thought that after awakening the Sharingan, he could surpass Naruto.
But after tonight, he realized the one who had been completely left behind… was him.
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