"The second one!"
Seeing the second meteorite appear, Konan's face filled with shock and anger. She turned and shouted anxiously to the others, "Sasori, use your puppets to buy us time! Everyone else, retreat!"
"Understood."
Hearing Konan's command, Sasori flicked his fingers, and the chakra threads controlling his Impure World Reincarnation puppets snapped taut. Instantly, the remaining hundred-plus puppets shot into the sky like moths to a flame, desperately trying to slow the meteor's descent.
Once that was done, Deidara—who seemed to appear out of nowhere—summoned his clay bird above Sasori and yelled, "Lord Sasori, let's go!"
Sasori quickly leaped onto the clay bird, and the pair sped away.
Kakuzu, using his Earth Grudge Fear, pulled himself away rapidly, instantly catching up to Zabuza, who was already making a break for it.
Zabuza, running on foot below, looked up to see Kakuzu in the sky. A mocking smile stretched across the masked ninja's lips. "Heh heh heh... Bandaged brat, remember to protect your head with Nine-Tails chakra. I won't be collecting your corpse for a bounty~"
Hearing the mockery, Zabuza's eyes narrowed. Behind him, a tail of Nine-Tails chakra surged. In an instant, it hooked onto the legs of the Earth Grudge Fear, pulling him upward, grabbing Kakuzu's legs.
Having done so, the bandage over Zabuza's mouth loosened, revealing a wide, grinning mouth with white teeth. "Thanks for the ride, you old codger~"
Kakuzu, feeling Zabuza's hands gripping his legs, paled and shook his legs violently as if he'd touched something filthy. "Get off me!"
"Hmph!" The only response Zabuza offered was a cold snort and the tight grip of his chakra tail.
In reality, even without Konan's shout, the group had already planned to retreat. After all, they had just exhausted all their reserves of Nine-Tails chakra to shatter a meteorite several kilometers wide. Now, another massive object was descending. Even if they shattered this one too, they'd be left with empty chakra reserves and zero fighting ability, leaving them at their opponents' mercy.
"Is this the power of the Sage of Six Paths? It's truly astonishing..." Kabuto watched the two falling meteorites with a look of fascination. "With Obito's current power, he's dozens of times stronger than the specially crafted Impure World Reincarnation Hashirama. Menma, you'll soon belong to Lord Orochimaru..."
On the other side, Obito gazed at the fleeing ninjas and the smoke billowing from the shattered meteorites. He couldn't help but sigh. "The ugly escapes of the weak... what a nostalgic sight."
However, the very next second, two figures—one blue, one purple—leaped rapidly from the ground, attracting his attention. "Hmm?" Seeing a purple Susanoo and a ninja enveloped in blue chakra steam, Obito braced an arm against the thigh and knee of Pain standing on Nagato, and suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha! I didn't expect an Uchiha who has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and a ninja who knows the Eight Gates!"
"Come on! Show me your dancing moves—let's see if you can make me even happier!"
Ahead stood Sasuke, who had activated his Susanoo, and Naruto, who had opened the Seventh Gate. Using the momentum of their leap, they hurtled toward the falling meteorite.
"This final judgment—I won't let anyone ruin it!" The purple Susanoo drew its longbow to its fullest extent. An arrow formed from black Amaterasu flames was nocked.
Beside him, Naruto clenched his fist, the other raised horizontally toward the meteorite. "I won't let anyone ruin this either. I'm using the strength my brother gave me!" As he spoke, the surrounding air compressed, instantly forming an air cannon shaped like a tiger's head.
Finally, two shouts—one male, one female—burst forth amidst the darkness and gray-white light!
"Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi!"
"Daytime Tiger!"
Boom—!!!
Roa—!!!
The sound of bowstrings clashing and tigers roaring resounded. In mid-air, the jet-black Amaterasu arrow merged into the gray-white tiger's head. Instantly, the inextinguishable black flames transformed into tiger fur, covering the construct. The majestic white tiger instantly transformed into an even more ferocious black tiger. With its blood-red maw wide open, it bit straight at the falling meteorite!
BOOM!!!
A blinding black-and-white shockwave erupted. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped the lower half of the meteorite, slowing its descent until it came to a complete halt.
"This power... was blocked by Naruto and Sasuke!?" Tsunade and the others, who had run out of the village, stared in disbelief as the pair descended from the sky. They had previously assumed the two were weak because of the Akatsuki members. Now, it seemed that even without the Akatsuki, without Four-Star Village, and without Menma, just Naruto and Sasuke alone might be too much for the current Hidden Leaf to handle.
"Daytime Tiger!"
"This is the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates—the Gate of Shock!"
Seeing Naruto unleash the Daytime Tiger air cannon with a single punch, Might Guy's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets, and his thick eyebrows formed a comical "V" shape.
Just as everyone marveled, the meteorite hovering in the sky was suddenly covered in countless fine black-and-white cracks. Then, a series of cracking sounds rang out. Finally, the massive meteorite split and collapsed, turning into chunks tens of meters wide that fell to the ground.
The second meteorite was successfully dealt with. As soon as Sasuke and Naruto landed, Naruto proudly flashed a peace sign. "I never expected my brother's taijutsu to be this amazing! He shattered such a huge meteorite with one punch! It's many times more powerful than the Rasenshuriken!"
Hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke scoffed disdainfully and said, "Hmph. It was clearly my Amaterasu flame that charred the meteorite, causing it to shatter."
"No way! Flames are useless against rocks. It was all thanks to my Daytime Tiger!"
Naruto charged forward, clenching his fists and glaring angrily at Sasuke. Sensing the strange feeling within him, Sasuke wished he could punch himself twice to bring himself to his senses. He caught a whiff of the blonde girl's scent. His face flushed inexplicably, then he quickly covered his mouth, gagged, and took a few steps back. "You jerk... get away from me!"
Before the suspicious Naruto could ask a question, a round of applause rang out.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Ten Wood Release clones of Obito leaped in from a distance. "You actually managed to take them down. Not bad."
"So, if all these clones also possess Susanoo, can you still keep dancing?"
BOOM!!!
In an instant, ten Susanoo clones, each over twenty meters tall, rose from the ten Wood Release clones, completely surrounding Naruto and Sasuke.
---
If this chapter was worth your time, a Powerstone helps others find it.
Want to read ahead, check Patreon
[email protected]/Rogue_Soul