"I know very well." Naruto looked at Sasuke with determination. "Because I know, you will become a strong ninja. Not because you’re Uchiha Sasuke, but because you’re my friend. I believe in you."
Sasuke’s eyes widened, not knowing what to say for a moment. He supported Naruto’s body, one hand covering his neck, where there was a curse mark formed by three Tomoe.
After a long time, Sasuke suddenly asked: "Naruto, why do you have such strong power? Aren’t you afraid this power will consume you?"
"Not afraid." Naruto answered without hesitation. "No matter how strong this power is, it’s not mine. Becoming Hokage is my own dream. I won’t rely on anyone else. I’m using this power because I’m too weak now. I need it to protect the village."
"Just like Kurama said, no matter how strong his power is, it’s his, not mine."
No matter how strong the power is, it’s ’his’, not mine...?
Sasuke suddenly laughed. Yes, he laughed, and it was a relaxed laugh.
He let go of his hand covering his neck, a bit helpless: "Even you understand this, but I didn’t."
After saying this, without waiting for Naruto to refute, his expression turned firm: "I promise you, Naruto, if you can’t be a ninja anymore, I will become Hokage and protect the village. I swear... in the name of Uchiha!"
Shukaku didn’t make any moves. He just stood there watching Kakashi and the other two approach him. He didn’t need to think to know what these three were planning. They were definitely trying to seal him under the pretense of "protecting the village."
His mind was full of Kurama’s words. What he really wanted to do was catch Kurama and ask him what he meant. Attack Konohagakure? He had no such intention. Compared to Konohagakure, Otsutsuki Kaguya was more important.
As for Gaara, his situation wasn’t good. Gaara had been seriously injured by a direct hit from a Tailed Beast Ball. Now that Shukaku had broken the seal and escaped, Gaara’s body was in bad shape. But with Shukaku sustaining him, he wouldn’t die.
The current situation was that Gaara couldn’t reseal Shukaku by himself. He needed external help. The three Jonin present were strong, but none of them had the ability to seal Shukaku.
Kakashi and the other two landed not far in front of Shukaku. Asuma raised his ninja tools and looked at Kakashi: "Kakashi, you take command."
Asuma’s mind wasn’t suited for command, and Kurenai was similar. The best commander at the moment was Kakashi.
Kakashi understood this and nodded, saying directly: "Kurenai’s genjutsu has little effect on tailed beasts. You act as a distraction. Asuma, we’ll intercept him head-on."
"Got it." Kurenai nodded and disappeared. She knew her genjutsu wasn’t very effective on tailed beasts, so she wouldn’t interfere with Asuma and Kakashi.
"In the records of Konohagakure, the chakra nature of the One-Tail is wind, and it uses a special Kekkei Genkai, Magnet Release. Asuma, be ready to support with wind release." Kakashi’s Sharingan focused on Shukaku, his voice calm. "I’ll use Earth Release as the main attack. Lightning Release is countered by wind, so I shouldn’t be able to cause much damage."
"But our goal is just to hold off this monster." Asuma threw away his cigarette. "Shikamaru has already gone to notify the village. Reinforcements should arrive soon."
Kakashi nodded. Their goal wasn’t to seal Shukaku, as they couldn’t do that. The best plan was for Kakashi to use Earth Release to slow Shukaku down, with Asuma supporting and Kurenai distracting.
They just needed to keep Shukaku here and prevent him from entering Konohagakure.
"Earth Release: Earth Core!"
Kakashi’s understanding of Earth Release was strong. An Earth Core created an earthquake-like effect, with huge rock walls rising on both sides, trapping Shukaku in the middle.
"Wind Release: Beast Wave Gale Palm!"
Asuma slashed with his chakra blades, creating two huge wind currents that turned into beasts and hit Shukaku. Combined with the Earth Release’s pincer attack, they managed to trap Shukaku for a moment.
Shukaku was now very unhappy. He had a bad temper to begin with and hadn’t planned to bother with these guys. But now, he couldn’t tolerate it anymore. A bunch of little bugs were bullying him, and he couldn’t back down.
"Die bugs!" Shukaku roared, blocking the rock walls attacking from both sides with his hands. He opened his mouth and shot an air cannon at Asuma in front of him, "Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Kakashi and Asuma’s faces changed drastically as they turned to avoid Shukaku’s attack. But the range of the Drilling Air Bullet was too large. Even if they avoided the direct hit, the aftermath of the explosion on the ground was hard to dodge. They could only protect their heads to ensure their safety.
Interrupting Kakashi and Asuma’s attack, Shukaku clasped his hands together, "Ninja Art: Desert Layer Great Burial!"
This move... as mentioned before, when Gaara used the tailed beast chakra, its power was enough to flood the entire forest. Now, Shukaku himself was using this move. Even from a distance, the hundreds of meters high sand waves would make anyone feel hopeless.
Asuma never expected the gap to be so big. His Ninjutsu hitting Shukaku’s face might just hurt a bit, but if Shukaku’s Ninjutsu hit him, the entire Konohagakure would be gone.
Although they were still some distance from Konohagakure, such a huge Ninjutsu would definitely affect the village. They couldn’t find a way to block it. Was this a tailed beast? Was this a natural disaster?
Asuma landed on the ground, glanced at Konohagakure in the distance, and didn’t dodge. Instead, he gritted his teeth and formed hand seals, "Wind Style: Multiple Wind Walls!"
Kakashi landed beside him, without any hesitation in his eyes, "Earth Style: Multiple Earth Flow Walls!"
Kurenai also came behind them. She couldn’t attack Shukaku, but she could use some defensive Ninjutsu, "Water Style: Water Wall Formation!"
They couldn’t block it!
The three of them alone couldn’t block this move.
Kakashi gritted his teeth, maintaining the Earth Flow Walls with all his strength. But under the impact of the overwhelming sand sea, the Earth Flow Walls were like mud washed away by the ocean, turning into mud and disappearing in an instant.
Seeing the sand sea approaching, Kakashi’s eyes almost popped out. The Sharingan in his eye kept spinning faster and faster, almost giving the illusion of merging together.
At this moment, a huge figure descended from the sky. A giant red fox with a hint of gold stood in front of them, holding a purple tailed beast ball in its mouth, with nine tails slowly swaying behind it.
In the sealed space, Kurama looked serious, "Naruto, are you sure? If my chakra burns you, your body won’t heal, and you might lose your ability as a ninja."
In the center of the giant fox’s head, Naruto and Sasuke supported each other. Black Tomoe patterns extended from Sasuke’s neck, and a huge amount of chakra flowed from his body. Unlike before, even with such a large amount of chakra, Sasuke’s face showed no change, as if the pain had disappeared, leaving only cold killing intent.
Naruto smiled. Wrapped in the powerful Nine-Tails chakra, his body showed no change, except for the seal on his stomach, which kept leaking red chakra. "Kurama, I’m sorry, but... I want to protect the village!"
His skin gradually peeled off, and blood mixed with chakra, making the originally red chakra even darker and redder.
"Sasuke, let’s attack together! Protect the village!" Naruto shouted.
"Ah!" Sasuke responded, the Three Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spinning. Lightning and hot wind wrapped around the tailed beast ball, and the two powerful forces collided with the sand sea...
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