"Wait—you're going to fight my Kirin with taijutsu?"
Sasuke's voice carried genuine shock as he watched Naruto's reaction. This was the pinnacle of Lightning Style, a technique that harnessed nature's own thunder.
But under Sasuke's astonished gaze, Naruto's fist exploded directly into the Kirin's face.
The first punch struck home. An explosion of air detonated inside the lightning beast's body with unstoppable momentum. The Kirin's form raged and flickered, electricity jumping wildly across its surface. Faint signs of collapse appeared in its structure.
Testing its quality, Naruto thought. That first punch had used only a fraction of his strength.
The second punch carried another percentage of his power, bringing with it a terrifying vibration force. The air itself trembled, creating ripples like water disturbed by a stone. Under that intense vibration, the Kirin's majestic form finally dissipated into nothing.
"He actually destroyed it with pure taijutsu." Sasuke's shock was absolute. This other-world Naruto possessed physical abilities not weaker than the Ōtsutsuki clan themselves. Even Momoshiki and Kinshiki wouldn't necessarily be this Naruto's opponents.
"Sasuke," Naruto called out, turning after obliterating the Lightning Style technique, "show me the same momentum you had when fighting Ōtsutsuki Kaguya at the end."
He was genuinely looking forward to seeing what kind of strength a Sasuke who'd battled Kaguya possessed.
"Alright, Naruto. I'm getting serious now." Sasuke's expression hardened. "You should prepare to fuse with Nine-Tails too."
Seeing how easily Naruto had destroyed his Lightning Kirin, Sasuke decided to unleash Susanoo. Perfect Susanoo, to be specific. Of course, he wouldn't use sealing techniques like the Planetary Devastation. This was just a friendly discussion, not a fight to the death.
Hearing Sasuke's suggestion, Naruto shook his head. "I didn't bring my Nine-Tails to this world. But this world's Nine-Tails is currently inside my body."
With that, he released Kurama from the sealed space.
The interior was arranged exactly like Naruto's residence back home—clean and organized. On the sofa, Nine-Tails had been lounging comfortably, holding a cookbook left behind by Naruto's own Kurama. The recipes fascinated this world's Nine-Tails, who'd been studying them with great interest.
Upon entering, Kurama had immediately noticed this sealed space was far cleaner and fresher than his own. And there were books! Though he didn't particularly enjoy reading, the food pictures in the recipes were captivating.
"Picture for reference only. Actual product may vary!"
Nine-Tails read the disclaimer beside a photograph of stir-fried potato shreds with beef, pronouncing each word carefully.
With such a clean environment and recipes to pass the time, Kurama was already planning to ask his own Naruto to create a similar setup. Otherwise, he'd just be stuck staring at walls in his sealed space back home.
He'd been staring at walls for hundreds of years without issue, sure. But living in the sealed space inside Naruto's body was like the difference between a dirt house in the countryside and a luxury apartment in the city. Once you'd experienced the apartment, going back to the dirt house felt unbearable.
Naruto had no idea his actions were creating a desire for home improvement in the Nine-Tails.
Kurama was studying a particularly appetizing recipe when he suddenly felt a pulling force. The cookbook fell from his paws onto the sofa as his body lifted uncontrollably. The next second, he found himself outside, facing both Naruto and Sasuke.
Confronting Naruto—the great enemy who'd imprisoned him—Nine-Tails immediately attacked with a rapid-fire barrage of Tailed Beast Balls.
"Blub-blub-blub-blub!"
Seeing the Nine-Tails' appearance, Sasuke froze completely. In his memory, the Nine-Tails had always been fierce and terrifying, radiating malevolence.
This... was a kitten spitting bubbles.
"Is this really Kurama?" Sasuke couldn't help voicing his inner question.
"Guaranteed authentic, no substitutions." Naruto casually pulled the bubble-spitting Nine-Tails back into his sealed space.
After returning Kurama to his body, Naruto addressed Sasuke again. "Come on, Sasuke. Looking at your expression, you've already prepared your ultimate technique. Let me see it."
Sasuke's eyes slowly turned crimson. Six-pointed stars formed in his pupils—the Rinnegan. Behind him, the form of Perfect Susanoo began manifesting.
Surrounded by purple light, the Perfect Susanoo surpassed mountain peaks in size. It emerged like a warrior god, clad in armor with wings spread wide, gripping a massive blade. Terrifying power fluctuated from its form.
The Perfect Susanoo appeared to move slowly, but in reality moved with devastating speed. In the blink of an eye, the completed form beat its wings, skimming across the ground, and swung its blade toward Naruto.
The longsword carried enough force to cleave mountains and meteorites. It reached Naruto's position in an instant and descended with the weight of finality.
"Excellent." Naruto felt genuine satisfaction watching this attack. The Perfect Susanoo radiated tremendous presence and stood over one hundred meters tall. At this moment, in his normal human form, Naruto looked like an ant standing before a colossus.
Facing Perfect Susanoo's direct slash, Naruto threw a punch, striking the blade's edge.
Sparks exploded across Perfect Susanoo's surface. The construct pulled back, and another cascade of sparks erupted from Naruto's fist. Simultaneously, golden light began covering his entire hand.
After that single exchange, Naruto flew backward through the air. His arms trembled. The Hokage jacket and cloak separated from his body, hanging themselves neatly on a tree branch behind him.
In an instant, his physique transformed. Naruto's muscles jumped and contracted. His bones vibrated and expanded. In moments, his height reached two hundred meters.
The one-hundred-meter-tall Susanoo looked like a younger brother standing before the two-hundred-meter Naruto.
"This..." Below, Sasuke's mouth hung open in disbelief. This is also Uzumaki Naruto? Why is there such a massive difference? Is this really from a parallel ninja world? It doesn't look like something ninjas produce at all!
Perfect Susanoo beat its wings and gripped its longsword with both hands, rushing toward Naruto once more.
Naruto's face split into an expression of pure excitement. He loved this kind of head-to-head battle most of all.
Without hesitation, Naruto launched himself toward Perfect Susanoo as well.
He didn't throw a punch. Instead, he relied on his body itself, crashing directly and brutally into the Perfect Susanoo with raw physical force.
BOOM!
The entire Perfect Susanoo was sent flying backward from the impact. Sasuke's construct planted its feet against empty air, wings fluttering desperately to arrest the backward momentum.
Naruto followed instantly, both fists hammering at Perfect Susanoo. The warrior god struck back with its longsword. The blade slashed across Naruto's fists, which remained covered in golden light, seemingly immune to cutting damage.
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"
Sparks filled the sky as the battle between two giants unfolded in midair.
"Fighting Naruto consumes too much chakra." Below, as the energy supplier for Susanoo, Sasuke's forehead beaded with sweat. After only a few exchanges, he could already feel his chakra supply becoming insufficient.
This was going to be a problem.
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