"This guy's vitality is incredibly strong," Obito couldn't help but exclaim.
As the thick smoke dissipated, the three Puppets Anrokuzan had released were all reduced to fragments, while Anrokuzan's own body was left battered and torn. Yet, he still didn't fall, glaring at Naruto and the others with a look of sheer determination.
"You forced me into this," Anrokuzan said, his voice filled with venom. Realizing there was no hope of escape, he decided to fight to the death. Even if he was going to die, he was determined to take a few down with him.
With that, Anrokuzan fully activated his Dragon Vein energy. The Puppet fragments scattered on the ground began to stir, rapidly flying toward him.
The Puppets he carried were no ordinary ones; they had been enhanced by Dragon Vein energy and could merge with him, making him even stronger.
After absorbing all the damaged Puppet fragments, Anrokuzan's form grew massive. He no longer looked human, but instead resembled a monstrous creature.
Out of the corner of his eye, Anrokuzan glanced at the Roran Queen, then pretended to charge at Obito. As Obito launched a Fire Release attack, Anrokuzan immediately changed direction and accelerated toward the Queen.
The two people he most wanted to kill now were Naruto and Roran Queen. One of them would continue to hunt him down even when he crossed space and time, while the other had led him into his current predicament.
However, Naruto was clearly not an easy target, so Anrokuzan decided to capture the Roran Queen first. If he could use her to escape, he would, but if not, he would kill her immediately.
"These Konoha Ninjas are only this good" Anrokuzan sneered to himself. "They can't even protect their own client."
Naruto and the others had a loose formation. Only one blonde-haired Ninja stood close to the Roran Queen, while the rest were at some distance from her.
The blonde-haired Ninja hadn't made a move earlier, so Anrokuzan figured his strength was probably not very impressive. If he were strong, he would've been assigned as the main attacker to fight him, not left standing next to the Roran Queen.
Yamato, Kakashi, and Naruto all launched Ninjutsu at Anrokuzan, but Anrokuzan gritted his teeth and endured all the attacks while still charging toward the Roran Queen at high speed.
If it had been an ordinary Ninja, they would have either had to abandon their attacks or die under the Ninjutsu from Naruto and the others. But Anrokuzan was different. Though the attacks were painful, he wasn't going to die from them.
As Anrokuzan charged straight toward Mutsuki, an odd expression appeared on Obito and the others' faces. This was recklessness taken to an extreme.
Before the battle, Mutsuki had told them that Anrokuzan was within their ability to handle, so under normal circumstances, Mutsuki wouldn't intervene.
"You'll regret the decisions you've made, Queen," Anrokuzan said in a deep voice.
Roran Queen, being an ordinary person, instinctively took a step back when she saw the enormous monster charging toward her.
But the Roran Queen quickly regained her composure because Mutsuki was right beside her.
Mutsuki was the Captain of this Konoha squad, and his team members had the strength to injure Anrokuzan. As the Captain, Mutsuki was certainly stronger.
"Brick Break!"
Seeing Anrokuzan recklessly charging at him, Mutsuki didn't hold back. Using Stone Breathing to enhance his physical strength, he flashed in front of Anrokuzan and struck with a brutal hand-chop.
He had initially held back to earn more rewards during the mission settlement and to let Anrokuzan serve as a training target for his disciples.
But if Anrokuzan was asking for a beating, Mutsuki had no problem showing him what true strength was.
Mutsuki's speed was incredible. Anrokuzan only saw a flash before a blonde figure appeared in front of him.
Bang!!
Boom!!
Anrokuzan felt a terrifying force hit him, and in an instant, he was sent flying back at a high speed, crashing violently into the ground and shattering it.
Where Mutsuki had struck him, a gruesome, terrifying wound appeared, as if he had been slashed by a massive blunt sword.
Anrokuzan looked at Mutsuki with a fearful expression, realizing that Mutsuki was actually the strongest.
After landing the blow, Mutsuki continued to quietly stand by the Roran Queen's side, not taking any further action.
They had come too early, and Anrokuzan, having absorbed only a small amount of Dragon Vein Chakra, was still too weak. The Anrokuzan from the original movie, who could have fought Minato, was much stronger.
In his despair, Anrokuzan noticed that Mutsuki hadn't continued to attack, and a small hope for survival began to rise in his heart.
Mutsuki's overwhelming strength, yet his reluctance to join the fight and his continued focus on protecting the Roran Queen, clearly showed that he wasn't prioritizing the client, but instead training his disciples.
Although this made Anrokuzan feel insulted, it was indeed his opportunity.
If Mutsuki had joined the battle, there would have been no hope for him to survive.
But Anrokuzan quickly realized that he had been mistaken. Obito and the others weren't as simple as he had imagined.
Seeing Anrokuzan injured by Mutsuki, Obito immediately entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, pushing his power to the limit.
Whoosh!
Obito's Chakra erupted, and his entire body was engulfed in blazing red flames, with the flames on his right hand particularly intense.
Under Obito's control, the flames on his body swiftly concentrated toward his right hand. The flames surged and compressed, becoming smaller and more concentrated. As the flames compressed and strengthened, the fire on Obito's body disappeared, but the flames on his right hand became deeper and more profound.
"Orochinagi!"
Obito charged forward while continuing to compress the flames, and then hurled the finished, compressed fire toward the rising Anrokuzan.
Since the enemy was large, Obito didn't use the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet this time. Instead, he used the smaller but more powerful Orochinagi.
Anrokuzan, with his sharp eyes, could tell that the Fire Release Obito was using was no ordinary technique, so he had no intention of taking it head-on. He released his Dragon Vein Chakra and tried to dodge.
However, when Anrokuzan was sent flying by Mutsuki, the others weren't idle either.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Kakashi had just finished forming the hand signs and turned the ground beneath Anrokuzan into a swamp, trapping him in it.
"Wood Release: Wood Spikes Ring Jutsu!"
With Yamato's Wood Release Chakra activation, many wooden spikes suddenly sprouted around Anrokuzan, binding his body and halting his struggle to escape the swamp.
"Wind Release: Rasengan!"
At this moment, Naruto's Shadow Clone also formed a Wind Release Rasengan and charged toward Anrokuzan.
This Ninjutsu was a precursor to the Rasenshuriken. The Rasenshuriken required too much Chakra, so Shadow Clones couldn't produce it. In this situation, Naruto's main body couldn't rush forward to form the Rasengan either, or he'd be caught in the crossfire of Obito's Fire Release.
Whoosh!!
Boom boom!!
Naruto's Wind Release Rasengan and Obito's Orochinagi struck Anrokuzan's massive body simultaneously. The terrifyingly high-temperature flames instantly engulfed Anrokuzan, while Naruto's Wind Release Rasengan had an unexpected effect, propelling Obito's flames into a firestorm that surrounded Anrokuzan.
The combined power of Naruto's Wind Release Rasengan and Obito's Flame Breathing Chakra Mode Orochinagi exceeded even Obito's expectations. The wooden spikes binding Anrokuzan were quickly burned away, and the muddy ground beneath him dried up rapidly under the intense heat.
"Naruto, our combo technique is so strong!" Obito laughed, grinning.
Naruto also laughed proudly, surprised by the result himself.
After the flames dispersed, Anrokuzan, scorched and torn apart, appeared before everyone.
Since he was no longer fully human but rather a human Puppet, Anrokuzan looked terrible but was still alive. As a human Puppet, he couldn't die as long as his core energy remained intact.
"Since I can't survive, neither will you," Anrokuzan declared, seeing his miserable state, and decided to self-destruct.
He knew he couldn't win. Given the atrocities he had committed, survival was impossible, so Anrokuzan chose to take himself out in a final act of vengeance, hoping to take a few of them down with him.
"Purple Electricity!"
However, just as the thought crossed his mind, Mutsuki instantly appeared behind Anrokuzan and delivered an electric shock.
While delivering the Brick Break earlier, Mutsuki had quietly placed a Flying Thunder God Seal on Anrokuzan.
"Heavenly Cycle Seal!"
Immediately, Mutsuki extended his palm, grabbing Anrokuzan's core and applying the Sealing Jutsu.
The Heavenly Cycle Seal was the culmination of Mutsuki's two years of study in Sealing Jutsu. Originally, he intended to follow Minato's path and develop the Eight Trigrams Seal, but he hit a dead end with the Four Symbols Seal and instead found constant inspiration with the Five Elements Seal. In the end, he adapted it into the Heavenly Cycle Seal.
The Heavenly Cycle Seal wasn't flashy or full of special effects, but it was a powerful sealing technique, much stronger than the Four Symbols Seal.
Building upon the original Five Elements structure, Mutsuki incorporated Yin-Yang properties, which not only stabilized the seal but also significantly increased the difficulty of undoing it.
First, forcibly breaking the seal was impossible. According to Mutsuki's estimates, only Six Paths-level Jutsu, with an effect capable of nullifying other Jutsu, could directly break the Heavenly Cycle Seal.
As for using Sealing Jutsu knowledge to break it, the difficulty was nearly three times that of cracking the Five Elements Seal. To undo the Heavenly Cycle Seal, one would need to master seven different Chakra Nature Transformations.
"Although it's only necessary to be able to use it, and doesn't require deep cultivation, even so, very few in the Shinobi world can meet this requirement."
As soon as Mutsuki's Sealing Jutsu was completed, Anrokuzan felt as if the Dragon Vein energy inside his body had become stagnant, like a still pond, no matter how hard he tried to move it, not a single ripple was stirred.
"To ensure your safe return, I will now study Mukade and the Dragon Vein power within him," Mutsuki explained.
"I have sealed him with Sealing Jutsu, so he won't be able to escape."
Naruto and Yamato both nodded in agreement, though they were still confused about how to get back, considering they hadn't done anything particularly special on the way here.
"Thank you all for your contributions to Roran. Tomorrow, I will hold a meeting to publicly expose Anrokuzan's crimes," Roran Queen said, stepping forward and giving a slight bow of gratitude.
The situation had somewhat caught her off guard. She hadn't expected Anrokuzan to be such a ruthless and malicious individual, let alone possess such terrifying power. If it hadn't been for Mutsuki and the others' help, Anrokuzan's destruction of Roran would have been unimaginable.
Next, Roran Queen sincerely invited Mutsuki and the others to attend tomorrow's gathering as heroes and receive the blessings of the Roran people.
Since there was still some time left, Mutsuki accepted Roran Queen's invitation.
He still needed the queen's help, and giving her a bit more face would benefit both sides.
"Another country saved, this is great!" Obito said excitedly.
He felt like he was getting closer to becoming a hero from a Ninja novel, not only saving two countries but also encountering ninjas from the future. Maybe in the future, he'd be called on to save the future as well.
"Obito, don't you want to meet the princess of Roran? Didn't you show a lot of interest last time in the Land of Snow?" Rin teased with a smile and asked him in quick succession.
"Anyway, it definitely won't be as perfect as in the novels," Obito sighed and replied.
After the Land of Snow mission, he had stopped expecting real-life princesses to match the idealized versions in stories.
"Maybe this is the price of maturity," Obito thought, feeling as if he had grown a lot.
"Because novels are fictional to begin with, only people with problems in their heads would expect real-world people to be as perfect as fictional characters," Kakashi shot back without holding back.
"Have you never heard the saying? Novels are inspired by reality!" Obito retorted.
Seeing Obito and Kakashi getting into another argument, Naruto laughed. He and Sasuke used to do this all the time, though now...
Since Anrokuzan had been sealed and imprisoned, there was no need for further investigation that evening. Naruto used the time to teach Obito Rasengan.
Since Obito wanted to learn, Naruto decided to actually teach him.
"The key factor in Rasengan is rotation. The essence of Rasengan is high-speed spinning Chakra!" Naruto started with a simple explanation of the Rasengan's principle.
"Mm-hmm, and then?" Obito asked eagerly, nodding.
"Rasengan!"
Without saying much more, Naruto immediately demonstrated, gathering a large amount of Chakra in his hand and forming a Rasengan, then smashing it into the large tree created by Yamato's Wood Release.
Boom!
A huge gap instantly appeared in the tree, and wood splinters flew everywhere.
"Rasengan isn't a complete Ninjutsu yet. By adding Nature Transformation, it can become much stronger," Naruto briefly explained his Rasenshuriken.
Since Rasenshuriken has such immense power and can also cause harm to his body, Naruto didn't demonstrate it but simply explained it.
Obito grew even more excited. He thought about the combined technique he had unintentionally performed with Naruto earlier. If he could master it on his own, it would mean he gained another powerful Ninjutsu.
"Learning Rasengan consists of three parts. First, practice with this water balloon," Naruto said as he pulled out a Water Balloon filled with water.
"Then, bam, you just pop it."
As Naruto finished speaking, the Water Balloon in his hand exploded with a loud pop.
"Whoa, Naruto, how did you do that just now?" Obito asked, wide-eyed, feeling like he had missed something.
"I mean, bam, pop!" Naruto repeated, thinking that Obito hadn't heard him clearly, so he deliberately raised his voice a little.
Obito: ...
Obito stared blankly at Naruto.
Seeing Obito's confused expression, Naruto scratched his head and pulled out another Water Balloon.
"It's as simple as bam, pop. What's so hard to understand?"
The Water Balloon once again burst with a loud pop, in sync with Naruto's words.
Obito was stunned. Can anyone really learn Ninjutsu this way?
Obito thought to himself that it might be faster if he wrote down Naruto's words, then took them to Mutsuki to develop the technique and teach him, rather than trying to learn from Naruto's method directly.
...
Land of Grass, Konoha Camp.
"Mutsuki, what are you doing here? Took on a new mission?" Jiraiya laughed as he saw Mutsuki approaching.
The more powerful ninjas there were on the battlefield, the easier things would be for him. So, Jiraiya naturally welcomed Mutsuki's arrival.
Mutsuki didn't immediately answer Jiraiya's question but instead scanned his surroundings.
Understanding Mutsuki's hint, Jiraiya followed Mutsuki into a private meeting tent for a more discreet conversation.
"It's not a mission, it's a personal matter related to you, Jiraiya-sama," Mutsuki said.
"Oh? What could it be that you'd come all the way to the front lines to find me?" Jiraiya asked, puzzled. For a moment, he couldn't think of any personal matter that would require Mutsuki to travel so far.
"A ninja from the future. He really wants to meet you," Mutsuki said directly, without any riddles, revealing the existence of Naruto.
"A ninja from the future? I didn't know you were this humorous, Mutsuki," Jiraiya laughed.
But soon, Jiraiya's smile gradually faded and disappeared because Mutsuki's expression remained unchanged, showing no signs of joking.
Actually, Jiraiya didn't think Mutsuki would be bored enough to joke about something like this, but the idea was still hard to believe.
This wasn't a prophecy; if time travel were possible, history itself would be in chaos.
"Who is he? If he wants me to meet him, he must have a name," Jiraiya asked calmly.
"Naruto, the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha, and a disciple of future Kakashi," Mutsuki thought for a moment before answering.
"Uzumaki? Jinchuriki?" Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he fell into thought.
Currently, the only Uzumaki in Konoha was Kushina Uzumaki, Minato's girlfriend. But this Naruto might not necessarily be related to Minato and them. After all, Minato's descendants should bear the Namikaze surname. Perhaps he's a survivor from the Uzumaki Clan that joined Konoha.
However, the fact that he's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki made Jiraiya think deeply. The only way a Jinchuriki would change is if the previous one dies, meaning Kushina must have died for this Naruto to take her place.
"I think he might be Minato's child," Mutsuki said, sharing his 'theory.'
"He knows a Jutsu, a technique that Minato was developing, and he looks like he has some of Minato's traits."
At present, Naruto didn't even know that his father was Minato Namikaze, so Mutsuki could only say that this was his guess.
Jiraiya furrowed his brows. The fact that Naruto looked like Minato, knew a jutsu that Minato was developing, and also carried the Uzumaki surname—it was almost conclusive.
If it were just the first two points, they could apply to Mutsuki as well. After all, the Rasengan, in name, was a technique developed by both him and Minato. But the Uzumaki surname had nothing to do with Mutsuki.
"The war is at a critical juncture; I can't leave," Jiraiya said after clearing his thoughts.
Mutsuki didn't say anything. There was a way to meet, and it wouldn't delay anything on the battlefield. He trusted that Jiraiya could figure it out.
"Let my Shadow Clone go with you," Jiraiya said, forming a hand sign and summoning a Shadow Clone.
In the world of ninjas, clones could be used for much more than simple tricks, because these people could really create clones.
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