If there's anything brighter than fireworks, it's more fireworks going off together on the ground.
Like the fleeting bloom of a night flower—one look, and it lasts forever.
In simple terms: Naruto didn't expect there to be *that many* Rasenshurikens. When he used that "Six Paths Flower Scatter" move, it pretty much wiped out the whole forest. You could see all the way to the edge, and everything was bare.
Good news: he couldn't sense the chakra of the four Kage anymore.
Bad news: this was still inside the Land of Fire.
Not good. He needed to think of a way to pin this on Kurama. Even if it *was* Kurama's fault, Granny Tsunade would still be mad—but at least if Kurama took the blame, Naruto might only have to stay in the hospital *half* as long.
Feeling clever, Naruto gave himself a little mental thumbs-up... and stepped on Kurama just for good measure.
With that, he looked down again.
The thick forest was totally gone. It wasn't just a big crater—you could tell people would believe it if someone said Kaguya had fired off a Ten Tails Tailed Beast Bomb here. The Rasenshuriken wasn't as strong as that, but he used *a lot* of them.
The ground was a wreck. Four human shapes were slowly forming again, surrounded by drifting paper scraps.
Wide area, huge power, and it lasted a long time. Even those four couldn't handle it. At first they could hold out, but Rasa was the first to blow up. He didn't even get a chance to fully reform—got blasted again right away.
Without him as a support, A and Hozuki Gengetsu were next. The sudden drop caught them off guard for just a second, and that one second was enough. There were so many Rasenshuriken coming at them, they didn't even get a chance to react. They followed Rasa soon after.
Then came Mu. He held out the longest. Dust Release *was* strong—even Rasenshuriken got broken down by it. But the problem was, he wasn't facing *one* Rasenshuriken. He was facing a whole swarm.
So, someone might ask: why didn't Naruto just use this move from the start? Was he slacking?
Nope. Naruto's fighting style had already changed through his talks with Kurama. That's why he opened with a big move like Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion instead of going for nonstop bombing. He hadn't expected the other side to be this tough.
But thanks to that move, he was able to figure out how these four fought—or rather, how strong they really were. Against experienced opponents like them, a one-time big move doesn't give you much to work with. So after that, he switched to the Rasenshuriken barrage.
Even though it *feels* like a lot happened, the whole fight didn't even last ten minutes. First his shadow clone charge failed, then Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion didn't work, and finally, "Six Paths Flower Scatter" ended the battle.
Only three ninjutsu total from start to finish.
He used the Truth-Seeking Balls to break apart the bodies they were trying to reform, and let out a long breath.
"Even for me, using this much chakra is tiring…"
Still, tired or not, the enemies were taken care of. That's what mattered.
Thinking that, Naruto exited Six Paths Mode and flew toward Shukaku…
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique…"
A white beam of light shot up from below, echoing through the blue sky like the final breath of life.
The beam wasn't as huge as before—it was only about as wide as two people. But Dust Release was just too fast, and Naruto had just let his guard down, so he couldn't react in time.
His eyes widened in disbelief as the white beam rushed toward him. The sudden attack left him no time to dodge. He didn't even get a word out before the beam swallowed him whole, turning him into atoms and scattering him into the sky.
Mu slowly stepped out from the shadows, looking at the spot where Naruto had disappeared. He muttered, "The split version of me can't use the full-power Dust Release. The only one I can use is this smaller version. But Dust Release is still Dust Release. Even if the range is smaller, it's still the same technique."
Then he turned his head to the side and said calmly, "If I could choose, I really wish you were a ninja from the Land of Earth."
The black Truth-Seeking Ball floated in front of Mu. Naruto stood not far from him, looking a bit helpless. "I'm a ninja from the Hidden Leaf. That's something that'll never change."
"Heh…" Mu let out a soft chuckle—the first time he smiled since being brought back with Reanimation. "Kid… no, Uzumaki Naruto. Let me ask you something."
Naruto thought for a moment, then nodded.
Still smiling, Mu looked down at the broken land beneath his feet. "You've gotten so strong. What are you fighting for?"
"To protect my friends," Naruto answered without hesitation.
"With that kind of strength… you chose to use it to protect your friends?" Mu lowered his head.
"You're wrong," Naruto shook his head and corrected him seriously. "It's not that I became strong and then decided to protect them. It's because I wanted to protect them that I worked hard and got stronger."
"There's a big difference," he added, pouting a little.
Ever since Kurama started lecturing him all the time, Naruto had gotten kind of picky with words too.
"Turning a firm will into tireless action… that's what makes anything possible." Mu looked up at Naruto with a smile. "Interesting. Your way of thinking is actually pretty close to our Land of Earth's belief in the 'Will of Stone.'"
Naruto blinked in surprise.
Mu grinned. Even though his face was wrapped in bandages, Naruto could tell he was smiling for real. "Hey, Uzumaki Naruto, listen up. I'll only say this once. Dust Release chakra is made up of wind, earth, and fire. If you want to learn it, you have to—"
"—first understand the nature of those three elements…"
Seeing how serious Mu looked, Naruto was completely stunned. He cut him off mid-sentence and stared at him in disbelief. "Wait, don't tell me… you're planning to teach me Dust Release? Isn't that like, a top-secret jutsu of the Land of Earth?"
This kind of thing… you can't just teach it to anyone, right?
Mu scoffed and crossed his arms. "I'm the one who invented Dust Release. Since when did it become the Land of Earth's secret technique?"
Naruto was speechless.
"And who said I was teaching you?" Mu raised his chin. "I just need you to deliver a message to Oonoki—the current Tsuchikage. Before that, showing you these little things will help him believe your words."
"'Little things,' huh…" Naruto twitched at the corner of his eye. So all that stuff you just said was throwaway content?
"Alright then."
Naruto clicked his tongue. "So what message do you want me to pass on to Lord Tsuchikage?"
...
"Kurama… where the hell are you?"
In his inner world, Shukaku looked like he was about to break down. "You said ten minutes! It's almost been ten!"
Kurama also looked annoyed. "You really need to work on your chakra sensing. I'll be there in two minutes at most."
"Two minutes…"
Shukaku's expression eased up a little. "You'd better hurry. These three guys have gone nuts. I've used up almost all my chakra trying to protect this brat. Now I can only rely on turning into sand to play hide-and-seek with them."
Luckily, those three didn't have very strong sealing or sensing abilities. That's the only reason Shukaku could keep hanging on.
In the desert, if nothing else, Shukaku at least had the skills to stay alive.
"Wait… at this distance…" Kurama paused, then his mouth stretched into an excited grin. "This distance is perfect for a Tailed Beast Bomb! Shukaku, just wait—I'll fire off a little gift for our buddy!"
"Oh!" Shukaku's eyes lit up. "Make it a big one! Don't worry about me! When I'm in sand form, I've got solid resistance to Tailed Beast Bombs!"
Kurama was hyped now. His chakra in Sage of Six Paths mode started building up fast. "Alright! Don't forget to double-tap me with a kiss!"
Seeing this, the smile on Shukaku's face froze. His whole body started trembling like crazy. "Wait! Don't use the Sage of Six Paths chakra! That stuff deals bonus damage to tailed beasts!"
Too bad—Kurama had already left the inner world, and couldn't hear Shukaku's desperate begging that looked like it came straight out of a meme.
Anyway… let's thank our old pal in advance for the gift-wrapped Sage-style Tailed Beast Bomb!
——
*Note: After the fusion, Dust Release can no longer be used. However, in the game, there's a move where it's used with clones to launch a Dust Release ninjutsu attack. For story purposes, the game version is used.*
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