Swish!
Not far away, a golden light flashed above the scorched ground, and immediately after, Naruto's figure stepped out from the light.
Looking at A, who was wrapped in lightning, Naruto put on a "scared" expression and said, "How terrifying, you almost hit me. The Raikage is truly worthy of his reputation."
A turned around, his burly body blocking the space between Naruto and the now-retreated C, blue Lightning Chakra crackling around him.
"Who are you?"
When his eyes took in the full appearance of the youth before him—blond hair, blue eyes, and that white trench coat flapping in the night wind—his pupils contracted.
In an instant, the figure of the blond man from the depths of his memory overlapped with the silhouette of the youth before him.
"Are you Naruto?" A's voice carried a hint of disbelief.
He had seen the intelligence reports and had seen portraits of Naruto, but the brat in the orange tracksuit from the pictures and the boy before him, shrouded in golden light, were completely different people.
This face was just too similar to Minato's, so similar that the battle-hardened heart in his chest skipped a beat uncontrollably.
"It seems the Raikage has already recognized me. I just don't know why, after learning of my existence, the Raikage hurried to the border of the Land of Fire with his men without a moment's rest?"
Naruto hovered several meters above the ground, looking down at A from his vantage point in the moonlight.
A watched the golden light surging around Naruto, his chest heaving. Tiny sparks of electricity danced on the surface of his skin and he gritted his teeth until they creaked.
So this is the son of the Yellow Flash?
Now he has truly become the Yellow Flash.
His gaze locked onto the light on Naruto's body.
What is this light?
A Kekkei Genkai?
Or some kind of new secret technique?
Kumogakure's intelligence reports had never mentioned that Naruto possessed such an ability.
A's original plan was to visit Konoha before Naruto could grow up to nip this hidden danger in the bud.
He had seen how Minato could change the course of a war single-handedly, and he didn't want Konoha to produce a second monster like that. But the oppressive aura radiating from Naruto made him realize it was too late.
"Raikage-sama!"
The six elite Kumo ninjas who had luckily survived the light bomb bombardment crawled out of the rubble and quickly assembled behind him. Although they were covered in injuries, their combat formation remained impeccable.
Naruto tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over the six people behind A. "Are we comparing numbers?"
He formed hand seals.
Bang, bang, bang...
Thirty-six puffs of white smoke exploded simultaneously behind him. The moment each Shadow Clone landed, it was wrapped in a layer of golden Chakra. Thirty-six pairs of blue eyes opened in unison, all looking toward the Raikage and his party opposite.
They raised their hands in unison, their fingers lighting up with blinding white light at the same time.
"Six against one, don't say I'm underestimating you."
Naruto stood in place, the smile on his face fading slightly. "After all, you are elite ninjas of Kumogakure."
He transformed into a streak of golden light and charged straight at A.
"Bastard, die!"
A's entire body erupted with lightning and he transformed into a blue flash of lightning, colliding head-on.
Meanwhile, thirty-six golden lights had already taken their positions.
The pupils of the six Kumo ninjas contracted sharply, and they began forming hand signs, preparing to unleash Lightning Release Ninjutsu to meet the enemy.
"What kind of ninja stands there forming hand signs while fighting?"
Just then, a Shadow Clone appeared abruptly in front of one of the Kumo ninjas.
The Kumo ninja's hand signs were only halfway complete when a flash of gold appeared in the corner of his vision. Before he could turn his head, he was kicked in the abdomen. His body arched as he flew sideways, crashing into a tree nearby.
The remaining five Shadow Clones did not give him a chance to catch his breath.
Just as the first kick sent him flying, a second Shadow Clone appeared in the middle of his landing trajectory and delivered another kick from the side.
A third one crouched near the spot where he hit the tree, waiting for him to roll over, then grabbed his collar and slammed him into the ground.
Each of the six Kumo ninjas was dealing with six Shadow Clones simultaneously.
Light Release made the Shadow Clones' movement speed significantly faster than theirs. Before the six Kumo ninjas could even turn their feet, they were punched in the back. Just as they raised their hands to defend, their ribs were kicked.
Forming hand signs was out of the question.
Whenever someone tried to clasp their hands together, a foot wrapped in white light would immediately appear before them to interrupt the action.
When the last Kumo ninja was lifted off the ground by the neck by a Shadow Clone, he swept his gaze across the surroundings.
"How is this possible..."
The other five teammates were already lying scattered on the ground, their bodies emitting smoke.
He struggled to turn his eyes to look at the thirty-six pairs of blue eyes in front of him, feeling so desperate that he couldn't even muster the thought of struggling.
Crack!
His eyes widened and his limbs hung limp.
Seeing this, the Shadow Clone tossed him aside. After finishing off the six Kumo ninjas, the Shadow Clones did not linger.
One Shadow Clone closed its eyes and sensed for a moment. Then, taking the other Shadow Clones, it transformed into golden light and shot out from the spot, rapidly passing a dozen trees before stopping behind a huge rock.
Behind the rock, a figure was crouching against the stone wall, breathing very lightly.
C was leaning behind the rock, fully focused on maintaining his sensory field, attempting to find a flaw in Naruto's attack pattern.
Suddenly, he felt lights brighten from all directions simultaneously, and he turned his head stiffly.
"Gulp!"
"How did you fin—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the thirty-six Shadow Clones raised their right hands in unison, and thirty-six orbs of light condensed in their palms simultaneously.
...
On the other side.
Naruto's main body was engaged in a fierce collision with A. Though it was called a collision, he was actually leisurely dodging between A's fist strikes and elbow strikes the entire time.
He could always lightly sidestep just before the attack hit, with movements so small they were almost negligible, as if every trajectory of A's punches was within his expectations.
The thirty-six Clones exchanged glances and simultaneously raised their hands, thirty-six lasers firing from their fingers toward A.
"Damn it!"
A caught a glimpse of the overwhelming light attacking him, and seeing the fallen Kumo ninjas, he let out a roar. Lightning Chakra erupted beneath his feet, and he shot out.
Rumble!
The lasers struck the spot where he had just been standing one after another, and rubble splashed up.
He dodged left and right through the dense barrage of light.
Taking advantage of the gap while A dodged the lasers, Naruto's main body turned into a streak of golden light and flashed into the air not far away. He crossed his arms and watched the Clones surround and attack A.
After the round of laser volleys ended, the thirty-six Clones simultaneously turned into streaks of golden light and lunged at A from all directions.
A steadied his stance and before he could catch his breath, six golden fists were already in front of him.
He tilted his head to dodge the first, raised his arm to block the second, and a third Shadow Clone kicked him in the calf, shifting his center of gravity by half an inch.
The fourth Shadow Clone pounced on him the moment his center of gravity shifted to lock his waist, and the fifth locked his shoulders from behind.
'Damn it, there are just too many of them!'
A gritted his teeth and pushed forward, alternating punches and knee strikes, fighting frantically amidst the siege of the Shadow Clones.
Every strike carried Lightning Chakra and his punches smashed several Shadow Clones into white smoke upon contact. But he was not having an easy time either.
He was indeed fast. Even when surrounded by the group of Shadow Clones, he could capture the attack trajectories of individual Shadow Clones.
Just then, he grabbed a Shadow Clone that was rushing from the front, his two arms locking it firmly.
Liger Bomb!
A held the Shadow Clone high above his head and slammed it into the ground.
Boom!
Lightning scattered everywhere and the held Shadow Clone turned into white smoke and dissipated.
Immediately after, he leaped up, Lightning Chakra condensed to the limit on his right foot.
Guillotine Drop!
He right foot slammed into the ground. The earth cracked open with a roar, a huge fissure spreading wildly from beneath his feet.
The shockwave, carrying rubble and dust, swept outwards, and several Shadow Clones that couldn't dodge in time were shattered by this force, turning into puffs of white smoke and dissipating into the night.
Naruto's main body was hovering in the distance, watching expressionlessly.
After performing two consecutive Ninjutsu, A's shoulders slumped. He stood in the center of the huge crater he had smashed, panting heavily.
Looking around, twenty-some Shadow Clones were surrounding him, while Naruto's main body drifted leisurely in mid-air, not even sweating a drop.
He had been consuming Chakra at a high intensity since the start of the battle, dodging at high speeds, and counterattacking. His Chakra consumption was already approaching the critical point.
This feeling of fighting like a trapped beast made him extremely uncomfortable. He remembered how his father, in order to cover his comrades' retreat, had fought alone against ten thousand Iwa ninjas for three days and three nights until his Chakra was exhausted and he died of exhaustion. Now he, too, was forced into such an isolated situation, only the enemy was not ten thousand Iwa ninjas, but a Konoha Ninja with unfathomable strength.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
Naruto prepared to end the battle. He raised his right hand, and a high-speed rotating Rasenshuriken condensed in his palm.