The mission client, Kuromu, played by Itachi, had already discovered Kakuzu's ambush.
He also knew that Master Senku would soon make a move.
So his pace quickened slightly, so that the senior could complete the plan.
Neither Sasuke, Naruto, nor Gaara noticed this subtle change.
After all, their shinobi speed could be much faster, they had only slowed down to accommodate the client.
After the few of them turned past two cliffside paths, suddenly, several shuriken came shooting straight at them.
The target was precisely their mission client, Kuromu.
So fast and so strong, Sasuke even though he saw them, didn't manage to block.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Luckily Gaara was standing right next to Kuromu, raising up a sand wall that blocked the shuriken.
Kuromu was so frightened that he fell right on his butt to the ground.
"Who's there?", Sasuke was both embarrassed and angry. His very first mission, and the client almost got killed.
At this moment, a man dressed as a wandering shinobi leapt out of the shadows.
He lunged straight at Kuromu.
Sasuke's hands swept continuously, countless shuriken flew out.
At the same time he quickly formed seals: Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!
The shuriken collided in mid-air, then scattered apart, sealing off every path the wandering shinobi could dodge to.
But this wasn't an ordinary wandering shinobi. It was Sarutobi Ishishu.
He only drew the short blade from his waist and swung it, ding ding ding, with several crisp clangs, the shuriken were all deflected.
As the Great Fireball Technique came near, Sarutobi Ishishu formed hand seals, and his body slid sideways in midair, dodging the fireball.
Naruto also reacted by now.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In an instant, eight clones plus his real body, nine Narutos, surrounded the client this time.
Kuromu, seeing Naruto split into so many shadow clones, still showed surprise in his eyes.
When Sarutobi Ishishu landed, he was facing Sasuke head-on.
Sasuke had already opened the single-tomoe Sharingan.
His sharp observation let him already see the opponent's attack trajectory.
Closer, closer.
Even closer…
He swung the kunai, slashing straight at the opponent's neck.
But in the face of absolute strength, being able to see doesn't mean the body can keep up.
BANG!
Sarutobi Ishishu kicked out, and Sasuke flew back, slammed against the cliff wall.
"Wah!", A mouthful of blood spewed from Sasuke's mouth at once, his vision darkened, and he slid down the rock wall.
Feeling this absolute gap, Sasuke weakly shouted, "Gaara, take the client and run!"
"Sasuke!"
Seeing Sasuke beaten so badly, Naruto was furious. He and a few shadow clones, each gripping a kunai, all rushed up.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
With the sound of smoke popping from clones, in just three seconds, all of Naruto's shadow clones were wiped out.
BANG!
Sarutobi Ishishu lashed out a whip kick, blasting Naruto flying.
He glared coldly at Naruto. If he could, he really would have killed him.
But he couldn't. If the jinchuriki was endangered, the Nine-Tails might rampage.
Sarutobi Ishishu had already wasted a bit of time, and now was very tense, because he didn't know how long Akatsuki could delay Rengoku.
He immediately formed seals with his left hand, drew his blade with his right.
At the same time as flames spewed from his mouth, the blade thrust forward.
"Great Flame Slash!"
A fire-red wall of flame, as if pushed by a giant hand, crashed toward Gaara.
Gaara's small face was full of seriousness. He spread his hands, and sand quickly formed a thick sand wall in front of him.
BOOM!
The massive wall of fire slammed into the sand wall, blasting Gaara and Kuromu straight off the cliff.
Kuromu let out a scream, falling off the cliff.
Gaara's head spun, his vision swam, he had no time to rescue.
At this moment Sarutobi Ishishu saw on the path they had come from, flames bursting skyward.
He knew that Akatsuki had already clashed with Rengoku.
"I'll handle things here," An old voice spoke, and without hesitation, Sarutobi Ishishu rushed to support Akatsuki's side.
At this moment, at the cliff edge, an old monk in robes suddenly appeared.
He waved his hand, pulling Gaara back.
Naruto had just felt relief in his heart, when that old monk pressed a palm onto Gaara's belly.
Gaara screamed in agony, "AHHH!"
A huge sealing array instantly appeared on his abdomen, and with Senku twisting his hand, a massive chakra surged out of Gaara's stomach.
The creator of this sealing gate was Rengoku himself. Since Rengoku had learned a few more years of sealing techniques, of course it was now undone instantly.
As Gaara's scream was abruptly cut off, a shrill, frenzied voice rang out.
"I'm out! HAHAHAHA!"
"Lord Shukaku is out!"
Seeing Shukaku freed from Gaara's body, and quickly forming a sand behemoth form, Naruto's dazed and battered head instantly cleared.
As a student of the elite class, of course he knew what happened when a tailed beast left its jinchuriki.
"Gaara!", Overwhelming rage shattered Naruto's reason, and violent chakra surged in resonance with his emotions.
Red Nine-Tails chakra suddenly burst out from Naruto's body.
"Hmm? …Another demon beast sealed inside such a young child?", Senku's expression shifted, chanting a Buddhist invocation.
"Holy Seal!"
He sat cross-legged, palms together, placing his staff across his arms.
Behind Senku, a massive flame lotus burst forth, manifesting like a holy seal.
Chakra rivaling a tailed beast exploded out like a tidal wave!
Sarutobi Ishishu, with his keen perception, turned his head to glance.
Even he felt an indescribable shock.
'Such powerful chakra!'
The flame lotus swiftly changed, winding around Senku's body.
Then it transformed into flaming long whips, lashing straight at the already transformed sand-beast Shukaku.
Shukaku was still spitting trash talk. These past years, sealed away, he had been unable to communicate with anyone.
Now he was in a state of completely unhinged mania.
But the flaming whips wrapped tightly around him.
He let out a miserable scream, as the whips swiftly bound him.
These flaming long whips were formed from Rengoku's Ghost Lanterns combined with Vajra Sealing Chains.
It was like branding Shukaku with red-hot irons.
"Ahhhh! Lord Shukaku's in agony!"
"Aaaaaah…"
Before Vajra Sealing Chains, even the Nine-Tails couldn't resist.
Much less the small One-Tail Shukaku.
Shukaku was soon tied up like a rice dumpling.
The Nine-Tails cloak Naruto had burst out rushed forward too, but was instantly scattered by a single strike.
Senku precisely struck, sending Naruto flying, landing him beside Sasuke, who was lying at the cliff edge coughing blood.
"Hmm? This chakra is…?", The Nine-Tails had already been handled by Rengoku several times before.
And he knew a few things.
So he immediately withdrew the chakra cloak back inside.
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