The Konoha support squad stood at the very edge of the battlefield, their expressions shocked as they gazed at the cataclysmic battle unfolding in the center.
"Has the situation really escalated to this point? They're even using Jinchuriki," Kurenai said, her beautiful face etched with grave concern.
"Something's not right," Asuma frowned slightly.
"What is it?" Kurenai looked at him quizzically.
"According to Sunagakure's request for aid, the enemy should be using an energy system we've never seen before. But the enemy currently fighting the One-Tail is using chakra," Asuma explained.
"Considering the warship that was just sunk by Sunagakure, the original enemy has likely been dealt with by Suna. The ones fighting them now are probably a different group."
After listening to his explanation and observing for a moment, Kurenai nodded slightly.
"Then, should we still go to support them?"
"Hinata, check the surroundings."
Asuma turned to look at the three members of Kurenai's team.
Since his own team had been sent out on a mission by the Fifth Hokage, he had formed a temporary five-person squad with Team 8 for this support mission to the Land of Wind.
Hinata Hyuga, hearing this, quickly activated her Byakugan and carefully scanned the area.
The more she observed, the more tense her small face became.
"Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei! There are many battlefields nearby."
Especially the battlefield in the nine o'clock direction—that chakra, so immense it almost seemed to overflow from her vision, could a human truly possess such power?
The feeling that chakra gave her was even more terrifying than the One-Tail Shukaku.
"Even more terrifying than the One-Tail Shukaku's chakra?" Kurenai was greatly alarmed.
"Hinata, are you sure the source of that chakra is truly human?"
Hinata Hyuga nodded, then immediately shook her head. Seeing their puzzled expressions, she quickly explained:
"That chakra is too vast; I can't clearly see the appearance of its source."
"But judging by its size, it should be human."
That's even more terrifying…
Kurenai and Asuma exchanged a look, both understanding the other's unspoken thought: it was best not to reveal this frightening fact to the three younger ninja just yet.
Boom!
From the center of the battlefield, a fierce gust of wind swept towards them.
The five quickly crossed their arms in front of them to avoid having fine stones and sand kicked into their eyes.
"Kurenai, take the three of them and get to the Suna main forces' location as quickly as possible," Asuma ordered once the storm had slightly abated.
Getting caught in a battle of this magnitude, individual strength was insufficient to withstand the aftershocks; only by relying on the strength of a group could one better increase their chances of survival.
"I understand. You be careful," Kurenai said, not uttering any words of bravado.
She was a genjutsu-type ninja, and her subordinates were all geared towards reconnaissance. Facing a battle of this level, they didn't even have the qualifications to assist from the sidelines, let alone interfere.
Watching their departing figures, Asuma spat out the cigarette butt from his lips, recalling the points Hinata had indicated earlier.
Following his intuition, he quietly moved towards one of those locations.
He had to find out what exactly was happening in this place, and why so many powerful individuals had gathered.
The burial site of the steel warship.
A greenish hand emerged from the yellow sand. The Stone of Gelel on the back of the hand emitted a dazzling light, dispersing the surrounding sand.
The bestialized Haido looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, a sense of blissful relief after surviving a near-death experience welling up within him.
"It feels so good to be alive!" Haido threw his head back and laughed.
"Sunagakure, is it? Just wait until I find the Stone of Gelel mine; you'll be the first ones I deal with!"
However, his triumphant reverie had just begun when harsh reality slapped him viciously across the face.
Boom!
A wind bullet, imbued with immense chakra, grazed his scalp and flew past, landing on a sand dune behind him.
A massive crater instantly appeared on the rolling sand dune.
A large amount of yellow sand splashed out in all directions from the crater's center!
"Bastard!!"
Gazing at the curtain of sand above that seemed to obscure the sky, Haido hadn't even finished his words before he was buried beneath the yellow sand once more.
"His movements are too agile; my Air Sand Bullets can't hit him at all," Shukaku's voice sounded in Gaara's mind.
"My sand can't catch him either." Watching his sand attacks miss again, Gaara's brow furrowed tightly.
Boom!
The fiery light of a massive explosion lit up the distance.
"A Tailed Beast Bomb?!" Gaara's expression grew even graver.
It seemed the battle over there had also reached a white-hot intensity.
"Shukaku, I need to temporarily exit the Tailed Beast transformation."
"Your Armor of Sand won't be able to withstand those poisoned hidden weapons," Shukaku said.
"The Tailed Beast form is too large, its movements too obvious; I can't hit him at all. Continuing to maintain the transformation is just a waste of chakra," Gaara shook his head.
"I'll find a way to deal with the hidden weapons."
"If it really comes down to it, just transform back," Shukaku, hearing this, didn't insist further, merely giving a word of caution.
"I understand."
"Such a terrifying attack," Kisame lightly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Samehada could devour not only a person's chakra but also constructs made of chakra.
But it couldn't devour just any ninjutsu.
Take the Tailed Beast Bomb from just now, for instance—that highly condensed Yin-Yang chakra. If they had waited for Samehada to devour all that chakra, they would have died countless times over already.
"Ugh…"
Beneath a red skeleton composed of chakra, Uchiha Itachi clutched his eyes in pain.
Two streams of blood slowly trickled from the corners of his eyes.
"Is this the Uchiha clan's Mangekyo Sharingan?" Naruto retracted the golden fox head that had formed before him and carefully observed the distant red skeleton.
A materialization of Yin Release…
Due to his foundation in Yang Release, he could clearly sense the essence of the Susanoo.
Susanoo—the ultimate power dwelling within the Mangekyo Sharingan, an incredibly strong ninjutsu that integrated both offense and defense.
Even within the Uchiha clan, which had produced numerous talents, those capable of using this ultimate power were few and far between.
The last known user of Susanoo in the ninja world was Uchiha Madara.
A powerful ninja who could stand on equal footing with the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
The flow of blood from Uchiha Itachi's eyes suddenly increased.
A inexplicable sense of crisis welled up from the depths of Naruto's heart. He instinctively condensed a golden chakra shield in front of him.
Fwoosh!
A jet-black flame, seemingly capable of incinerating everything, bizarrely ignited on the golden chakra shield.
Gazing at the black flames before him, a trace of gravity flashed in Naruto's eyes.
Is this flame also a Mangekyo ability?
Naruto had no doubt that if he were burned by these black flames, he would absolutely pay a heavy price.
He had thought that avoiding eye contact with Uchiha Itachi would negate the threat of the Sharingan…
He had still underestimated those eyes too much.
Truly worthy of being the pinnacle of ocular kekkei genkai.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Naruto once again vanished from his spot.
From the previous attack, it seemed that using these black flames required a certain amount of time, and the user's line of sight had to be focused on the enemy.
In that case, let Uchiha Itachi's eyes chase after him!
Let's see whose speed is greater—his, or Uchiha Itachi's eyes!
"His speed has increased again." Kisame watched the enemy, who had already become a streak of light, his expression no longer holding its initial nonchalance.
The Susanoo suddenly condensed a skeletal arm, pulling Kisame into its protection.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In an instant, golden sword slashes seemed almost to cover the Susanoo.
Kisame hadn't even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief.
Crack!
A fine fissure appeared on the red skeleton.