The current carried a massive amount of water, flooding into the Forest of Death all at once.
This could be considered a contribution to Konoha's reforestation efforts.
Meanwhile, the water level on the battlefield dropped significantly, allowing Naruto to finally breathe fresh air again.
On the other side, Sunagakure and Otogakure's Ninjas among the examinees seemed to have received some sort of signal, as they simultaneously launched attacks on the surrounding candidates.
Fortunately, the Konoha proctors here hadn't recklessly joined Naruto's battle against Kisame, so they still had plenty of combat-ready forces left.
They reacted quickly, teaming up with some alert examinees to fend off the sudden assault.
On one side, Sakura barely managed to block a kunai thrown by a Otogakure's Ninja, only to be sent flying by a blast of compressed air shot from another Otogakure's Ninja's palm.
As she lost her balance, other Otogakure's Ninjas prepared to swarm her, aiming to eliminate this ordinary Genin first.
Naruto, who had been using Observation Haki from afar, wanted to rush to her aid, but another image flashed into his mind, making him abandon the idea of leaving the battlefield.
At the critical moment, Sakura felt certain she was about to die… but then, a figure suddenly dashed to her side and sent the leaping Otogakure's Ninja flying with a single palm strike.
"You...you are-?"
In this life-or-death situation, Hinata had no time to be shy. She reached out and pulled Sakura up.
"Are you okay, Sakura-san?"
Sakura had some impression of Hinata, and that was when they were still in the Ninja Academy.
This girl had always seemed timid and fragile… Who would've thought she'd become so reliable in a crisis?
Beside Hinata, the rest of Konoha 12 gradually gathered together.
Seeing the stalemate in the battle ahead, Naruto exhaled slowly, deciding not to drag things out any longer with the two in front of him.
"Haah!"
Kisame suddenly emerged from the water, slashing at Naruto with his sword.
But Naruto didn't even bother dodging. Instead, he reached out and grabbed toward another direction.
In the next instant, another Kisame appeared right where Naruto's hand was, and his throat was caught in Naruto's grip.
The Kisame behind him dissolved back into water and splashed down.
Naruto didn't even waste words. He tightened his grip, ready to crush the man's windpipe… but unexpectedly, the sword Samehada moved on its own.
Samehada opened its maw wide and bit down hard on Naruto's shoulder. Though no blood sprayed out, Kisame could feel Samehada voraciously devouring Naruto's Chakra.
Naruto's expression had turned cold.
"You like to eat? Then I'll let you eat your fill."
A huge amount of Chakra began actively pouring from Naruto's body into Samehada's mouth.
As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto was born with Chakra far beyond that of ordinary Ninjas. In addition, he had decades of enhanced accumulation from another world, so even if he hadn't fully brought all of it back, his Chakra reserves had still multiplied several times over.
Compared to Kisame, the current Naruto was far more deserving of the title [Tailless Tailed Beast].
Even Kurama, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines, only realized at this moment how much Chakra Naruto had in his body.
Though it's still incomparable to his own, if one were to say Naruto's Chakra was on par with a weaker Tailed Beast… it wouldn't be entirely wrong.
Soon, Samehada began to swell up. Its teeth, which had been tightly clamped onto Naruto's shoulder, loosened, and its blade suddenly went limp, sagging like a deflated balloon.
Looking Naruto with lifeless gaze, drooling excess Chakra it couldn't swallow, with its belly bloated to the point of bursting.
Then, shockingly, Samehada actively wriggled out of Kisame's grip and began slinking toward Naruto like a submissive dog.
This time, it made no attempt to attack. Instead, it acted more like it was trying to curry favor with its new master.
This scene… was practically a case of NTR.
Of course, this was only surface-level.
While Samehada often behaving like a beast driven by instinct, it was in fact deeply loyal to Kisame. Even its so-called 'betrayal' in the original work was likely just an act to assist Kisame's later infiltration plans.
Naruto's Observation Haki is the most effective at detecting hidden emotions.
This naturally includes animals.
Not being fooled by Samehada's act, Naruto then did something that left even Kisame utterly stunned.
He actually opened his mouth wide and bit down hard on Samehada.
Then, gripping Samehada with one hand, he tore into it like a wild animal.
Samehada thrashed violently, but in the end, Naruto ripped off a chunk of its 'flesh'.
After chewing it twice, Naruto spat it directly onto the ground.
"Bleh, tastes awful."
Then, without giving Kisame time to react, he snapped Kisame's neck with a sharp crack, then tossed both the corpse and Samehada aside.
Naruto wiped his mouth and took a few steps toward Itachi, but then, as if sensing something, his gaze snapped toward the water below.
There, Kisame's body and Samehada, which should have been lying motionless, had vanished without a trace.
"Tch. Tough as a cockroach."
'Even having his neck snapped wasn't enough to kill him?'
Kisame, Orochimaru…
Ninja might be fragile in some ways, but their survival instincts were on a whole other level.
Fortunately, even if Kisame wasn't dead, he was likely severely injured and had fled, as his presence had already disappeared.
"So, your partner's been taken care of. Aren't you going to do something?"
For once, Itachi actually responded to Naruto's words.
"Uzumaki Naruto… you truly are an anomaly, just as the reports said."
His gaze flickered toward his younger brother, who was still desperately struggling to break free of the Genjutsu with his Sharingan. Then he glanced back at Naruto, who, despite being the same age as Sasuke, already possessed combat abilities surpassing that of a Jonin, and his thoughts grew unreadable.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
At that moment, Sasuke, who should have been immobilized like a wooden dummy, let out a furious roar.
Perhaps Itachi had loosened the Genjutsu's hold, Sasuke finally began breaking free.
After witnessing Naruto effortlessly defeat Itachi's partner, Sasuke couldn't help but compare it to his own pitiful state… reduced to a helpless stray dog, frozen in place by a single glance from Itachi.
All his intense training now seemed like a cruel joke.
The overwhelming frustration and stimulation pushed his Sharingan to evolve further, and a third tomoe formed in his pupils.
Once the third tomoe fully manifested, the restrictions of Shackling Stakes Technique was broken, and Sasuke regained his mobility.
Just as he gathered his fighting spirit, ready to charge at Itachi again, Naruto seemed to have seen what was going to happen next and shouted at him from a distance.
"Sasuke! Close your eyes!"
But Sasuke's reaction was a step too slow.
"Tsukuyomi."
With Itachi's whisper, Sasuke's consciousness was dragged into a 72-hour-long Genjutsu of relentless torture.
The moment he escaped the Tsukuyomi's grasp, Sasuke's body gave out, collapsing weakly to the ground.
Because Tsukuyomi was cast instantaneously, with the entire torture sequence compressed into a single moment-
So even if Naruto threw his weapons in this direction as soon as he observed the 'short future', he still couldn't interrupt it in time.
He could only watch as Itachi released Tsukuyomi and turned into a flock of crows to dodge the Kusanagi Sword that was thrown at him.