Naruto's attack was stopped by Gaara's Absolute Defense, yet instead of frustration, Naruto only smiled.
Gaara, on the other hand, charged forward even more frantically.
"Sand Coffin!"
Here, in the middle of the desert, Gaara didn't even need the gourd on his back. Surrounded by endless sand and rock, his Sand Release was practically limitless.
The desert surged like a living river, rushing toward Naruto. Gaara laughed maniacally, eyes wide with madness, as if already picturing Naruto's blood soaking into the sand.
Naruto frowned at the deranged boy. Problem child? A good beating will fix that. After that, some proper guidance.
In truth, Gaara's downfall was Rasa's fault—his fool of a father. Not only did the Fourth Kazekage mishandle Gaara, but he ended up being killed by Orochimaru without even his own village realizing. Truly pathetic.
"Giant Rasengan!"
Naruto met the raging sand head-on, slamming a massive Rasengan into the torrent. The violent chakra sphere tore through the sand river, scattering the yellow grains high into the air.
Gaara froze in disbelief. Never had he seen such overwhelming power—save for his father. His frenzy faltered, his heart gripped by a flicker of hesitation he himself did not notice.
Gritting his teeth, Gaara sent another sand construct forward, this time a massive hand reaching for Naruto. Naruto flipped backward in an acrobatic retreat, landing dozens of meters away with a grin.
"Time for a baptism of fire!"
Naruto's hands blurred.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Flame Pillar!"
Two Fire Release jutsu burst forth simultaneously—one raining down from above, the other sweeping across the ground. Naruto didn't stop there.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A gale erupted, feeding the flames until they roared like a sea of fire.
Gaara's face hardened. He immediately erected three sand walls in front of him. But the flames tore through each barrier without pause, stopping only when their force finally waned.
Gaara had barely caught his breath when Naruto's voice echoed again:
"Earth Release: Quicksand Swirl! Wind Release: Tornado! Combination Ninjutsu—Quicksand Hell!"
The sand beneath Gaara shifted violently. Naruto had deliberately held back, mindful that Gaara was still too young.
"Shukaku! If I die, you'll die with me—lend me your strength!" Gaara roared.
The One-Tail didn't argue. Annoyed at the scent of the Nine-Tails lingering in Naruto, Shukaku poured its chakra into Gaara without hesitation.
The power surge transformed Gaara's jutsu, making them larger and far more destructive. But when they clashed with Naruto's techniques, the result wasn't as decisive as he had imagined. Relief flickered in his eyes, followed by cruelty. So, he's not as overwhelming as I feared.
"Sand Burial: Imperial Funeral!" Gaara bellowed, empowered by Shukaku's chakra, his presence like that of a god.
But Naruto's counterattack came in waves—so many that even Gaara's scalp tingled at the onslaught.
"Fire Release: Consecutive Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Lightning Release: Thunderbird!"
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
"…!"
Naruto refrained from using more combination techniques—their destructive power was too overwhelming for Gaara in his current state.
Even so, the sheer flood of ninjutsu consumed massive chakra. Naruto could feel his reserves depleting, and he nodded with satisfaction.
Heh, even Kakashi-sensei couldn't afford to use chakra like this.
This was just a clone of his, fueled with ten thousand "units" of chakra—two thousand from Naruto himself, and the rest provided by the Nine-Tails.
To put it into perspective: one "Kakashi" worth of chakra equaled one unit. In the original timeline, Naruto's chakra reserves dwarfed Kakashi's by hundreds of times, much of it sealed away to suppress Kurama. Now, without that interference and with his own growth, his chakra had risen to an entirely different level—thousands of times Kakashi's.
If Kakashi knew, he'd probably break down in tears.
In truth, Kakashi's chakra wasn't small. It was simply drained constantly by his Sharingan. Without it, he might've reached the Five Kage level long ago. But as the saying went: "Sharingan giveth, and Sharingan taketh away."
Naruto's ninjutsu rained down, detonations echoing one after another. The battlefield disappeared into a cloud of smoke and sand.
When the haze cleared, Gaara had collapsed into the Feigned Sleep Technique.
He had released Shukaku.
Naruto blinked. "…You've got to be kidding me."
Facing the fully manifested One-Tail was beyond him for now. Shukaku might've looked like a fool in the original story, but in truth, he was anything but weak. Kurama had always dismissed the other Tailed Beasts by the number of tails, but the truth was more complicated.
Shukaku, in particular, was unique—he was the only Tailed Beast who actively practiced ninjutsu. The others disdained human techniques, relying solely on raw chakra and power.
Naruto couldn't help but sigh.
Among all the Tailed Beasts, only Kurama's strength barely reached the level of a Super Kage. The rest hovered around the Five Kage level. But their chakra control and utilization were abysmally low, wasting much of their true potential.
In truth, with the vast chakra of the Tailed Beasts, each of them should have been capable of reaching the level of a Super Kage.
But most never bothered refining their abilities. They relied solely on their natural power—the Tailed Beast Ball.
No wonder humans had been able to control them for so long.
Still, in the eyes of ordinary shinobi, the Tailed Beasts remained terrifying, nearly unbeatable existences. Even the Five Kage found them troublesome opponents, simply because their chakra reserves were so immense.
"Hahahaha!"
"I, the great Shukaku, am finally free! Brat, prepare to die!"
The Ichibi's laughter boomed as his massive form stretched, relishing his long-lost freedom. With a roar, a colossal claw swept toward Naruto.
Naruto backflipped away, countering with another barrage of ninjutsu. The claw slammed into the ground with earth-shaking force, sending up a storm of dust and debris.
"Oi, brat!" Shukaku bellowed, his voice like rolling thunder. "What's your connection to that damned fox?"
Naruto grinned. "Want to know? Beat me first!"
"You insolent brat!" Shukaku roared, infuriated at being mocked. His chest swelled as he unleashed his own jutsu.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"
The massive wind sphere screamed through the air, but Naruto quickly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!"
He slipped beneath the surface, avoiding the attack as it cratered the ground. Shukaku's blast gouged out a massive pit, but Naruto emerged unharmed from another direction.
"Yo! I'm fine! Try again!"
Naruto waved mockingly.
Furious, Shukaku clawed at him again, but Naruto sank into the earth before the attack could land.
A moment later, he resurfaced elsewhere. "Still fine! You'll have to do better than that!"
Naruto's constant taunting drove Shukaku into a frenzy.
"You dare mock the great Shukaku? I'll tear you to pieces!"
Chakra surged violently within the beast's maw as a black sphere began to form.
"Damn, a Tailed Beast Ball already?!"
Naruto's eyes widened. He dove deep underground again, not daring to stay near the surface.
Not safe enough! He kept tunneling, retreating several hundred meters deeper.
The sphere detonated.
BOOM!!!
The world shook violently. Even deep below, Naruto felt the tremors reverberate through the earth, the shockwave rattling his bones.
As expected of a Tailed Beast Ball…
Shukaku's laughter shook the barrier. "Hahahaha! Sly brat, you're finished! Turned to dust and flattened under my power!"
But as Shukaku reveled in his supposed victory, a voice suddenly called out from behind him.
"…What exactly are you laughing at?"
Naruto stood there with a smirk.
Shukaku: "…"
...
TN:
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