Shukaku turned its massive head, and for a moment, the two locked eyes!
In the distance, Uzumaki Naruto stood unscathed, staring back with his wide, spirited eyes.
"Hey! Bro, what was that you just said?"
Naruto cupped a hand to his ear and tilted his head, deliberately acting like he hadn't heard a word. His cheeky grin made him look all the more irritating.
"Brat! You're looking for death!"
Shukaku roared in fury, the sand around him immediately churning in response to his rage. The desert trembled as his chakra surged.
The waves of sand twisted together, infused with Magnet Release, until they rose like a towering storm. With Shukaku's massive frame behind it, Naruto suddenly found himself staring at a sky filled with crushing yellow sand.
"Oh man! He's really serious this time!"
Naruto had always known Shukaku wielded Magnet Release, but seeing that power condensed into such a massive attack made his scalp prickle.
Swish!
Naruto vanished from sight, slipping underground with Earth Release. He wasn't stupid—taking that head-on would've been suicide.
Shukaku bellowed in frustration. The storm only grew more violent, and he spewed Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullets in every direction. One even slammed against the barrier surrounding the battlefield, causing the invisible dome to ripple and briefly flash into view before fading again.
Meanwhile, Gaara remained motionless, feigning slumber as though none of this chaos mattered to him.
When Shukaku paused to catch his breath, Naruto suddenly popped up again—smug as ever.
"Yo! Ichibi! Why are you raging so hard and still getting nowhere?"
Before Naruto even finished mocking him, a massive claw came crashing down!
Boom!!!
The ground quaked, swallowed in smoke and collapsing earth. A massive crater spread out beneath Shukaku's hand, but once again—Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
The desert cracked apart, sand funneling downward like quicksand. Shukaku's snarl grew fiercer, the purple markings across his body twisting like sinister tattoos.
Minutes passed, and Shukaku still couldn't catch him. The brat's chakra signature vanished whenever he disappeared, making it nearly impossible to track.
Irritated, Shukaku poured chakra underground, forcing the sand to churn and collapse in an effort to drag Naruto out. But no matter how far he searched—even hundreds of meters deep—there wasn't a trace of him.
Unbeknownst to Shukaku, Naruto had already tunneled thousands of meters away. His mastery of Earth Release had advanced so much that not only could he move at insane speed underground, he could dig to incredible depths. The only drawback was air—he had to occasionally surface for a breath or create tiny ventilation passages with jutsu.
When Shukaku's rampage finally subsided, Naruto reappeared again with another taunt:
"Hey, big tabby cat, what's wrong? Didn't eat enough breakfast? Oh wait—you don't even eat, huh?"
This wasn't Naruto's true self speaking—it was his Shadow Clone, and the clone had absolutely no restraint. Where the real Naruto might have shown caution, this one was completely unhinged.
"Brat! You've truly enraged me now!"
Shukaku howled, his killing intent spiking as he began condensing another Tailed Beast Ball.
Naruto smirked. "What's so special about making a ball? Anyone can do that!"
He lifted his hand and immediately began showing off.
"This is a small ball, this is a big ball, this one's flaming hot, this one's flat—and this is a skewer of 'em!"
In his palm, Rasengan after Rasengan formed—standard Rasengan, Giant Rasengan, a fire-natured Flame Rasengan, a compressed flat Rasengan from shape transformation, and finally a chain of Rasengan lined up like dumplings on a stick.
The display made Shukaku's chakra flare even more violently, the Tailed Beast Ball growing larger as his fury mounted.
And just as suddenly—Naruto disappeared underground again.
One brat, one Tailed Beast, and hours of chaos followed. By the time the first rays of dawn lit the sky, they were still at it. Gaara, however, finally enjoyed a rare, peaceful sleep through it all.
…
"Brat! This big guy is about to use his ultimate move!"
Shukaku's thunderous voice echoed, making Naruto tense.
Wait—ultimate move? What the hell is he talking about?!
"This is the end, kid! Goodbye!"
Before Naruto could react, Shukaku suddenly hurled a massive sand chunk directly at Gaara's body. The impact jolted Gaara awake, his eyes widening as he took in the chaotic battlefield littered with traces of ninjutsu.
Naruto stood nearby, completely unscathed. Could it be—Ichibi hadn't been able to harm him at all?
"That's cheating!" Naruto protested, glaring at Shukaku's dirty trick.
But the beast was already retreating, merging back into Gaara's body as it let out booming laughter.
"Didn't expect that, did you, brat? You got played by this great Shukaku! Hahaha!"
Though he had been toyed with, Shukaku was still oddly content. For once, he'd been free, even if only for a short time. Venting his frustrations felt far better than being caged in silence.
Gaara blinked, the remnants of sleep still clinging to him. Strangely, his heart felt lighter. It had been a long, long time since he'd known such peace.
Uzumaki Naruto finally steadied himself, snapping out of the distraction of his scuffle with Shukaku. He nearly forgot what was important.
When his focus returned, Naruto's gaze settled calmly on Gaara—who, in turn, watched him with visible wariness.
A guy even the Ichibi couldn't handle… he's not ordinary.
Naruto looked at the guarded boy in front of him. He was certain—if he didn't reach Gaara with sincerity, nothing would get through.
"Gaara, I'm not here to be your enemy," Naruto said, his tone slow and deliberate. "We're the same—you and I. Both Jinchūriki. Instead of fighting, we should be helping each other."
For a brief moment, Gaara's eyes wavered, but then Shukaku's mocking voice rang inside his head:
"He's lying! He's not the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki at all—just some brat who borrowed the Nine-Tails' power!"
The words jolted Gaara back to suspicion.
"You're lying!" Gaara's muffled voice was sharp, laced with agitation. "You're not the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki at all! What are you really after?"
Naruto froze, momentarily stunned. Then it clicked—of course. It had to be Shukaku. The Ichibi must have sensed that he wasn't carrying the Nine-Tails inside this clone body.
"You've got it wrong!" Naruto quickly explained. "I am the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki—Uzumaki Naruto! What you're looking at right now is just one of my Shadow Clones."
Gaara, however, only stared back at him like he was an idiot. His expression practically said, Who's ever seen such a monstrous Shadow Clone?
"Fine then," Naruto said firmly. "If you don't believe me—I'll prove it."
He tugged off his upper clothing, exposing the sealing marks across his body.
"Release!"
With a surge of chakra, Naruto unraveled part of the seal's restraint. But he didn't stop there—his hands blurred through signs, slightly altering the formula of the Shadow Clone itself.
In the next moment, Naruto's upper body flared with a translucent mass of chakra—like a half-formed avatar, reminiscent of a Susanoo.
Gaara's eyes went wide in shock.
What… what is he?
This wasn't just a Shadow Clone. It was a construct of chakra so dense it could rival a monster.
Even Shukaku stirred inside Gaara's mind, momentarily speechless.
"A Shadow Clone… fought me for this long?" the Ichibi muttered in disbelief. "That's impossible. Shadow Clones are supposed to vanish at the slightest hit!"
The sheer scale of Naruto's chakra left both Gaara and Shukaku dumbfounded.
...
TN:
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