After listening to Shinju's instructions, Kakashi shouted:
"Kamui!!"
The distorted Kamui space surged ahead of the Masked Man's flames and enveloped Naruto!
Naruto vanished in midair!!
Not far away, Might Guy panicked.
"Kakashi… did you use Kamui on the wrong target?! You just made Naruto disappear! (꒪⌓꒪)"
"The Fourth Hokage is still standing right there, you couldn't at least avoid him a little?! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴"
The Fourth Hokage, who was still maintaining the barrier: "…"
Avoid who? What, the moment he leaves, Naruto becomes free game for them to bully?!
Kakashi said, "Trust me, Guy! Fight the Masked Man with me!"
Then Kakashi, cloaked in red chakra, leapt onto the Ten-Tails' head alongside Guy, charging straight into a frontal clash with the Masked Man!
...
At the same time, within Kamui space.
After being sucked inside, Naruto was confused and muttered, "Where is this?"
"And what did Shinju mean when he told me not to panic and to look for a chance to attack?"
"Attack who? Isn't this Kakashi-sensei's alternate dimension? (°ー°〃)"
Just as Naruto was drowning in question marks, he noticed a faint firelight in the distance. He walked forward a few steps and discovered—there were people inside this dim space.
And he even knew them.
"Suigetsu? And Karin? Why are you here? ∑(✘Д✘๑)"
Suigetsu, Karin, and Jūgo practically trembled with joy.
They rushed up and hugged Naruto, crying from relief.
Suigetsu said, "Karin… how long has it been since we got sucked into this place? Do you even remember?"
Karin shook her head. "No idea. But at least a month!"
"A month? I feel like it's been at least half a year! Staying in this endless darkness—I swear I'm turning into a rat! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)" Suigetsu wailed.
"Thank goodness you're here, Naruto! You're here to take us out, right?! ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )"
Karin eagerly asked, "It must be because Shinju is worried about me, so he sent you to rescue me, right?! (σ≧︎▽︎≦︎)σ."
Naruto: "Actually… none of that."
He then told them everything: what had happened recently and why he suddenly appeared in Kamui space.
After listening, Karin pushed up her glasses, her eyes shining with intelligence.
"So, right as you were about to be seriously injured by the Masked Man, Shinju gave you a hint that Kakashi would use Kamui to send you into this dimension. Then once you're inside, you're supposed to find a chance to attack the Masked Man's body?"
Naruto: ⊙▽⊙
"How did you get all that from what I said?"
"Did I really explain that much? --003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)"
Karin smiled confidently.
"This is my telepathic connection with Shinju! (ﾉ∇︎〃 )"
Suigetsu spotted a contradiction:
"Wait… hold on, that doesn't make sense!"
"You were sucked in by Kakashi's Kamui—so why would you appear in the Masked Man's space? (º Д º*)"
Jūgo reasoned, "Unless… Kakashi's dimension and the Masked Man's dimension are connected. (´°Δ°`)"
"But… why?"
Karin said, "From what I know, Kakashi the Copy Ninja of the Leaf only has a Sharingan in his left eye. And the Masked Man's Sharingan is in his right eye… those two eyes originally belonged to the same person."
"In that case, Shinju sending you in makes perfect sense."
Jūgo then asked, "But what does Shinju mean by telling him to attack here? Did Shinju know Naruto would deliver food to us? That Naruto should take the chance to sneak attack?"
Karin shook her head.
"Impossible. Shinju wouldn't do something that dumb. And besides, Shinju shouldn't even know we're trapped in here…"
Naruto frowned.
"Then what exactly did Shinju mean…"
"At least send me a message, Shinju… explain a little first… （༎ຶ-༎ຶ）"
Karin sighed.
"This is an alternate dimension. No matter how strong Shinju's Mind Body Transmission is, he can't reach us here! (▼ヘ▼#)"
As they were deep in thought, Suigetsu rubbed his eyes and pointed.
"Something's showing up—half a waist! Did you see that?!"
Everyone looked to where he pointed—but saw nothing.
Karin said helplessly, "Suigetsu, this is not the time to joke around. →_→"
"I'm not joking! Look!! There's half an arm this time!! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
Karin believed him instantly—she'd just seen it too!
Karin: "It's real! (⊙o⊙)"
Jūgo murmured, "Now that I think about it… I think I've seen this twice before. But because it only shows up for a split second, I thought I was hallucinating…"
Karin: "But why are only body parts appearing—"
Next to them, Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I get it!! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
"If I remember right, the Masked Man has the ability to nullify physical attacks! (๑╹ヮ╹๑)ﾉ"
Karin nodded.
"We've fought him. We really couldn't land a hit…"
Suigetsu recalled,
"Every physical attack we threw went right through his body."
Blessed by the god of genius, Naruto nodded excitedly, sharp-eyed and clear-headed.
"Exactly!"
"But the Masked Man does have a real body! He's not actually immune to physical damage!"
"Based on what we're seeing, I think he's transferring whatever part of his body is about to be struck into this dimension! That's why physical attacks phase through him!"
"Right now, outside, Kakashi-sensei and the others should be fighting him—so the Masked Man keeps shifting parts of his body here!"
"And what I need to do… is attack those parts!! ୧⍢⃝୨"
"Ha!! I'm a damn genius!! (´◊ω◊｀)"
"I figured out Shinju's plan!!"
"My head is itchy—Killer B-san was right, I did grow a brain!! ୧⍢⃝୨"
Beside him, Karin finally understood too.
"I see! Then let's hurry up and get to work!! I've been itching to punch him for ages!"
...
Meanwhile, outside the dimension—on top of the Ten-Tails' head.
Kakashi and Guy clashed with the Masked Man!
Kakashi's strikes all phased through, and seeing no reaction from the Masked Man, doubt filled his heart.
"Did Shinju even tell Naruto what to do?"
"Why is the Masked Man not reacting?"
"Or… is the alternate space linked with my eye not the same as his? o_O???"
Just as that doubt formed, Guy's kick swept through the Masked Man's torso—
"Argh!!"
Even though Guy's leg passed through his body, the Masked Man let out a scream!
Kakashi looked up and saw a horrifying wound appear on the Masked Man's abdomen!
The sudden blow made him arch over in agony.
Kakashi, a veteran of countless battles, seized the opening and lunged forward—driving the kunai in with full force!!