Chapter 362: Return
"Your head really is hard as a rock."
After delivering a final punch and pulling back, Naruto looked at the Skynet Naruto lying on the ground and spoke.
But the moment he hit the ground, Skynet Naruto planted his foot and sprang back toward Naruto, who was free-falling from midair.
"Data analysis complete. Loading data."
"What?!"
To Naruto's surprise, Skynet Naruto launched into a relentless flurry of punches, each blow trailing afterimages.
Although Naruto struggled to defend himself, Skynet Naruto eventually seized an opening and punched Naruto square in the cheek.
"Is that all the strength you've got?" Naruto turned his head with the punch still pressing against his face and looked at Skynet Naruto. "Hah!"
A powerful golden wave of chakra suddenly erupted from Naruto's body, blasting Skynet Naruto away. At the same time, Naruto extended both hands and began firing a barrage of energy blasts.
Skynet Naruto immediately deployed an electromagnetic barrier made of chakra to shield himself.
The energy blasts struck the electromagnetic barrier, triggering continuous explosions.
"Kurama, lend me your power!"
Now that he'd become more familiar with his Super Saiyan form, Naruto decided to attempt combining it with the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
"Mm!"
Inside Naruto's body, Kurama clasped his hands together.
Naruto's third-stage Super Saiyan form was now cloaked in the outer layer of Nine-Tails chakra.
Because maintaining the Super Saiyan form constantly drained his chakra, Naruto had increased his taijutsu abilities but couldn't use powerful ninjutsu. The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode perfectly compensated for that weakness.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two shadow clones of Naruto appeared at his sides.
Taking advantage of Naruto's brief pause in attacking, Skynet Naruto also ceased maintaining his barrier—after all, the shield consumed chakra continuously. Although he had an abundance of chakra, it wasn't infinite.
Facing Naruto, Skynet Naruto activated a combined mode—an overload form fusing the Overdrive Mode, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and Sage Mode—entering his Overdrive Sage Fox Chakra Mode.
Skynet Naruto's Nine-Tails had long since died. He was only able to use the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode through scientific ninja tools that transformed his Naruto chakra into Nine-Tails chakra.
In other words, although the quality of his chakra had improved, its total amount had not.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Skynet Naruto also created two shadow clones of his own.
The true battle between them had just begun.
Although the fight was still primarily taijutsu-based, this time, ninjutsu attacks were frequently mixed in with their clashes.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
After gaining distance, both unleashed the same jutsu simultaneously. Since there was no time to gather natural energy, Skynet Naruto's version wasn't Sage Art-enhanced.
The collision of the two jutsu even caused the surrounding space to distort.
"Rasengan Barrage!"
Multiple Rasengan blasted from Naruto's palms in rapid succession. Skynet Boruto charged at him at high speed, dodging every Rasengan. Even the few that struck by chance failed to cause serious harm.
"Sage Art: Boil Release: Unmatched Strength!"
He instantly pushed his chakra to the boiling point, amplifying his physical strength in a single moment.
Caught off guard, Naruto was sent flying by Skynet Naruto's punch.
Skynet Naruto quickly followed up with another attack.
"Sage Art: Lava Release: Rasenshuriken!"
A scorching Rasenshuriken streaked toward the direction Naruto was flung.
Skynet Naruto could not only convert his chakra into Nine-Tails chakra—he could also change it into the chakra of all Tailed Beasts from One-Tail to Nine-Tails.
"Rasengan Shockwave!"
A rotating beam of energy blasted from Naruto's palm.
It pierced through the Lava Release Rasenshuriken and continued on toward Skynet Naruto.
"Electromagnetic Pulse!"
Lightning gathered along Skynet Naruto's arms and launched from his hands.
The Rasengan Shockwave and the Electromagnetic Pulse collided and locked in a struggle.
"AAAHHH—!"
With Naruto pouring his strength into a roar, the Rasengan Shockwave instantly overwhelmed the electric pulse, slamming directly into Skynet Naruto's body and piercing through his abdomen, leaving a charred hole in his gut.
There was no scream, no explosion—no sound at all. In that instant, it was as if time itself had stopped.
Skynet Naruto plummeted to the ground, shattered by the impact due to lack of protection.
"It should be over now..." Naruto muttered, having returned to his normal form. Just as he took out his communicator to call Captain Hydra, he noticed a creeping darkness spreading across the land in the distance.
"What the hell is this?!"
Before Naruto could think, the return portal opened before him.
...
Data backup.
Data separation.
...
"Welcome back, Naruto."
Looking at the returning Naruto, Obito gave a strained smile as he spoke.
"Captain?" Naruto looked around and asked, "Why are you the only one here… it's so cold."
Obito gave a bitter smile and replied, "Now, the entire Shinobi World has turned into a glacier…"
Ever since Naruto left, the Shinobi World had gradually frozen over. Though the Allied Shinobi Forces reformed, they refrained from acting on intelligence provided by the Hidden Leaf, waiting for Naruto—their strongest fighter—to return before launching any operations.
Eventually, the world froze completely, temperatures plummeted, and people began dying from frostbite. Only then did the Alliance finally initiate an assault on Empress Akshia.
But against Akshia, sheer numbers were meaningless. The moment the battle began, all Chūnin and Jōnin were instantly frozen solid.
Now, only Kage-level fighters could still move. Everyone else had either frozen to death or been sealed in ice.
Meanwhile, underground in the Land of Water—
Something unusual occurred in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Skynet system.
"Deputy Director."
Orochimaru respectfully addressed the man before him: Shunhi Uchiha.
Gathered together were Shunhi Uchiha, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina. As for Itachi Uchiha—during the battle against Empress Akshia, he was frozen along with Sarada while protecting her.
Suddenly, a blue hologram of Nick Fury appeared in the conference room, officially confirming that the operations jointly led by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra would now proceed under Shunhi's command.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s goal was to impose order through overwhelming power, creating a world where humanity could survive.
Therefore, although Akshia shared a common enemy with them—the Great Dark Heaven—her role in turning the Shinobi World into a polar wasteland made her an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well.
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