Chapter 67: The Battle on the Roof
Shukaku's massive body was blown away with a single shot from the Romance Fortress—pierced straight through.
Sasuke watched from the side in shock, his eyes wide open.
He had never dared to imagine that someone could fight such a massive monster like this.
And on top of that, crushing Shukaku with an almost overwhelming dominance.
It was simply unbelievable to him.
When he had seen Shukaku's enormous body—moving like a mountain—Sasuke had been a little scared. He hadn't known what to do.
After all, this was the first time he had ever seen such a terrifying monster.
He couldn't even imagine how Naruto could possibly deal with something like Shukaku.
But the scene before him completely shattered his expectations.
Facing such a massive monster, Naruto hadn't flinched. He hadn't shown the slightest fear.
Instead, one person—one spear and one sword—had pierced straight through Shukaku. Completely crushed him.
Sasuke fell into unparalleled shock, staring at Naruto in disbelief.
And Shukaku—his heart was full of horror.
He couldn't imagine that since the era of the Sage of Six Paths—apart from Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, who were famous throughout the ninja world—there could be someone else this terrifying. Someone who could fight a tailed beast with their own power.
And on top of that, his opponent was only a teenager.
Shukaku could hardly believe it.
On Shukaku's shattered body, the one remaining eye on his half-destroyed face opened wide. He looked at Naruto in unbelievable horror. His mouth, barely holding together, let out a horrified roar:
"You... you bastard... who the hell are you..."
But before Shukaku could finish his words, the remaining broken pieces of his massive body collapsed with a loud crash. Countless grains of loose sand fell to the ground.
Shukaku had been blown away by Naruto. He returned to his original form and fell into a deep sleep.
Gaara's body also fell to the ground along with the yellow sand.
Gaara had awakened by then.
He stared closely at Naruto's figure with his panda-like dark-rimmed eyes. A look of horror and shock filled his gaze.
Even though Shukaku had appeared, Gaara had fallen asleep.
But inside Shukaku's body, he could still see everything happening outside.
When he saw Naruto crush Shukaku with overwhelming force—
Gaara felt like he was having a nightmare. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
With terrifying strength like that—even his father, the Fourth Kazekage, couldn't suppress Shukaku as easily as Naruto had.
Gaara took a deep gulp of air and tried hard to calm the emotions inside him. He stared at Naruto, and soon, he asked in a rough, confused voice:
"Why... why are you so strong?"
Gaara had thought that having Shukaku sealed inside him—being called a monster—made his own strength terrifying.
But that strength was nothing compared to Naruto.
Hearing Gaara's words, Naruto smiled lightly.
Before he could respond, Sasuke also jumped over.
Sasuke glanced at Gaara lying motionless on the ground and said to Naruto:
"Naruto."
Naruto nodded.
After Sasuke reached Naruto, having witnessed everything that just happened, he couldn't wait any longer to ask the question that had been buried in his heart. He said excitedly:
"Naruto—is this your true strength?"
Naruto was taken aback for a moment. Seeing Sasuke's excited expression, he smiled lightly.
Since he had chosen to let Sasuke see this, he wouldn't hide it anymore. Naruto nodded.
Sasuke gave Naruto a deep look.
Although he had tried to overestimate Naruto as much as possible, he still hadn't expected Naruto's strength to be far beyond his imagination.
Soon, Sasuke asked again, confused:
"Then why are you hiding your strength?"
Sasuke was very puzzled. When Naruto was at the Ninja Academy, his performance had always been average. He had even been called the dead-last.
Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto smiled lightly. He raised his head, looked at the sky, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said calmly:
"When you lift your head, look with your own eyes, and see enemies everywhere—you'll understand why I did this."
His voice rang out. When the other two heard Naruto's words, their bodies trembled.
Gaara's pupils shook. His eyes opened wide as he looked at Naruto.
He felt like he finally understood why Naruto was so strong.
After hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke also fell into deep thought. He seemed deeply moved.
The two were silent for a while.
Soon, Naruto said:
"We should go back."
Sasuke nodded. When they had left, Konoha was being attacked by the Sand and Sound ninja. He didn't know what the situation was now—they should go back and check.
So Naruto and Sasuke quickly set off on the path back to Konoha.
Before leaving, Naruto took a portion of Shukaku's chakra from Gaara.
This tailed beast chakra—Naruto sealed it inside his own body. He would keep it for future use.
After the two left, only Gaara remained, calmly staring at the sky, lost in thought.
Naruto also knew that soon, Kankuro and Temari would find him.
After returning to Konoha—
Naruto and Sasuke saw that the village was already in chaos.
Fights between Sand ninja and Konoha ninja were everywhere. Some houses and buildings had been destroyed by powerful ninjutsu.
Many ninja had even fallen in pools of blood.
None of that was Naruto's concern, though.
What Naruto wanted to see was the Third Hokage—at the place where the Chunin Exam finals had been held.
After arriving at the circular arena of the finals venue—
Naruto soon saw that on the wide roof of the finals building, several powerful figures stood facing each other. From time to time, they launched powerful attacks at one another.
One of those figures was Konoha's Third Hokage—Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The one fighting against him was Orochimaru—one of the legendary Sannin, an S-rank dangerous missing-nin whom Naruto had encountered not long ago.
Orochimaru had used Impure World Reincarnation to summon the First Hokage and the Second Hokage.
Although the two Hokages had no consciousness of their own, their combat abilities were still incredibly powerful. Attacking together alongside Orochimaru, even a Kage-level fighter would struggle to defend against them.
But the Third Hokage was, after all, the powerful ninja known as the Professor of Ninjutsu. Facing the combined attack of three powerful opponents, he calmly summoned his summoning beast—the Monkey King Enma—and launched continuous counterattacks.
This spectacular battle naturally drew many spectators. Many ANBU watched anxiously as their Lord Hokage fought a difficult battle.
And there was nothing they could do to help.
Because around Orochimaru and the Third Hokage, there was a closed barrier shaped like a rectangle—the Four Violet Flames Formation.
The Four Violet Flames surrounded Orochimaru and the Third Hokage, blocking all other ninjas from getting in.
The two fought fiercely. The battle was intense, evenly matched, and extremely thrilling.
Just as Orochimaru and the Third Hokage finished a round of fierce clashes and created some distance between them—
Orochimaru seemed to notice Naruto, who had just appeared. His snake-like eyes flickered.
Then, he smiled eerily.