Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze grew distant as he looked out at the deep night sky beyond the window.
"Ancient legends… fragmented texts… Perhaps before the chakra system was established, this world possessed other forms of 'power' and 'restraint.'"
He did not finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.
Such methods had either been lost to time—or, as the heavens suggested, deliberately buried.
Jiraiya fell silent.
Faced with an existence that completely surpassed understanding—one seemingly born as the natural enemy of the shinobi system itself—a heavy sense of helplessness seized him.
Inside the celestial projection, the battle continued.
Sage Art had failed. Naruto had no time to adjust his strategy in the wake of shock and fury—
Because Wangcai attacked first.
Its seemingly sluggish steps vanished in an instant, transforming into a blurred streak of yellow light. At a speed beyond visual tracking, it lunged straight at Naruto.
Its target was clear—
Naruto's throat.
Naruto's pupils shrank. Combat instinct drove him to twist aside at the last possible moment.
Sharp fangs grazed his skin, stirring a cutting gust of wind.
For a split second, Naruto felt relief. He had avoided the physical bite—
But before his body could fully recover from the evasive motion—
"How is this possible—?!!!"
Naruto's scream tore out, laced with pain and disbelief.
Not just Naruto.
Sasuke, Neji, and countless viewers beyond the heavens stared in horror.
Though Wangcai's jaws had clearly bitten empty air—
Between its closing fangs, a violently pulsing sphere of chakra materialized out of nowhere.
It had been forcibly stripped from Naruto's body.
Wangcai's throat moved.
The chakra was swallowed.
"I wasn't even bitten…!"
Naruto staggered backward, face pale, eyes wide with incomprehension.
He could feel it clearly.
A portion of his chakra had simply vanished in that instant.
As if some invisible law had reached into his body and seized it directly.
"Together! Try again!" Sasuke's expression darkened to the extreme. He knew Naruto alone would not be enough.
Though his own condition was poor, he could not stand by.
"Susanoo—!"
With a low shout, violet chakra surged outward, rapidly forming around him into a skeletal Susanoo. Though incomplete—only the upper torso and one arm—it radiated sharp, oppressive force.
The moment it formed, the massive skeletal arm clenched into a fist and smashed downward toward Wangcai with crushing might.
"This isn't just chakra—try taking this!"
But in the face of the Uchiha Clan's supreme dōjutsu—the offense-and-defense incarnate Susanoo— Wangcai's reaction chilled everyone once more.
It seemed intrigued by this new chakra.
Its attention locked onto the "purple feast."
It even barked once in excitement.
Without dodging, without hesitation, it charged straight toward the descending skeletal fist.
At the instant before impact—
Wangcai opened its mouth again.
Crunch—!
A sharp, teeth-grating fracture echoed.
Not bone breaking.
Chakra structure collapsing.
The Susanoo's fist—constructed from highly condensed Yin Release chakra and capable of withstanding a Tailed Beast Bomb—shattered like a brittle biscuit between Wangcai's fangs.
Fragments of violet chakra scattered everywhere.
But it wasn't over.
After biting through the fist, Wangcai inhaled sharply.
A terrifying suction force erupted—one that targeted chakra specifically.
The Susanoo's body warped and stretched like noodles seized by invisible hands, violently peeled away from Sasuke's form in its entirety.
Violet chakra torrents burst forth like a breached dam, uncontrollably streaming into Wangcai's mouth, devoured without end.
"Ugh—!"
Sasuke groaned as he collapsed to the ground. His already pale face lost all color. His eyes filled with extreme confusion and disbelief.
"This… how is this possible…"
The violent stripping inflicted severe backlash upon his spirit.
He looked weakly toward the yellow dog now licking its lips, as if savoring the aftertaste of "purple noodles."
Even Susanoo… could be eaten?
This was no mere chakra absorption.
This was the fundamental negation—the devouring—of everything upon which shinobi relied for existence.
Basic ninjutsu.
Arcane dōjutsu.
Violent senjutsu.
Even Susanoo—the so-called ultimate offense and defense—
Before this yellow dog named Wangcai, they were merely different flavors of food.
Absolute suppression.
The natural enemy of shinobi.
Despair flooded the crater like an icy tide.
And through the heavens, it flooded the entire shinobi world.
A suffocating silence reigned—
Until it was torn apart by a hoarse yet resolute roar.
"I refuse to believe something like this has no weakness!!"
Naruto suddenly raised his head.
"You like to eat, don't you… you damn dog…"
"Then try this!!!"
Naruto spread his hands wide.
The power of the Rinnegan surged to its limit.
The air around him trembled violently. Space itself warped faintly, as though straining under the gravitational pull of his power.
"Planetary Devastation—!!!"
But he did not target Wangcai directly.
He called upon the heavens themselves.
A thunderous rumble exploded overhead.
The distant sky churned violently as clouds were ripped apart, as though an invisible hand had torn open a rift.
The frictional roar and suffocating pressure alone made every observer's heart seize.
Then—
A colossal meteor, over a hundred meters in diameter, wreathed in blazing red flames and carrying apocalyptic force, descended like a divine warhammer hurled from the heavens.
It tore through the sky, trailing a searing inferno, crashing toward the center of the crater—
Toward the seemingly leisurely yellow dog.
"It's coming!" Sasuke's remaining hand clenched instinctively, a final flicker of hope flashing in his eyes.
Neji held his breath, Byakugan locked onto the world-ending meteor.
This was the Rinnegan's ultimate terrain-altering power.
Pure physical mass and kinetic destruction.
The meteor contained no chakra.
It was a celestial body—sheer impact.
Karin tilted her head up slightly, crimson eyes glinting with interest. A mocking smile curved her lips.
Clearing minor obstacles was one thing.
Truly powerful opponents had long since fled.
As for Wangcai—
It lifted its head.
Its black eyes reflected the descending inferno, growing larger and closer by the second.
No fear.
No panic.
Only…
Curiosity?
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