Hand seals flashed in rapid succession.
Chakra surged outward like a sudden tide, violent and unchecked.
In an instant, the narrow path was swallowed whole by figures clad in orange. Dozens—then hundreds—of Narutos erupted into existence, their feet crushing leaves and soil as they landed, completely encircling Aburame Torune from every direction.
Above. Below. Front and rear.
There was no escape route left open.
Yet Torune Aburame did not panic.
He stood at the center of the encirclement, posture steady, eyes calm behind his mask, as though the sea of identical faces before him were nothing more than an interesting curiosity.
"So this is the Jinchūriki's chakra capacity," he said coolly. "It matches the intelligence reports."
The Narutos did not waste breath on taunts.
With a unified snarl, they lunged.
Fists, kicks, kunai—every angle converged at once, a reckless but overwhelming assault meant to bury Torune beneath sheer numbers.
For a heartbeat, his form vanished beneath the orange tide.
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One after another, bodies exploded into white smoke.
Shadow Clones dispersed faster than they had appeared.
Torune's movements were precise to the point of cruelty. A kunai flashed in his hand, tracing short, economical arcs. Each strike landed cleanly—throat, temple, spine—no wasted motion, no hesitation. Where the clones rushed in, they were dismantled in the blink of an eye.
The clearing filled with smoke, then thinned.
Within less than a minute, the swarm was gone.
Only one Naruto remained.
Torune stepped forward and seized him by the head with a single gloved hand, fingers digging into hair and scalp as he lifted the boy clear off the ground. Naruto's legs kicked uselessly in the air, arms flailing as he tried—and failed—to break free.
From beginning to end, the fight had not lasted sixty seconds.
This was the difference between a newly graduated Genin and an elite jōnin honed by Root.
"Damn it… I'll kill you… I'll kill you!" Naruto screamed hoarsely, thrashing in rage and fear.
Torune studied him in silence, eyes narrowing slightly.
Then, as if recalling something important, his expression shifted.
"…No," he muttered. "This isn't right."
His free hand rose sharply.
Blue chakra ignited along each finger, precise and controlled, forming a rigid, unnatural glow. Torune did not hesitate. He drove his palm forward and slammed it directly onto Naruto's abdomen.
The impact landed squarely over the Eight Trigrams Seal.
The Five Elements Seal.
A reinforcing technique—designed not to release, but to suppress. To sever the connection between Jinchūriki and Tailed Beast chakra entirely.
Danzo's contingency.
Naruto's body convulsed.
"AAAAAH—!"
Agony tore through him as if his insides had been twisted into knots. His scream echoed through the clearing, raw and unrestrained.
Inside his mind, panic exploded.
Lock! Lock, come out! Naruto cried desperately. I've been caught again! He hurt Sasuke—he knocked Sakura out!
Come out and kill him! Just like you killed Mizuki!
There was no answer.
Within the inner consciousness, Lock remained silent.
He watched.
On the system panel, numbers climbed rapidly—then slowed, fluctuating, trembling on the edge of something greater. Lock's gaze was sharp, expectant, almost amused.
Not enough, he thought coldly. Push harder.
You're an elite jōnin. If you're less useful than Mizuki, you're a disappointment.
The Five Elements Seal suppressed the Nine-Tails' chakra.
But it had nothing to do with his chakra.
Outside, Torune felt the seal take effect. The flow of chakra stabilized. The violent fluctuations subsided.
Only then did he release a quiet breath.
"Good," he said. "Your other self didn't appear."
His eyes hardened as he looked down at Naruto.
"So that's all he is without the Nine-Tails' power," Torune continued. "A coward hiding behind borrowed strength."
Disappointment crept into his voice.
"I was curious to meet him. It seems he isn't worth the trouble."
He produced a length of rope and bound Naruto efficiently, movements practiced and merciless. Then he turned to Sasuke, who was still on his knees several meters away, retching bile, barely conscious.
Torune tied him as well.
Sakura lay unconscious nearby.
Torune did not even bother restraining her. He simply kicked her body off the roadside and into the undergrowth, where she vanished among the trees.
She was useless.
A civilian-born Genin held no value for Root.
Naruto saw it happen.
"Sakura…!"
Something snapped inside him.
His eyes reddened, veins bulging at his temples as his gaze locked onto Torune with naked hatred.
The system responded instantly.
[Main personality emotional state has exceeded the critical threshold.
Initiate personality switch?]
Lock did not answer immediately.
He checked the numbers.
[Current blackening value: 5000]
A slow smile formed.
"Not bad," he murmured. "An increase of nearly three thousand."
So deviations from the original timeline are profitable after all.
He made a decision.
[Exchange: Jōnin Taijutsu (Aburame Torune) – 500]
[Current blackening value: 4500]
Then, without hesitation—
"System," Lock said calmly. "Switch personality."
The world lurched.
Torune Aburame's instincts screamed.
He vanished from his position in a blur of speed, reappearing several meters away just as a violent force exploded where he had stood moments earlier.
The ground cracked.
Chakra surged.
"As expected of an elite jōnin," Lock said, his voice no longer Naruto's—low, steady, carrying a chilling amusement. "Good reflexes."
Where Torune had been standing, Lock now stood instead.
He had caught Sasuke mid-fall, one arm hooked under the boy's shoulder.
Sasuke's blurred vision sharpened just enough to register the change.
"Naruto…?" he rasped.
Then his blood ran cold.
"No—you're not Naruto."
The presence was wrong.
The warmth, the clumsy sincerity—it was gone.
What stood before him now felt like a blade drawn from its sheath.
"I am Naruto~" Lock said with an exaggerated grin that sent unease crawling up Sasuke's spine.
Before Sasuke could respond, Lock chopped the rope binding him with a swift strike and hurled him toward the forest where Sakura had been thrown.
"Go," Lock said casually. "Don't die."
Torune watched closely, not attacking, eyes sharp with recognition.
"…Uzumaki Lock," he said carefully. "The sub-personality."
Lock turned toward him, smile widening.
"Correct," he said lightly. "Full marks."
Then his expression darkened.
"As a reward," Lock continued, "I'll let you experience the power you all obsess over."
Pale red chakra erupted outward.
It poured from Lock's body in violent waves, wrapping around him like living flame. A long, fox-like tail of chakra burst from his back, lashing through the air with terrifying force.
The pressure crushed downward.
The air itself seemed to scream.
Torune staggered, eyes wide.
"Nine-Tails chakra?!" he shouted. "Impossible! I reinforced the seal—I cut off the chakra flow!"
Lock's voice whispered behind him.
"Oh?"
"I didn't know I was sealed."
Too fast.
Torune spun—
—but the Lock he had been facing dissolved into an afterimage.
A shrill screech split the air.
Instinct alone saved him.
Torune crossed his kunai in front of his chest just as the massive chakra tail slammed into him.
Crack!
Metal bent.
Bone screamed.
Torune was driven backward, blood spilling from his mouth and nose as he skidded across the ground.
In a single exchange, he was injured.
Cold fear finally surfaced in his eyes.
"No…" Torune breathed, retreating instinctively. "You're not a sub-personality."
His gaze locked onto Lock, terror fully realized.
"You're the Nine-Tails."
"The one from twelve years ago."
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