Delta leapt backward nimbly, avoiding the massive chakra hands of Kurama that Naruto had sent to grab her.
The high-energy chakra core embedded within her body activated, releasing a powerful chakra aura around her.
BOOM!
She shattered the ground beneath her feet and rushed forward aggressively, throwing a barrage of rapid punches that blurred into afterimages.
Naruto swayed in his golden cloak, calmly weaving through the strikes.
Careful but composed.
The moment Delta's movement slowed after a combo—
Naruto countered with a heavy punch.
"Pap! Pap! Pap!"
Delta instantly canceled her follow-through and shifted to defense.
Her palms intercepted Naruto's punches in quick succession, deflecting them like a fish flicking its tail.
Suddenly she seized a tiny opening.
Her right leg—covered in tight pink-striped combat leggings—whipped across Naruto's left side like a steel whip.
Naruto raised his arm to block.
THUD!
Metal collided with bone with a dull impact.
Heavy… Naruto thought.
But not beyond reason.
If I keep looking for an opening, I can end this in one strike—
SHNK!
A sudden piercing pain exploded through his waist.
Naruto's golden face twisted instantly.
His body lurched sideways, nearly collapsing.
His eyes darted downward.
A hardened spike protruding from Delta's heel had stabbed straight through his left side.
"…Her foot… is a scientific ninja tool?!"
This wound… in my current condition…
This is bad.
If I don't finish her quickly, I'm in danger.
"ROOOOAAARR!"
Naruto roared and grabbed the spike with his hand, refusing to let Delta pull away.
The chakra arms of Kurama formed a giant hammer above his head and smashed down toward her skull.
Delta sneered.
"What a laughable tactic."
CRACK.
She twisted her heel and detached from the spike instantly.
Her jet-propelled foot blasted her away from the impact zone.
BOOM!
The massive chakra fist smashed a crater into the ground.
Naruto dropped to one knee, clutching the bleeding hole in his waist.
From above, Obito observed.
"This scene feels familiar."
"In Akira's memories, Naruto deliberately took damage here to pretend weakness and bait Delta into revealing information about Kawaki."
Madara replied coldly,
"That won't happen this time."
"In his current state, he's already weaker than the moment he pretended to be weak before."
"If he gets any weaker…"
"He'll just die."
Naruto pulled the spike out of his body with a wet sound.
Pain twisted his face, sweat dripping down his forehead.
But his eyes never left Delta.
He forced Kurama's chakra to rapidly regenerate the wound.
Delta stood with one hand on her hip, seemingly uninterested in attacking while he recovered.
"So this is the Hokage?"
Naruto had no time for verbal sparring.
I planned to use the injury to bait information about Kawaki…
Looks like that won't work.
Steam rose from the wound as it healed.
The cost—
even greater exhaustion.
Naruto staggered to his feet.
For a moment Delta split into seven figures in his vision.
Shadow clones…?
Naruto shook his head hard.
The figures merged back into one.
No… double vision.
He inhaled deeply and held his breath, forcing the pain in his chest to keep him alert.
Then he raised his arms again, ready to fight.
Even Kawaki could tell something was wrong.
"H-Hokage…"
"Are you okay?"
Naruto turned slightly, giving him a small smile.
"Don't worry."
"I'm fine."
BOOM!
Before the words had even settled—
Delta slammed forward with a knee strike.
Naruto crossed his arms to block.
Kurama shouted inside his mind.
"Naruto! Watch her legs carefully! Don't trade blows with them!"
"Yeah, I know."
Instead of resisting the impact—
Naruto let the force launch him backward.
CRASH!
He smashed through the walls of multiple buildings.
As the scenery blurred past him, he saw Delta rushing in again with a feral grin.
Naruto flicked a smoke bomb into his hand and crushed it.
POOF!
Thick smoke exploded across the battlefield.
Delta slowed momentarily, startled.
Naruto burst out of the smoke in a flash of golden light.
His knee slammed into her abdomen.
The impact bent Delta's body like a bow.
BOOM!
She shot backward into a collapsed building.
Kurama roared excitedly.
"Naruto! Nice counter!"
"Finish it!"
Naruto surged forward.
A Rasengan formed in his palm as he slammed toward Delta's face.
But—
A strange ripple flashed in Delta's pink mechanical right eye.
The Rasengan was instantly sucked into it.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"Your eye is a scientific ninja tool too?!"
BAM!
Delta's punch slammed Naruto to the ground.
Naruto quickly blocked her next strikes.
But Delta grinned viciously.
From her left eye, the Rasengan she had just absorbed shot back out.
Naruto kicked her stomach to push her away while twisting his head aside.
The Rasengan barely missed his face.
Her right eye absorbs techniques…
Her left eye releases them unchanged.
This ability…
It's just like Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki.
Naruto pushed himself up from the rubble.
Delta crouched about ten meters away, momentarily cautious.
Naruto wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and thought rapidly.
Scientific ninja tools…
His mind suddenly drifted to a meeting after the Five Kage battle against Uchiha Akira.
Shikamaru had said:
"Don't you think Akira's eye techniques are basically the same principle as Katasuke's scientific ninja tools?"
"Store jutsu in advance, then release them instantly during battle."
Naruto shook his head.
Why am I thinking about Akira right now?
Focus.
Focus!
If her device absorbs jutsu energy… then that energy must be stored somewhere.
Katasuke said every scientific ninja tool has an energy capacity limit.
Naruto's eyes sharpened.
Exactly.
If I exceed that limit with overwhelming attacks…
Her absorption will break.
Even in my current condition…
If I pour all remaining chakra into one technique…
I can defeat her.
CRUNCH.
A sickening sound of flesh tearing echoed.
"…Huh?"
Naruto looked down.
A massive spike had erupted from the ground—
piercing straight through his abdomen.
He slowly turned his eyes toward the distant rubble.
Delta had not been standing idle at all.
She had driven her left leg into the ground, extending the spike underground and striking Naruto from below.
Blood burst from Naruto's mouth.
"GAAH!"
Kurama shouted desperately.
"NARUTO! HOLD ON!"
Naruto snapped the spike off with all his strength and collapsed to his knees.
This wound…
This is really bad.
Still—
Kurama's healing chakra could barely keep him alive.
Steam rose again as the hole in his stomach closed.
But attacking again would be nearly impossible.
Delta snapped her leg free from the ground.
It regenerated instantly.
Then she stepped forward and stomped Naruto down to the ground.
"Give it up."
"You look pathetic, old man."
Madara: "…"
Obito: "…"
Naruto lay pinned beneath Delta's foot.
If you enjoy this story, check my other novels with faster updates:
🔥 Naruto: Preparing to Betray Konoha
🔥Konoha: The Man Who Became the Fourth Hokage
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