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Ōnoki landed behind Gaara, his hands touching the sand gourd.
"Kazekage, I will lighten your sand. You trap him, and then this old man will try to end this quickly with my Particle Style!"
Gaara was firm. "I do not agree."
"Do not worry," Ōnoki said. "I will not attack his whole body, only his feet. Disable his movement, force him to surrender. This is the most straightforward way to save Naruto Uzumaki!"
Gaara's gaze was heavy. "…You will not go back on your word?"
Ōnoki chuckled. "If we hadn't experienced the last battle, I would have broken my promise without hesitation! To eliminate the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, to weaken Konoha's strength… But now? I will not."
Gaara nodded once. "My thanks."
— Earth Style: Super Light-Weight Rock Technique!!
Vvvvwooom…!
Gaara's sand was instantly lightened, its weight evaporating.
"Go…!!!"
Whoosh!
A desert surge erupted, advancing at a terrifying speed to swallow Monobito whole!
!
Monobito's eyes widened in surprise. He moved to dodge at full speed.
"Ōnoki… tampered with that sand. The Super Light-Weight Rock?!"
Whoosh…!
Monobito was fast. But the sand was faster now, its reach impossibly wide. Escape was impossible. The grains wrapped around his limbs, binding him tight.
Zzzt!
At the same instant, Ōnoki's hands were already forward. A beam of annihilation—his Particle Style—scorched the earth, sweeping straight for Monobito's feet!
"Playing that game, huh?"
Monobito's lips curled into a smirk.
— Scorch Style: Wind-Fire Wheel!
BOOM!
Fire and wind chakra erupted simultaneously from his feet. They mixed in near-perfect proportion, swirling into a blazing, rotating disc. The violent updraft it generated tore through the weakened sand's grip. He shot upward into the sky, the Particle Style beam grazing harmlessly beneath him.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Monobito roared with laughter, suspended in the storm. "The sand is lighter, but its binding force is weaker! You can't have it both ways, Ōnoki!!"
Ōnoki scowled. "Damn it! Not so easy to capture after all!"
"I'll handle him!"
Shwip! Mei Terumī stepped forward, her form a streak of grace. Seals flew from her hands. A torrent of water gathered, howled, and took shape—a dragon ascending to the heavens!
— Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!!!
ROAR!!!
The water dragon was impossibly swift, impossibly fierce. In the blink of an eye, its maw was open beneath the airborne Monobito.
Zhoom!
But Monobito's Wind-Fire Wheel spun violently. He shot backward and upward, a meteor trailing fire and wind, putting distance between them.
Ōnoki gasped. "This level of chakra control…! The Madara I knew fought with overwhelming, broad strokes. He ended battles in an instant with sheer power. I never knew he possessed such… finesse!!!"
The water dragon curved, relentless in its pursuit.
"Well sent!"
Monobito's hands formed a mirroring seal. From his mouth, a second water dragon—no less formidable than Mei's—crashed downward to meet it.
CRASH…!!!
The two dragons collided mid-air, heads butting, bodies coiling, a stalemate of roaring hydro-force.
Shwip!
Mei's seals changed. From the back of her water dragon, a single, dense globule of water broke free. It flew, a hidden gambit, unnoticed in the chaotic spray. It burst near Monobito—and from within it, Tsunade erupted forth!!!
Zzt!
The Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead unraveled. Her fist carried the fury of a breaking mountain, aimed point-blank at the interloper in her boy's body.
"GET OUT OF NARUTO'S BODY, YOU BASTARD! HE IS NOT YOURS TO TAKE!!!"
Monobito's expression shifted to genuine shock. Not at the trick—the dragon carrying a person within a water bead. No.
"Why is the coordination between the Five Kage… so seamless?!"
No matter.
— Uchiha Wind-Fire Kick!!!
Whoosh!
He cut off his water dragon. Instead of dodging, he met Tsunade's devastating punch head-on. His right leg, sheathed in cutting wind and searing fire, swung up in a brutal, arcing axe kick!
THUD-CRACK…!! KABOOM…!!!
Tsunade's fist connected squarely with Monobito's chest. Monobito's kick detonated against Tsunade's shoulder.
BOOOOOOM…!!!
Wind and fire exploded. The residual force of the clashing water dragons shattered and poured down. The sky became a maelstrom of colliding elements.
Shwap! Shwap!
Two figures were blasted downward, trailing smoke and steam.
"Hokage!!!"
Tsunade landed hard. Her right arm was gone, severed at the shoulder. The entire right side of her torso was a charred, bloody ruin…
Sssss-zzzt…!
"It's fine. I won't die!"
She pushed herself up. Flesh knitted, bone regrew, skin smoothed over—the legendary regeneration of the Senju and Slug Sannin already at work.
Monobito stood amidst rubble, assessing the damage.
"Raw strength… on par with Hashirama's diamond-hard fists. Seven ribs broken. One nearly pierced my heart. A close brush with the Shinigami…"
He looked up, watching Tsunade regenerate.
"That recovery power… Hashirama had a granddaughter, if I recall. That must be her. A pity. She doesn't have Wood Style… or that exchange would have left me impaled by a forest."
He tried to stand. A sudden, sharp pain made him stagger.
"…" He pulled his hand from his chest. His palm was slick, crimson. Almost absently, he brought it to his lips and licked the blood away.
"Not my blood. And yet… it makes my blood sing in a way I haven't felt in so long."
He lowered his hand. Within those Sharingan eyes, an uncontrollable, manic excitement ignited like a wildfire.
"Ha… Ha ha ha… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes. This is the pain a real fight should bring…!!!"
As his emotions soared, the Black Cursed Seal surged violently, spreading like ink across Naruto's frail vessel.
Zetsu (Black) grinned within the shadows. Yes…! The Black Cursed Seal's restrictions are loosening further! And to a most pleasing degree! At this rate, the Mangekyō is not far off!!!
Mei's eyes narrowed. "His power just spiked!!!"
Ōnoki, his expression grave, shot a glance at the barrier imprisoning the Raikage. To be safe, we must free the Raikage. His absolute speed, which surpasses even the Sharingan's perception, is currently the best counter to 'Madara'!!
Shwip!
Monobito reached out a hand toward the distant barrier. It flickered… and dissolved.
The Kage were stunned. "He… released the Raikage himself?!"
Zetsu (Black) panicked. Hey, that's too early! Without the Susano'o, facing the Raikage is suicidal…!!!
Monobito just grinned, a wild light in his eyes. "I can't wait. The itch is too strong…"
Gurgle… Gurgle…!!
Red, malignant chakra—the Nine-Tails' power—began to seep from his pores.
Zetsu hissed. Planning to use the Nine-Tails' power? But with the Eight Trigrams Seal, the most chakra 'Madara' can actively draw is equivalent to four tails! How can he fight the Raikage with that?!
What happened next stunned even Zetsu. The Black Cursed Seal oozing from the back of Monobito's neck… flowed directly into the red chakra cloak. And Madara's will, corrosive and dominant, overwrote the fox's rage within that energy. The crimson chakra… stained a deep, void-like black.
Zetsu's jaw dropped. He's… combining the Black Cursed Seal with the Nine-Tails' chakra?!
BOOM…!!!
The four-tailed chakra cloak compressed violently, clinging to Monobito's body like a second skin of condensed, malevolent power.
Ao gasped. "By the heavens… that chakra…!!!"
Zetsu (Black) began to laugh, a dry, rasping sound. Four tails… with the potency of eight! Naruto himself would have taken ages to reach this state. Only now do I truly feel keeping Madara's consciousness was a masterstroke!!!
"Come then!" Monobito spread his arms, a conductor of chaos. "Let the dance go on! Do not let this fervor die…!!!"
Zzt.
The tomoe in his Sharingan stretched, merged, and transformed… into the slitted, vertical pupils of a demon fox.
ROAR!!! A gale of pure black chakra erupted from him, vaporizing the rubble at his back and screaming through the storm-laden air.
— Cursed Fox Chakra Mode!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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