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The reborn Kabuto stood before him. Naraku assessed. His Sage chakra… it's full of a killing intent that's almost pleasant. A different lineage from Jiraiya's. He'd heard of the three great Sage paths: the White Serpent, the Slug, and the Toad. Jiraiya was Toad. This one… must be Serpent. Huh.
A grin split Naraku's face. His bloodthirst, primal and deep, was fully roused. He's got a space-cutting Dōjutsu. Reckless to close in. Let's see… let's see what Sage Arts he'll throw at me. Hahahaha…!!
SHING! Kabuto's crouched form shot forward.
"Close-quarters? Arrogant fool!"
A golden chakra hand swatted out. Kabuto's body coiled, fluid like a serpent. It slipped around the arm, slithered up Naraku's shoulder—FANGS aimed for his throat!!
CRACK!
Naraku's hand closed, vise-like, around Kabuto's neck. "You continue to surprise me. What's this? The Sage Art of Suicide?"
RRRIP!
He wrenched. He tore. Kabuto's head came free.
THUD.
The headless body slumped. But the white serpent coiled around its waist reared up. Its maw gaped. A slimy, glistening hand shot out, gripping Naraku's wrist. Kabuto's upper body emerged from the serpent's throat, grinning wide. The unspoken taunt hung in the air.
Surprise! Your favorite little pest is back!
THUMP!
Naraku's foot planted in Kabuto's chest, launching him away. A flick of his wrist, a burst of flame—the shed serpent skin turned to ash. He stared at the black mark now staining his own wrist. His brow furrowed.
He closed the distance just for this mark. A setup. For what?
Futodama. The Dōjutsu's brand. A normal mark could be purged with chakra. But this… infused with Sage chakra. To truly remove it now, he'd have to discard the arm itself.
Kabuto landed, hands already weaving seals.
—Sage Art: White Extreme Technique!
He spat. A dragon of pure white Sage energy coalesced from his mouth. In its claws, a dark crimson orb. It lunged.
But—a flash of gold. Naraku was already gone.
Kabuto's lips curled. "The core of the White Extreme Technique carries the Futodama mark. It has nothing to do with your speed, Madara. You can't dodge this!!"
—Futodama!
A black vortex swirled from his right eye. The Sage Dragon—and the orb it carried—vanished from in front of Kabuto.
And reappeared right beside Naraku.
Naraku's eyes widened. So that's it! The mark on my arm was the anchor point!!!
The white dragon coiled, enveloping the orb—
BOOOOOOM!
Light. Blinding, searing white light. Air vibrating, shattering. A high-pitched shriek that drilled into the skull.
The shadow of the Toad Confrontation Chant flashed in his mind. "Damn it… Not another one of these annoying techniques!!!"
But the White Extreme Technique wasn't just sound. It was vibration down to the marrow. The target's consciousness remained, cruelly clear—paralyzed, unable to fight back. A sitting duck.
Yet Kabuto didn't charge in for the kill. Not this time. The difference is, I no longer have a body that can turn to water. The air vibrations affect me too. And because I need my Sharingan active, I can't shield my eyes with a serpent's membrane. Can't rush into that light either. His smile was cold, calculated. This Sage Art… its guaranteed hit and its follow-up… it's all built upon the right eye's Futodama!!!
A blade slid from his mouth. His right eye pulsed again. This time, the vortex didn't send something to the target.
It brought the target here.
One moment—Naraku was trapped in a world of pure, agonizing sensation.
The next—he was yanked through space, appearing directly before Kabuto.
SHINK!
Kabuto's blade plunged into Naraku's chest.
"!!!" Naraku's eyes flew wide.
"Only this much?" Kabuto's voice was a sneer. "This is the power of Uchiha Madara?"
THUD!
A kick to the chest sent Naraku flying. Kabuto licked the blood from his blade, adjusted his glasses. "You can't even touch me, let alone the one standing behind me."
Humiliation—deeper than any physical wound—scorched through Naraku. The mockery in those words. The reality: had that been a true decapitation, he'd be dead.
"So disappointing," Kabuto sighed, a theatrical edge to his voice. "I almost don't have the heart to finish you."
Naraku said nothing. He clutched his bleeding chest. The fury inside him was a supernova, burning past the heavens.
The Nine-Tails' vitality surged, stitching flesh, sealing the wound. He stood. His first act? A swift, decisive chop with his left hand.
SHLICK.
His own right wrist—marked by Futodama—fell to the ground.
"…" Kabuto's eyes narrowed to slits.
Naraku's gaze was pure frost. "Kabuto… was it?"
ZZZZZT—CRACKLE!
The power of the Black Cursed Seal erupted. Outside the golden Nine-Tails cloak, tendrils of shadowy mist swirled and solidified. More shocking—from the stump of Naraku's severed arm, the dark mist coalesced, forging a new hand. A hand of pure, solidified darkness.
Black Zetsu observed from within.The Curse-Mist… a precursor to Stage Two.
Kabuto's mind raced. The White Cursed Seal perfectly merged with Uchiha power. Now the Black Cursed Seal integrates seamlessly with the Nine-Tails' might… This truly is the weapon Black Zetsu tailored for Naruto.
ZZZRT…
The moment the black mist appeared, Naraku sensed it. This fog… it's absorbing natural energy for me. Rapidly. Black Zetsu… you were never just my will, were you?
A change. In his Sharingan's crimson depths.
FZZT.
Vertical pupils—the pupils of a toad—superimposed themselves over his Sharingan's tomoe.
—"Kabuto. Ready to die?"
Black Cursed Seal power. Nine-Tails Golden Body. Sage power. All three, united once more. But each one was stronger than during the fight with Killer B. Together, they formed a crescendo of power that finally, truly, made the air around Kabuto feel heavy. A tangible, suffocating force.
This… this is his real current strength…!!!
Naraku punched. Not at Kabuto. At the air.
—Frog Sniper!!!
A storm of condensed natural energy exploded forward, swallowing Kabuto whole. He had no doubt—that storm would grind him to dust.
FZZT!
An unusual light ignited in both his eyes.
Then—silver-white Susano'o chakra erupted around him, forming a skeletal ribcage that held firm against the raging storm.
Naraku's voice was dismissive. "Dual Mangekyō means a Susano'o. Obvious. But a fake Uchiha, with only trace Hashirama cells… you can't truly wield this power!!"
With the Frog Sniper pinning him down, Naraku advanced. The massive golden chakra fist of the Nine-Tails clenched, now wreathed in swirling black curse-mist. It swung.
—Sage Art: Black Curse Fist!
BOOM—!!!
—Sage Art: Eight Branches Devour!
From Kabuto's back, a single, gargantuan white serpent head erupted. It didn't strike—it devoured, its maw closing around the golden-black fist!
"Heh… How about THIS!!"
Naraku's wild grin returned. A flash of brilliant blue—his own, perfected Susano'o—sheathed the Black Curse Fist. The serpent's maw shattered. The fist drove down, unimpeded.
CRACK—!!!
Kabuto's silver Susano'o groaned, fracturing at the edges… on the verge of collapse…!!!
His left eye flashed.
—Futodama!
SHWIIING!
Space in front of him rippled. Not a slash, but a series of concentric, expanding rings—waves of spatial severance that pulsed outward.
The armored Nine-Tails' arm was sheared clean off. The Susano'o shell Naraku had just manifested was sliced open like paper.
"!!" Instinct took over. Naraku retreated, fast.
Spatial cuts… emanating from his focal point. Unblockable. The expanding range… about sixty meters. His mind, cold and analytical even in retreat, filed the data away.
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