"Finally found you, Nine-Tails."
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's cold, arrogant voice echoed across the training ground, as though a god were passing judgment upon insignificant insects.
Below, Kakashi's expression beneath his mask turned more solemn than ever before.
This was the first time he had truly come face to face with a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
In the original records, Urashiki had often been mocked as the "disgrace of the Ōtsutsuki" due to various forced limitations. But now, with this genuine extraterrestrial lifeform hovering overhead, Kakashi felt firsthand the overwhelming oppression that came from a higher order of existence.
It was like staring straight into an abyss.
The chakra radiating from Urashiki wasn't something refined by ordinary shinobi at all—it was a terrifyingly pure and vast "source," so immense it felt capable of devouring everything around it.
That pressure alone caused the surrounding air to thicken, instinctively making one tremble and struggle to breathe.
"Ka-Kakashi-sensei… who is that guy?"
Locked onto by that tangible malice, Naruto felt his scalp crawl and instinctively shrank behind Kakashi.
Sasuke immediately tightened his grip on his sword, his Sharingan spinning rapidly as he faced an enemy unlike any he had ever encountered.
"Haku."
Kakashi didn't look back, his voice low and urgent.
"Return to the village immediately. Inform Lady Tsunade that an extremely dangerous enemy has appeared and request the highest level of support. Go—now!"
"But, Sensei—you—"
Haku clenched his fists, hesitation flashing across his face.
"Those are orders!"
Kakashi barked.
"…Yes!"
Gritting his teeth, Haku turned and sprinted toward the village without another word.
Kakashi stepped forward, firmly shielding Naruto and Sasuke behind him.
He looked up at Ōtsutsuki Urashiki in mid-air, forcibly suppressing the instinctive tremor in his heart. His hands remained casually tucked into his pockets, his tone retaining its usual lazy drawl.
"Hey, you horned 'foreign guest' up there. Did you bother registering at Konoha's gate? Barging into someone else's village and spewing nonsense at my adorable subordinates is really going to give me a headache."
"Oh?"
Urashiki glanced down at him, eyes filled with naked disdain.
"An ant daring to bark at a god? An inferior lifeform like you dares demand my name? Since you're so eager to die, I'll crush you first—an eyesore of a bug."
Before the words even faded, Urashiki casually flicked the crimson fishing rod in his hand, without the slightest extra motion.
"Amenosubaruhoshi-no-Mikoto: Mitama!"
Swish—!
At the end of the ominously glowing fishing line, the crimson chakra hook instantly split into countless tiny red projectiles.
Like a meteor shower, they screamed through the air at terrifying speed, blanketing the sky as they rained down toward Kakashi and Naruto below.
"So fast!"
Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply.
"Dodge!"
He grabbed Naruto and Sasuke and hurled them violently to either side.
At the same time, his right hand flew through hand seals. The thunderous screech of Chidori erupted as dazzling lightning wrapped around a kunai.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Kunai!"
With all his strength, Kakashi hurled the lightning-wreathed kunai straight into the incoming crimson barrage.
Clang!!
A sharp impact rang out.
The Chidori kunai—capable of slicing through steel—shattered like brittle glass the instant it touched the red projectiles, knocked away without providing even the slightest resistance.
"Tch… figures."
"Lightning Release Mode!"
Blinding blue lightning instantly engulfed Kakashi's entire body, accompanied by the piercing cry of chirping birds. Pushing his Lightning Release chakra to its absolute limit, he used the violent stimulation coursing through his body to shatter the constraints of his physical limits.
Swish!
A silver afterimage darted through the gaps in the rain of light.
The crimson projectiles tore past the edges of his clothes, slamming into the hardened training ground and blasting out deep, charred craters. Dust surged upward, momentarily obscuring everything.
"Hoo…"
Kakashi steadied himself behind a massive tree.
"He dodged it? Heh… interesting. Slippery, like a little mouse."
Hovering above, Urashiki smiled cruelly as he raised the fishing rod once more.
"But it's nothing more than a pointless struggle."
His gaze locked onto Naruto, who had just managed to scramble back to his feet.
With a flick of his wrist, the crimson hook traced a bizarre arc through the air, shooting toward Naruto's chest like a viper striking.
Faced with that hook, Naruto's eyes widened. The oppressive source chakra crushed down on him so heavily that even forming hand seals became impossible.
"Damn it—Naruto!"
Sasuke roared, having just stood up himself, but the distance left him powerless to intervene.
"Really… you don't think much of the locals, do you."
At that critical moment—
Kakashi, concealed behind the tree, drew in a deep breath.
Hum—!
The First Hokage's Wood Release Sage Necklace resting against his chest erupted with an unprecedented emerald glow.
Under Kakashi's deliberate guidance, the violent Natural Energy in the surroundings found an outlet, surging wildly into his body.
There were no visible Sage Mode markings, yet his chakra intensity skyrocketed in an instant to a terrifying level.
Ordinary Lightning Release chakra, infused with Natural Energy, began to shimmer faintly with a deep, inky black hue.
"Sage Art: Chidori Kunai!"
With a violent flick of his wrist, Kakashi hurled the special kunai wrapped in Sage-enhanced Lightning Release. It screamed through space like a bolt of black lightning.
At the same time—
Clang—!
A sharp sword beam, crackling like purple lightning, shot out from the distant forest, slicing precisely into the path of the crimson hook.
Amid the ear-piercing screech of metal grinding against metal, a tall figure appeared in front of Naruto as if from nowhere. A cold, gleaming Kusanagi sword was gripped in his right hand as he forcibly knocked the hook upward.
In the instant the hook's trajectory was deflected—
The kunai Kakashi had thrown arrived.
Ssh!!
The crimson chakra fishing line—previously capable of shattering ordinary ninjutsu with ease—was cleanly severed upon contact with the Sage-enhanced Chidori, as though hot steel had cut through butter.
The detached hook dissolved into scattered motes of light, while the black kunai continued onward toward Urashiki in mid-air, forcing him to tilt his head aside to avoid it.
"What?!"
Urashiki stared at the broken fishing line in his hand. His playful smile froze instantly, and for the first time, undisguised shock appeared in his pale Byakugan.
His chakra fishing rod… had been severed by a native of this inferior planet?
What, exactly, had been mixed into that weapon just now?
Below, on the training ground, the adult Sasuke slowly raised his head. Beneath his disheveled bangs, his black eyes burned with naked, icy killing intent as he stared straight at Ōtsutsuki Urashiki.
"…Still such a persistent pest, Ōtsutsuki Urashiki."
Urashiki shifted his gaze from the severed fishing line to the one-armed man below.
"So long as you continue to covet the Nine-Tails, even if I have to chase you into hell itself, I'll cut you down."
Adult Sasuke tightened his grip on the Kusanagi sword as purple lightning once again danced around his body.
Hearing this exchange, the younger Naruto and Sasuke standing behind them were completely stunned.
"Wait…"
Young Sasuke stared wide-eyed at the monster in the sky, then at the gray-cloaked man standing protectively in front of him.
"Uchiha… Sasuke?! What kind of joke is this?!"