Kabuto hurled two kunai at Hanabi, then charged.
Hanabi leapt lightly, dodging the attack, and landed on the rooftop.
On the other side, Orochimaru finally found his opening. He lunged at the Third Hokage, booting Raido Namiashi aside with a casual kick, and leapt onto the rooftop alongside the Hokage.
"At last, it's our turn to make an entrance."
The Sound Four dropped their Transformation Technique and jumped to the four corners of the rooftop.
"Holding that transformation the whole time was killing me."
In the distance, Anbu squads were already rushing in as reinforcements.
"Took you long enough!" Raido hauled himself off the ground.
That kick had hurt.
"Sorry—someone held us up. We didn't realize he was a spy."
The Anbu were talking about Kabuto, up on the rooftop above.
"Do it!"
Orochimaru glanced at Kabuto beside him. Nothing to be done but give the order.
"Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Formation!"
The four Sound ninja linked their power, encasing the space in a barrier of flames.
The Anbu charged forward, but someone immediately yanked them back.
"Idiot, you want to die?"
Uchiha Hikari had arrived on the scene.
"You're…"
The Anbu exchanged glances.
A little girl, clearly—but she seemed strong enough to physically restrain an Anbu.
"That's the Four Violet Flames Formation," one of the Anbu said. "We can't break through from outside."
"So that means we can attack from the inside, right?!" one bright spark declared.
"Obviously it's not that simple!" the Sound ninja shouted back. A smaller Four Violet Flames Formation materialized inside, isolating each combatant into separate partitions.
"I mean, does a flimsy barrier like this actually do anything?" Hanabi tilted her head. "If you just destroy the rooftop, the barrier loses its foundation, doesn't it?"
"Oh, right!"
The Anbu, every last genius among them, had completely failed to consider this.
[Grass (a type of exclamation)]
[Why does this Anbu look like he just had a life-changing epiphany?]
[Woke up one day, transmigrated into a ninja world where everyone has an IQ of 50. With my towering 100-point intellect, I'm a genius!]
[Hey, the person above—no book? Smash the shop!]
[Seconded. Hurry up and write that novel, I want to read it!]
[Romance all the girls in Road to Ninja, but save Hanabi for me]
[Every last one of you is dreaming]
"Well, this works out nicely—it actually prevents unnecessary casualties." Hanabi continued, "This way, we don't have to worry about dear Orochimaru-sama summoning Manda."
Orochimaru: ...
For one fleeting moment, Orochimaru felt like an absolute fool.
Right—this was a rooftop. If you demolished the building underneath, the whole thing would collapse.
And the space inside the Four Violet Flames Formation was limited. Summoning Manda in here really would be impossible.
Just as the audience expected the battle to erupt at any second, the view suddenly cut to protagonist Naruto's side!
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Naruto had been carried by Gamabunta clean out of Konoha.
Gamabunta landed with a crash, and Naruto let out a scream.
At that moment, Naruto's stripped-down Adamantine Sealing Chains finally lost their hold on Gaara.
Gaara punched down, and the chains shattered.
"Ugh…"
As the Adamantine Sealing Chains dissolved, Naruto's body finally reverted to its normal form.
"What's this now—turns out you're just a kid? Why'd you use that weird form to summon me?" Gamabunta grumbled, but his gaze was fixed dead ahead. Without the chains' restraint, Gaara's body was kicking up a colossal sandstorm—blotting out the sky.
"Boss, I have to take that guy down!"
Naruto had to defeat Gaara.
His body had returned to normal, but he still looked completely drained.
The power he'd drawn on moments ago wasn't ordinary strength—Naruto had forcibly wrenched Kushina's power out, and doing so had been not only exhausting but physically damaging.
"Why should I help you fight that troublesome thing?"
Gamabunta could already sense the eerie Chakra radiating from Gaara.
—No question about it, that was the Sand's Shukaku. Definitely not something easy to deal with.
"Come on, Pops—she got hurt saving me just now! Help her out, it's the honorable thing to do!" Gamakichi piped up on Naruto's behalf.
"Uzumaki Naruto…"
On the other side, "Shukaku's" body had already "grown" to roughly the same size as Gamabunta.
"In that case, show me your resolve!"
"Hmph! Then let me show the little guy what real honor looks like!"
Gamabunta immediately drew the sword at his side and swung it at Gaara.
One of "Shukaku's" arms was cleaved clean off.
"Heavy…"
Gamabunta leapt to the opposite side.
The strike had looked magnificent—lopping off the monster's limb in a single blow—but the impact had been brutal on him too.
"Heh heh heh heh—now that's more like it, Uzumaki Naruto! This is the kind of fight I wanted to see! Ha ha ha ha!" Gaara broke into an even more manic grin.
Then the figure of Gaara, who had been inside "Shukaku's" body, suddenly reappeared on the outside.
Gaara began forming hand seals. "Feigning Sleep Technique!"
When the seal sequence was complete, Gaara's eyes closed, as if he'd fallen asleep.
"This is bad—he activated the Feigning Sleep Technique!"
Gamabunta realized something was wrong.
"…Something woke up. Something just woke up!"
Naruto felt it too.
"That spirit medium is possessed by Shukaku, so he should have chronic insomnia," Gamabunta explained. "Once he falls asleep, his personality will gradually be consumed by Shukaku. Sooner or later, he'll lose himself entirely."
"Huh…?"
"Because he can never sleep, the medium's personality becomes unstable." Gamabunta continued, "However, while the medium is awake, Shukaku's true power is suppressed. But if the medium falls asleep… Shukaku wakes up!"
As if to confirm Gamabunta's words, something changed in Shukaku's eyes. What had been a lifeless puppet moments ago now seemed vividly, terrifyingly alive.
"I'm finally FREEEE!!!"
[Won't he die from sleep deprivation?]
[Holy crap, never sleeping ever—is that actually okay?]
[Gaara probably survives on a daily cocktail of ibuprofen, Red Bull, and coffee]
[Grass (a type of exclamation), that's hell]
[Hanabi's value just keeps rising—didn't she make Gaara fall asleep before?]
[That's right, and he was totally calm when he woke up too]
[That conversation made no sense at the time—now it all clicks]
[No wonder Kankuro and Temari were so stunned when they saw Gaara sleeping]
[Come on, everyone say it with me—Huamen!]
[Huamen!]
[Huamen!]
[Peanut!]
[Whoever typed "Peanut," drag them out and roast them! Huamen!]