Chapter 57: Clash of Titans
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two deafening concussions rocked the forest. Two mountainous figures materialized, crushing vast swathes of ancient trees beneath them. The displaced air became a gale, whipping the remaining woods into a frenzy.
"Danger! Fall back!" The moment Shukaku's full, monstrous form appeared, Temari and Kankuro's faces drained of color. They scrambled backward in sheer terror. Naruto's shadow clone wasted no time, scooping up the weakened Sasuke and retreating to a safe distance. A clash of this scale would vaporize anyone caught in the periphery.
From their new vantage point, far away, they stared at the two living mountains with hearts still hammering.
"Lord Shukaku… he's fully manifested! There's no containing this now! We're all dead!" Kankuro's voice was a hollow whisper.
But their awe was split. On the other side of the clearing stood the gargantuan toad Naruto had summoned. He commands a summon of that magnitude too?
Naruto stood calmly atop Gamabunta's head, looking down at the seething Shukaku.
Within the sand forming Shukaku's head, Gaara formed a final seal. "Technique: Feigning Sleep Jutsu!"
His head slumped. He fell into a deep, artificial slumber. In his place, Shukaku's own consciousness, vicious and ancient, surged to the fore. The beast's power amplified instantly.
"WAHAHAHA! FREE AT LAST!" Shukaku's screeching voice echoed, making Temari and the others flinch miles away, their scalps crawling.
"Oi, Naruto. You summoned me for this guy?" Gamabunta grumbled, eyeing the excited tanuki-beast. "The One-Tail, Shukaku. You really know how to pick 'em. This is gonna be a pain."
"Heh. Scared, Bunta?" Naruto grinned.
Bunta took a long drag from his pipe, squinting as he blew the smoke directly into Shukaku's face. "Don't try to provoke me, brat. He's a handful, but I'm not afraid of him."
"Ahem! You oversized toad! I'm gonna roast you for dinner!" Shukaku, choking on the smoke, bellowed in outrage.
Naruto's smile widened. "Seems someone who's been cooped up too long has a short fuse."
"Huh? A snot-nosed brat is talking?" Shukaku's beady eyes narrowed, finally noticing the tiny human on the toad's head. His rage doubled. "A runt like you dares summon against me?! I'll teach you some manners, you little pest!"
When a Tailed Beast rages, it is a natural disaster. The very air screamed as sand and stone were ripped from the earth, the forest dissolving into chaos. A gale-force wind howled outward, threatening to flatten everything in its path.
Sasuke, Temari, and Kankuro watched in utter disbelief. This was a realm of combat beyond their comprehension.
Sasuke's heart clenched with a new fear—for Naruto. His strength was one thing, but against this?
Yet, Naruto stood unmoved, his expression serene. "Bunta," he instructed, "keep him busy. I need a moment to prepare something."
"Huh? Prepare what? Something that can actually hurt that?" Bunta asked, skeptical.
"I don't know if it'll finish him," Naruto admitted, his eyes calculating. "But it'll definitely leave a mark. Besides, he's not at full power yet."
Bunta remained doubtful. "A Tailed Beast is a Tailed Beast. Even I can only hold him off for a bit. You sure about this?"
Naruto shook his head. "We have to try. His power is still climbing. If we wait until he peaks, it'll be impossible." He looked at the massive toad. "Trust me."
"Fine! I'll trust you this once!" Bunta growled, drawing his massive tanto. "But you'd better not let me down!" With a roar, he leaped, the giant blade cleaving toward Shukaku's sandy form.
Scene Twenty-Five: The Spinning Edge of Wind
The collision of the two titans churned the atmosphere of the entire forest. Shukaku raised a sandy arm to block. CLANG! The tanto bit deep but didn't sever. Enraged, Shukaku shoved Bunta back, then opened his maw wide. Chakra condensed, swirling with violent wind nature.
"Wind Release: Air Bullets!"
A barrage of compressed air cannons blasted toward the toad.
Bunta was ready. He sucked in a monumental breath and spat. "Water Release: Toad Oil Bullet!"
BOOOOOOM!
Water and wind collided in a cataclysmic explosion, scattering into a violent, localized storm of wind and rain.
The exchange continued—Air Bullets versus Toad Oil. At first, it was even. But the disadvantage became stark: Bunta's chakra, while vast, was finite. Shukaku's, drawing from the near-bottomless well of a Tailed Beast, was not. After over a dozen exchanges, Bunta was flagging, forced to give ground under Shukaku's relentless assault.
Sasuke, Temari, and Kankuro watched, their minds reeling. This scale of battle was myth made real. And Naruto… commanding such a force… they had been frogs at the bottom of a well.
Sasuke's worry for him was a cold knot in her stomach. The toad is tiring… what can he do now?
Suddenly, a new and terrifying chakra pressure spiked into existence, accompanied by a high-pitched, grinding whine that set teeth on edge. Their eyes snapped to its source.
Naruto, still standing on Gamabunta's head.
He had a shadow clone beside him. Both his body and the clone glowed with a faint, unstable golden aura. Between Naruto's hands, a sphere of blinding white energy screamed into being, rotating at a terrifying speed. Around it, visible, sharp-edged chakra constructs—like the fletching of a giant shuriken—materialized and dissolved in the violent vortex. The sound was the very air being shredded.
"The chakra… it's monstrous!" Temari breathed, her body trembling from the sheer oppressive force of it even at this distance.
Kankuro wiped sweat from his brow. "I can feel the killing intent from here… What is that?!"
"What kind of jutsu is that?" Temari whispered, turning to Sasuke.
"I… I don't know!" Sasuke's voice was thick with a complex storm of shock, awe, and a deep, aching realization. Naruto… when did you soar so high? Even the Hokage… how did you achieve this?
On Bunta's head, Naruto's forehead was beaded with sweat. Even with the Curse Mark's Sage energy bolstering him, forming the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was a Herculean strain. He was using this life-or-death pressure to force a breakthrough, to master it here and now.
But it was working. The technique, though wildly unstable, was taking form in his grasp. The preparation was agonizingly long, a critical weakness, but it was there.
With a final, sharp exhalation, he dismissed the supporting clone. He stood tall, the screaming, white-hot sphere of annihilation held aloft in one hand, facing the seething Shukaku.
"It's ready! Thanks for the cover, Bunta!" he called out, his clothes and hair whipping in the maelstrom of his own creation. For the first time, Shukaku felt a primal ping of alarm.
If that thing hits me… this outing ends here.