The orange-red chakra around Kyusei bubbled like thick liquid brought to a rolling boil.
In the blink of an eye, it solidified into a Tailed Beast Cloak. As the Nine-Tails' chakra surged forth, the speed of the Adamantine Sealing Chains spiked explosively—faster, heavier, far more violent than before.
Feeling the chains' movements begin to flirt with sonic booms, Hatake Sakumo smiled faintly.
So… even after releasing the Nine-Tails' chakra, he's still not planning to fight me head-on?
That was… a wise choice.
Sakumo's goal here was to evaluate Kyusei's strength. Long-range combat was already more or less clear—what remained was close-quarters fighting.
As for genjutsu?
Whether Sakumo even used genjutsu aside, a jinchūriki in this state was practically immune to it.
The last thing jinchūriki feared was illusions.
Too fast!
Kyusei's scalp went numb as Sakumo vanished midair. A sharp tearing sound split the air behind him.
Instinctively, Kyusei used one of the chakra tails to prop himself up and launched into the air.
A split second later, the ground where he'd just been standing was crushed into fragments by a single stomp.
"Hey—are you trying to kill me?!"
Kyusei stared at the shattered ground, still shaken.
Sakumo looked at the boy who had landed safely, surprise flickering across his face.
So the tails can be used like that too?
Using the tailed beast chakra to support and launch the body…
Interesting.
"Relax," Sakumo said, scratching his head seriously.
"I know what I'm doing."
"I don't believe a word of that!"
—
— Third Parallel Universe —
Rōran Dragon Vein
Blazing sun. Endless sand. Ruins stretching to the horizon.
"Ahhh!!"
"This is driving me crazy!"
"How long are we supposed to keep searching?!"
A blonde girl with twin ponytails screamed toward the sky, on the verge of losing it.
"Naruko, quiet down,"
a pink-haired girl said helplessly, patting her head.
"This is a mission. Stop being so impatient."
"I can't take it anymore!"
"We've been eating sand for half a month already!"
Naruko pouted angrily.
"Where the hell is that Mukade?!"
"When I catch him, I'm beating him up a hundred times!"
The pink-haired girl pressed her fingers to her temple, exhausted.
"Hm?"
"Sasuke, what is it?"
She noticed her other teammate studying a massive rock intently.
The black-haired boy examined the stone closely before speaking coolly.
"There's food residue on it. Not very old."
"You mean…?"
Hope flashed in the pink-haired girl's eyes.
"If my guess is right—"
"Mukade!!!"
Naruko instantly caught on, throwing her arms into the air.
"That's right,"
a masked man in a Konoha jōnin uniform appeared out of nowhere, one eye hidden beneath his headband.
"As expected of you, Sasuke. Sharp as ever."
"Of course!"
"That's Sasuke for you!"
Naruko planted her hands on her hips, her twin ponytails bouncing happily, as though she'd been the one praised.
"But I won't lose to you!"
Sasuke glanced at her helplessly, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
"Alright, alright,"
the silver-haired man said cheerfully.
"Since Sasuke's finally back, let's wrap this mission up quickly and go eat something good."
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Sasuke, you disappeared three years ago on a mission from Granny Tsunade and didn't even tell me!"
Naruko puffed her cheeks.
"There wasn't much choice, Naruko…"
Sasuke said quietly.
"If I'd told you, everyone would've known the next day."
"Sorry…"
Naruko looked at him, her expression softening.
"Save the catching up for later,"
the silver-haired man cut in gently.
"Once the mission's done, you'll have all the time you want."
—
— First Parallel Universe —
"You damn closet-pervert white-haired freak—take this!"
Kyusei clutched his backside, still shaken.
He'd almost fallen victim to the legendary Konoha Taijutsu Secret Art just now.
He was wrong.
Completely wrong.
Hatake Sakumo wasn't some gentle, harmless teacher—this man was a degenerate monster.
…Did I go too far?
Orange-red chakra gathered in Kyusei's palm, forming a crimson sphere the size of a basketball.
Crimson Lotus Rasengan!
If Kaoru could use the Rasengan, Kyusei had no reason not to—and with Nine-Tails chakra layered on top, its power skyrocketed.
As for Flying Thunder God…
Let's not talk about that.
Sakumo narrowed his eyes at the red sphere.
His instincts screamed danger.
That was—if it hit him.
"Hehe, eat this!"
"You freak!"
"Great Crimson Lotus Rasengan!"
Kyusei charged forward with the massive red Rasengan.
Too slow.
Sakumo sidestepped effortlessly, avoiding the attack.
But then—
Kyusei somehow tripped over a rock and went flying, smashing face-first into the ground.
The Rasengan slammed into the earth, erupting in a massive cloud of dust.
Sakumo stared blankly at the fallen boy.
After waiting a moment with no movement, he stepped forward instinctively.
Then—
Two figures burst from the dust and hugged his legs tightly!
Crap!
Before Sakumo could retreat, several golden chains shot out of the smoke and bound his arms tightly.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Got you, white-hair!"
"Eat this!"
"KONOHA TAIJUTSU SECRET ART—!"
Kyusei's manic laughter echoed through the dust.
A gentleman avenges himself in ten years.
A villain takes revenge morning, noon, and night.
Hands forming the Tiger Seal, Kyusei lunged toward Sakumo's back, grinning wildly as he envisioned the man collapsing, clutching his rear.
A blurry figure stood there—but with the dust everywhere, Kyusei didn't think twice.
"Thousand Years of Death!!"
Pff—!
Before he could even process what happened, Kakashi's face twisted in absolute horror.
"AHHH—!!"
At the same time, Kyusei felt something heavy slam into him, knocking him flat with a cry.
"Huh…?"
"Where am I…?"
Naruko scratched her head in confusion.
"I-I mean… could you get off me first…?"
A trembling hand reached weakly into her field of vision.
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