Naruto and the Nine-Tails panicked at the exact same time, their minds united in this moment of crisis.
A massive surge of Tailed Beast Chakra erupted, engulfing Naruto in crimson energy.
This time, the cloak wasn't semi-transparent but it was a solid covering.
A scarlet mosaic obscured Naruto's body, and four tails erupted from his back.
Yes, that's right.
This was the classic Four-Tails Mode from the original timeline, the form Naruto unleashed during his battle against Orochimaru, triggered by a taunt about Sasuke.
(Orochimaru: You're so desperate you're crying.)
The difference now was that Naruto retained his rationality.
Even without the Nine-Tails' active interference, its chakra naturally carried negative emotions.
However, having reconciled with the fox, Naruto could now suppress these dark influences.
Combined with his extensive training, Naruto could achieve a rational and composed Tailed Beast Transformation.
For example, Killer Bee, in addition to his full transformation, also possessed a Half-Tailed Beast Transformation with a crimson Chakra cloak.
Pfft.
A bone projectile, launched by the Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets, struck Naruto's ass!
Fortunately, the defensive power of the Half-Tailed Beast Transformation was formidable.
Wrapped in the thick chakra cloak, Naruto barely felt a tap.
"Great! I'm saved," Naruto sighed in relief.
But Kimimaro wouldn't give up that easily.
He didn't know the depth of Naruto and Sasuke's bond, but no one was going to sever his connection with Lord Orochimaru!
"Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets: Infinite Thousand Years of Death!!!"
Kimimaro aimed at Naruto's weakest point, his fingernails peeling back as bones erupted from his fingertips like machine-gun fire.
A defining trait of the Shikotsumyaku was the ability to regenerate bones rapidly, allowing them to be used as weapons and mediums for Ninjutsu.
Now, Kimimaro pushed his bone regeneration to its limit.
Now Naruto directly tap into his Six-Tails form and the Tailed Beast Cloak could generate hardened bones for both offense and defense.
Killer Bee, for example, could materialize bones in his elbows during his Half-Tailed Beast Transformation to deliver heavy elbow strikes.
Unfortunately, neither humans nor Tailed Beasts possessed bones in that specific area for defense.
Kimimaro's bones bombarded the Tailed Beast Cloak's defenses.
The sheer kinetic force propelled Naruto up into the air.
Initially, Naruto felt only a slight sensation, but it grew stronger until his expression turned to sheer terror!
He flailed his crimson Tailed Beast arms, trying to grab Kimimaro and halt the assault.
Though the Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets: Infinite Thousand Years of Death caused Naruto no physical harm—not even pain—a different, far more cursed sensation began spreading through him!
The rapid-fire barrage of bone projectiles resembled a high-frequency jackhammer... or some other vibrating mechanical device.
How to put it?
Sometimes, maintaining your rationality during a Tailed Beast Transformation isn't a good thing.
If Naruto had lost his mind, he would have gone berserk and unleashed a blind barrage of attacks.
But Naruto and the Nine-Tails had reached a truce, allowing him to control the Tailed Beast Chakra.
The problem was, Naruto had no idea how to actually use it.
His most intense battle so far was when he stabbed Gaara in the ass with an Exploding Tag using the Thousand Years of Death.
Even the classic battle against Zabuza and Haku got interrupted by Makoto.
His practical combat experience was severely lacking!
Under this assault of Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets, Naruto felt lost.
"How is this possible? How can this even work?" he muttered to himself.
—Naruto activated Sage Mode again!
As for why he activated it, that depended entirely on the angle of Kimimaro's attacks.
For the first time, Naruto realized that achieving his goals didn't require a direct frontal assault.
This reminded him of the specialized shop where, besides containment-type ninja tools, there were also refillable ones.
What a pity.
If he'd realized this sooner, he would have bought another ninja tool!
Using the Shadow Clone Technique then would have doubled his speed.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto resolved to counterattack.
He was unfamiliar with the Half-Tailed Beast Transformation, but Sage Mode was second nature.
Now, with the Half-Tailed Beast Transformation combined with Sage Mode, even if Kimimaro used his toes to launch bone bullets, he couldn't breach Naruto's defenses.
Kimimaro's combat instincts were razor-sharp.
The Cursed Seal itself was a manipulation of Natural Energy, so he sensed Naruto's Sage Mode activation right away.
A wave of despair washed over Kimimaro.
He hadn't expected his opponent to regain composure and enter Sage Mode at such a critical moment.
He had underestimated the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
The boy possessed not only high mental fortitude but also the ability to think calmly even in dire situations.
Why "seemingly dire"?
Because Kimimaro knew from the start he couldn't win a direct confrontation.
His only option was to rely on his combat instincts to strike first.
That was his strategy before. And it remained his strategy now!
"Dance of the Clematis: Vine!"
Kimimaro retreated a step, halting his bone bullets, and switched to another technique.
The Dance of the Seedling Fern was meaningless here.
Wide-area attacks only wasted chakra. What he needed was concentrated, pinpoint power.
The Dance of the Clematis had two forms: the "Vine," where he extracted his own spine to use as a whip-like weapon for binding enemies, and the "Flower."
Like many ninjutsu names from the Hidden Cloud Village, Kimimaro's techniques were difficult to visualize from their names alone.
Various "Dances."
Even Madara Uchiha might be tempted to kick open his coffin and declare, "Shall we dance too?"
The "Flower" form involved massive bone proliferation on one arm, forming a colossal spiral drill that attacked the target.
This was Kimimaro's final dance!
If this technique was countered, he had no other means to stop Uzumaki Naruto.
He'd need to train harder in the future... find new breakthroughs, or he'd face this situation again.
Fueled by self-reproach and regret, Kimimaro launched his attack.
He hurled his extracted spinal column at Naruto, who was suspended in mid-air in his Half-Tailed Beast Transformation, binding him securely.
With his other arm, he unleashed the spiral bone drill, launching a final, desperate thrust.
This assault was far more terrifying than the Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets.
There's a saying in the web novel community, "If you're going to transmigrate, you'd better rebel, or you'll end up with a drill up your ass."
Poor Naruto hadn't even achieved the first half of that saying, yet he was already experiencing the second half!
"Nine-Tails, this is no joke! What do we do? Save me!"
Naruto felt the minor vibrations from the bone bullets on his Tailed Beast Cloak intensify into massive tremors, as if the cloak's defenses were about to shatter.
Panic seized him.
Fortunately, having learned from past mistakes, he managed to maintain Sage Mode despite his sheer panic.
'How the hell am I supposed to know what to do?'
The Nine-Tails was equally panicked, dropping its usual dignified "wise old beast" persona.
It was about to become the first Tailed Beast in history to get drilled in the ass!