When the distant battle stopped and Orion still hadn't returned, Sakura grew anxious. Gritting her teeth, she ran toward the battlefield.
Soon, she arrived at the edge of a massive crater. Looking at the enormous pit stretching nearly a hundred meters wide, Sakura's face was filled with shock.
"Was… this caused by Orion's jutsu just now?"
"It's terrifying…"
She couldn't imagine how powerful Orion's attack had to be to create something like this. It had already exceeded her understanding. The crater was even larger than the one caused by thousands of explosive tags earlier.
But Sakura didn't focus on that for long.
She quickly looked down into the crater and spotted Orion standing below.
Relieved, she hurried down to him.
When she reached him, she saw that Orion was standing in front of a grave. Looking at the name carved on the tombstone, Sakura finally relaxed.
"Did that Raiga guy… die?"
Orion nodded calmly.
Sakura smiled. "Orion, you're amazing. Even a jōnin wasn't your opponent."
However, Orion showed no joy. He simply turned and walked away.
Sakura blinked in confusion. "You clearly won… so why do you look unhappy?"
"Boys are so strange…"
After glancing once more at the grave, she followed after him.
Back on the surface, Orion looked up at the moon, frowning slightly.
"It's already night… I wonder how Kakashi-sensei is doing. I need to go support him."
He turned to Sakura. "Go bring Tsubasa-san and Inari. We'll head there together. I can't leave you here alone."
Sakura nodded. Although she wanted to ask how Orion had become so strong in such a short time, now clearly wasn't the moment.
After gathering Tsubasa and Inari, the four of them rushed toward the bridge construction site.
After some time, they finally arrived.
Right then, they saw Kakashi fighting Zabuza. At the same time, a surge of overflowing chakra from another direction made Orion's eyes narrow.
"That chakra… don't tell me Naruto has gone berserk?"
In the darkness, the red chakra was especially glaring.
Kakashi noticed Orion's arrival and let out a small sigh of relief.
"So he made it… His strength has already surpassed that of a jōnin. He was probably shocked by his own power too."
In Kakashi's view, Orion was overly cautious and often lacked interest in many things, much like Shikamaru. During training, Kakashi had already judged that Orion's strength had surpassed that of a jōnin. In a direct fight, even he might not win.
Yet Orion himself didn't believe it. In his mind, jōnin were still something far beyond reach.
Earlier, Zabuza had mentioned that Raiga had gone to intercept Orion. Although Kakashi trusted Orion's strength, he was still worried. Orion's combat power might exceed a jōnin, but his real battle experience was still lacking. Ninja often used underhanded tactics, and many powerful shinobi had been killed through assassination. That was Kakashi's concern.
Now that Orion had appeared here, it meant Raiga had failed.
"Orion! Go help Naruto, something's wrong over there!" Kakashi shouted.
Orion glanced at him, then turned to Sakura. "Protect them. I'll check on Naruto."
Sakura nodded. She knew she couldn't help in battle.
Orion immediately dashed toward Naruto.
Zabuza's eyes widened when he saw Orion.
"How is that brat here? What is Raiga doing?"
Kakashi spoke while launching another attack. "Zabuza, my student is far stronger than you think. Even one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen couldn't stop him."
Zabuza frowned. Orion's appearance completely defied his expectations. In his eyes, no matter how talented Orion was, he was still just a newly graduated genin. There was no way he could defeat Raiga, especially with two chūnin assisting him.
Yet Orion was here. That meant Raiga had failed.
"Damn it… that idiot said he'd kill the kid in under ten minutes. Raiga is completely unreliable," Zabuza muttered.
Then he glanced at the distant red chakra.
"That Nine-Tails brat has gone berserk. If you don't deal with it, Kakashi, you'll have bigger problems."
Kakashi looked toward the source of the red chakra, his expression turning serious.
This was his biggest concern right now.
Naruto had lost control once before, and that incident had caused heavy losses to the ANBU. If the Third Hokage hadn't mobilized sealing teams and multiple jōnin, the village might have been destroyed.
If Naruto completely lost himself to the Nine-Tails, Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to stop him alone.
He didn't want Orion to go either—it was too dangerous. But Zabuza was keeping him occupied, leaving him no choice.
"Orion… be careful…" Kakashi thought anxiously.
Orion quickly reached Naruto's location.
Naruto was now wrapped in a cloak of red chakra, with a tail already formed behind him.
"One tail already… this is bad."
Without a tail, Naruto's combat power was around jōnin level. But with one tail, his destructive power had already reached elite jōnin level.
The pressure from that chakra was overwhelming.
Even Orion was shaken.
"That's not Naruto's chakra… it's the Nine-Tails."
Even though Orion himself possessed massive chakra reserves, Naruto's current output still made him feel inferior.
"As expected of the Nine-Tails… the strongest of the tailed beasts. If I don't stop this quickly, it'll get worse."
But the situation was already critical.
Sasuke lay on the ground, covered in blood.
Haku stood frozen, completely suppressed by the overwhelming chakra, unable to move.
Naruto's rampage had begun.
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