Below was an even vaster, darker, and more mysterious grand hall.
In the center of the hall, a colossal, formless, terrifying monster—the true form of Zero-Tailed: Nothingness—was coiled, made of countless dark Chakra tentacles.
It emanated an aura of darkness and nothingness infinitely more intense than what Shinnou had previously displayed.
Shinnou, who had fallen, landed directly in front of the Zero-Tailed's main body, laughing maniacally: "Hahaha! It's too late! Let me show you true power! Zero-Tailed, merge with me!"
The Zero-Tailed's tentacles instantly enveloped Shinnou, rapidly fusing with him.
Dark Chakra surged into Shinnou's body like a tide!
His body began to undergo a terrifying transformation; his muscles swelled crazily, his skin turned pitch black, his eyes glowed blood-red, and his aura skyrocketed exponentially, reaching true Kage-level.
"Feel the Nothingness!"
The merged Zero-Tailed Shinnou let out an inhuman roar, and countless dark tentacles, ten times thicker than before and radiating power-draining energy, coiled like giant, frenzied whips, sweeping overwhelmingly towards Naruto, who had just landed, and Sasuke, who was struggling to get up.
Sasuke tried to resist with Chidori Current, but his Chakra was instantly drained, and the tentacles wrapped tightly around him again; a stronger suction force than before made it difficult for him to even maintain his Sharingan, and despair resurfaced in his eyes.
Naruto's Shadow Clone was also entangled by several huge tentacles.
"Haha! I'll drain you dry! Drain the Nine-Tailed!" Zero-Tailed Shinnou laughed wildly, feeling the abundant and pure Chakra within Naruto, becoming even more excited and increasing the absorption rate!
However, Naruto's Shadow Clone, tightly bound by the tentacles and seemingly in a desperate situation, showed no panic on his face; instead, he sighed and said to the small Nine-Tailed fox, who was perched on his shoulder, constantly yawning: "Ah, really, always these disgusting draining tricks... Kurama, it seems to really want to eat your Chakra, how about—let it eat its fill?"
After all, it was only a Shadow Clone, not the main body, and it might not be able to defeat Shinnou, who had merged with Zero-Tailed, so it might as well let Kurama continue to work.
Kurama, in its fox form, glanced dismissively at the dark tentacles entwining Naruto, yawned, and said lazily: "Hmph, such a low-level creation, is it worthy of this great one's Chakra? But this great one has already dealt with the Sky Ninja mothership, so there's no need to continue expending effort."
"Besides—"
Kurama grinned: "You're just a Shadow Clone, it doesn't matter if you get destroyed."
Naruto, having expected this, replied with a smile: "Extra meal. Barbecue for two consecutive days, hmm, plus grilled fish."
"!?!"
Kurama was immediately tempted but remained tsundere on the surface: "Hmph, since it wants to eat so badly, then let it eat until it bursts."
After speaking, Kurama became slightly more serious, and a faint red light emanated from its body.
The entire tentacle was covered with a strange, frothing, crimson glow.
An endless stream of Tailed Beast Chakra poured into Zero-Tailed Shinnou's body.
"Ah—"
"Is this the power of the Nine-Tailed?"
"How captivating, how powerful!"
"Now it all belongs to me. I will devour the Nine-Tailed, lead the Land of Sky to defeat the Five Great Nations, destroy the Five Great Ninja Villages, rule the entire Ninja World, and bring the Land of Sky to unprecedented glory."
Zero-Tailed Shinnou spread his arms, uttering arrogant and presumptuous words.
He was already intoxicated by the dream of ruling the Ninja World, oblivious to everything else.
"—Do you like it? That was just the amount of Chakra from 'one tail.' How about adding another one? Let's see if you can handle this great one's Chakra!"
The next second—
"Boom!!!!"
A pure, vast, and indescribably violent Nine-Tailed Chakra, like a breached dam or a raging river, actively and frantically poured into Zero-Tailed's body through its tentacles.
Zero-Tailed Shinnou's maniacal expression instantly froze!
It then turned into extreme terror and disbelief!
"No! What—what is this?! It's too much! Stop—stop it!!!"
He let out a desperate shriek!
The Nine-Tailed's Chakra was too high in quality and too immense in quantity.
Just the amount of Chakra from two tails was already more than Zero-Tailed could bear.
"Hahaha, let's add two more tails then, this great one isn't stingy."
Kurama released the amount of Chakra from two more tails.
Just four tails, far exceeding the limit Zero-Tailed could absorb or contain!
It was like a balloon being forcibly filled with the water of an entire ocean!
Zero-Tailed's colossal body, made of dark Chakra, inflated at a terrifying speed like a balloon.
Countless cracks began to appear on its surface, and uncontrolled, crimson Nine-Tailed Chakra light shot out from the cracks!
"No—!!"
Zero-Tailed Shinnou let out one last wail of despair!
"Rumble rumble!!!!"
Ultimately, the explosion still occurred.
Zero-Tailed's main body, along with Shinnou, who had merged with it, simply could not withstand the massive amount of Nine-Tailed Chakra and was directly burst and shattered from within.
Endless dark Chakra and crimson Nine-Tailed Chakra mixed together, forming a destructive energy storm that swept through the entire underground grand hall!
"Bang bang bang bang—"
The entire palace's domed walls, originally covered with glowing spell tags, all extinguished at this moment, then filled with cracks, crumbled, and the walls collapsed.
Even the massive Sky Fortress itself suffered a violent explosion and began to disintegrate.
After the storm, the existence of Zero-Tailed and Shinnou completely vanished, leaving not even a speck of dust.
The grand hall was a mess, with only some scattered dark energy gradually dissipating.
Naruto easily shook off the now inactive tentacle residue from his body, and Kurama on his shoulder curled its lip in disdain: "Hmph, no wonder it's called Zero-Tailed, it's truly trash."
Sasuke looked at Kurama, his pupils violently constricting.
That small fox was the legendary monster that could destroy heaven and earth—the Nine-Tailed?
Wasn't Naruto the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki?
Shouldn't the Nine-Tailed be sealed inside Naruto?
Why was it perched on Naruto's shoulder?
Sasuke felt his mind was about to break.
"Rumble bang!"
Large chunks of rock fell from the ceiling of the grand hall, crashing heavily onto the ground, scattering debris.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke and said calmly: "Let's go, this Land of Sky ruin, flying high in the sky, is about to collapse."
"Ruin collapsing?"
Sakura, who was unconscious, woke up and, upon hearing Naruto's words, immediately cried out: "Oh no, Amaryu's villagers were captured and imprisoned in the Sky Ruin; if the ruin collapses, everyone will fall to their deaths!"
"I thought it was a big deal, then just prevent the ruin from collapsing."
Naruto instantly teleported outside the Sky Ruin, standing in mid-air, looking down at the Sky Ruin, which was indeed disintegrating.