The instant Uchiha Shigure and Namikaze Minato were hurled into the swarm of puppets, the mechanical soldiers greeted them with clattering steel and blades.
Shigure twisted past the first volley of strikes, countering with swift, precise counters. Between movements, a spark lit in his dark Sharingan eyes as he called out to his ally.
"Minato! You and I both know the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God. Why don't we finish this the fastest way possible?"
Minato's lips curved into a grin even as he blurred across the battlefield with his signature teleport. Each flash of yellow light ended in collapsing steel, puppet soldiers clattering to the ground.
"It's my honor!" he called back, his voice carrying a rare mix of humor and exhilaration.
Shigure's hands blurred. "Shadow Clone Technique!" Several duplicates burst onto the field, and in their wake came another jutsu. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" A rain of kunai whistled through the air, each blade splitting into countless copies that embedded themselves into the puppets or the floor.
The two warriors exchanged a knowing smile. The massacre began.
The cavernous underground factory echoed with metal ringing on metal. Kunai marked with Flying Thunder God seals turned the entire space into their stage. Shigure, his clones, and Minato flickered in and out of sight, teleporting freely among the markers. Rasengan whirled in both their palms, detonating puppets in a frenzy of shattered wood and steel.
Eventually, the light scatter of clones popped away one by one—Shigure's chakra stretched thin. Yet the ground was littered with broken puppet remains, metal fragments glinting under the dim torchlight.
Minato, sweat running down his face, sank to one knee, panting. It was rare for him—soon to be known as Konoha's Yellow Flash—to feel this weak, this drained.
"So powerful," he managed between breaths, a grin still clinging to his lips. "Our combined Flying Thunder God and Rasengan… we actually took down tens of thousands of puppet soldiers. Let me give this a name!"
Shigure tilted his head with dry amusement. "A name?"
"Yes! Let's call it… Spiral Warriors Flashing Wheel Dance Slash Combo Zero!" Minato shouted, openly proud of his clumsy declaration.
Shigure was struck speechless. A bead of sweat trailed down his temple. "…Well. As long as you like it."
But before their laughter could fade, the ground trembled once again.
More puppets surged.
"Impossible!" Minato gasped. "We already destroyed so many, and there are still more?"
Shigure's eyes narrowed. "We've eliminated nearly eight thousand… but eight thousand puppets aren't enough to conquer the Five Great Nations. That means An Lushan is drawing units from the entirety of ancient Loulan."
As they spoke, the battlefield shifted. The remaining puppets clambered toward each other, fusing in an eerie, seamless chain. Their whirring cores meshed, plating snapping into place until a towering colossus stood before them—an enormous puppet with arms that stretched unnaturally wide.
"Their core structure's merging," Shigure warned, Sharingan spinning. "And it can absorb chakra. Whatever happens, don't let it seize you."
The giant puppet slammed its fist into the earth. Waves of dust mushroomed through the cavern. Shigure darted forward, preparing to teleport—when one elongated mechanical arm lashed outward and slammed him across the factory.
"I was careless," Shigure admitted under his breath, blood at the corner of his mouth. He had been too focused on its fusion, never guessing its arms would stretch that far.
"Shigure-sensei!" Minato shouted, a Rasengan already glowing as he tried to counterattack.
But the blow had been misleading. Though Shigure was knocked aside, the white scale armor he bore absorbed the strike effortlessly. Not a scratch marred him. The puppet's real target was Minato.
A mechanical tentacle surged from below, snaring Minato's limbs. He struggled, but the tendrils constricted, forcing the Breath from his lungs before dragging him toward its gigantic core. Chakra was sealed, rendering him unable to use Flying Thunder God.
The colossus didn't count on being tricked itself. In a blur of space-time distortion, Shigure reappeared beside Minato. His kunai slashed down, severing the mechanical tether and freeing his pupil.
But the puppet revealed more. From its frame erupted a storm of tentacles. In an instant, Shigure shoved Minato away and was pulled into the giant puppet's chest cavity, locked in place.
An oily voice vibrated in the air. "You can't escape. And already your strength wanes."
An Lushan's voice, echoing but unseen.
"Impossible!" Shigure growled, his chakra visibly draining into the puppet.
"Hahaha!" An Lushan's gloating voice boomed. "A mere child with chakra that eclipses even shadows! How can this be? To hold chakra of a Super Kage while barely six years of age! What a gift!"
On the sidelines, Minato froze, awe in his young eyes. As an elite jonin, he knew the vastness of his own peak-level chakra reserves. Against Shigure's… it seemed laughable.
But An Lushan only grew greedier. "It matters not! However much you have, it will belong to me!"
"Shigure-sensei!" Minato tried to rise, but his body collapsed, drained of chakra, exhausted to his core. He could only watch.
From within the puppet, a calm voice spoke. "Oh? You hunger for chakra? Then let me feed you."
Shigure's skin rippled, markings spreading as he activated Sage Mode. His eyes glowed with nature's raw power.
Chakra flooded into the puppet's systems. At first, An Lushan laughed hysterically—until he realized something was wrong.
"No… impossible! Why is it turning into—?!"
The vast power of natural energy overwhelmed the puppet. Unable to control the flow, its body warped grotesquely, steel plates twisting into scales. In moments, it hissed like a serpent, its form transfigured… and then hardened into stone.
Shigure burst free in a swirl of motion, stepping lightly onto the cavern floor. His fists lowered as he deactivated Sage Mode.
Minato's eyes widened. "The magic of Ryūchi Cave…"
"Exactly," Shigure answered. "Just like at Mount Myōboku. If one fails to control natural energy, the body transforms. Snakes. Then stone. In the end, assimilation."
All around them, the remains of the puppet army lay in ruin. Silence fell.
Then An Lushan's bitter voice seethed into the air again, fading in whispers. "Hahaha! You may stop my army… but Loulan's foolish queen is about to die by my hand. Without her, no one can seal the dragon vein! You will live in regret forever!"
"Shigure-sensei… what do we do?" Minato asked anxiously.
Shigure's eyes softened. He pressed one palm to Minato's back, flowing some of his immense reserves to his exhausted student.
"We finish this. Now."
Minato flinched. "But your chakra—!"
Shigure only shook his head, lips curving faintly. "Don't worry about me. An Lushan only drank a drop from the ocean."
In truth, Shigure's chakra reservoir was unreal. Beyond the ordinary scale of a Super Kage, his blood carried the heritage of the Ōtsutsuki, merged with multiple branches of fate itself. He had not yet plumbed the true depths of his sea of power.
The earth rumbled again. Without hesitation, Shigure and Minato clasped kunai and vanished in twin flashes of light.
They reappeared beside Uzumaki Naruto—drawn into the timeline's knot—and there before them stood Queen Sara, who had just severed the dragon vein's power.
From the shadows, An Lushan revealed himself. Or rather, what remained of him. His body had twisted into a monstrous spider-like form, forelimbs stretched into blades. His visage was unrecognizable, something between a Hollow from myths and a revenant from nightmares.
Snarling, he pounded forward. "Since you are here… DIE HERE! You, and Sara, and this entire wretched land!"
His scythe-like forelegs swept down in a deadly arc.
But Shigure leaped forward, Rasengan blazing in his hand. He struck true, smashing into An Lushan's warped carapace and sending the monstrosity spiraling into the cavern wall.
"BOOM! BOOM!" Explosions detonated around them as energy from the severed dragon vein erupted.
Shigure's Sharingan glowed. "Minato. Naruto. Now!"
The chamber trembled on the edge of collapse—
And the final clash loomed.
--
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