Uchiha Shigure's body felt like the shell of some devouring beast, greedily filled to its limit. The dragon vein's chakra surged into him like an endless tide, and though he had absorbed more than most shinobi could ever imagine, there was a breaking point. That point was now.
His veins bulged. His chest burned. His vision swam.
"No... if I don't restrain this, I'll be ripped apart...!"
Gathering what control he still had, Shigure pressed his hands into a seal. "Sealing Technique: Yin Seal!"
The diamond sigil at his forehead pulsed angrily, drawing in the pure chakra flooding his body. It was only a heartbeat in the world outside, but within Shigure's consciousness it felt like a torturous eternity, centuries of power pressing in, spinning like a storm with no escape.
But even the Yin Seal had limits. The surge was too vast, too immovable.
"The dragon vein... there's simply too much of it. Even stable, it isn't something I can store... or control, not yet!"
The thought chilled him. Am I, of the proud Uchiha bloodline, to die by bursting apart from excess chakra like a foolish novice?
He couldn't move. Not even a finger. The dragon vein's torrent had chained him as surely as any jutsu.
"I have only one chance... a single bet." His mind sharpened. A new seal array spiraled beneath his feet, intricate and otherworldly. Time itself seemed to harden, the space around him trembling as the dragon vein clashed with his will.
"What... what technique is that?" the monstrous centipede hissed. For a moment it faltered but then gave a snarling laugh. "It doesn't matter! You'll die regardless!"
The beast's laughter thundered through the ruins of Loulan.
"Don't give up on him!" Minato shouted, defiance carved into his face. He clenched a kunai, facing off against the regenerating creature. "I believe in Shigure. He won't fall here!"
Naruto, battered and bloodied but unyielding, stood in stubborn defiance as well. His voice cracked as he turned toward Queen Sara. "Are you okay?!"
Sara grimaced, her hands shaking against the collapsed tower's mechanism. "The impact... it jammed the mechanism! No matter how hard I try, it won't budge!"
Even so, Naruto refused to yield ground. He fought like a man possessed, recklessly charging again and again into the centipede's strike zone. Each time he was knocked back, he rose again, standing taller the more battered he became.
Seeing him, Queen Sara's heart quaked. The weakness in her chest transformed into something stronger.
"Not yet... I can't stop here." She fixed her eyes on the locked gate. With a sob and a shout, she shoved the chakra blade Naruto had entrusted her with into the cracks of the mechanism. The blade flared brilliantly, resonating with her will.
"Push with me!" she cried. The citizens of Loulan, ragged but determined, pressed forward. Inch by inch, the mechanism ground back into place.
"Crack!"
The gates finally groaned open, and the people surged through to safety. But Sara herself refused to follow.
"I won't run. This is my duty." Her voice was unshakable as the massive centipede rounded on her, heavy steps crashing closer.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" Minato unleashed a barrage, blades slashing into the centipede's hide. The wounds opened... only to knit disgustingly back together, flesh bubbling with dragon vein chakra.
"Naive!" the beast roared, purple flames sparking from its maw. "Did you think the tower was my only conduit? The dragon vein surges directly through me!"
Queen Sara's eyes hardened. "Then the source itself must be sealed. We stop the vein, and we stop him!"
Naruto staggered to his feet again, battered but fiery as ever. "We'll hold him off! Count on us!"
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
In a puff of smoke, dozens of Narutos converged on the monster, clinging to its legs. "Stop moving!"
Gathering what little chakra he could, Naruto crushed a Rasengan between his palms and charged. The centipede sneered.
"Annoying brat! Enough!" Thunderous purple lightning erupted from its body, tearing through clones in a storm of smoke. The original Naruto was hurled violently to the ground, coughing blood.
The centipede raised a massive foot to stomp him into the earth—
Fwish!
Minato's kunai shone, Flying Thunder God whisking Naruto out of harm's way in the very instant before impact.
But the Fourth Hokage was pale, his movements slowed. "Damn... my chakra..." His chest rose and fell with ragged strain.
Still, Naruto clenched his fists and charged again, summoning more clones despite the pain. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Dragon Vein: Great Dragon Fire!" the centipede howled. A molten beam of violet flame erupted straight through Naruto's formation, scattering clones to dust. Naruto himself was flung aside once more, clutching his ribs.
"You little pest! Konoha trash!" the monster jeered.
Naruto tried again to rise, swaying. "I'm not... done..." His voice cracked, but resolve burned hotter than ever.
Three clones appeared beside him, steadying his arms. Chakra spun wildly at his palm, forming the unstable shape of Wind-Style: Rasenshuriken. With a roar, he hurled it—
The centipede opened its maw and swallowed the technique whole. Its grotesque body glowed purple as the Rasenshuriken's force dissolved uselessly within. Then, with a single sweep of its massive tail, Naruto was swatted across the battlefield.
"Naruto!" Sara shrieked, rushing toward him.
Once again, Minato was there, catching the boy midair, whispering urgently. "I'll lend you strength. You need to finish this."
"I... I can't gather any more chakra," Naruto panted. His hand trembled.
Minato's gaze was steel. "Then take mine. Rasengan... is my technique. With your clone control, and my chakra, we can forge something stronger."
Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean... two Rasengan at once?"
"More than that." Minato guided Naruto's arm outward. His own hand glowed, swirling chakra into a blue-green orb. Naruto mimicked him, and together, the two spheres began to resonate, their rotations syncing, merging.
The surrounding air howled into a spiral storm. Dust and stone lifted from the shattered ground as the fused chakra formed a radiant sphere, radiant at its edges with opposing flows.
"This..." Naruto's voice trembled, awestruck.
Minato's eyes shone with fierce resolve. "This is the strongest Rasengan—the Taichi Rasengan!"
The centipede shrieked, its instincts bristling at the overwhelming force radiating from the father and son's unified technique. "What kind of sorcery is this?! It matters not!"
A dark pulse surged from its chest, feeding on the dragon vein once more. Purple light bathed the ruins as it prepared another blast.
"Dragon Vein Super Fire Dragon!"
Every stone shook as the beast exhaled, vomiting a beam of dragon vein fire wide enough to swallow the whole battlefield.
The Taichi Rasengan in Naruto and Minato's hands flared brighter in answer, its balanced spirals spinning faster, resonating like two halves of a cosmic whole.
Naruto screamed. Minato roared. Together, they charged.
The two forces collided—purple inferno against luminous spiral.
For a moment, the world drowned in blinding light.
--
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