Chapter 352: Counterattack
"...I... lost?"
Atop the collapsed Earth Nine-Tails remains, Urashiki lowered his head looking at his own mutated hands, then gazed toward those two distant figures whose auras hadn't exhausted but remained chakra-abundant.
The purple-gold Susanoo Nine-Tails stood majestically. The radiance flowing around it showed no weakening whatsoever.
"Was I... defeated by... these mere monkey-level lower life forms?"
Humiliation! Unprecedented humiliation! However, survival instinct forcibly suppressed boiling shame and madness. His remaining rationality screamed.
Trump cards destroyed, opponents in perfect condition—possibly not even at full strength yet.
Though his own chakra consumption was massive, relying on Otsutsuki physique and previously devoured reserves, considerable amounts remained.
If he still wanted to survive... only one path remained—flee!
However, when his gaze swept across the battle-ready Naruto and Sasuke—if using just-now strength as standard, simultaneously facing these two in pursuit... escape success probability approached infinitely close to zero.
Remaining chakra—even using it all for final desperate struggle... probably just meaningless death throes prolonging despair.
Just then, that massive purple-gold Susanoo Nine-Tails at the battlefield center began dispersing. Naruto released complete Tailed Beast transformation.
Radiance converged. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke's figures—one golden, one black—appeared side by side again on the devastated earth.
Their surrounding auras remained powerful and stable. Obviously that intense battle hadn't caused them much substantial consumption.
Urashiki's golden Rinnegan stared fixedly at them. His mutated palms violently clenched at his sides, then released.
"—HAHH!!"
Without warning, Urashiki's arm violently swung forward! From his palm center, a red chakra energy sphere instantly formed, thrown with all his might toward Naruto and Sasuke not far away!
However, the two merely—the instant the energy ball attacked—casually leaped left and right simultaneously, simply dodging it thus.
BOOM—!!!
The red energy ball roared past through the gap between them, viciously smashing into scorched earth hundreds of meters behind, erupting in violent explosion, blasting out a considerable crater. Flames and smoke rose but quickly subsided. Aside from an additional crater, no other impact.
"Urashiki," Uchiha Sasuke slowly stepped forward. "Give up. You have no hope."
This statement sounded like final surrender demand, but Sasuke merely symbolically spoke—wouldn't give Urashiki breathing room.
"Kir..."
From Sasuke's mouth, a clear yet brief syllable emerged.
Almost the same instant the syllable rang out—
CRASH—!!!!!!!!!!
From within clouds, lightning power was instantly triggered. A terrifying lightning pillar radiating blinding brilliant white light transformed into monstrous shape, violently striking toward Urashiki!
Kirin!
Jutsu requiring complex prelude—under Sasuke's current realm—had already reached near-instant-cast.
"Don't underestimate me—!!"
Urashiki released a roar, arm violently raising upward. Red chakra madly surged, rapidly condensing above his head, transforming into an incomparably thick energy giant shield, blocking before Kirin's landing point!
WHAM—!!!!!
Blinding lightning and red light madly scattered. The shield was corroded by violent lightning power with sizzling sounds but ultimately wasn't pierced in one strike—barely withstanding this furious strike.
However, this was already Urashiki's hasty defensive limit!
"Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Almost the same instant Kirin fell, Naruto's attack had already connected! A golden giant fox head suddenly materialized around him!
The fox head opened its giant maw. A Tailed Beast Bomb instantly formed, immediately blasting toward Urashiki fully resisting Kirin!
"Ama-no-Subaruboshi-no-Mikoto: Imperial Soul!"
Urashiki's eyes nearly split. Trapped in desperate straits, madness instead unleashed his final potential! His other free hand violently extended forward. Purple chakra transformed into a slender purple energy beam, meeting the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb, colliding head-on!
BOOM—!!!!!!!
Purple-black destructive beam and pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb thunderously collided midair! Erupting in massive explosion and smoke.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The next moment, several golden fox claws suddenly shot from the sky-filling smoke and energy turbulence stirred by the explosion!
Taking advantage of Urashiki's hands being restrained—this perfect timing—viciously grabbing toward his body and limbs!
"What?!" Urashiki sensed danger but couldn't make effective response in time.
WHAM!!
CRACK!
Golden chakra giant claws solidly grabbed his waist and abdomen, immediately erupting with terrifying grip and pulling force!
Immediately after, all giant claws simultaneously exerted force, clenching into fists, yanking Urashiki's body, viciously smashing downward toward the already devastated earth below!
BOOM—!!!!!!!
Urashiki's body embedded into the earth like a meteorite, smashing out a giant crater exceeding twenty meters diameter.
"Cough.. cough cough..!"
From the crater bottom came Urashiki's weak, painful coughing and gasping. Blood spilled from his mouth corners. Continuous heavy injuries plus tremendous mental blows made this Otsutsuki's aura decline to the extreme. Death's shadow—unprecedentedly clear.
If continuing like this... being besieged by these two perfectly coordinated, nearly perfect-condition monsters... his certain death was unquestionable, without suspense.
"Looks like..." Urashiki lay at the crater bottom, gazing at the two gradually approaching figures above. "I... still truly... underestimated you."
Naruto and Sasuke hovered at the crater's edge without slightest relaxation. They had no interest in dying enemy's nonsense.
Urashiki's words continued: "However... if you want to thoroughly kill me... with my current defensive posture and remaining chakra... at minimum, you'll need several minutes, right?"
This statement made Naruto and Sasuke's brows knit slightly at the same time. They both understood—an Ōtsutsuki who was determined to fight to the death, even willing to let his own body collapse just to delay time, was indeed hard to kill instantly. Estimating several minutes was reasonable.
And these several minutes—on rapidly changing battlefields—were sufficient for many variables.
Urashiki's voice carried unsettling calm. "If... either of you is drawn away by other matters... leaving only one to deal with me..."
He didn't finish, but the meaning was self-evident—once forming one-on-one, even for brief moments, his escape or even counterattack probability would greatly increase.
Naruto and Sasuke didn't respond, preparing to launch the next more violent combined attack, thoroughly ending this battle. They wouldn't give Urashiki any opportunity to stall for time or sowing discord.
However, just the instant before attacks launched—
Urashiki's cracked mouth corners suddenly hooked into an extremely subtle arc. He no longer looked at Naruto and Sasuke but cast his gaze toward behind them—Konoha Village's direction.
"My... final 'suggestion' to you. Watch your back."
"Of course, whether you listen... up to you."
"But... will you ignore those... 'ants'... ?"
"Ants"? Behind?
The word stabbed into Naruto's heart! An ominous premonition made his entire body's hair stand on end. This guy... what does he mean?
After devouring his own Rinnegan, though Urashiki gained tremendous power boost, it also meant he temporarily lost those eyes' core abilities—Yomotsu Hirasaka for spatial traversal and time rewind for avoiding fatal injuries!
Therefore, cunning Urashiki inevitably prepared non-spatial ability, other forms of "backup plans" to create chaos, seeking that thread of survival opportunity in desperate straits!
"ROAR—!!!!!!!!"
Worst speculation verified. A slightly distant yet incomparably clear roar filled with violent aura suddenly came from Konoha Village's direction!
Naruto and Sasuke violently turned!
Above forests at Konoha Village's outskirts—a massive Nine-Tails was roaring skyward!
Urashiki's final backup!
He'd long before battle began secretly hidden part of the Nine-Tails chakra seized from Kushina near Konoha Village!
After using up Five Style chakra seized from the Third Hokage to create Five Elemental Nine-Tails, he hadn't exhausted all "spoils."
Just now, that red energy ball he'd seemingly futilely thrown toward Naruto and Sasuke—its true purpose wasn't attack at all! Inside wasn't attack-use chakra but byproducts from seizing Nine-Tails chakra.
Uzumaki clan chakra!
When this energy ball fell at the predetermined location, it immediately fused with Nine-Tails chakra already lurking there, activated, and using it as blueprint and fuel—in extremely brief time—constructed this final, also closest-to-Konoha pseudo-Nine-Tails!
Classic "trolley problem"!
Should they immediately stay, concentrating their power to thoroughly kill the severely injured Urashiki within minutes? Or must they split up, with one person immediately reinforcing Konoha to stop that pseudo-Nine-Tails roaring at Konoha's edge, potentially causing catastrophic disaster at any time?
Whichever choice, Urashiki's purpose was achieved—dispersing their power and attention! As long as one was drawn away, the pressure he faced sharply decreased—seizing the opportunity to escape or launch a desperate counterattack both gained greater operational space!
Naruto's expression grew grave. Flying Thunder God coordinates rapidly flashed through his mind. He nearly immediately activated the technique, teleporting back to the village!
"HUM..."
Suddenly—at the critical juncture of intense mental shock—Naruto suddenly felt intense uncontrolled trembling from within his waist ninja tool pouch!
"What?"
Naruto instinctively reached in, touching a storage scroll.
More bizarre—he didn't need to form seals to unseal it at all!
The scroll automatically opened a crack in his hands. Strange radiance burst from the crack! Immediately after, under Naruto and Sasuke's astonished gazes, something surprisingly broke through the seal on its own, "breaking free"!
It quietly hovered in midair before Naruto. Was that a sword?
No... it might once have been a sword. But now—its entire body covered in thick rust, blade twisted, abandoned in time's long river. Rather than a weapon, more like a piece of scrap iron shaped barely like a sword.
It had no chakra fluctuations—only ancient texture.
Everything happened too fast. From pseudo-Nine-Tails appearing to this rust-covered sword manifesting—merely one to two seconds. Naruto hadn't yet figured out what this bizarre phenomenon meant.
WHOOSH—!
Just as Naruto froze—that rust-covered broken sword's strange radiance suddenly intensified!
The next moment, it surprisingly transformed into a streak of light on its own, at shocking speed, shooting toward Konoha Village's direction!
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