"Waaahhh—!!!"
A roar once again burst from the mouth of the small Nine-Tails, shaking the surrounding air! The Four-Tailed Naruto suddenly raised a crimson giant claw and, with terrifying, earth-shattering power, slammed it heavily onto the ground in front of him!
Boom!!!
The earth let out a groan of unbearable strain! Centered on the point of impact, a terrifying ripple, visible to the naked eye and mixed with wild Chakra and substantial shockwaves, surged like a tsunami towards Uchiha Itachi, who was covering her eyes, trying to alleviate the severe pain and blurriness caused by the backlash of Tsukuyomi!
Uchiha Itachi's vision was blurred, but her dangerous intuition instantly sensed a fatal threat approaching! She endured the stinging pain in her eyes and the double vision, gritted her teeth, unleashed Chakra from her feet, and rapidly leaped backward!
Whoosh!
However, just as she was suspended in mid-air, unable to exert any leverage—
Puff!
A grotesque, sharp claw, composed entirely of crimson Chakra, unexpectedly burst out of the ground she had just leaped from!
The Chakra claw seized Uchiha Itachi's calf, which she hadn't fully managed to dodge!
"!?" Itachi's expression suddenly changed drastically!
The next moment, an utterly irresistible, incredibly violent force suddenly came from the claw!
"Urgh—!"
Uchiha Itachi felt a dizzying sensation as her entire body was swung around by the giant claw and slammed with astonishing speed onto the hard ground below!
Bang!!!!
A jarring, heavy thud echoed! Her body violently collided with the ground without any cushioning! The immense impact felt as if her internal organs had shifted, and a sweet taste filled her throat as she couldn't help but violently spit out a mouthful of crimson blood, which splattered onto the scorched earth.
However, the Four-Tailed Naruto did not seem to intend to smash her into a pulp. After a heavy blow, the claw suddenly flicked, throwing Uchiha Itachi, who had temporarily lost the ability to resist due to the severe pain and impact, far into the still-intact forest.
Whoosh—Bang!
Uchiha Itachi's body arced through the air, crashing heavily among the trees, breaking several branches before finally coming to a stop.
Itachi endured the agonizing pain, as if her entire body was falling apart, and the discomfort of her churning internal organs, struggling to push herself up from the ground.
Blood continuously overflowed from the corner of her mouth, dripping onto the broken leaves.
She rapidly formed hand seals in front of her, Chakra surging out regardless of consumption!
The next moment, several Shadow Clones suddenly appeared, like moths to a flame, launching a desperate charge towards the crimson small Nine-Tails from different directions!
Watching these charging clones, the Four-Tailed Naruto didn't even move an inch. He merely casually split off several more crimson claws, agile as tentacles, from the boiling Chakra cloak around his body, accurately grabbing at the clones.
Just as the Chakra claws were about to touch the clones,
Instead of dodging, the clones actively met the attack, and in the instant before contact, the pre-set traps within their bodies violently detonated.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Intermittent but extremely violent explosions rang out successively! These Shadow Clones were all self-destructing clones!
The intense flames and shockwaves instantly engulfed Naruto's Chakra claws. This was one of the most powerful conventional attack methods Uchiha Itachi could employ without using her Mangekyo Sharingan, especially with genjutsu seemingly completely ineffective.
However—as the flames and smoke of the explosion slowly dissipated, revealing the scene within, Itachi's heart sank to the bottom.
Those Chakra claws that were bombed at point-blank range by the self-destructing clones were completely unharmed, except for the seemingly more active boiling Chakra on their surface! Not even a tiny crack had appeared!
It really didn't work, did it…
But she didn't give up. Almost simultaneously with the self-destructing clones drawing attention, her main body had already completed the hand seals for the next jutsu!
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!"
She took a deep breath, injecting a large amount of Fire Style Chakra into dozens of already prepared kunai, then threw them with force!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Dozens of kunai, burning with scorching flames, shot towards various parts of the Four-Tailed Naruto's body like a rain of fire, attempting to find any possible weak points in his defense.
However, these kunai, attached with high-temperature flames, instantly upon contact with that boiling crimson Chakra cloak—
Sizzle—! Like ice cubes thrown into a furnace.
All the kunai, along with the flames burning on them, were completely melted, evaporated, and turned into wisps of insignificant smoke in an instant by the extreme high temperature and violent energy, disappearing without a trace.
The attack was once again futile.
Then, under Uchiha Itachi's extremely grave gaze, the grotesque beast head, composed entirely of crimson Chakra, turned towards her. On that face, which should have only held bestial ferocity, a clearly human-like… playful expression now appeared.
"Boom—!!!"
The next instant, the Four-Tailed Naruto's body moved! Only a circular air blast, caused by the sudden burst, and a huge crater were left on the ground!
Wherever he passed, the mere aftershocks of his charge evaporated and destroyed everything in his path.
Almost the moment Itachi realized the opponent had activated, the hideous and terrifying small Nine-Tails face, formed of boiling Chakra, abruptly filled her entire vision, bringing with it suffocating heat and pressure!
"So fast…!"
This thought had just surfaced in Itachi's mind, and she didn't even have time to make any effective defensive or evasive moves.
Bang!!!
An indescribably heavy punch had already slammed heavily into her abdomen!
"Puwah—!"
Uchiha Itachi felt an irresistible immense force penetrate her body. She violently spat out a large mouthful of blood, and her body flew backward like a broken kite!
Intense pain instantly swept through her entire body. She clearly felt that at least several of her ribs were broken, her internal organs were severely damaged, and every breath became extremely difficult, bringing with it waves of heart-wrenching pain.
If Uchiha Itachi had activated Susanoo at this moment, Naruto's four-tailed power would have been completely insufficient, but now, Itachi had only recently awakened her Mangekyo Sharingan, and even Amaterasu had only awakened tonight. With genjutsu ineffective, Itachi was no match at all.
Well then… today's debt is settled. I won't take your life. As for how to deal with you later… I've agreed with that guy to leave it to Shisui to decide.
Uchiha Itachi, flying backward, crashed heavily to the ground and rolled several times before stopping. She struggled to get up but found that she had completely lost her combat ability; even lifting one hand became incredibly difficult.
She watched as the crimson demon slowly approached, its shadow completely engulfing her.
She still had one last resort—to use every last bit of Chakra to unleash Amaterasu on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who was so close. Perhaps those black flames could…
But as soon as this thought arose, she extinguished it herself.
No… if Amaterasu really worked, and he couldn't escape… Konoha would lose its crucial Jinchuriki.
Once the Nine-Tails, as the ultimate deterrent, disappeared, if the major nations, no longer threatened by the "Akatsuki" organization, were to immediately launch a new war against Konoha… then Shisui's wish to protect the village would…
The scene of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki protecting Satsuki earlier flashed through her mind, those carefully extended Chakra claws…
Finally, she exhausted all her strength, slowly closed her eyes, and abandoned the thought of a final resistance.
Next… I'll be killed, won't I… This is… a failure… I'm sorry, Shisui… I ultimately… still disappointed you…