Shindai's Shadow Clone hurled a kunai at Sakura's neck. Sakura had already lost all hope, giving in to despair, as Naruto and Sasuke dashed toward her, eyes wide in shock.
Just as the kunai was about to strike her neck, Naruto let out a furious roar and was suddenly enveloped in crimson Tailed Beast Chakra.
Hidden in the shadows, Shindai let out a mental sigh of relief upon seeing Naruto's current state—finally, it had worked.
Originally, Shindai had planned that if Naruto still couldn't connect with the Nine-Tails, he would have no choice but to knock Sakura out and target Sasuke next.
Shindai's Shadow Clone feigned shock, paralyzed in place.
Naruto punched the Shadow Clone in the face, finally making it vanish.
Taking the chance, Sasuke moved in to 'rescue' Sakura.
Tears filled Sakura's eyes as she clung to Sasuke: "I thought I was going to die, Sasuke!"
Sasuke pushed her away gently, his expression grim: "You need to escape now; he's still nearby. Our danger isn't over yet!"
Sakura asked anxiously, "What about you and Naruto? Let's run away together right now!"
Sasuke glanced uneasily around: "If all three of us try to flee, we won't make it. Stay here—we'll hold him off while you go for backup. Find our comrades from Konoha to reinforce us. Only then can we survive!"
While Sasuke spoke with Sakura, Naruto had already pinpointed where Shindai was hiding and slammed his foot into the tree trunk ahead.
Shindai dodged by shifting his position swiftly.
Naruto howled, attacking Shindai recklessly as though he had seemingly lost all control.
However, Naruto hadn't even formed the Tailed Beast Coat yet, so for Shindai, Naruto posed no real challenge.
Shindai grabbed the leg Naruto had kicked out, flipped him around, and hurled him forward, shattering several trees on impact.
Sasuke urgently told Sakura, "Go now! I have to help Naruto!"
Sasuke charged at Shindai again, launching another round of attacks.
Sakura looked at the battling Naruto and Shindai, gritted her teeth, and turned to seek help.
Although Naruto had powered up, it made no difference—he was still being suppressed by Shindai.
The device on Shindai's body was constantly recording Naruto's condition.
Sasuke grew increasingly anxious because Naruto was now half out of control—still retaining some reason, but barely.
This sliver of rationality showed as Naruto wasn't indiscriminately attacking Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't understand Naruto's current state, unable to figure out why Naruto had suddenly changed like this.
He recalled their battle in the Land of Waves—even though he had been unconscious during it, Sakura had told him about it afterward.
Still, Sasuke remained unclear about the reasons behind Naruto's behavior since neither Shindai nor Kakashi had told him anything, and Naruto himself also didn't know.
Now, Sasuke had absolutely no way to coordinate with a partially out-of-control Naruto.
After the battle continued for a while longer, Shindai's device suddenly emitted a beeping alarm.
This was a signal that data collection was complete.
"Phew, finally done. Well then, it's someone else's turn now."
Naruto circled behind Shindai and attacked with fists and feet.
Shindai swiftly turned, grabbed Naruto's arm, and slammed him to the ground.
Naruto roared furiously as his Tailed Beast Coat flared brighter—his first tail beginning to form.
Shindai clenched his fist and drove it downward, slamming it into Naruto and knocking him unconscious.
"Naruto! Damn it!"
Sasuke made several hand seals and gripped his right wrist, channeling electricity into his palm.
Seeing the current forming in Sasuke's right hand, Shindai remarked in surprise, "Oh? This looks similar to Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha's signature jutsu, Chidori. However… your Chidori doesn't even sound like a bird."
What Sasuke used was indeed Chidori, but he hadn't mastered it yet—it remained an incomplete technique.
There was electricity, yes, but significantly weaker than the real Chidori, lacking even the iconic birdlike screeching sound.
Though incomplete, it still retained some piercing power typical of Lightning Release.
With his Sharingan locking onto Shindai, Sasuke charged straight toward him.
Shindai scoffed, "What do you think you can achieve with such an unfinished technique? Isn't this just handing me your head?"
Electricity also appeared in Shindai's hand; however, this wasn't Lightning Release—it was electric current created through electromagnetic field manipulation.
[Lightning Release! Thunder Branch!]
Shindai randomly named the technique; currents extended forward like branches from his hand.
When Sasuke was hit by this attack, the incomplete Chidori electricity was immediately absorbed by Shindai's stronger current, shocking Sasuke's entire body violently.
Sasuke collapsed onto the ground twitching, smoke rising off his charred body.
Shindai slowly approached, grabbed Sasuke by the collar, and lifted him up.
In a sinister tone, Shindai said, "You're too weak—so weak I can't even bear watching anymore. But I must say, I'm quite interested in you. So I'll bestow a bit of my power upon you. Consider this a small gift for entertaining me."
A snake slithered from beneath Shindai's sleeve.
Sasuke stared wide-eyed at the snake flicking its tongue toward him, but his paralyzed body could barely struggle at all.
The snake lunged forward, sinking its fangs deep into Sasuke's neck.
Three black tomoe marks burned into Sasuke's neck.
Shindai released his grip and let Sasuke drop to the ground, where he lay clutching his neck in intense agony.
Then Shindai pulled out a mask—if Sasuke ever began to show signs of paralysis, he'd use this mask to extract the Cursed Seal from within Sasuke's body.
However, as Shindai had anticipated, Sasuke withstood the power of the Cursed Seal. After all, just like Naruto, Sasuke was also one of the Chosen Ones.
After screaming painfully for a while, Sasuke dramatically rolled his eyes and fell unconscious.
Shindai let out a long sigh. "Finally finished the job. That was exhausting. I was really afraid I might have overdone it."
[Shadow Imitation Technique!]
A shadow connected with Shindai's own shadow, paralyzing him in place. The one who used Shadow Imitation Technique was naturally none other than Shikamaru.
[Human Bullet Tank!]
Choji curled himself into a ball and charged straight toward Shindai.
Shindai directly broke free from Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique.
Shikamaru looked stunned, shouting at Choji, "Wait, Choji!"
But now Choji couldn't wait anymore because he was about to hit Shindai.
Shindai used the [Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall Ninjutsu] card, raising an earthen wall in front of him.
Choji crashed into the earth wall. The impact completely destroyed the wall, but Choji's Human Bullet Tank came to a halt as well. He staggered around, obviously dazed by the impact.
"Sasuke! Naruto!"
Sakura and Ino quickly took the chance to drag the unconscious Naruto and Sasuke away.
Shindai began to withdraw directly; after all, the mission was already completed. But things didn't exactly go as planned.
[Hidden Projectile Barrage!]
As Shindai took a step back, various projectiles rained down on him.
Shindai flipped backward several times, dodging all the projectiles.
Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji showed up as well.
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