After the Night of the Massacre, only Sasuke was left of the clan.
Although Mikoto and others were later found alive, due to power issues they remained unknown.
Seeing the three-tomoe Sharingan, Mui immediately guessed the boy was Sasuke.
A genius like that would go assassinate the Hokage and get thrown into Hozuki Castle by Konoha?
He didn't buy it.
Thinking of how Natsume had told him to temper Sasuke and Naruto—
Even a fool would realize he'd stepped into a trap.
But it was a trap he had to jump into.
He couldn't beat them.
And he still needed the box to revive his son, Muku.
So after recognizing Sasuke, Mui looked to Natsume.
"Mui, block him."
Natsume appreciated his tact.
At this point, time to give the two students another lesson.
Thinking that, he suddenly realized he'd been neglecting one student: Hinata.
Forget it—take her out next time.
Mui understood.
Block, not kill.
He slowly raised his right hand.
But Sasuke was faster.
His hands flashed through seals, and he inhaled.
A massive Fireball, blazing with heat and kicking up billowing air, roared forth.
"Sasuke! I'll take the other guy!"
Naruto yelled excitedly.
Surging chakra poured out, and countless Narutos filled the underground base.
Multi Shadow Clone Technique.
Ryuzetsu's heart tightened.
She was about to move, but realized he completely ignored her.
Every clone charged Natsume.
Fists tore the air.
Ryuzetsu quietly took a step back.
She didn't trust either Mui or Natsume.
Naturally she wouldn't help.
The Fireball closed in.
Mui didn't panic.
Red flame ignited on the gloved right hand, becoming a blade.
The massive fireball was cleaved in two.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not surprised.
Bang.
A figure flew back and slammed into a wall.
Sasuke glanced instinctively—it was Naruto.
He was surprised, but couldn't help.
Mui had already rushed him.
Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!
Sasuke covered his mouth with one hand; several fire bullets shot out under his control.
Mui exploded with unprecedented speed, bounding through the air and evading them all.
As he stopped, shuriken burst before him like a scattering flower.
Mui's face changed slightly. As expected of Sharingan—he could easily track him.
Since he couldn't dodge in time, he didn't.
Fire Style: Great Fire Heavenly Prison!
Five blood-red fire lines sprang from his right hand, instantly expanding to seal all the shuriken midair.
"Your death has come."
Sasuke's figure appeared behind him.
Lightning burst in his hand, like a thousand birds crying.
The underground base lit up brilliantly.
Mui turned reflexively.
Raikiri plunged into his abdomen.
A smug smile crossed Sasuke's face—
But froze before it spread.
Mui turned into light.
A shadow clone.
Kusa Style: Face-Break Palm!
Mui appeared by Sasuke's side.
He grabbed his face and slammed him down.
Boom.
The ground cracked.
Sasuke felt his body coming apart, pain raging everywhere, almost fainting.
Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes!
His three-tomoe trembled.
Mui's vision shifted into a phantom space.
Giant stakes pierced his limbs.
Genjutsu Release!
Mui retreated quickly, avoiding Sasuke's kunai.
They clashed again.
On the other side, it was a one-sided beatdown.
Naruto charged in and flew back.
Over and over, until Natsume got bored.
"Got any new tricks?"
"Damn it!"
Naruto wiped blood from his mouth.
He communicated inwardly with Minato and Kushina.
In fact, Minato had already recognized Natsume—or rather, his Sage Mode.
Minato himself practiced Sage Mode, so he could sense the natural energy the masked man used.
In the current ninja world, the only one who could use Sage Mode this easily that came to mind was Natsume.
"Kurama, your turn."
Minato said with a smile.
As he spoke, golden chakra erupted from Naruto.
At the same time, a terrifying, inhuman aura surged out.
Sasuke and Mui were forced to stop fighting.
Both stared at Naruto, shaken.
"This feeling?!"
Mui's pupils shrank.
Crap!
A Tailed Beast?!
He could basically confirm who the masked man was.
The Sixth Hokage, Natsume.
Are you playing ninja house here?
Everyone knows Natsume has three disciples: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuga Hinata.
Uchiha orphan, Fourth Hokage's son, and the Hyuga heiress.
Kojiro is Sasuke, so Musashi must be Naruto.
The only surprise: he was a jinchuriki.
But that made sense.
The Hokage's disciple, being a jinchuriki, what's surprising about that?
Bitterness filled Mui's heart.
If you're strong, you really can do as you please.
All his years of scheming couldn't match Natsume's passing whim.
What could he do?
"Naruto?!"
Sasuke was nearly suffocated by Kurama's pressure.
His three tomoe throbbed violently.
An indescribable unwillingness surged up.
Naruto had sparred with him so many times, but never used this golden chakra.
Which meant he'd been holding back.
For proud Sasuke, it was unbearable.
He'd thought the gap was small. Turns out it was astronomically large.
His mindset cracked.
A gloomy aura seeped off him.
Natsume glanced at him.
Oh.
Excellent effect.
His ocular power was skyrocketing.
But he soon shifted his gaze to Naruto.
In the original, Naruto has two modes:
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Kurama Mode.
The former is forcibly borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra with Killer B's help.
The latter is perfect jinchuriki—Naruto and Kurama in mutual understanding.
Right now, it should be Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
It looked a bit unstable.
Likely because he couldn't control such vast chakra.
While Natsume pondered, Naruto leapt and appeared before him.
No need for jutsu—he threw a punch.
The whole space seemed to tremble.
Brute force at its finest.
Natsume reached out and caught his fist.
"No way?!"
Naruto's face filled with disbelief.
Mui and Sasuke wore the same expression.
A punch with such overwhelming chakra was caught like nothing?
Natsume released his hand.
Naruto retreated and flashed through seals.
Multi Shadow Clone!
Rasengan!
Countless golden spheres hurled at Natsume.
"Idiot!"
Sasuke quickly backed off.
He knew Rasengan's power.
Unleashing that many at once—this base probably wouldn't survive.
Mui and Ryuzetsu did the same.
Natsume lifted his hand and flicked out a shuriken.
Space ripped open, swallowing all the Rasengan.
"Natsume-sensei?"
Sasuke halted, recognizing the Flying Thunder God.
He couldn't help tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Mui's face hardened at the name. So it really was the Sixth Hokage.
"Ahhh! I can't stop!"
Naruto tried to brake and slammed into the wall.
A huge hole appeared.
Fortunately, he was tough. No problem.
He kip-upped and stood.
"Natsume-sensei, what are you doing?"
Naruto sounded unhappy.
"Tempering you."
Natsume took off the mask and dropped the disguise.
Ryuzetsu was the most baffled of all.
The two sides who'd been trying to kill each other were the same team.
The most mind-boggling part: the mysterious powerhouse was Hokage Natsume.
But why did Mui obey him?
Had he already betrayed Kusagakure?
So what now?
Fight? No way.
Of the four in front of her, she couldn't even beat the weakest, Sasuke.
Let alone the others.
"Natsume-sensei."
Sasuke held some resentment. He'd gone in circles only to learn he was being played.
"Open the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
Noticing his expression, Natsume smiled. "Sasuke, don't you want to make a wish?"
Sasuke blinked, resentment turning to anticipation.
He pondered for two seconds and decided to forgive Natsume—this was for his training after all.
"How do we open it?"
Sasuke stepped up to the pitch-black box.
"Let's change locations."
Natsume thought for a moment.
This space was too small—hard to fight later.
Before anyone could respond, he used Flying Thunder God to bring them to a grassland.
Sasuke and Naruto were used to it, unfazed.
Mui and Ryuzetsu felt despair.
With that spacetime ninjutsu, they couldn't fight or flee.
Meat on the chopping block.
Mui could only pray Natsume kept his word.
"Naruto."
Natsume pointed at the box. "Feed it chakra."
Golden Naruto stepped forward.
Mui couldn't help thinking how jinchuriki just had so much chakra.
He'd spent years at Hozuki Castle feeding it with prisoners' chakra and still couldn't meet the threshold.
Now Naruto alone was enough.
Sasuke couldn't hold back his excitement and inched closer.
"Mui."
Seeing the box had had its fill, Natsume split into three shadow clones and started weaving signs.
With his current power, learning a few techniques was child's play.