'Damn it!'
Sora desperately plunged his dragon claws into the ground, trying to anchor himself, but the ground crumbled under the baku's suction.
His body was slowly dragged from the ground, sliding towards that abyssal maw.
Tanuki stood quietly atop the baku's head, looking down coldly at the struggling Sora. Finally, a hint of controlling everything appeared in his eyes.
"You forced me to summon the baku, kid. You should be proud. Now, obediently become Danzo-sama's collection."
'I have to find a way to break this situation. Otherwise, I really will be done for today!'
Sora ignored Tanuki's words. His brain raced, thinking of countermeasures. The Eight Gates time was limited, and his stamina was rapidly depleting.
Yet, his body was uncontrollably dragged towards the baku's mouth. The dragon claws plowed deep furrows in the ground but couldn't completely stop the momentum.
Gravel and dust pelted him head-on. Sora's vision became blurry.
'Damn it. This suction is too strong!'
'Is this the power of a summoning beast? A Root jonin's baku has this kind of power. What about Danzo's own...'
Sora was horrified, feeling the pressure brought by a top-tier summoning beast so clearly for the first time.
This couldn't go on. The time for the Eight Gates was running out. Once exhausted, he would truly be at their mercy!
'I have to interrupt it. Or... make it shut its mouth!'
Sora's eyes turned fierce. He took another deep breath, his chest heaving violently. A red glow flashed deep in his throat.
"Boro Breath!"
Another burst of scorching dragon breath spewed forth. But the target wasn't the baku's massive body. Instead, it precisely shot into the inside of its long trunk, which was frantically inhaling.
Boom!
Flames instantly surged into the baku's nostrils, the high temperature scorching the fragile inner walls.
"Grooowl!"
The baku let out a cry mixed with pain and anger. The tremendous suction abruptly faltered. Its long trunk instinctively jerked violently, trying to shake off the burning pain.
Now!
Seizing this opportunity, Sora pushed off the ground with all his might. The power of his dragonized legs, wind element, and the Eight Gates erupted to the extreme simultaneously. His entire person shot backward like an arrow from a bow, narrowly escaping the baku's suction range.
Thud!
Sora landed heavily behind a rock in the distance, breathing heavily, his chest rapidly rising and falling.
Using Boro Breath consecutively and maintaining the Fourth Gate state took a tremendous toll on him. His muscles felt like they were tearing, and his chakra was nearly depleted.
'No... I can't win.'
Sora quickly assessed the situation.
That Tanuki himself was extremely strong, clearly a jonin. Plus, this tough, strange-ability summoning beast, the baku. Using all his methods, he had only barely protected himself.
If the fight dragged on until the Eight Gates time ran out, his fate was predictable. He would inevitably become a blade in Danzo's hand.
After all, in his previous life, even pyramid schemes could brainwash people into idiots, let alone in this Naruto world with supernatural powers.
He didn't think he could withstand Root's brainwashing.
'I can only run!'
Once this thought emerged, it couldn't be suppressed.
Although unwilling, only by living could there be a future.
'But... I probably can't go back to Konoha.'
A chill settled in Sora's heart.
He had killed three Root members and displayed power far beyond expectations and abilities suspected to be a Kekkei Genkai. Danzo would absolutely not let him go.
Even if he could escape back to Konoha, would Sarutobi Hiruzen completely break with Danzo for an "outsider" like him?
Sora felt the hope was slim.
The more likely scenario was confinement, research, or even control by Danzo using more insidious methods.
'Damn it. I finally gained a foothold in Konoha...'
Just as Sora's thoughts raced, preparing to find an opportunity to retreat—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Four figures shot out from the dense forest on the other side of the valley without warning, instantly landing in the field. They assumed defensive postures, their sharp eyes sweeping over the corpses littering the ground, the baku painfully shaking its trunk, and finally settling on Sora and Tanuki.
The forehead protectors they wore were from Iwagakure!
The leader was a tall, stern-faced Iwa jonin. Behind him were three alert chunin.
'Iwa-nin?!' Sora's pupils constricted. 'Why here?'
He suddenly remembered the mission scroll's content—to rendezvous with the spy "Dandelion" carrying intelligence on Iwa troop movements.
'Could it be... part of the intel was real? These Iwa-nin tracked Dandelion here?'
Sora instantly understood.
The trap Danzo set wasn't completely fabricated. He used a real spy and pursuers, only changing the contact person to himself. And "Dandelion" was Root's own person. The mission objective changed from rendezvous to capture.
But Danzo probably never expected that Sora wouldn't be captured. Instead, he counter-killed three people, delaying long enough for the real "yellow sparrows"—these Iwa-nin pursuers—to arrive precisely at this critical moment!
Tanuki, standing on the baku's head, his expression under the mask instantly turned extremely ugly.
'Iwa pursuers?! Of all times!'
He cursed inwardly.
The plan had a major deviation.
Sora's strength far exceeded expectations, prolonging the fight and now attracting unexpected disruptors.
His eyes quickly scanned the Iwa jonin and the three chunin, assessing their strength.
A standard jonin team. A significant problem.
Especially now, with the baku somewhat frenzied from its burnt trunk, and Sora, though heavily drained, still a threat. The situation instantly became complicated.
The Iwa jonin's gaze swept over the corpses of Dandelion and the others on the ground. He looked at Sora and Tanuki, clearly in Anbu attire but wearing animal masks, and the giant summoning beast. His brow furrowed, seemingly quickly judging the situation.
He hadn't seen the initial scene where Sora instantly broke the genjutsu and killed Dandelion. But while lurking closer earlier, he happened to witness the astonishing scene of Sora bursting with speed, using those weird beastified claws to instantly kill Leopard.
'What a strange secret technique! That beastification... doesn't look like Konoha's Inuzuka clan. Speed, power, and defense are all ridiculously strong! And that fire...'
A flash of greed appeared in the Iwa jonin's eyes. 'This kid looks young but has this kind of strength and secret technique. If we could capture him...'
His gaze shifted to the baku and Tanuki.
'Konoha Anbu infighting? Or something else? But that summoning beast looks troublesome.'
Almost instantly, the Iwa jonin made a decision.
He pointed at Sora, who appeared the most drained and the youngest, and ordered the chunin behind him.
"You three, go capture that kid! Alive! The secret technique on him is very valuable!"
"Yes!"
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