Naruto: Promotion is my Ninja Way

Kirigakure would undoubtedly find another successor to wield the twin-bladed sword in the future—someone like Chōjūrō, who would eventually become the Mist ninja destined to inherit Hiramekarei. Of course, that possibility no longer existed.

In any case, after the Tailed Beast Bomb's devastating explosion, Naraku would simply claim he never saw the legendary weapon again. Perhaps it had truly been melted into molten metal by the intense flames—such an outcome wasn't entirely impossible.

If Kirigakure actually possessed the audacity to question Naraku about the sword's whereabouts, his response would be perfectly straightforward.

"I don't know, I'm not clear about what happened, and I don't understand your accusations."

Three complete denials! By the time this battle concluded and Kurikara had successfully absorbed the twin-bladed sword's essence, no evidence would remain to contradict his story.

After securing the storage scroll, Naraku surveyed the devastated landscape and noticed that the entire island had fallen into an eerie, unnatural quiet.

The battle had not yet reached its conclusion, but no additional enemies appeared before him to continue the fight.

His star-bright eyes flashed crimson as Observation Haki swept across the island's surface. Within moments, Naraku had pinpointed his target's exact location.

"Huff... huff..." Uchiha Obito breathed heavily, the burn marks covering his body gradually fading as his pale skin slowly returned to its normal appearance.

Recalling the near-disaster that had occurred during the recent explosion, Obito clenched his teeth and uttered a single name with pure hatred.

"Shihouin Naraku!"

The Three-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb wouldn't have caused him any significant damage on its own, but Naraku's additional attack had changed everything completely.

The moment those powerful flames had appeared, a familiar burning sensation had spread throughout his entire body. If not for his quick reflexes, he would have fallen back into a state of serious injury and unconsciousness once again.

"Perhaps we should consider retreating for now," Black Zetsu advised with uncharacteristic caution.

Since the situation regarding the Three-Tails had deteriorated to this extent, even if they desperately wanted to prevent further complications, the damage had already been done. They might as well abandon this operation and develop alternative strategies later.

At worst, the Akatsuki organization's plan to collect all the tailed beasts would be delayed for some time. It wasn't as though the tailed beasts couldn't be resurrected if necessary.

In any case, remaining here to fight Shihouin Naraku seemed inadvisable. If they lost, death was certain. And if they somehow won...

Given the level of strength that Shihouin Naraku had demonstrated thus far, Black Zetsu couldn't fathom what Obito could possibly do to achieve victory in this confrontation.

Obito's power had certainly increased dramatically after his recent awakening, but Shihouin Naraku hadn't remained stagnant either. There would be no shame in tactical withdrawal under these circumstances.

Fortunately, this time Obito seemed to recognize the vast gap between himself and Shihouin Naraku. His expression flickered with internal conflict for a long moment before he finally nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Very well then, we retreat for now," he decided grimly.

"Retreat where, exactly?" a familiar voice asked from directly beside them.

Uchiha Obito's pupils contracted in shock as he turned to see Naraku, who had appeared beside him without any warning whatsoever. Every hair on his body stood on end with primal fear.

Naraku had materialized suddenly and planted his left foot firmly on the ground. The air itself seemed to explode from the force as his right leg whipped through the air like a steel cable, carrying tremendous wind pressure as it lashed viciously across Obito's chest and abdomen.

Along with the dull sound of devastating impact, Naraku could clearly hear the crisp snapping of multiple bones breaking throughout Obito's torso.

"Gah!" Obito's eyes bulged as he coughed up a mouthful of blood, his entire body launched into the air by the violent force of the blow.

"And you—" Naraku's attention shifted toward Black Zetsu, who was attempting to sink into the ground and escape.

Black Zetsu felt genuine terror and accelerated his earth-merging technique desperately. Although his methods were certainly unusual and he possessed vast knowledge of secret information, in terms of raw combat ability, even a hundred copies of himself wouldn't be sufficient to defeat Shihouin Naraku.

Suddenly, Black Zetsu's vision blurred. Naraku appeared beside him as if he had teleported, his flame-wreathed hand seizing the creature's head directly. Naraku actually pulled Black Zetsu completely out of the earth.

Where Naraku had been standing just moments before, a small stone fell harmlessly to the ground.

Amenotejikara! Naraku had just employed the space-time ninjutsu technique to exchange his position instantaneously with a small stone near Black Zetsu's feet, allowing him to appear directly in front of his target and capture him without resistance.

The speed resembled true teleportation, offering absolutely no opportunity for defense. Even Black Zetsu had been caught completely off guard.

"What exactly are you supposed to be?" Naraku demanded, gripping Zetsu's neck tightly before hurling him over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground with tremendous force.

"Bang!" A deep crater formed in the earth, with several cracks spreading outward from the point of impact.

"Ugh!" The composite being formed from Black Zetsu and White Zetsu groaned in agony. The sudden, devastating blow had given them absolutely no chance to mount any form of resistance.

"Stab!" Naraku gripped Kurikara firmly, rotating his wrist as he drove the black blade completely through Zetsu's body. Lightning and fire spreading from the weapon seemed drawn by some magnetic force, pouring directly into the creature's form.

"Graaah..." Zetsu's body began trembling violently as wisps of green smoke emerged from within.

Looking down at the black and white, pitcher plant-like monstrosity pinned before him, Naraku appeared to be considering something carefully.

White Zetsu posed no particular concern. The truly important element was Black Zetsu's will—the essence of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself.

Seeing was believing, after all. How exactly had this creature come into existence? Was it truly the manifested will of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, or merely some tool created through alternative means?

With Kaguya's tremendous abilities, she should certainly be capable of creating such a peculiar entity using techniques like Yin-Yang Release.

Regardless of the truth, Naraku refused to accept that someone as beautiful as Kaguya would give birth to what essentially amounted to a pile of sentient black sludge.

His eyes shifted slightly as Naraku glanced toward a distant crater. It appeared that Obito had recovered from his injuries and was preparing to approach their position.

"This recovery speed is truly extraordinary," he observed with mild interest.

Naraku's attack this time had been fundamentally different from his previous engagements, which had relied primarily on swordsmanship. He had held absolutely nothing back.

While the strike might have appeared to be merely a kick, Naraku had ensured that all the tendons and vessels throughout Obito's body were severed, and that every internal organ had sustained critical damage.

When Naraku attacked with his full strength, the terrifying power he unleashed exceeded anything that an unprepared Obito could possibly withstand.

Yet even after sustaining such comprehensive internal damage, Obito was recovering rapidly. Even the trauma to his vital organs was healing completely.

This development proved somewhat unexpected...

After considering the situation for a moment, Naraku lowered his head so that only the two of them could hear his words. He whispered something calmly into Black Zetsu's shocked eyes, speaking so quietly that even the creature's enhanced senses barely caught the words.

Black Zetsu's dark features displayed an unmistakably obvious expression of panic, his mind filled with turbulent thoughts and growing dread.

How could Shihouin Naraku possibly know such information? Where had he obtained this intelligence? Black Zetsu had deliberately manipulated and erased significant portions of shinobi history to prevent exactly this kind of knowledge from surviving.

What else did this man know about their true plans?

"I'm waiting for your answer," Naraku stated with raised eyebrows as he looked down at Black Zetsu.

With a metallic ring, he withdrew Kurikara from the creature's body. Without hesitation, he plunged the blade into the ground and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Swish, swish, swish..." Several enormous shuriken suddenly materialized, cutting through the air as they aimed for Naraku's vital points with lethal precision.

Dancing flames appeared around Naraku as he turned leisurely to face the furious Obito, who was charging toward him with unbridled rage.

"Hmm?" Obito scanned the area around Naraku but saw no sign of Zetsu anywhere. Had the creature actually managed to escape during the brief exchange?

Then why had he bothered coming here in the first place? Simply to receive another beating?

Although fury still burned within him, Obito finally acknowledged the vast gap that existed between himself and Naraku's true capabilities.

Engaging in serious combat was completely out of the question. As long as Shihouin Naraku decided to fight with genuine intent, he could undoubtedly eliminate Obito within moments.

Obito understood this reality all too well—his Kamui intangibility technique was far from invincible when facing Naraku directly.

Just like the previous attack, Naraku had appeared suddenly and delivered a devastating kick before Obito could react. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to activate his intangibility technique. The thought had barely formed in his mind before his opponent's attack had already connected with devastating effect.

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