Chapter 344: The Akshia Incident Ends!
"Sasuke!"
Naruto, carrying Boruto, transformed into a flash of light and appeared behind the knocked-back Sasuke, catching him mid-air.
"I'm fine, Naruto."
Now steady on his feet, Sasuke stared intently at Akshia, who stood atop the Hokage Tower. Their earlier clash had merely been a probe on both sides.
Each strike had been effortlessly countered and followed by a calculated counterattack. And the longer the battle dragged on, the more Sasuke's combat effectiveness diminished.
After all, he had been continuously expending ocular power to maintain Susanoo.
"Invaders, leave my kingdom! This is your final warning!"
Akshia looked down at the three below, her presence commanding and formidable.
"Hmph! Don't think you've already won just because you got the upper hand in one exchange! We haven't shown our real strength yet!"
Boruto looked up at Akshia as he spoke, then extended his left hand and clasped Naruto's right.
Tailed Beast Mode—a state formed by gathering the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts. It was the most powerful form available, and especially well-suited for Boruto.
Because Boruto's body housed another version of the Nine-Tails, which enhanced his physical constitution, the nine Tailed Beasts of this world could entrust their full power to Boruto without reservation, allowing him to enter a perfect Tailed Beast Mode.
As for Naruto, although he could also enter Tailed Beast Mode, the Nine-Tails within him had to provide chakra to maintain the form, leaving little extra to enhance Naruto's body. As a result, Naruto could only bring out roughly 70% of the mode's full power.
"Sasuke, we need you to buy us a little time."
Naruto turned to him.
"Got it."
Sasuke nodded and looked up at Akshia again.
From her spirit beast instincts, Akshia could sense she had to stop Naruto and Boruto.
"Holy Spirit Flash!"
"Susanoo!"
The aura around Sasuke's Susanoo surged again, evolving from its regular form into the Complete Body Susanoo.
Although the attack from Akshia's Holy Spirit Flash was blocked, maintaining Complete Body Susanoo significantly accelerated Sasuke's ocular power consumption.
"Freeze!"
Before he could even catch his breath, Sasuke and his fully manifested Susanoo were instantly frozen solid. Akshia leapt into the air and unleashed her Extreme Ice Storm.
Tearing winds and hail came crashing down toward Boruto and Naruto, who were standing still, eyes closed, hands clasped.
As the attack landed, a cloud of white mist exploded outward.
From within that mist, a dazzling beam of multicolored light suddenly shot toward Akshia in the sky.
Frost Armor, Ice Armor, Cold Resistance Field—Akshia stacked three defensive buffs on herself just in time to barely block the rainbow beam's assault. Even so, the force knocked her back a significant distance.
As the mist cleared, Boruto was revealed, his right hand raised and pointed at Akshia, a shimmering protective barrier flickering across his body. With his left hand, he had applied the same shield to Naruto.
After all, Naruto had passed his Nine-Tails chakra to Boruto to enable Tailed Beast Mode. At this point, Naruto no longer had the chakra to protect himself.
"Sasuke?!"
Naruto looked toward the frozen Sasuke, worry etched across his face.
"Dad, stay here. I'll defeat this enemy and save everyone."
Boruto looked at Akshia as he spoke.
The moment the words left his mouth, Boruto vanished. In a blink, he reappeared right in front of Akshia.
"Radiant Rasengan!!"
This Rasengan, infused with chakra from all nine Tailed Beasts, glowed with a dazzling brilliance. It materialized in Boruto's hand and slammed into Akshia.
She was sent flying, crashing through a field of ice crystal structures. Those unfortunate villagers inside, frozen and unable to escape, were shattered along with the buildings—beyond any hope of revival.
Akshia could no longer maintain the pride of a spirit beast. Her once-blue skin was now marred with wounds.
She staggered to her feet from the icy rubble, glaring at Boruto.
"You're still standing...?"
Another Radiant Rasengan formed in Boruto's hand. This one kept growing in size, until he had to raise his right arm overhead to support it.
"Absolute Zero!"
Akshia's strongest technique—said to be capable of instantly killing any opponent.
The surrounding temperature plummeted. Even outside the Hidden Leaf Village, the chill was palpable.
It wasn't just matter that froze—time itself was affected.
At this moment, within the entire village, only Akshia could move.
She couldn't maintain this state for long. Her next attack had to finish Boruto—at the very least, it had to severely wound him.
But unfortunately, Akshia's expertise lay more in control and freezing abilities. Her direct offensive techniques were limited.
"Blades of Ice!"
Twin ice blades appeared at her sides, and she charged Boruto. But just then, ten chakra tails burst forth from behind him.
Boruto broke free of Absolute Zero.
The ten tails plunged into the ground, bursting forth beneath Akshia and wrapping tightly around her.
As they immobilized her, they also began to drain her life force.
Her strength fading, Akshia fell to her knees. Boruto, now with both hands free, began forming a massive, resplendent Super Radiant Rasengan.
Bound by the ten tails and weakened, Akshia had no chance to dodge. But the expected explosion never came.
The attack seemed to vanish—absorbed into nothing.
Akshia had turned into a frozen pillar, standing motionless.
The effects of the ice storm gradually faded. Frozen buildings and villagers began to thaw.
Was it over?
Naruto supported Sasuke as they stared at the ice pillar where Akshia seemed to sleep. Both of them believed she had placed herself into stasis as a self-preservation measure—waiting for a future day to awaken.
"According to Hydra's plan, our only option is to send it into space." Shikamaru, returning from outside the village, spoke as he approached. "But we don't have that kind of advanced scientific ninja tech... Traveling to space still feels unreal to me."
"Captain, does Hydra have any way left?"
Naruto turned to Obito and asked.
Obito shook his head. "No. With Hydra disbanded, all the related research data has disappeared too."
"Then we'll have to figure something out over time."
Shikamaru looked at the ice pillar. For now, the most urgent task was rebuilding the village.
Fortunately, this disaster hadn't claimed many lives. Most people had only suffered frostbite or weakness from prolonged freezing.
Everyone got to work. The reconstruction of the Hidden Leaf Village began in earnest.
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