"Wen Lan?!"
Minato looked at Wen Lan in surprise, unable to understand why he wasn't stopping the match.
"It's fine. If something happens, I'll step in."
Confidence filled Wen Lan's face.
"Besides… don't you want to see what your son is truly capable of?"
Hearing that, Minato fell silent.
At this moment, the Barrier Team had already arrived, reinforcing and stabilizing the barrier. The Sealing Team also began layering sealing techniques onto it, ensuring the barrier became even sturdier.
Shukaku's second Air Bullet slammed heavily into the barrier—
but this time, the barrier merely rippled a few times without showing any signs of breaking.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!"
"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
Shukaku became even more enraged after seeing his attack fail. He opened his mouth wide as a pitch-black sphere of energy slowly condensed within it.
[Naruto, stop it! That's a Tailed Beast Bomb!]
Kurama shouted inside Naruto's mind.
"Boss! Stop him!"
Naruto yelled anxiously.
He didn't know what a "Tailed Beast Bomb" was, but from the urgency in Kurama's voice, he knew it was absolutely no ordinary attack.
Gamabunta's hind legs exploded with force.
The instant he closed in on Shukaku, the giant short blade in his hand slashed heavily into Shukaku's shoulder!
The blade sank three inches deep into flesh.
Shukaku roared in pain, his charging Tailed Beast Bomb faltering for an instant.
The black energy sphere trembled violently, cracks appearing across its surface as berserk chakra surged outward like boiling water.
Gamabunta immediately pulled back and leapt away, narrowly avoiding the leaking chakra streams.
After landing steadily, he glanced down at his blade—
it was now covered in countless tiny cracks before finally shattering completely from the violent chakra pressure.
Shukaku roared furiously and slammed a giant paw into the ground.
A tremendous shockwave swept across the arena as rocks exploded and the earth cracked apart.
Then Shukaku inhaled sharply before exhaling countless high-speed projectiles.
Sand Scatter Bullets!
Gamabunta's expression changed drastically.
He instantly shot out his tongue, wrapping Naruto up and pulling him into his mouth!
The moment he shut his jaws—
the sand bullets smashed into his body with dull impacts.
The projectiles embedded themselves into flesh, leaving behind countless bloody wounds.
Enduring the pain, Gamabunta muttered from inside his mouth:
"Don't panic. It's not over yet."
Then he opened his mouth and spat Naruto safely toward another area.
Shukaku burst into crazed laughter as he raised another massive claw, chakra rapidly condensing once more.
The pressure in the air intensified sharply.
Gamabunta lowered his stance, every muscle in his body tensing as he prepared to charge again.
Naruto flipped back onto his feet and rapidly formed hand seals, determination blazing in his eyes.
"I'm not letting you fight alone!"
"Kurama, help me!"
Red chakra surged from his body like a tidal wave.
But at that exact moment—
both Shukaku and Naruto's Tailed Beast Cloak suddenly froze.
The two simultaneously turned toward the same direction.
[That aura…]
Kurama froze briefly before his expression drastically changed.
"Naruto!"
"Give me control of your body!"
Naruto's heart tightened.
Without even having time to think, he nodded in agreement.
Instantly, his consciousness was pushed aside as Kurama took control of the body.
"Shukaku, stop fighting! Trouble's here!"
Kurama roared.
Then he turned toward the high platform and shouted:
"WEN LAN! ŌTSUTSUKI HAVE ARRIVED!"
Wen Lan's eyes snapped open violently.
CRACK!
The teacup in his hand shattered instantly.
Tea dripped down alongside broken porcelain shards, evaporating into white steam upon touching the floor.
Wen Lan frowned sharply.
Even Minato looked shocked.
The other Kage also halted what they were doing, staring at Wen Lan in confusion.
But Yagura suddenly stiffened before turning toward him.
"Didn't you say the only Ōtsutsuki in the ninja world was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"
"They're probably from outer space."
Wen Lan narrowed his eyes slightly.
At that moment, a figure flew rapidly over from the distance—
it was Fū.
Wings had appeared behind her back as she landed atop the platform in panic.
"Lord Wen Lan!"
"Chōmei just told me there are people with Ōtsutsuki clan auras approaching!"
Wen Lan slowly nodded.
His own senses had already detected two extremely powerful presences rapidly approaching.
For the Tailed Beasts, recognizing Ōtsutsuki chakra wasn't strange at all—
after all, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, was himself an Ōtsutsuki.
Shukaku looked toward Kurama with a frown.
"What do you mean?"
"Tch."
Kurama clicked his tongue irritably before raising a hand.
"Link your chakra with mine. I'll explain directly."
Crimson chakra instantly extended from his palm.
Shukaku hesitated briefly—
but eventually connected.
Although the Tailed Beasts constantly fought each other, it was more like siblings roughhousing.
The reason they fought viciously was because they all knew none of them could truly die.
Even if one did perish, it would eventually revive decades later.
But now—
an external enemy had appeared.
And against outsiders, they had to unite.
The two streams of scarlet chakra connected in midair as memories flooded across the link.
Shukaku's pupils contracted violently.
From the shared memories, he learned that all this information had originally come from a man named Uchiha Wen Lan.
He didn't really want to believe it—
but now two actual Ōtsutsuki were indeed approaching.
Shukaku let out a low growl as chakra surged violently.
Sand armor rapidly covered his body.
"Hmph… stupid fox."
"Never thought we'd actually fight side by side one day."
"Hah! Fight alongside you?"
Kurama looked at Shukaku with blatant disdain.
"My host's still too weak."
"Let another version of me fight with you instead."
With that, he closed his eyes, the Tailed Beast Cloak disappearing as control returned to Naruto.
On the high platform—
Ay, Ōnoki, Rasa, Chiyo, and the others all looked completely confused as they demanded explanations.
Minato didn't hide anything.
He immediately explained everything about the Ōtsutsuki Clan, their history, and their goals.
But the more he explained—
the more everyone stared at him like he was insane.
This kind of story sounded like something used to scare children.
Did he really think they were idiots?
At that moment, Yagura sighed and slowly stood up.
"Everyone."
"I've cooperated with Konoha for this long because our true purpose was to resist these invaders together."
"And the reason I never told you before…"
"...was because this story is simply too unbelievable."
"No one would have accepted it."
Ay crossed his arms and stared coldly at Wen Lan.
"So according to you…"
"Akatsuki are the Ōtsutsuki?"
"No."
Wen Lan looked over calmly.
"The organization's leader is my man."
"!!!"
The entire room instantly exploded in shock.
Even Shikaku and Minato stared at Wen Lan in disbelief.
Wen Lan swept his gaze indifferently across the crowd.
"Because I knew none of you would believe the truth…"
"I created a powerful enemy instead."
"I forced the Five Great Ninja Villages into cooperation."
"With that enemy present, the alliance between the villages could function as practice."
"So when the Ōtsutsuki truly arrived one day…"
"...the ninja world would already know how to fight together."
He paused briefly before speaking calmly again.
"But it seems…"
"...that move has failed."
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