At this moment, Naruto wanted nothing more than to use the most primal, overwhelming force to crush everything before him—to prove his "existence" and his "choice"!
Wangcai continued walking at an unhurried pace, not even glancing in the direction Sasuke and Neji had fled.
Its gaze, once lazy and indifferent, gradually grew focused and deep.
Within those black canine eyes, Naruto's distorted figure was reflected—no greed, no savagery. Only a near-pure predatory lock onto its "target."
Karin crouched nearby, chin resting in her hands. Her crimson eyes were wide and unblinking, her face brimming with extreme curiosity and excitement, as if she were watching the most fascinating experiment she had personally orchestrated.
In the distance, Sasuke and Neji came to a halt and looked back, their expressions filled with indescribable concern.
They could feel it.
That dog… was wrong.
Very wrong.
"RAAAAH—!!!"
Naruto struck first!
Violent chakra surged and condensed wildly, instantly forming a Super Massive Rasengan far larger than before.
"Just die already!!!"
The enormous Rasengan shrieked through the air, crashing down like a meteor toward Wangcai on the ground.
Even a Kage-level shinobi would never dare take such a blow head-on!
Yet in the face of this world-shattering attack, Wangcai merely raised its head slightly.
Then—
It opened its mouth.
Not a roar. Not a bite.
Just… an ordinary opening of its jaws.
An invisible suction force erupted from within—one that seemed capable of devouring all forms of energy.
The Super Massive Rasengan, powerful enough to reshape mountains and seas, met that suction—
And vanished.
Like snow under a blazing sun, it did not resist for even a second.
The massive chakra structure collapsed and disintegrated instantly, reduced to its most refined energy form and swallowed whole into Wangcai's not-particularly-large mouth.
"Gulp."
Wangcai even swallowed, as if it had merely taken a sip of water.
It smacked its lips. A faint glimmer of satisfaction flickered through its black eyes. Its steps never paused. It didn't even glance at Naruto, who hung frozen midair as his attack dissipated.
Instead, its head suddenly turned toward empty space to its left—
And it bit down.
Crunch!
A crisp sound rang out, as though something invisible had just been shattered.
"What?!" Sasuke's face changed dramatically. His single visible eye—the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan—contracted sharply as he shouted in disbelief. "That was… a Limbo shadow?! It—It ate it?!"
Limbo: Border Jail.
One of the Rinnegan's dōjutsu abilities. It summoned shadows from the Limbo plane to attack or defend—intangible and invisible, untouchable by ordinary means.
And now—
It had been bitten apart and devoured.
Neji's expression paled. "It can even… eat something like that?!"
This was no longer simple chakra absorption.
It was devouring constructs of ocular power—attacks tied to space, dimensional overlap, and metaphysical projection.
At that very moment, the "Naruto" in the sky burst into smoke and vanished.
A Shadow Clone.
No wonder Wangcai hadn't attacked earlier.
The real Naruto had silently appeared in midair behind Wangcai.
His face was twisted with rage and fierce battle intent. Between his hands spun a never-before-seen azure shuriken of devastating force, shrieking with compressed natural energy.
"You beast… try this!!!"
Naruto's eyes burned crimson as he unleashed his ultimate strike—gathering all his strength and merging it with senjutsu chakra.
"Sage Art: Wind Release — Rasenshuriken!!!"
He hurled it downward at full force toward Wangcai, who had just swallowed the Limbo shadow and had not yet fully turned.
"Can you eat chakra?"
"Then can you eat this—?!"
The Rasenshuriken, infused with a storm of destruction and natural energy, tore through the air, carrying Naruto's final roar as it descended.
This time, Wangcai seemed… more excited.
It turned fully to face the incoming Sage Art attack. For the first time, the azure glow of annihilation reflected clearly in its black eyes.
Then—
It opened its mouth again.
The atmosphere, both within and beyond the heavens, plummeted from absurd spectacle into a freezing abyss of despair.
Sage Art: Wind Release — Rasenshuriken.
An ultimate blow brimming with violent natural energy and destructive force.
Before that utterly ordinary canine mouth, it was like light falling into a black hole.
No shockwave.
No thunderous detonation.
It was silently swallowed.
Consumed.
Digested.
The only "response" was a satisfied "gulp" from Wangcai's throat. Its tail even wagged slightly.
A flicker of pleasure crossed its eyes, as though it had just savored a rare delicacy.
Wangcai was very satisfied.
Even senjutsu… was useless.
Konoha — Hokage's Office
Jiraiya stared at the projection in the sky, all traces of his usual nonchalance gone. In its place was unprecedented gravity.
"Sage Art… senjutsu fused with natural energy… and even that…" His voice was hoarse.
Senjutsu was his pride—a power beyond ordinary ninjutsu. And now it had been swallowed like a snack.
The blow was severe.
Tsunade sat motionless, her gaze unfocused, still seemingly trapped in the shock brought by "the Tree." She reacted sluggishly to the escalating crisis.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was ashen, the wrinkles on his brow carved deep as blades.
He slowly shook his head, his voice solemn and low.
"We still didn't take it seriously enough. Think back to what that 'Tree' said before it dissipated—'Any chakra-related method is useless.'"
He looked at Jiraiya sharply.
"Senjutsu is still a mixture of chakra and natural energy. Its foundation… is still chakra."
Jiraiya's expression darkened. "So… we can only rely on pure taijutsu? Or… Fūinjutsu?"
"No." Hiruzen shook his head again.
In this moment, he was no longer the aging man weighed down by hesitation. He was once more the erudite and analytical "Professor" of ninjutsu.
"It must be sealing techniques unrelated to chakra."
"Sealing techniques unrelated to chakra?" Jiraiya blinked, then frowned deeply.
"Is that even possible? Fūinjutsu is built upon specific chakra circulation and formula construction. If it has nothing to do with chakra… then what is it?"
"I've never even heard of such a thing."
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