Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 357 Chaos
Inside the vast space of the first level of the underground palace.

On the rock walls on both sides, torches crackled and flickered, casting shifting shadows and creating a dim, ever-changing light throughout the space.

The enormous ten-tailed stone statue stood majestically, its single eye looking down at the tiny, ant-like crowd below in the dim light.

The two groups of people stood facing each other, clearly separated by only a few hundred meters.

Everyone's body was slightly tense, and their weapons and hands were poised to strike at any moment.

Strangely, despite the extremely tense atmosphere, as if a chaotic battle was about to erupt at any moment, neither side made the first move.

On the Akatsuki side, there are a group of puppets including Nagato, Konan, Hanzo, Hiruko, Kakuzu, Shennong, Wuwei, and Sasori.

Meanwhile, the five great ninja villages have Jiraiya, Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Yugito Nii, Tsuchida, Kyoto, Akatsuchi, Yagura Karatachi, Kisame, and Rasa.

Clearly, neither side was entirely sure of the other's strength. In addition, the underground palace was not spacious and the materials were too hard, which limited the strength of some of them.

For a moment, no one spoke; only the crackling of the burning torches and the breathing of the crowd could be clearly heard.

However, this fragile balance was shattered by an extremely faint yet chilling crack.

Click!

The sound came from the end of the line of the five great ninja villages.

Several Chunin who were nearby instinctively turned their heads to look in the direction of the sound.

A Chunin from Kumogakure had his eyes wide open, his face frozen in a wary expression, but his neck had been twisted 180 degrees.

Before he could even utter a sound, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"what?"

"Who?"

No one saw who did it, and even the members of the Akatsuki organization showed a barely perceptible look of astonishment for a moment.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

This fuse instantly ignited the powder keg for both sides.

"Kill!" The two wooden figures shouted fiercely.

The Two-Tails' chakra within her body erupted with a roar, and flame-like blue chakra shot into the sky, her body rapidly expanding and deforming in the light.

In an instant, it transformed into a cat demon covered in flame patterns and with two giant tails dancing wildly!

"Roar!!"

The Two-Tails let out a deafening roar, the terrifying sound wave mixed with a tangible chakra impact, causing the entire underground palace to tremble!

Almost at the same moment that the two Yugitos fully transformed into their tailed beasts, Hiruko and Shinno, who had been holding back for so long, also shot out like arrows from a bow!

"Give me that cat!" Hiruko's tone was filled with the excitement of seizing his prey.

With a flick of his wide sleeves, several bandages hardened by steel release, gleaming with a sharp, cold metallic light, shot towards the Two-Tails, which had just completed its tailed beast transformation, like venomous snakes!

however……

Keng! Keng! Keng!
A figure suddenly appeared in front of the bandages, wielding a white-glowing wakizashi that unleashed a barrage of blades, sparks flying as it deflected and repelled all the incoming bandages!

"Your opponent is me."

Before Kakashi Hatake could finish speaking, his figure blurred again, instantly rushing in front of Hiruko. The wakizashi, with a sharp whooshing sound, pierced straight at the opponent's face.

"Hmph! Overestimating yourself!" Hiruko sneered, neither dodging nor avoiding, raising his hand, which had turned into a dark metallic color, to grasp Kakashi's sword.

Clang! The sound of metal clashing was deafening as Kakashi gripped the blade firmly.

Hiruko looked at Kakashi, who was standing close by, his gaze sweeping over Kakashi's black pupils, a regretful and disdainful smile appearing on his face: "What a pity, Hatake Kakashi..."

"How could you lose that precious Sharingan?"

“If it were still in your eye socket, I would be much more ‘interested’ in you.”

"And now, as an ordinary person..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly exerted force in his arm, pushing Kakashi back half a step, and looked down at him mockingly: "What makes you compare to me, who is now almost a perfect being?"

On the other side, Shennong charged toward Yagura, grinning maliciously, "Leave the baby face to me!"

However, Yagura Karatachi simply stood there expressionless. Before Shennong could even get close to him, a giant sword wrapped in bandages swept across with a fierce wind!

"Disgusting bastard, do you want to die?" Kisame Hoshigaki grinned, revealing a mouthful of shark teeth, and slashed fiercely at Shennong with his Samehada sword.

Because Obito Uchiha's manipulation of Yagura Karatachi was exposed by "Uzumaki," Kisame Hoshigaki was not recruited into the Akatsuki organization by Obito.

The pufferfish demon who betrayed the village's information still died at the hands of Kisame Hoshigaki. However, this time, it was Yagura Karatachi who personally ordered the killing of the pufferfish demon.

Kisame Hoshigaki was carefully trained by Yagura Karatachi to become one of the second generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the second user of the great sword Samehada.

For Kisame Hoshigaki, Yagura Karatachi was a mentor who had shown him great kindness.

Shennong roared and fiercely met the attack with his fist, which was filled with Zero-Tails chakra.

Bang! !

A surge of energy rippled between the two sides.

At the same time, the Two-Tails, now fully transformed into a tailed beast, lunged at the Akatsuki members, just as its giant claws were about to strike.

"Spiritual Communication Technique!" Wuwei formed hand seals and slammed his palms onto the ground.

With a burst of white smoke, Wuwei, standing atop Wu's head, flew into the air.

"Roar!" 'Wu' roared and fiercely met the two tails below.

The two enormous creatures instantly clashed, their terrifying sounds and roars echoing throughout the underground palace!

At the same time, a figure suddenly burst out, carrying a long-suppressed killing intent.

Bang! !

Kakuzu stomped his foot hard on the ground, and the hard stone bricks beneath his feet groaned under the weight, spiderweb-like cracks spreading instantly.

Using this violent recoil, his massive body, like a heavy battering ram, charged straight into the ranks of the five great ninja villages, accompanied by a fierce wind!
During his sprint, the muscles in his right arm bulged terribly, and his Earth Release chakra surged wildly within him.

Soon, the entire arm and even half of the body were covered by thick, hard, and angular rocks, expanding in size several times over, transforming into a giant arm capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks!

Previously, Kakuzu could use all five elemental ninjutsu, but he could only use B-rank ninjutsu such as "Wind Release: Pressure Damage", "Lightning Release: False Darkness", and "Fire Release: Head Carving".

By combining several different ninjutsu with "Earth Grudge Fear," a composite ninjutsu can unleash power comparable to an A-rank ninjutsu.

Now, after Isshiki Otsutsuki modified his body, this body, which was entirely formed from those black lines, had its other four hearts removed, leaving only the Earth Release heart.

It can be said that this body was created entirely for using Earth Release ninjutsu, taking a further step in the realm of Earth Release nature transformation and form transformation.

At that moment, his fist slammed out, and the air exploded as it was compressed, causing Jiraiya's eyes to narrow involuntarily.

(End of this chapter)