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

Chapter 396 Semi-Virtualization Mode

Boom! !

Blinding blue-white lightning poured down, completely engulfing the ruins below.

The deafening thunder lasted for several breaths before gradually subsiding.

The electric current plowed furrows into the ground, and the air was filled with a pungent, burnt smell.

When the lightning subsided, only ash and dust filled the air, completely enveloping the area and obscuring everyone's view.

Around the ruins, the samurai and ninjas responsible for the encirclement involuntarily held their breath, gazing at the smoke-filled center.

"Was he killed?" a samurai asked instinctively.

"Nonsense!" a samurai beside him said decisively. "That's 'Lightning Release: Lightning Dream Lightning Man', a combined ninjutsu that's comparable to a forbidden technique, performed by four adults working together!"

"How could any living thing possibly survive under such an attack? Including the guy who killed Lord Ma, and those monsters that crawled out of the ground!"

In fact, he was right. The power of this ninjutsu was almost comparable to 'Lightning Release: Kirin', which draws upon the power of nature.

However, just as everyone's minds were beginning to settle down...

call! !

A surge of air suddenly erupted from the center of the smoke and dust, spreading outwards!
The onlookers instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes from the oncoming dust.

The smoke and dust were dispersed by the shockwave, revealing the scene at the center to everyone.

When the view became clear again, and everyone could see the scene inside that area.

The ninjas and samurai stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.

The land, which was already in ruins, was now a mess after being bombarded by lightning, covered with charred and cracked pits.

Those "artificial phantoms" that had previously crawled out of the soil have all disappeared.

Only the dark purple spiritual energy remained, converging towards the center of that area.

There, a figure slowly straightened up.

All the clothes on his body had long since turned to ashes.

But what was exposed was not human skin, but rather a ghastly white bone armor covering the entire body, thick and ferocious, giving one a sense of inhuman aesthetics.

He lowered his head, raised his claws, which were also covered in bone armor, and slowly closed and opened his five fingers, as if familiarizing himself with this somewhat unfamiliar body.

"what is that?"

Someone mustered all their strength to squeeze out those four words from their throat, and the expressions of the 'Lightning Release Four' became even more solemn and gloomy.

They knew better than anyone the power of the attack they had just unleashed—a combined Lightning Release ninjutsu powerful enough to slice off a large part of a small mountain.

But how come there weren't any wounds left on that monster?
"Could it be..." Bei Zi stared intently at the figure, his brows furrowed, "...that it's a Hollow of the 'Ten Blades' level?"

"Who are you?"

Upon hearing this, the monster, which had been keeping its head down, finally raised its head.

At this moment, only half of his face was still covered by a bone mask, but the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak was no longer covering it, and the other half of his face was exposed to everyone.

The half of her face that was revealed caused everyone who recognized her, including Uzuki Yugao, to change their expressions.

"Naruto Uzumaki?!" Yugao Uzuki exclaimed.

Upon hearing this, 'Naruto' spoke, but the voice he uttered was not the one everyone was familiar with; instead, it was a hoarser and deeper unfamiliar voice.

“Don’t get it wrong…” His voice clearly reached everyone’s ears.

As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto's figure disappeared from the spot, so fast that he left only a blur.

The next moment, Bei Zi felt a chilling coldness suddenly shoot from his tailbone straight to the top of his head!

Before he could even react, the face with a crazed grin was right in front of him, and he could almost feel its icy aura.

"I'm not that naive and childish brat!"

The second half of the sentence finally reached everyone's ears, and Bei Zi's shock had just begun to show on her face...

puff!

The figure crashed into Beizi at a speed beyond visual perception.

Bei Zi was like a watermelon struck by a giant hammer, instantly exploding into a cloud of crimson blood mist, without even being able to utter a scream.

Plop... Plop... The blood rain drizzled down onto Naruto's pale bone armor, sliding down his grotesque outline.

He stood there, looking somewhat taken aback, but soon, as if he had heard something, he shook his head impatiently: "It's so noisy, I didn't want to make such a mess either."

"I originally just wanted to blast him away, but I wasn't very familiar with the strength of this body. Who knew he would be so fragile? It's just that I used a little too much force and was a little too fast, right?"

Without a doubt, the one driving this body at this moment is the Nine-Tails.

This is the first time Kurama has used Naruto's body since Yunshi taught it how to control spiritual energy and enter a "hollowed-out" state.

This is somewhat similar to Naruto's "half-tailed beast form" after going berserk in the original work, except that the tailed beast cloak has been replaced with bone armor, and the efficiency of utilizing his own power is also stronger.

After all, the tailed beast cloak is essentially just the leakage of tailed beast chakra.

Now, the Nine-Tails' chakra is restrained within its body by the bones formed from the materialized spiritual energy. Even the Nine-Tails did not expect this form to be so powerful.

Naruto is currently unable to withstand this level of mental energy, so Kurama (the Nine-Tails) has to take the lead.

Perhaps this form should be called a "semi-virtualized mode"?
"Tch, soft-hearted brat."

Hearing Naruto's warning against indiscriminate killing, Kurama let out a disdainful sneer and swept its crimson vertical pupils over the horrified samurai and ninjas around it.

However, he did not take action against these people.

His gaze bypassed these "minor figures" and went straight to the most magnificent and splendid building, which symbolized the highest power of the Fire Kingdom.

——Daming Mansion!

"Hmph!" A maniacal smile appeared on his face. "These guys, you won't let me touch them, but can't I touch that place?"

boom!
He stomped his foot hard on the ground, and the blood-soaked ground beneath his feet instantly exploded into a spiderweb-like crater, with cracks spreading outwards.

His figure transformed into a streak of light, radiating a suffocating killing intent and brutality, and shot straight toward the direction of Daming Prefecture!

"No...not good!"

Only then did the samurai and ninjas around them, who had been stunned by Naruto's identity and Kitako's tragic death, suddenly snap out of their shock.

"Damn it! His target is the Daimyo!" the lead samurai roared in alarm and fury. "Stop him! We can't let him get close to the Daimyo!!"

Several warriors closest to the path suddenly remembered what the monster had been saying to itself.

—You won't let me touch the people here.

Although the reason is unclear, this terrifying monster seems to be subject to some kind of restriction, preventing it from killing these people.
As this thought arose, several samurai subconsciously gritted their teeth and blocked the pale figure rushing straight towards the daimyo's mansion.

"For His Highness the Daimyo!"

"Block him!"

"what!"

They let out a courageous roar, mustered all their courage, and held their weapons horizontally in front of them, trying to form a human wall.

The next moment, the pale figure was already in front of them.

The warrior at the very front could even clearly see a sinister smile on his half-bone, half-human face!

why?
The thought subconsciously surfaced in the samurai's mind.

Didn't you say you wouldn't kill them?
"Heh..." A low chuckle, as if a scheme had succeeded, rang out.

The samurai who tried to stop them didn't even have time to swing their swords before they felt an indescribable force crushing them down!

*Pfft! Pfft!*

Flesh and bones were instantly crushed and exploded, a series of teeth-grinding muffled sounds erupting!

The upper bodies of those warriors exploded on the spot, turning into a large cloud of scarlet blood mist mixed with fragments of internal organs and bone fragments!
Only the stumps below the waist remained, standing stiffly in place, before collapsing limply.

The white figure didn't slow down at all, passing directly through the blood mist before it even hit the ground, its pale bone armor now tinged with a ferocious crimson!

"Hahaha!!" A burst of maniacal laughter came from the direction of the figure on the wind, filled with chilling malice.

"Idiot! Anyone who jumps out to block your way is an 'enemy'!"

"When dealing with enemies, whether it's me or this brat, we never show any mercy!"

　Another 6,000 words. I'll finish writing Naruto's storyline tomorrow. I went to see the Demon Slayer movie today. Ufotable really does a great job. The experience of reading the manga is incomparable to watching the movie.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)