How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

"Not my problem." Kurama pouted.

"Don't care. I'm blaming you anyway." Naruto scowled as he formed hand signs. Chakra turned into smoke and wrapped around him. "Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Four clones appeared beside him, turning the fight into five against four.

Shadow Clone is a B-rank jutsu. Multi Shadow Clone is the forbidden one.

Don't ask why he didn't use the Multi Shadow Clone. Just know that Naruto's learned his lesson.

"Kurama, one last question." A Truth-Seeking Ball appeared in Naruto's hand, and his face grew serious. "Can the Truth-Seeking Ball block Dust Release?"

"Only Kekkei Mora and Six Paths powers can destroy a Truth-Seeking Ball," Kurama answered. "By the way, if you use it to destroy their reanimated bodies, they won't be able to come back."

"Got it!" Naruto shouted, then threw the ball from his right hand. "Rasengan Truth-Seeking Ball!"

The black sphere, like a small planet, flew toward the four of them—signaling the start of the battle.

Mu vanished instantly, blending into the air as if he were never there. Even his chakra presence disappeared.

Rasa brought his hands together and used gold sand to wrap around the other three. When the sand and the Truth-Seeking Ball clashed, a loud explosion sent strong winds blasting through the area.

As the flames faded and the gold sand disappeared, A and Hozuki Mangetsu were nowhere to be seen.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Straight Slash!" Naruto squinted. Up in the sky, A was dropping fast, so fast that his lightning-covered body was almost invisible to the naked eye.

But Naruto wasn't the same as he used to be. He could even keep up with space-time jutsu now—simple speed was nothing.

"Ninja Art: Rasengan Truth-Seeking Ball!"

He raised his right hand, and the black Rasengan-like ball formed instantly, blocking A's attack.

At the same time, the four clones moved in. Each of them targeted one of the opponents, forming tailed beast bombs about the size of a person's head.

A, who was grappling with the real Naruto, narrowed his eyes. His Lightning Armor flared up, and he used the gold sand beneath his feet to vanish again, dodging the clone's attack.

But it didn't matter. The clone immediately used Body Flicker to keep up with him, sticking to A like glue.

"So fast!" A looked serious. This kid could actually keep up with him? And it wasn't even the real body—just a shadow clone. "Using only one clone to deal with me... don't you think that's a bit insulting?"

"Lightning Style: Hell Stab – Four-Finger Thrust!"

Naruto flinched without thinking.

That moment reminded Naruto of the fear he felt the day he got killed by a single-finger Hell Stab.

Not just his real body—even the clone twitched, lips slightly twitching. Normally, his Sage of Six Paths body could take the hit and trade injuries for a win, but this time, the clone just turned and dodged.

And in doing so… exposed the real Naruto behind it.

Naruto: "…"

If I didn't still need you to take some hits for me, I'd cancel you on the spot.

Grumbling aside, Naruto's real body moved fast. Golden chakra formed into a huge fox head that wrapped around him. The Hell Stab was strong, sure—but four fingers weren't enough to break through the golden Kurama's defense in Six Paths mode.

Lightning struck Kurama's golden face, and A's expression finally showed surprise.

Before he could speak, the massive golden Kurama began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth. The chakra swelled fast. Just as the Raikage was about to dodge, the shadow clone Naruto charged in—golden chains burst out, cutting off all escape routes.

"Got you!" The Tailed Beast Bomb finished forming. Naruto shouted, "Super Tailed Beast Bomb!"

The huge blast, almost as big as Kurama's head, shot out. Even A looked troubled by the sheer force of that chakra.

But he wasn't fighting alone!

"Summoning Technique: Mirage." A calm voice rang out from afar. As a thick mist spread, a strange flash of light flickered in front of Naruto.

"Demonic Illusion: Steaming Tower."

The Tailed Beast Bomb, which had been a sure hit, seemed to slam into A—except it passed right through him and hit the ground behind instead.

Light exploded, and the earth cracked apart again.

"A Genjutsu?" Naruto was shocked. He quickly formed hand signs, but no matter how he used his Six Paths power, the illusion wouldn't break.

At that moment, Hozuki Gengetsu's voice came from within the mist: "This Genjutsu doesn't target your mind—it targets the light. It's called 'Demonic Illusion: Steaming Tower.' You'll need to use high-level sensory skills to find our location, and then—"

"—attack my real body directly. It's best if you just kill the mirage. That'll end the Genjutsu."

Naruto lowered his hands and gave a slight nod. "Thanks for the tip."

When it came to sensory skills, nobody in the ninja world could beat him!

"I'm the best," Kurama quietly raised a hand.

His sensing ability was about the same as Naruto's, but he could also sense good and evil. Either way, one plus one is more than one, so obviously, he was better.

Naruto: "Quit messing around."

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

A white beam of light suddenly shot out from somewhere unknown. Naruto instinctively tried to dodge, but then froze mid-movement. He stared at the direction the beam came from, not moving a muscle, until it fully engulfed him.

When the beam faded, Naruto appeared in the sky without a single scratch.

"Not bad," came Mu's voice, with a hint of approval. "I really don't like Hozuki Gengetsu, but I have to admit that our jutsu work well together. Don't trust what you see—use your senses. Right now, the only thing you can rely on is your sensing."

Naruto let out a breath. "I almost moved just now."

If he hadn't sensed that the chakra from the beam was in the wrong place, he would've dodged upward—right into the real Dust Release.

His four shadow clones regrouped around him. The mist had started to thin out, and he could see four enemies surrounding him.

But Naruto could clearly sense that their actual positions were off—they were standing elsewhere. Even their appearances didn't match. The mismatch between what he saw and what he sensed threw him off badly.

"Don't rely on your eyes—feel it," Kurama said seriously. "Just because your eyes can't see it doesn't mean your heart can't."

"That makes sense, but I know you definitely stole that line from somewhere," Naruto said, holding his hand signs with a serious face. "Trying to move while fighting won't work. The four of them are too in sync. If I move without a plan, I'll leave myself open."

It's not that he didn't have a chance to move earlier—but he could feel that the moment he did, he'd be hit by even stronger Dust Release and Lightning Release attacks. Maybe even Water Style or Magnet Release. Either way, right now, fighting while retreating just isn't possible.

These four aren't pushovers.

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