How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

"Kurama, I'm getting ready to power through them," Naruto stretched out his hand, keeping the gesture of a hand sign even without forming one. "Or, you could go now and save Gaara. I'll stay here and take care of them."

"I'll take the second option," Kurama stood up. "Give me a chance to get out, and I'll go straight there."

He wasn't as fast as Naruto, but it was still better than being stuck here doing nothing.

"Alright!" Massive natural energy surged into Naruto, and a flash of green light appeared in his eyes.

But Naruto didn't open them. He kept them shut, using his strong sensing skills to track the four enemies. Nine Truth-Seeking Balls floated from behind him, and green flames started to burn around them.

Kurama, who had been ready to jump out at any moment, froze in place when he saw this, eyes wide. "When did you learn that move?!"

"Last time, remember? You saw me use it once," Naruto answered while focusing his chakra. "It uses a ton of natural energy, but it's crazy powerful and covers a huge area. There's no better time to use it than now!"

As he finished speaking, his chakra exploded outward, and the nine green Truth-Seeking Balls flew into the air, spinning fast.

The four Kage felt the pressure and instantly began forming hand signs.

"Lightning Release: Hell Stab – Triple Thrust!" The best defense is a strong offense!

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Limit!" I agree with Raikage!

"Fire Release: Vapor Explosion Flame!" +1

"Magnet Release: Shield of Shukaku!" Rasa was the only one using a defensive jutsu, looking totally out of place compared to the others.

As the chakra reached its peak, Naruto's four clones vanished in a puff of smoke. Thick smoke filled the air, and an overwhelming pressure weighed down on everyone.

The intense energy kept growing. The nine Truth-Seeking Balls spun faster and faster, whipping up a storm that shook everyone—except for Naruto, who stood motionless in the center.

Green light shone in Naruto's cross-shaped eyes. The golden chakra on his body slowly shifted toward green, but didn't fully change into Tenseigan Chakra Mode.

With both hands together, his voice rang out through the battlefield, backed by a massive burst of chakra: "Six Paths Sage Art: Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

Too flashy? Six Paths powers were made to deal with flashy stuff! And unlike Sasuke's "Six Paths Sage Art: Heavenly Amatsubo Purple Dragon Palace," there was nothing here to balance out the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!

Even the Akatsuki members far in the distance at that moment—

Both the people and Shukaku stopped fighting, their eyes wide with shock as they turned to look into the distance. In the far-off sky, a green storm rose from the ground, as if connecting heaven and earth. The terrifying aura could be clearly felt from such a far distance.

"What is that?!" Shukaku shouted in disbelief, almost instinctively trying to contact Kurama, but... he couldn't.

It was as if some barrier was blocking communication between them. They could sense each other, but they couldn't reach out.

Deidara, standing on top of the white dragon, glanced at Shukaku, his mechanical eye flashing a faint red. His face was full of astonishment. He looked down at Shukaku and said, "Hey, big raccoon, do you know what that is? Hmm?"

Deidara's question made everyone turn to look at Shukaku, all of them seemingly wanting an answer.

Shukaku felt his mind tremble, and instinctively, he answered Deidara's question, "That chakra... that technique... it's the move of Otsutsuki Hamura, the brother of the Sage of Six Paths."

Everyone gasped. Though most of them didn't fully understand what Shukaku meant.

Shukaku couldn't believe it either. If someone could use the Sage of Six Paths' chakra, he'd think it was normal because it was part of the prophecy—the one where someone would inherit the Sage's will and, together with the Nine Tailed Beasts, save the world. But Hamura hadn't left behind any chakra...

Had he?

Shukaku suddenly felt like he couldn't make sense of the world anymore.

Deidara, rarely silent, floated higher and moved towards Kakuzu and Sasori. He turned to look at them without speaking.

Kakuzu fiddled with the rings in his hand, deep in thought. Sasori, expressionless, looked at the green storm in the distance. "That's probably the Naruto from the intel, the one they said was coming."

"This kind of power... I didn't see anything like it when I fought the First Hokage," Kakuzu said, pausing to stop moving the rings. "If we don't want to get hit by that technique, we'd better capture Shukaku quickly."

"That makes sense, hmm." Deidara nodded in agreement.

After saying this, he grimaced toward the green storm's direction. "Such an unappealing technique, hmm."

"I agree with you on that," Sasori said, stepping towards the edge of the bird. His tone was cold. "But Deidara, you're too slow. I can't be bothered to wait any longer."

Though the attack was powerful enough to make all three of them feel uneasy, there was one good thing about it—they now knew Naruto's location. They could reach him in no time, and with his strength, he'd surely be quicker. 

If they didn't hurry, they'd have to face the attack head-on.

"I agree," Kakuzu also said, moving to the edge of the bird. "Deidara, enough playing around. Just kill those guys and move on."

Take care of them and make some money.

Hearing this, Deidara's smile widened. "Then let them witness my art! Hmm!"

As Sasori and Kakuzu jumped off the bird, Deidara reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a large chunk of explosive clay. Feeling the danger, he decided to stop playing around. He was going to blow everything up. C3 would do!

Art is an explosion! Feel the art, mortals!

Hahahaha~

In the center of the raging storm, Shukaku's shield shattered almost instantly. Rasa, looking innocent, glanced forward. Then, with a wry smile, he began to form hand seals. He felt like he was just a bystander—apart from being a stepping stone, he had no real use.

He looked at the three powerful men beside him and the even stronger one in the middle. With a resigned sigh, Rasa thought, Well, being a tool isn't so bad.

As he finished the hand seals, his body was the first to be devoured by the silver wheel's reincarnation explosion.

"Wow, no wonder he sounded so confident when talking to us." Hozuki Mangetsu stood on top of Samehada, smiling as he watched the attack in front of him. The Steam Hazard Blast was indeed a powerful ninjutsu. Even though it was just used, it barely managed to block the Silver Wheel Rebirth Blast's attack. "But it doesn't seem like it can hold up for long."

As he thought this, his expression suddenly changed. His usual smile grew wider, looking almost like a mad clown's, full of madness and shivers.

In the next moment, he stopped smiling. "Oh no, I'm already dead, I can't get excited, can't get excited, can't get excited..."

Even though he said this, his hand signs didn't stop. His face might have looked calm, but the excitement in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

"Hurry up and finish us off, hurry up... or... I might get too excited..."

His body was shaking...

——

PS: I don't know much about Rasa, especially his Magnet Release. This also means I don't know much about Gaara either. I definitely don't think they're weak, but compared to Naruto and the other three Kage, Rasa just doesn't stand out as much.

And Magnet Release... honestly, it's hard for me to think of any ninjutsu in it that could match the 'Silver Wheel Rebirth Blast'. I wanted to come up with something original, but my mind just couldn't picture it. So, I guess Rasa will just be a tool.

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