Naruto: Promotion is my Ninja Way

"Puff!"

The instant Darui launched himself forward, he drew the ninja sword from his back and slashed at the nearest Konoha shinobi with lightning speed. However, the sensation his blade encountered made Darui freeze in complete shock.

Before he could withdraw his weapon, he was horrified to discover that the Konoha shinobi in front of him was smiling calmly, with small flames beginning to flicker and dance in his pupils.

This was bad—very bad!

They had been deceived!

"Withdraw immediately!" Darui shouted desperately, backing away as quickly as possible. "This is a trap! Everyone retreat now!"

The ten-man Kumogakure assault team consisted entirely of elite ninja. They also sensed something was terribly wrong at the first moment, and upon hearing Darui's urgent warning, they immediately began retreating and preparing to escape from the area.

But at this point, it was obviously far too late to avoid the catastrophe.

The Konoha shinobi positioned around the headquarters were all shadow clones created by Shihouin Naraku, and these shadow clones were now beginning to burst into flames throughout their entire bodies.

Seeing this nightmarish scene unfold, Darui immediately understood the full scope of their predicament.

This was an elaborate trap that had been specifically designed to destroy them!

"BOOM!"

The massive explosion thundered between heaven and earth, instantly awakening countless creatures sleeping peacefully in the surrounding darkness.

A brilliant white light flashed across the landscape, transforming the pitch-black night into blazing daylight that was both scorching hot and blindingly dazzling.

Orange-red flames erupted violently from the explosion's center, releasing terrifying destructive force in every direction while waves of searing heat spread outward like an unstoppable tide.

The earth trembled violently beneath their feet, and the very sky seemed to shake from the tremendous force. Powerful shock waves pushed away every obstacle in their path with completely unstoppable momentum.

In this moment, the horrific explosion released what seemed like the most devastating power in the entire world. The towering flames continued rising higher and higher, burning the night sky a brilliant crimson red.

Even from great distances, observers could still faintly hear the enormous roaring sound and see the burning red clouds illuminating the heavens above.

For several long moments, even the stars hanging high in the night sky appeared much dimmer by comparison.

"How can the explosion possibly be this powerful?" Morino Ibiki asked in complete disbelief.

Standing directly behind Shihouin Naraku, Morino Ibiki stared at the massive explosion rising into the sky with wide, shocked eyes. The scorching breath from the blast rushed toward them, carried by powerful winds that made his clothes whip around wildly.

The apocalyptic scene that resembled the destruction of the world truly shocked Morino Ibiki to his core.

Shihouin Naraku showed no surprise whatsoever at the incredible power of the explosion before them. "Those dozen shadow clones I positioned at the headquarters weren't just ordinary techniques," he explained calmly.

With the dramatic improvement of his own abilities, Shihouin Naraku's control over both his Mera-Mera Fruit powers and Fire Style jutsu had become significantly stronger. He had begun developing and implementing much more powerful and sophisticated techniques.

Those dozen shadow clones represented one of his newest abilities!

He had learned to forcibly compress powerful flame energy to create specialized Fire Style shadow clones.

These special Fire Style shadow clones couldn't be used effectively in direct combat because their energy was compressed to such an extreme degree that they became highly unstable internally.

Apart from basic movements like walking, sitting, and lying down, the only truly powerful thing they could accomplish was self-destruction!

The destructive power of a Fire Style shadow clone's self-destruction was absolutely terrifying. When Shihouin Naraku had first developed this ability, even he had been shocked by its devastating potential.

"What a shame," Naraku mused thoughtfully. "If I could compress the flame energy even further, the shadow clones' self-destruction ability should be able to reach several additional levels of power."

The destructive force of Fire Style shadow clone self-destruction depended entirely on how much the internal energy could be compressed. Shihouin Naraku knew that the spectacular scene before them was not yet the ultimate limit of what Fire Style shadow clones could achieve.

Strong winds carrying waves of scorching heat blew toward them, forcing everyone to squint their eyes against the intense pressure.

"Hmm?" Naraku's Observation Haki swept across the center of the explosion, where the flames were gradually beginning to die down. He could clearly sense a female Kumogakure shinobi with distinctive blue cat-like chakra patterns emerging all over her body.

Under the protection of this strange, powerful chakra, the woman's injuries from the explosion, hidden weapons, and poisonous smoke were healing at a remarkably rapid rate.

Next to her, three other Kumogakure shinobi lay on the ground with obvious severe burns covering their bodies. One of them was definitely Darui.

The three injured Kumogakure ninja were struggling to stand up while enduring the excruciating pain of burns covering their entire bodies.

"I see now," Shihouin Naraku realized with growing understanding. "So Kumogakure's confidence in their sneak attack's success was based on bringing the Two-Tails jinchūriki along."

Shihouin Naraku had figured out Kumogakure's complete strategy. With the Two-Tails jinchūriki present, even if their operation failed completely, Kumogakure would still have a reasonable chance to evacuate their forces safely.

This made sense because Kumogakure possessed two tailed beast jinchūriki. The Eight-Tails jinchūriki, Killer Bee, was a perfect jinchūriki who could freely control and utilize the full power of his tailed beast.

As for the Two-Tails jinchūriki—Yugito Nii, the woman standing before them—she had also achieved a reconciliation with the tailed beast sealed within her body. However, due to limitations in her own personal strength, she couldn't truly master the tailed beast's power completely and become a perfect jinchūriki like Killer Bee.

But even with these limitations, it was more than enough to demonstrate just how dangerous and troublesome Yugito could be in battle.

A jinchūriki who could maintain consciousness and rational thinking even after fully transforming into their tailed beast was capable of causing serious problems, even if their overall strength was somewhat weaker than a perfect jinchūriki.

"Be extremely careful," Shihouin Naraku warned without even turning around to look at his subordinates. "This time Kumogakure has sent out a tailed beast jinchūriki!"

The nine ninja standing behind him, led by Morino Ibiki, were stunned for a moment before their expressions became deadly serious.

Even ninja who had never personally experienced the terrible Night of the Nine-Tails attack understood exactly how dangerous tailed beast jinchūriki could be. They couldn't help but treat this threat with the utmost gravity and respect.

"Follow our predetermined battle plan! Begin the attack!" Shihouin Naraku commanded.

The moment Shihouin Naraku finished speaking, Morino Ibiki and the other nine ninja immediately rushed forward into battle. Their objective was crystal clear: eliminate the three injured Kumogakure shinobi while avoiding direct confrontation with the tailed beast jinchūriki.

As an elite jōnin of Kumogakure, Darui possessed formidable combat abilities under normal circumstances. However, he was currently suffering from serious injuries, and his effective fighting strength was less than half of his usual capacity. The nine Konoha shinobi working together in perfect coordination could definitely eliminate him.

"Swish!"

Shihouin Naraku started moving last, but he reached the battlefield first, moving faster than any of his subordinates.

"ROAR!"

Yugito, who had already transformed into her half-tailed beast state, spun around to face the charging Konoha shinobi and let out a fierce, animalistic roar. The blue chakra patterns covering her entire body burned more intensely and violently.

With all four claws gripping the ground for traction, she instantly pounced forward like a vicious, predatory cat.

"BANG!"

There was a brilliant flash of movement, and Yugito was sent flying backward at an even faster speed than her attack.

Her entire body was thrown through the air in an instant, creating a deep furrow in the ground where she landed before crashing into the distant forest.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!" Without waiting for Yugito to fall from mid-air after being kicked away, Darui reacted with impressive speed and formed the necessary hand seals to release one of his most powerful Storm Release techniques.

Several concentrated laser beams shot forth, piercing through the air in an instant. The lasers locked onto Shihouin Naraku's position and attacked him from multiple unpredictable angles, aiming for his blind spots.

Shihouin Naraku, who was still airborne from his previous attack, appeared to have no opportunity to dodge the incoming assault. In what seemed like a decisive moment, he was pierced through many vital areas of his body by the multiple laser beams.

Without waiting for his jutsu to completely finish, Darui had already gripped his sword with both hands and was rushing toward Shihouin Naraku's seemingly helpless position.

Black lightning chakra wrapped around his blade as Darui prepared to slash downward with devastating force, apparently intending to finish off Naraku in a single, decisive blow.

The Konoha shinobi, who had been slightly slower to react, witnessed this scene and immediately joined the attack, launching a barrage of shuriken and kunai toward Naraku's position.

However, as the weapons struck Shihouin Naraku's vital points, sparks of fire appeared instead of blood. Kurikara was suddenly unsheathed from its scabbard, and lightning chakra instantly spread across the blade's surface.

"CLANG!"

"Sizzle..."

Lightning flashed continuously before everyone's eyes as the two swords collided with tremendous force.

Shihouin Naraku, falling from his position in mid-air, channeled his full power through his weapon. The violent pressure was instantly transmitted to Darui through their locked blades, forcing the Kumogakure jōnin to grit his teeth and struggle to maintain his position.

In the next second, Shihouin Naraku suddenly withdrew his sword and pulled back his strength. Darui, having no time to adjust his own force, found his body swaying dangerously as he struggled to maintain his balance.

Shihouin Naraku stepped forward with one foot, pivoted sharply, and Kurikara slashed out with lightning speed. Darui, caught completely off guard, desperately tried to defend himself with his own sword.

"CLANG!"

The sound of metal striking metal echoed across the battlefield once again.

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