Chapter 55

Ares, his eyes glimmering with familiarity and recognition, couldn't help but smile as he gazed at Nunoboko in Naruto's hands. "This is an interesting weapon, you know. I remember it very fondly." His voice was laced with a sense of nostalgia. Ares had fought against the Sage in the past and knew the weapon well, understanding its true potential. Though Ares had access to an arsenal of formidable weapons—each capable of wreaking havoc—he knew the black sword was special. Unlike his typical weapons, the black sword had its own sealed power, one that was beyond his conceptual skill to break. The Sage's mastery had sealed the weapon's full potential, but Ares was not without options.

He could not utilize his usual techniques to break the seal, but the black sword still held its own advantages. Its durability was unparalleled, and its abilities of power nullification and existence erasure were formidable enough to make Ares rethink his usual approach.

But before Ares could continue his musings, Naruto moved with a speed so fast that it was as if he had already been standing right next to him. Ares barely had time to react as Nunoboko dissolved into chains, wrapping around Ares's limbs with precision. The chains tightened, locking him in place as Naruto's chakra manipulated the very atmosphere around them.

Naruto's power was no longer constrained by the typical laws of nature. With a thought, the gravity around them increased to 1000 times that of Earth, and the atmospheric pressure surged to a million times that of the planet's normal level. The forces acting on Ares were so immense that his movement was effectively frozen in place. It was a move that caught Ares off guard, and the overwhelming pressure kept him immobilized.

As the chains dug into his limbs, seals crawled across Ares's body. Naruto used his Fuinjutsu to impose blockades, restricting Ares's power, while his strikes—delivered with the precision of Gentle Fist—paralyzed Ares's body. Each blow Naruto landed further crippled the foe's ability to act. Though Ares had no chakra points or gates like a traditional ninja, Naruto's chakra seeped into him, creating blockades that interfered with his internal systems. The seals acted swiftly to seal Ares's abilities and cripple his power.

"I already expected seals when I saw that sword," Ares said calmly, unfazed. His body contorted, engulfing Naruto as he compressed down to the size of an atom, ready to explode with unimaginable force.

Naruto's reaction was immediate. With a shunshin, he vanished from the small space, evading the explosion with ease. At the same time, he summoned two Rasenshuriken—massive, spinning orbs of destructive energy. The Rasenshuriken flew toward Ares, aiming to overwhelm him with their power, while Naruto focused on pulling Ares toward him using gravity manipulation.

But Ares was ready. With a mere flick of his wrist, Ares canceled Naruto's pull with a powerful energy slash, severing the gravitational force before Naruto could get close. Immediately, Ares unleashed a rain of arrows that streaked through the air, each one imbued with enough power to obliterate anything in its path. The arrows exploded upon reaching a certain height, creating an inferno of destruction that filled the entire arena.

To further ensure his dominance, Ares raised a barrier around Naruto, trapping him within a sphere of energy. The explosion-filled arena became a hellscape, and Naruto found himself forced to block with all his might. Every direction was an onslaught of Ares's power, but Naruto stood firm.

In response, Naruto grounded himself and activated his ultimate defense: Diamond Realm Mandala. His Nunoboko sword transformed, becoming a massive spear that he struck into the ground with all his might. The impact sent out a purifying barrier in the shape of a mandala, radiating outward. This special barrier was unlike anything seen before—it was not just pure chakra; it was imbued with spiritual energy that exorcised all evil spirits and harmful energies. Ares's arrows collided with the barrier, but they fizzled out, unable to touch Naruto.

Yet Ares was not one to be easily deterred. He continued his barrage, determined to break through Naruto's defenses.

In that moment, Naruto's eyes began to shine with intense focus. He released a bone-chilling howl called Grey Noise, a technique of Yin-Yang abilities that Kurama had passed down to him. The howl was not just sound—it sealed away Ares's abilities, preventing him from using his full range of powers. It was a technique of utter domination, one that left Ares vulnerable and unable to react quickly.

With Ares temporarily immobilized by the howl, Naruto followed through with another devastating move. His eyes glowed with the power of Eyes of Darkness, an ability so twisted it imprisoned the hearts of its victims within an inescapable void. The moment Ares made eye contact with Naruto, his body froze, paralyzed by the oppressive force that weighed down upon him.

Ares's movements were sluggish, his senses dulled by the profound darkness that clouded his mind. Naruto saw the opening, and without hesitation, he unleashed his most powerful attack—an Enhanced Bijuu Bomb.

As the energy coursed through his body, he called upon Chaos Degrade, a technique learned from his bond with Kurama and perfected through years of mastery over Yin-Yang powers. Six Truth-Seeking Balls (TSBs) materialized in front of his hand, floating in a straight line. They began to swirl, transforming into perfect circles, each pulsing with immense energy.

Without warning, Naruto released the energy through them like a railgun, sending a torrent of power racing toward Ares. The attack was not just an explosion of chakra—it was something far more dangerous. The Yin-Yang energy imbued within the technique allowed it to not only strike with unimaginable force but also erase anything it touched from existence. It was a technique of complete destruction, and even the gods would have feared it.

As the attack shot forward, it absorbed the very energy around it, drawing power from the world itself. Kurama's chakra was the controller, guiding the energy through Naruto's hands and into the battlefield. The attack, although originating from Naruto, grew beyond his own power level, amplified to the point that it could reach the level of planetary destruction—and with its full potential, it could even rival the power of a Jupiter-level threat.

For a brief moment, the world seemed to go black and white, a distortion in reality as if the fabric of space and time itself had been temporarily twisted. The ground trembled beneath them, as if the entire world was struggling to contain the sheer force unleashed.

But Ares, who had arrogantly allowed himself to remain calm in the face of such overwhelming power, was not so lucky. His barrier—the one he had raised to block all forms of energy—held for only a fraction of a second. The Chaos Degrade attack crashed into the shield, and in that instant, the force of the collision threatened to tear the very fabric of the world apart. It was only thanks to the Great Immortals' barrier that the entire arena didn't collapse, and even the mighty Ares could not escape the inevitable fate of being erased from existence by the unrelenting power of Naruto's attack.

The attack rose into the sky like a giant beam, a black-and-white pillar of pure destruction that reached high into the atmosphere, but the Great Immortals' protective barrier held it back, preventing total annihilation of the small world they inhabited.

Naruto, his body barely able to withstand the energy from his own attack, gritted his teeth. For a moment, he enhanced his body to its absolute maximum capacity, pushing his limits beyond even what he thought was possible. His Mandala Barrier flared to life, amplifying its strength as he did everything in his power to protect himself. The sheer power of the Chaos Degrade attack was enough to destroy him as well, but his intense chakra control, combined with the barrier, allowed him to survive the near-fatal surge of energy.

As the dust settled and the Yin-Yang energy cloud dissipated from the arena, Naruto stood victorious. The arena had been thoroughly shaken, but he remained standing. With his hand still held out in front of him, he cleared away the remnants of energy that lingered in the air, his voice ringing out clearly and confidently.

"This is the power brought into reality by the combined effort of humanity, and it is the power of your new allies. Is there anyone here interested in forming a bond with us?" he asked, his tone heroic, as though he had just forged a new era.

Kurama, still adjusting to the massive shift in power and the mind-boggling destruction Naruto had just wrought, couldn't help but mutter in his head, "I don't think anyone is going to call you human any time soon." He had been with Naruto for ages, but the sheer magnitude of the power they now wielded was something beyond even his comprehension. From a creature capable of destroying an island to one with the power to erase planets effortlessly—Kurama was still reeling from the transformation.

The immense power that Naruto had unlocked through mastering his techniques was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Kurama realized now how foolish it had been to simply throw around pure energy without careful control or strategy. Finesse had become the true key to their newfound strength, and Kurama had even started learning, researching, and planning how to create his own methods. What had been power without restraint was now a precision weapon.

Though the battle had ended in victory for Naruto, it was clear that both he and Kurama had entered a realm where nothing would be the same again. The threat of Ares had been extinguished, but the true cost of this power—and the responsibility that came with it—was just beginning to settle in.