Chapter 366: The Meeting of Yin and Yang Kurama

"Damn it, this thing's tough!"

Naruto, inside the Susanno covered Kurama, furiously swung the massive purple-black sword again and again at Sage Obito.

Despite how tiny Sage Obito looked beneath the towering form of the armored Kurama,

He effortlessly blocked every blow using just his Six Paths Shakujo staff and even managed to knock the massive beast down multiple times.

Sage Obito glanced at his hand, seemingly now fully adapted to his new body and the Ten-Tails' power.

He looked at the Kurama-Susanoo hybrid, once again rising to its feet after being knocked down, and asked coldly... "After witnessing this kind of power, why do you still refuse to give up?"

Inside the avatar, Naruto was panting heavily, sweat running down his brow. But he still grinned and wiped his forehead.

"Because I'm carrying the hopes of countless people. And besides… I've never once known how to give up!"

Naruto shouted, "Kurama!"

In response, the Kurama opened its mouth, and a massive black orb began forming... 

It was the final and most powerful version of the Tailed Beast Bomb in Nine-Tails Mode.

"Hmph. Resistance is meaningless before the power of the Sage of Six Paths," Obito snorted, slamming his hands to the ground.

In that moment, the earth below him shifted, the Ten-Tails' form emerged, morphing into a towering God Tree, stretching skyward.

Atop this giant tree, four massive blood-red flower buds bloomed.

Each petal was huge, dark red, and gave off a stifling, suffocating feeling as if they'd blossomed after feeding on oceans of blood.

Instead of stamens at the center, each flower had a cannon-like protrusion, its barrel hollow.

From one of the cannons, a black chakra sphere began forming, a Tailed Beast Bomb.

Soon, both sides had completed their attacks.

Naruto fired first, and the two enormous bombs collided midair.

In an instant, the previously dim sky was consumed by the explosion's light.

Armored Kurama was blasted backward, crashing violently into the ground.

No matter how strong the Nine-Tails was, it was still just one Tailed Beast.

It couldn't compete with the Ten-Tails, which held the chakra of eight complete Tailed Beasts.

Even with Susanoo armor, the difference was too great.

At last, Armored Kurama could no longer hold its form, it collapsed and dispersed.

Naruto, Kurama, and Sasuke had already gone well beyond their limits. That Tailed Beast Bomb had been their final move.

"…So this is the power of the Six Paths?" Sasuke's eyes were filled with shock.

Compared to this, even his Rinnegan didn't seem like much.

Sure, Amenotejikara could still catch Obito off guard…

But even so, what could Sasuke do to kill him?

Given Obito's current condition, he could probably withstand Sasuke's Sage Art: Kirin without even flinching.

At that moment, from within the explosion, another black orb shot out...

A Truth-Seeking Ball, was hurtling toward Naruto and Sasuke.

"…Damn it…" Sasuke grit his teeth and grabbed Naruto, preparing to use Amenotejikara one last time.

Even if his ocular powers hadn't recovered, he could still swap places with one of his marked kunai in Konoha, and figure out how to return later.

But suddenly, Sasuke froze.

While sensing the location of his marked kunai, he realized that one of them was nearby.

And the person who held it was…

"Natsuro!" Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"I'm here." Natsuro's voice sounded in his ear, and Sasuke finally relaxed.

There was no need to teleport anymore, because...

Natsuro had appeared in front of them, directly facing the incoming Truth-Seeking Orb.

He calmly extended a chakra-coated hand, and touched the orb.

In the next moment, the orb vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed at all.

Seeing this, Sasuke smiled.

As expected, if he was here, danger no longer existed.

Even though the opponent was a fully realized Sage Obito, Sasuke had an inexplicable trust in Natsuro.

To him, it felt like Natsuro simply didn't know how to lose.

Meanwhile, the smoke from the earlier explosion finally cleared, revealing the battlefield once again.

Sage Obito saw Natsuro standing protectively in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sixth Hokage… so it is you." Obito showed no surprise.

He had already suspected it when he found he couldn't control the Truth-Seeking Orb anymore.

It had likely been teleported out of his range by some kind of space-time ninjutsu.

Although Sasuke had demonstrated spatial abilities, during earlier attacks he hadn't used them to displace the orbs, only to switch positions with rocks.

So Obito concluded that Sasuke could only swap his own position with other objects, not teleport objects independently.

Thus, the only person he knew who could perform such a feat was the user of Flying Thunder God, Natsuro.

If Sasuke had heard this, he would've admitted that although Obito misunderstood Amenotejikara's limits…

He was correct about one thing: Sasuke currently couldn't use it to switch the orb with another object.

Technically, he could swap the orb with a kunai he had marked, but all of his marked kunai were either on allies or back in Konoha.

And since they didn't know that the orb would become inert once it left a certain range, swapping it over would essentially be murder.

Natsuro didn't respond to Obito.

Instead, he looked down at his hand, where a large portion of his chakra coating had been obliterated.

As expected, even with his current body and chakra, he couldn't touch a Truth-Seeking Orb unscathed.

"You're too late, Sixth Hokage!" Obito said gravely.

His most recent knowledge of Natsuro was from when he defeated Nagato…

But now, even Naruto and Sasuke could easily defeat Nagato.

By that logic, they should pose a greater threat than him.

And yet, Obito found himself facing Natsuro with far more caution than he had for either Naruto or Sasuke.

Because this man had repeatedly forced him to change his plans.

Obito had even needed to outmaneuver Nagato just to reclaim the Rinnegan before Natsuro could arrive.

Obito braced himself.

He had inherited the power of the Sage of Six Paths, he would not lose again!

"Too late? I'd say I'm just in time," Natsuro replied.

His divine ceremonial robes fluttered gently in the wind.

"Hmph! Talk all you want—in the face of absolute power, all you'll find is despair. Even a Hokage can't change that!" Obito's eyes widened, his voice rising.

"This world… has no reason to exist anymore. It's already dead!"

As he spoke, Obito began floating into the sky.

The four massive red flower buds on the God Tree began charging up four Tailed Beast Bombs.

But that wasn't enough, from his hand Obito fired six black rods, each wreathed in the same red flame as the tendrils around his neck.

Then, he began weaving hand seals at lightning speed.

"Six Red Yang Formation!"

As Sage Obito finished his hand seals, the six black rods embedded into the ground formed a hexagonal Six Red Yang Formation. Each barrier wall appeared to burn with crimson flames.

This formation was a level higher than the Four Red Yang Formation, which required four Kage to perform together.

The fact that Obito could form this alone showed just how terrifying his power and chakra reserves were.

Despite Obito's actions, Natsuor didn't react or attempt to stop him. He simply stood calmly, letting Obito do whatever he pleased.

Then, he turned to Naruto and extended his fist toward him.

Naruto, who had been staring wide-eyed, clearly shocked by something, snapped back to reality and bumped fists with him.

In that instant, within their bodies, the two halves of the Nine-Tails finally met face to face.

"Long time no see, my other half. How have you been?" The Yin Kurama inside Natsuro looked at the Yang Kurama inside Naruto and spoke calmly.

"Hmph. So I wasn't imagining it during that last fight," the Yang Kurama responded.

In the heat of battle, his attention had been focused entirely on supporting Naruto, so he hadn't had time to confirm what he was sensing.

But now it was clear, he had indeed sensed the presence of his other half's chakra.

"Can you spare me some chakra?" Yang Kurama asked. "My recovery speed can't keep up with Naruto's chakra consumption anymore."

"Tch… being asked by my other half really feels weird." Yin Kurama smirked. "Unfortunately, I can't help you. Because the next battle is between the Sixth Hokage and that terrifying guy in the sky."

"It's fine. Give it to him," Natsuro suddenly interjected, "...I don't need that much Nine-Tails chakra."

"Hmph, you said it. Don't blame me if I run out of chakra during our fight," Yin Kurama scoffed.

"I won't blame you. Besides… I won't lose." Natsuro replied.

"There it is again, that absolute confidence of yours." Yin Kurama sounded frustrated, "I don't get it. How can you be so sure even after seeing someone wielding power equal to the Sage of Six Paths?"

"Because he's Natsuro, that's why." Naruto finally spoke, cutting in with a firm, trusting voice.

Even though there were four Tailed Beast Bombs still forming up above, now that Natsuro was here, he believed everything would be okay.

"Hmph! Naruto's right," Yang Kurama added begrudgingly. "As much as I hate to admit it… that other half of mine, Sixth Hokage, his strength already surpasses the First Hokage's back then."

"…What?" Yin Kurama's eyes narrowed.

He remembered that man, the one who bound him with Wood Release, who could crush and reshape him at will.

And now, even he was no match for Natsuro?

Yin Kurama looked toward Six Path Obito.

He wanted to argue that Obito's power far surpassed the First Hokage's… but seeing how confidently both his other half and Naruto trusted him, he felt there was no need to doubt his own jinchūriki.

Besides, he knew just how powerful Natsuro truly was.

When Natsuro sealed him inside his body, he hadn't used any sealing jutsu at all. It was like he wasn't even afraid of the risk of the Nine-Tails going berserk inside him, something that was far more dangerous than external combat.

At first, Yin Kurama naturally refused to accept it. He'd been taken from the Fourth Hokage's body and forcibly sealed into Natsuro, so he had rebelled.

But now, he was quiet.

That silence alone proved the result.

Yin Kurama had tried to fight back, and Natsuro had suppressed him effortlessly.

Now, he simply stayed calm.

"Alright, Naruto, after this, give some of your chakra to Sasuke. Then get some rest." Natsuro retracted his hand and spoke gently.

"Got it!" Naruto replied, sounding excited.

After all, he was a jinchūriki, and now Natsuro was one too.

Both of them hosting the Nine-Tails made Naruto feel like they were kindred spirits. It made him genuinely happy.

At first, when Yang Kurama told Naruto that Natsuro had the other half of the Nine-Tails, Naruto had been stunned.

But after hearing the explanation, he understood, Natsuro had somehow retrieved the Yin Kurama from the Shinigami's stomach.

He had no idea how Natusor pulled that off… But, if it was him, then he knew there'd be no problem.

Then, Natsuro used Flying Thunder God to teleport Naruto and Sasuke next to Tsunade.

Turning back alone, he now faced Sage Obito, who had wrapped himself in a black curtain-like barrier made from Truth-Seeking Orbs for defense, resembling a spiritual ribbon.

"Sixth Hokage, even you can't teleport all four Tailed Beast Bombs away at once with Flying Thunder God!" Obito declared.

"Whether I can or can't—isn't for you to decide, rogue of the Uchiha clan—Obito Uchiha."Natsuro gave him a faint, almost mocking smile.

"Hmph! Still so stubborn. Then let the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Bombs wipe away every last shred of hope you all have left!"Obito roared.

At that moment, his body was completely enclosed in the Truth-Seeking Orb shroud, and the four colossal Tailed Beast Bombs continued charging above...

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