Chapter 71 – Probing and Observing 试探与观察

Naruto sat cross-legged with his hands tightly clenched. Chakra continuously surged within his body, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans formed on his forehead. In the palm of his hand, a powerful Wind Release chakra was rapidly swirling and taking shape, forming a miniature version of the "Rasenshuriken". Yamato stood not far away, observing him. A trace of relief showed in his eyes, but he still maintained a serious expression.

"Naruto, you've progressed fast, but there're basics you need to know," Yamato said calmly and firmly.

Naruto stared at him in confusion and put down his hands. "Huh? What knowledge?"

Yamato stepped forward and used his chakra to create a simple wooden chart. Pointing at the five elemental symbols on it, he said, "There is a relationship of mutual generation and restriction among the chakra of the five attributes. Although the chakra of Wind Release has extremely strong destructive power, it is restrained by Fire Release. That is to say, if you were to fight an enemy with Fire Release abilities, like Sasuke, your Wind Release might be suppressed by his Fire Release."

Naruto was stunned, and his brows knitted into a frown. "Wind Release is afraid of Fire Release? Then is all the hard work I put into practicing this Rasenshuriken in vain?"

Yamato shook his head. "It's not useless. You need to be strategic. Wind Release can boost Fire Release. If you team up with a Fire Release user, your Wind can make Fire super-strong. When fighting Sasuke, use your brain, find his weak spots, don't just charge in."

After hearing this, Naruto's mouth twitched. Although he was unwilling to admit it in his heart, he understood what Yamato meant. He took a deep breath, clenched his fists and said firmly, "I'll get stronger for sure! I'll bring Sasuke back without fail!"

...

In the forest, the atmosphere of the battle grew tenser, and the fluctuations of chakra filled the air. Kakuzu broke free from Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique, his face looked gloomy.

As soon as he finished speaking, Choji let out a roar and rushed out from behind the tree. His body instantly grew larger, transforming into a huge meaty ball, and crashed towards Kakuzu with a loud bang. The huge impact generated a gust of wind, but when Choji's attack hit Kakuzu's body, there was a dull thud.

Kakuzu stood there with a cold smile. A layer of black sheen covered the surface of his body. He had used the Earth Spear technique to completely block Choji's attack. Choji was sent flying back, crashing through two large trees and hitting the ground. He grabbed his shoulder and gasped, "Damn, even that attack didn't work..."

Kakashi formed hand seals with both hands and successfully copied Kakuzu's Earth Spear technique with his Sharingan. He quickly made a move, gathering chakra in his hand to form the familiar Lightning Blade, the "Chidori". With the insight of the Sharingan, he found Kakuzu's weak point. His figure turned into a bolt of lightning and stabbed towards Kakuzu's chest.

"Puchi!"

The Chidori precisely pierced through Kakuzu's heart. Lightning burst out, and Kakuzu's body trembled violently. His eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe that he had actually been hit. Kakashi withdrew the Chidori, glared coldly at the fallen Kakuzu, then turned to face Hidan, poised to handle him next.

However, a strange sound came from Kakuzu's body. He suddenly stood up, his expression still ferocious, as if the fatal blow just now had no effect on him at all, and he kicked Kakashi away. Kakuzu's body suddenly split open, and four faceless ghosts emerged from his body. Each of them exuded a powerful chakra aura.

Sure enough, as soon as one of the faceless ghosts appeared, it quickly disintegrated. Part of it turned into a puff of black smoke and dissipated, and the rest turned into a puddle of black liquid and fell to the ground. The three remaining faceless ghosts started circling in the air, getting ready for the next attack.

Seeing this, Hidan clicked his tongue and complained dissatisfiedly, "Hey, hey, Kakuzu, don't let your 'lackeys' die as soon as they come out. It's so embarrassing."

Hiding behind a tree with wide eyes, Lin Yuan muttered softly, "Why did they make me hide? I wanted to tell them about Kakuzu's powers, but got warned and silenced. So frustrating."

=====================

鸣人盘膝而坐,双手紧紧握在一起,体内查克拉不断涌动,额头渗出豆大的汗珠.他的手心中,一股强大的风遁查克拉正在急速旋转成型,形成了一个微缩版的 "螺旋手里剑".大和站在不远处观察着,眼中露出一丝欣慰,却依然保持着严肃.

"鸣人,你的进步很快,但有些基础的知识,你必须要懂." 大和的声音冷静而坚定.

鸣人疑惑地看向他,放下了双手:"嗯?什么知识?"

大和走上前,用查克拉制造出一个木制的简易图表,指着上面的五个元素标记说道:"五属性查克拉之间存在着一种相生相克的关系.风遁的查克拉属性虽然有极强的破坏力,但却受火遁克制.也就是说,如果你要和拥有火遁能力的敌人交战,比如佐助,你的风遁可能会被他的火遁压制."

鸣人愣住了,眉头皱成一团:"风遁怕火遁?那我辛辛苦苦练这个螺旋手里剑,是不是就没用了?"

大和摇头:"并不是没用,而是要讲究策略.风遁可以增强火遁的威力,理论上如果你和一个火遁忍者联手,你的风遁能将火遁推向极致.而你与佐助交战时,就必须要用智慧,寻找他的破绽,而不是正面硬碰硬."

鸣人听完,嘴角抽搐,心里虽然不服气,却也明白大和的意思.他深吸一口气,握紧拳头,坚定地说:"不管怎么说,我一定会变得更强的!佐助... 我一定会带他回来!"

...

森林中,战斗的气氛愈发紧张,空气中弥漫着查克拉的波动.角都挣脱了鹿丸的影子束缚术,面色阴沉.

他话音刚落,丁次怒吼一声,从树后冲了出来.他的身体瞬间变大,化为一颗巨大的肉弹,朝着角都轰然撞去.巨大的冲击力带起一阵狂风,但当丁次的攻击命中角都的身体时,却传来了 "嘭" 的一声闷响.

角都冷笑着站在原地,身体表面泛着一层黑色的光泽,他使用了硬化之术,将丁次的攻击完全挡下.丁次倒飞出去,撞断了两棵大树,跌落在地上,捂着肩膀喘着粗气:"可恶,连这样的攻击都没用..."

卡卡西双手结印,使用写轮眼成功拷贝了角都的硬化之术.他迅速出手,查克拉聚集在手中,形成了熟悉的雷电之刃, "雷切".他借助写轮眼的洞察力,找到角都的破绽,身影化作一道雷光,刺向角都的胸口.

"噗嗤!"

雷切精准地刺穿了角都的心脏,电光爆发,角都的身体剧烈颤抖.他瞪大了眼睛,似乎不敢相信自己居然会中招.卡卡西抽出雷切,冷冷地看着倒下的角都,转身看向飞段,准备继续解决他.

然而,角都的身体却发出一阵诡异的声音.他突然站起身,表情依旧狰狞,仿佛刚刚的致命一击对他毫无影响并踢飞了卡卡西.角都的身体突然裂开,从身体内冒出四只无面鬼,每一只都散发着强大的查克拉气息.

果然,其中一只无面鬼刚出现就迅速崩解,一部份化为一团黑烟消散,其余的变成一团黑色的液体落在地面.剩下的三只无面鬼则开始在空中盘旋,准备下一波攻击.

飞段见状,啧了一声,不满地吐槽:"喂喂,角都,你的 '小弟' 别一出来就死掉啊,太丢人了吧."

林远躲在树后,瞪大了眼睛,低声喃喃:"为什么他们要我躲起来啊,想告诉他们角都的能力却被警告和禁言了,烦..."