Chapter 180:
Sure enough, the next second Naruto sensed Sakyo's summoning.
Without any hesitation, Naruto's figure vanished instantly.
…
Rumble rumble~
As soon as he appeared, Naruto saw tiny trees and rivers far below.
All around him was enveloped in a massive, materialized blue chakra.
Sakyo stood beside Naruto, her gaze ice-cold, radiating a killing intent that gave Naruto a headache.
This trip was originally meant to relax.
But now, it seemed Sakyo's mood hadn't improved at all.
"What's going on?"
Naruto looked around and noticed Sakyo's Susanoo wasn't in its complete form—likely due to insufficient chakra, since he could clearly see she was already showing signs of exhaustion.
Sakyo swung the giant fan in her Susanoo's hand once again. A howling gale swept violently toward the ground not far away.
Sure enough, two figures suddenly dashed out from there.
Figures in red cloaks!
Naruto's eyesight was sharp—he recognized them instantly.
Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame!
What were they doing here?
No…
After thinking carefully, Naruto realized their appearance wasn't a coincidence.
He was a jinchūriki—Akatsuki's target.
Normally he stayed inside Konoha and didn't go out, so Akatsuki had no chance.
But now, after Naruto had been wandering outside for so long, it would be strange if Akatsuki didn't show up.
Sakyo's voice carried some doubt as she asked Naruto: "Naruto, is what you said really true?"
"Why, when I asked Uchiha Itachi, he didn't react at all—instead he attacked me?"
Recalling everything that had just happened, Sakyo couldn't help feeling wronged.
Naruto had clearly told her the truth, yet Uchiha Itachi still acted cold and ruthless.
Could it be that Naruto's words were just to comfort her?
Naruto helplessly said to Sakyo: "Little Sakyo, think about it."
"Itachi is currently undercover, and he has his partner with him."
"He can't just directly tell you: 'What Naruto said is right,' can he?"
Reminded by Naruto, Sakyo instantly realized and exclaimed in sudden understanding: "Ah? Wait… yeah, that makes sense!"
"Haha~" Naruto was charmed by Sakyo's reaction and couldn't resist reaching out to pinch her cheek, making Sakyo blush in embarrassment.
After all, as a shinobi, getting so caught up in emotion that she missed such an obvious detail was really inexcusable.
And when Naruto's hand touched Sakyo's delicate little face…
He suddenly felt a sense of crisis from below. Then he saw Uchiha Itachi lock eyes with him, Mangekyō Sharingan open—it looked like he was using genjutsu on him.
"Holy crap!"
Naruto jumped in fright. Could it be because he touched Sakyo's face in front of Itachi that Itachi got angry?
However~
Itachi's genjutsu had no effect.
Because Naruto had a treasure.
During their travels, while shopping with Sakyo, Naruto had bought a necklace cord. The front was woven into a net pouch to hold the Illusion Chakra Crystal Stone, tied at the back.
That's how the Illusion Chakra Crystal Stone necklace was born. Even when soaking in the hot spring, Naruto hadn't taken it off.
So how could Itachi's genjutsu possibly work on Naruto?
Down below, Uchiha Itachi was also very puzzled.
While dodging his little sister's attacks, he had to endure this reality.
Sakyo had awakened the Mangekyō, and her Susanoo was stronger than his.
That was fine—Itachi and Kisame could still cope.
Because Sakyo had very little experience controlling Susanoo—she was just swinging wildly.
Now Naruto had suddenly appeared and was getting handsy with Sakyo.
Itachi naturally couldn't stand it, and he also had business with Naruto.
He needed Naruto to help him act, so he used Tsukuyomi on Naruto.
But soon Itachi discovered something ridiculous: Naruto had a crystal on him that could disrupt the flow of chakra around him, rendering Itachi's genjutsu chakra completely ineffective.
In other words—that stone could actually resist Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu!
If this were discovered and studied, mass-produced… the Uchiha clan's influence in the ninja world would plummet dramatically…
While dealing with the attacks, Uchiha Itachi was thinking about how to break the deadlock.
What he needed to do was abandon the mission without Kisame noticing and send the intelligence back to the village—through Naruto or Sakyo.
Uchiha Itachi didn't yet know that his superior, Shimura Danzō, was already gone.
Currently, only Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he was still Konoha's Uchiha Itachi.
On this side, Naruto seemed to realize something and said to Sakyo: "Little Sakyo, cancel Susanoo. Leave the rest to me."
Sakyo looked at Naruto in confusion: "Is that okay? Uchiha Itachi and that shark-face are really strong."
After saying this, Sakyo suddenly remembered Naruto's freakish combat power…
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly: "It's just acting. Besides you and Kisame who are fighting seriously, everyone else is just putting on a show."
Sakyo: "???"
While Sakyo was confused, a massive amount of water suddenly surged. Naruto saw a white-skinned shark-man weaving through the water mass.
"Water Release — Great Shark Bullet Technique!!!"
A shark as long as a Susanoo arm suddenly formed and charged straight toward Susanoo's chest.
Sakyo snorted coldly: "Just a little shark—what can it do?"
Susanoo raised its palm and slapped down at the shark.
The immense force shook the air, but…
The moment it made contact with the shark, Sakyo's expression changed dramatically.
This shark… was absorbing her chakra?
On the massive Susanoo body, the blue chakra flickered erratically.
The shark's size also grew wildly.
Finally, a water-release shark appeared, nearly the same size as Susanoo.
The shark frantically tore at Susanoo's body. It looked like Susanoo wouldn't hold much longer.
Seeing this, Naruto instantly felt a headache coming on.
Susanoo being taken down by Great Shark Bullet Technique?
This was probably the first time in history.
Sigh…
Exactly—although Sakyo had the hardcore conditions to display near-super-Kage combat power, her battle experience was too poor…
So even Kisame's Great Shark Bullet Technique could take down Sakyo's Susanoo!
Naruto reached out and grabbed Sakyo's small hand, interlocking their fingers. Naruto's chakra began flowing into Sakyo's body.
Although the shark didn't have the ability to bite through Susanoo, it could absorb Sakyo's chakra, preventing her from maintaining it.
And if she couldn't maintain Susanoo in this situation, both Naruto and Sakyo would be in danger.
The two of them were indeed strong, but no matter how strong someone was, they couldn't tank a shark that had absorbed that much chakra with their bare body, right?
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