Chapter 224 : Naruto Rampage
Under the intense heat, even steel would have melted at Riku’s position.
The Thunder Snakes surrounding him scattered as Sasori ceased releasing his Fire Style and Wind Style techniques.
The immense energy instantly blew apart the condensed Iron Sand, which had formed into a solid Iron Body.
The overwhelming force shattered it completely, scattering the particles back into the air.
Riku looked at Sasori with calm eyes and said, "That was a decent jutsu. If I didn’t have enough strength, I’d probably be dead right now."
That kind of ninjutsu wasn’t something an ordinary shinobi could survive.
But Riku’s words were like a slap to Sasori’s face, stinging with humiliation.
Sasori clenched his fists, refusing to believe that Riku had emerged unscathed.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible! How are you still alive? This is impossible!"
Riku’s expression remained composed. "You still underestimate me. That technique poses no threat to me."
Seeing Riku unharmed, Sakura and Granny Chiyo both breathed sighs of relief. Sakura, especially, had been on the verge of rushing in to shield him herself.
Riku stepped out of the circle of scattered Iron Sand, then vanished in a flash of lightning, reappearing in front of Sasori’s human puppet.
"Do you have anything else left?"
But Sasori had nothing more. Whether taijutsu or ninjutsu, he was completely outmatched by Riku. The battle was already lost.
Sasori remained silent. Riku gave a small, almost disappointed smile.
"So that’s it, huh? A shame. I thought you might surprise me. Still, that last technique wasn’t bad."
With those words, Riku raised his hand. His saber materialized, crackling into existence.
"It’s unfortunate, but for what you’ve done, you have to die."
A surge of purple-gold lightning exploded from the blade.
The very air around them cracked as the lightning danced violently, displaying its terrifying power.
Before striking, Riku looked at Sasori one last time and asked, "Before you die, tell me where Orochimaru is. He used to be your teammate, didn’t he?"
Sasori was silent for a long moment. Then, he told Riku everything he knew about Orochimaru’s location.
As soon as he finished, Riku hurled his saber.
The weapon became a bolt of pure purple-gold lightning, piercing through the chest of Sasori’s giant puppet.
Puff—
A split second later, a deep crack ran across the puppet’s chest, and an eruption of lightning followed.
The massive puppet shattered, reduced to dust in the blink of an eye.
The saber had pierced through to Sasori’s core, destroying his heart.
The battle was over. The battlefield was now silent, save for the wind blowing the remains of the puppet into the air like ash.
Sakura and Granny Chiyo stood tens of meters away, watching the scene unfold.
Chiyo’s expression was somber. Her only grandson was gone.
Sakura let out a shaky breath and gave a weak smile. "Riku... he’s okay."
She had truly been scared for him.
Riku turned around, ready to leave, just as Sakura and Chiyo approached.
Sakura smiled as she neared, but before she could reach him, Riku spoke calmly, "Sasori told me where Orochimaru is. I’ll tell you later. If we find Orochimaru, we’ll find Sasuke."
Sakura stopped in her tracks, murmuring, "Sasuke... we finally have a lead."
But for some reason, she didn’t feel as happy as she thought she would.
She looked at Riku and forced a smile. "So... we can find Sasuke."
Riku didn’t react. His gaze turned toward the direction Deidara had fled.
"I wonder how Kakashi-sensei is doing."
With that thought, Riku turned and darted away. "Wait here. I’ll go check on the situation."
Sakura wanted to follow, but Riku’s speed was far beyond hers—she couldn’t keep up.
Still, she and Granny Chiyo knew where Deidara had gone, so they chased after him.
Soon, Riku reached a forest where Naruto had lost control.
Kakashi and Guy were there, trying to restrain him—but it was no use.
Near Naruto’s feet lay Gaara’s lifeless body.
At this point, Naruto had entered his Three-Tails form. The Tailed Beast Cloak radiated dense, violent chakra.
It was the chakra of the Nine-Tails.
Riku appeared beside Kakashi, his expression darkening. "Kakashi-sensei, what’s going on? Why did Naruto go berserk again?"
He remembered leaving things off peacefully with the Nine-Tails.
Seeing Riku, Kakashi knew his fight must be over. He quickly explained what had happened.
Apparently, when Deidara escaped, he mocked and desecrated Gaara’s body.
That had pushed Naruto over the edge.
Riku understood. This time, it wasn’t the Nine-Tails provoking Naruto—it was Naruto himself, overwhelmed by rage.
If Naruto lost control of his emotions, he would instinctively draw on the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
And that chakra was immensely destructive.
Even the Nine-Tails couldn’t stop him once he lost control—Naruto had to regain consciousness on his own.
Riku looked at Naruto. The Tailed Beast Cloak thickened, and now a fourth tail appeared behind him.
He spoke quickly, "Kakashi-sensei, Guy-sensei—get back. Naruto’s emotionally unstable. With four tails out, you won’t be able to stop him."
Naruto was already beginning to manifest a fifth tail.
Once he reached six tails, not even Jiraiya had been able to stop him.
Even the Deva Path of Pain had been overwhelmed when Naruto hit six tails.
The Nine-Tails was unlike the other Tailed Beasts. Its power was on an entirely different level.
It wasn’t just a matter of strength—it could completely overpower all eight of the other Tailed Beasts.
That was why Hashirama Senju had left the Nine-Tails in Konoha.
Its power was simply too great. And what Naruto wielded now... was only half of the Nine-Tails.
Yet even half had been enough to smash through the Deva Path when Naruto lost control during the Pain invasion.
None of the other Tailed Beasts could do that.
If not for the Mangekyō Sharingan or Wood Style, even Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju would have struggled to suppress the Nine-Tails with brute force alone.
Back in the day, the First Hokage had said the Nine-Tails’ power was too much to ignore. That hadn’t been an exaggeration.
Suppressing it required Wood Style... or the power of the Uchiha clan’s Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even the Hidden Cloud had tried to capture the Nine-Tails before—and failed.
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