Chapter 214 : Naruto Broke Out Nine Tails Chakra
Neji nodded. "Okay."
Then he opened his Byakugan and began scanning the area within 500 meters.
Soon, he located the positions of the four sealing tags.
"Found them."
After Neji reported the precise locations of the four tags, Riku turned to Guy. "Mr. Guy, these four tags need to be removed simultaneously. Please head to the positions Neji just mentioned and prepare. The four of you will remove them together—Kakashi-sensei will handle this one here."
Guy nodded in agreement.
After a quick discussion, the four of them moved out to their assigned positions.
Riku then turned to Sakura. "Once the tags are removed, you’ll charge in and smash this stone apart."
Sakura nodded seriously.
Naruto stood to the side, clearly anxious. He was desperate to know Gaara’s condition.
After a few minutes, Guy and the others reached their assigned spots, and Kakashi positioned himself over the tag on top of the large boulder.
At the count of three, all five of them simultaneously removed the sealing tags.
The moment the tags were lifted, Kakashi leapt off the boulder.
Sakura, who had been ready this whole time, charged forward. "Bastard!"
Hearing her shout her usual battle cry, several stress lines appeared on Riku’s face.
Why does she always yell that before using her Strength of a Hundred Technique? It’s like she has to build up anger first...
But then he remembered Tsunade’s training methods and understood.
No wonder she uses her monstrous strength with such force. Tsunade must’ve drilled this into her.
"It seems Tsunade’s really been pushing her hard," Riku muttered.
Sakura leapt under the boulder and slammed her fist into it.
Boom!
BOOM!
With a single punch, the massive rock cracked and then completely shattered, the resulting shockwave rumbling through the surrounding area.
Chiyo’s eyes narrowed slightly. "That’s definitely the monstrous strength technique used by the slug princess."
At that moment, deep within the cave, Akatsuki had already extracted Shukaku from Gaara.
Deidara glanced at Itachi. "Which one is the Nine Tails’ Jinchūriki? If possible, let’s take him this time."
But before he finished speaking, Itachi cut in coldly. "You two should focus on surviving first. Riku is here. You think you’ll manage to capture the Nine Tails’ Jinchūriki in front of him? That’s not going to happen."
Sasori added, "That Riku guy really is troublesome. Still, it’s not impossible to take the Nine Tails’ Jinchūriki. We just need a way to lure him away from Riku’s side."
Itachi fell silent. He wasn’t keen on the idea of letting Deidara get close to Naruto.
But then, Pain’s voice echoed telepathically. "Tell them."
Itachi had no choice. After a moment of thought, he said, "When they enter, the first person to shout will be him."
Deidara blinked, confused. "That’s... your clue?"
He wanted to protest, but Itachi ignored him and walked away.
Nagato considered Itachi’s input sufficient and spoke next. "Alright. We’ll end it here. Sasori, Deidara—if you can’t win, don’t push it. Don’t die."
His real message was clear: Akatsuki didn’t need the Nine Tails yet. They had only just started with the One Tail—there were still many Tailed Beasts to go before Naruto’s turn.
Itachi took a final look at the crumbling cavern entrance before vanishing into the darkness.
Elsewhere in the ninja world—
Uchiha Itachi and Kisame returned to their physical bodies.
Kisame slung Samehada over his shoulder and chuckled. "That guy’s really something. Last time I fought him, I ended up seriously injured. If it weren’t for Samehada, I’d be dead."
Having faced Riku once before, Kisame still carried a deep respect—and fear—of Riku’s strength. Back then, he’d truly felt what it meant to be overwhelmed.
Riku wasn’t someone a normal shinobi could hope to beat.
Even though Itachi had only used 30% of his chakra during this encounter—and possibly couldn’t even activate his Mangekyō Sharingan—he still came out on the losing end.
Still, the power Riku possessed was undeniable.
Itachi remained silent, lost in thought—not about whether Riku was strong, but what kind of person he was. What was Riku’s stance toward Sasuke? Toward the village?
But knowing that Riku served as Tsunade’s personal guard, Itachi could roughly guess where his loyalties lay.
In response to Kisame’s question, Itachi finally spoke. "He’s very strong. His strength is likely on par with the Legendary Sannin—maybe even stronger."
Kisame let out a low whistle. "He already had Kage-level strength when we fought him. Who knows how much stronger he is now? If he’s stronger than even Jiraiya... capturing the Nine Tails’ Jinchūriki won’t be easy."
To Kisame, if both he and Itachi couldn’t defeat Riku, then likely no one in the Akatsuki could—except maybe Pain himself.
And if Riku, Jiraiya, and Tsunade joined forces, they would surpass even the original Sannin in terms of sheer power.
To him, Orochimaru was already outclassed. And with such a strong roster in Konoha, getting Naruto out of there would be a nightmare.
Itachi said nothing more, simply looking up at the sky.
At that moment, Riku led the others into the cave.
As soon as they entered, Naruto saw Deidara casually sitting on Gaara’s body—who was clearly dead by this point—using him as a cushion.
This sight made Naruto snap.
"Bastard! You’re sitting on Gaara’s body?!"
Deidara looked completely unconcerned. "He’s dead. What’s wrong with sitting on a corpse?"
That pushed Naruto over the edge.
"ASSHOLE!"
His chakra flared violently.
Deidara’s expression changed slightly. Based on Itachi’s earlier tip, he now understood: So that’s him. The first one to shout. Makes sense—this guy’s brain is as simple as it gets.
Behind him, Sasori locked eyes with Chiyo, who had just entered with the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, the Nine Tails’ chakra surged violently from Naruto’s body. His eyes changed shape, and a crimson chakra cloak formed around him.
Kakashi’s expression hardened. This is bad.
He immediately moved to Naruto’s side. "Naruto, calm down!"
His words brought Naruto back slightly from the brink, but the chakra cloak remained.
BOOM!
The ground around him cracked under the pressure of the demonic chakra.
The Nine Tails’ power was terrifying—even more so now that Riku was seeing it in person for the first time.
So this is the Nine Tails’ chakra... It really is on another level compared to the others.
Kakashi hesitated, unsure whether to use the sealing charm Jiraiya had given him.
Then, Riku stepped forward.
He placed a firm hand on Naruto’s shoulder.
Instantly, the violent chakra dissipated.
Even Kurama, sealed within Naruto, felt the oppressive force of Riku’s chakra invading.
The feral cloak of chakra was scattered in a single moment by that pressure.
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