Chapter 63
Zixu, who had transformed into a divine dragon, roared to intimidate Shukaku and Naruto, who had entered their tailed beast forms. His eyes widened as his gaze fixed on Shukaku's rotund body.
Shukaku felt a shiver run down his spine under Zixu's stare. Forcing himself to suppress the instinct to retreat, his already bloated belly expanded further, swelling like an inflated balloon. Finally, Shukaku slapped his stomach with a claw and expelled a massive sphere of energy infused with sand and razor-sharp winds, hurtling it toward Zixu.
Zixu parted his mouth slightly, unleashing a barrage of wind blades. The sheer cutting force shredded the sand barrier, and even the thunderclouds above showed signs of being sliced apart, revealing glimpses of the bright blue sky behind them.
"Arashi Kaze (Storm Wind)!" The extreme cutting force and the sand sphere eroded one another. Although the sand sphere posed little direct threat to Zixu, the continuously shifting granules inside acted as a grinding force, wearing down the wind blades. However, the wind blades continued penetrating deeper and deeper.
Naruto, in his tailed beast state, snapped out of his trance. He dropped to all fours like a feral beast, his fangs bared and claws extended as he locked eyes with Zixu's dragon form. More and more pale skulls manifested around him, while a dark red sphere of densely concentrated chakra began forming in his mouth.
It resembled a miniature black hole, relentlessly pulling in surrounding chakra. If released, it would surely obliterate the entire forest, leaving Sasuke, Temari, and the others without any hope of survival.
Zixu abandoned his playful demeanor. Crimson clouds of fire rose as Shukaku and Naruto's bodies lifted into the air, seemingly weightless. The wind blades had already pierced the sand sphere, leaving a deep scar on Shukaku's massive tail—though fortunately, it remained intact.
"Hmph." A power even more terrifying than before erupted, but this time, the dragon's aura carried something else—something far more oppressive.
Chakra, boundless like an ocean, surged outward with Zixu at its center. Shukaku, trapped in the storm's eye, felt its full force. The sheer magnitude of chakra emanating from Zixu alone was enough to disrupt Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb before it could fully condense.