Chapter 183: The Yellow Flash Returns
Watergate stared at the dozens of ANBU surrounding him.
Every single one of them wore a blank expression.
Their eyes lacked any emotion.
They resembled puppets.
Yet Watergate knew better than anyone how dangerous they truly were.
These were Konoha's elite ANBU.
And unlike ordinary enemies, he couldn't simply strike them down.
Most importantly—
Kurama had specifically forbidden him from using chakra.
That restriction immediately sealed away most of his combat methods.
Flying Thunder God.
Sealing techniques.
Rasengan.
Barrier techniques.
None of them could be used.
"Well..."
Watergate scratched his cheek.
"This is a little awkward."
The surrounding ANBU slowly began moving.
One step.
Then another.
Like hunting wolves tightening a circle around their prey.
At the front stood an ANBU wielding a short blade.
At his side was a sensory ninja.
Further back were several specialists clearly prepared to unleash ninjutsu.
The formation was perfect.
Watergate sighed.
"As expected of ANBU."
"Even after being controlled, their instincts remain."
The next moment—
The first ANBU moved.
A flash of steel cut through the darkness.
His speed was astonishing.
But in Watergate's eyes—
Too slow.
Far too slow.
He tilted his head.
The blade brushed past his hair.
At the same instant, Watergate's body twisted.
His shoulder slammed into the attacker's chest.
Bang!
The ANBU flew backward.
The surrounding ANBU immediately accelerated.
Several figures attacked simultaneously from different angles.
If Naruto had been controlling his own body, he might have chosen brute force.
But Watergate was different.
His combat style had always favored precision.
The battlefield seemed to slow around him.
Every movement.
Every breathing rhythm.
Every muscle contraction.
Nothing escaped his observation.
One step forward.
A slight lean.
A turn of the waist.
An elbow.
A shoulder strike.
A sweep.
Within seconds—
Three ANBU collapsed.
Not heavily injured.
Simply unable to continue fighting.
Watergate deliberately avoided lethal force.
Unfortunately—
The enemy did not share that consideration.
A barrage of shuriken suddenly erupted from behind.
The attack sealed off every escape route.
Watergate's expression twitched.
"No chakra."
"No Flying Thunder God."
"No Rasengan."
"Nine-Tails, are you trying to torture me?"
He jumped.
A movement so simple it seemed absurd.
Yet that single jump carried him several meters into the air.
The shuriken passed harmlessly beneath him.
Several ANBU widened their eyes.
That wasn't chakra-enhanced movement.
It was pure physical ability.
Or more accurately—
The terrifying body that Naruto had built through years of training.
Watergate himself seemed surprised.
"...Naruto's body has become this strong already?"
He landed lightly.
Then froze.
Because dozens more ANBU had already surrounded him.
"Ah."
"Right."
"Still in a fight."
The attacks came again.
This time from all directions.
Watergate finally realized a problem.
Kurama had prohibited chakra.
But he never said anything about skill.
The Fourth Hokage's eyes narrowed.
For a brief moment—
The surrounding ANBU felt as though they were facing a completely different person.
The atmosphere changed.
The pressure changed.
Even the posture changed.
One ANBU lunged forward.
Watergate stepped toward him instead.
At the last moment, he seized the attacker's wrist.
Twist.
Disarm.
Throw.
The ANBU became a projectile.
He crashed directly into two others.
Before they hit the ground—
Watergate was already moving.
One palm struck a shoulder joint.
Another hand redirected a blade.
A knee impacted an abdomen.
An elbow connected with a neck.
Everything flowed together like water.
No wasted movement.
No unnecessary force.
Pure efficiency.
Pure battlefield experience.
The surrounding ANBU collapsed one after another.
Five.
Eight.
Twelve.
Twenty.
The scene gradually became absurd.
Even Watergate himself felt embarrassed.
"I haven't fought like this in years."
Back inside Naruto's mind—
Kurama watched the battle through Naruto's senses.
His ears twitched.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The giant fox's expression slowly darkened.
"Damn genius."
He remembered something.
Back during the Third Shinobi War.
The reason the Fourth Hokage became legendary wasn't Flying Thunder God.
Flying Thunder God merely allowed him to appear anywhere.
The truly terrifying thing—
Was what happened after he arrived.
Kurama clicked his tongue.
"No wonder everyone called him a monster."
Meanwhile, inside the New Eight Trigrams Seal—
The petrified Shisui finally regained a fragment of awareness.
His stone eyelid cracked slightly.
Through the tiny gap, he saw the outside world.
Then he saw Naruto.
Or more accurately—
The person controlling Naruto.
The movements.
The reactions.
The combat instincts.
The overwhelming familiarity.
Shisui's single remaining eye widened.
Even in his petrified state, disbelief surged through him.
[Impossible...]
[That fighting style...]
[That presence...]
[No...]
[It can't be...]
And outside—
Watergate had just thrown another ANBU into a wall.
He looked at the remaining crowd and sighed.
"How troublesome."
"I suddenly understand why Kakashi complains about paperwork."
"Being Hokage really is exhausting."
The surviving ANBU collectively froze.
For a brief moment—
Every one of them felt as if they were standing before the legendary Yellow Flash himself.
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