Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess

Hearing what Kurama said, Riku remained completely calm. Looking at the Nine Tails, he smiled.

"Stinky fish and rotten shrimp? Come on—aren't they tailed beasts too? Can't you give them a little dignity? Honestly, to me, there's no difference between you and them."

Kurama, who had already been harboring deep resentment toward Riku, couldn't hold himself back after hearing that. The nine tails behind him surged with red chakra, lashing toward Riku in fury.

Riku grinned. "Still so easy to piss off?"

The moment he finished speaking, his body flashed, transforming into streaks of lightning as he dodged the relentless barrage of chakra tails.

Boom!

The spot where Riku had just been standing was obliterated. The sheer impact reduced everything in a wide radius to rubble.

Hundreds of meters in all directions were reduced to fragmented terrain.

Each swing of Kurama's chakra tails left behind massive craters, tens of meters wide.

In just seconds, a gigantic depression spanning hundreds of meters had formed in front of the Nine Tails.

But Kurama still couldn't feel Riku's chakra.

Clearly, he hadn't managed to kill him.

"ROAR!"

Kurama bellowed into the shattered landscape.

But Riku had already reappeared beside him in a flash of lightning. "Over here. You're too slow."

Sensing Riku's sudden appearance, Kurama swiped at him with a massive paw.

Bang!

BOOM!

The enormous paw slammed down, creating yet another massive crater where Riku had just been.

But he missed again.

Riku, still calm and composed, flickered into existence on Kurama's other side.

At this point, Riku had completely embodied lightning itself.

His Lightning Body Flicker Technique rivaled even the Fourth Raikage's in speed—perhaps even surpassing it.

Once again, Kurama felt his chakra and struck, but Riku disappeared in another streak of light.

Man and beast clashed in a tense stalemate for ten minutes. Eventually, Riku stood atop a tall tree dozens of meters away, unscathed.

This battle allowed the shinobi of Sunagakure to fully witness Riku's terrifying strength. Toying with the Nine Tails like a pet—his astonishing speed and incredible ability to anticipate attacks made it clear: this wasn't just skill. It was something more.

They now understood the vast gulf in power between Shukaku and the Nine Tails.

Yet even in the face of this monstrous, natural-disaster-level tailed beast, Riku remained completely composed.

He fought the Nine Tails as if it were nothing.

No one from Sunagakure could've ever imagined doing something like this.

Since Chiyo's death, Gaara was the strongest ninja in the village.

Next was Baki—whose strength was on par with Kakashi's, perhaps slightly weaker, but not by much.

Even so, both men felt an immense pressure watching Riku in action.

Because neither of them—none of them—could've lasted ten seconds, let alone ten minutes, against the Nine Tails.

Though enormous, Kurama's speed was terrifying.

Its movements were fast enough to rival the quickest shinobi in Sunagakure.

By logic, a creature of that size shouldn't be able to move at such speed.

But this was reality.

Perhaps only someone like Riku could stand up to it.

Seeing that Riku wasn't injured in the slightest—and even seemed to be enjoying himself—Kakashi and Sakura finally relaxed.

But when they saw Kurama stop suddenly, open his jaws, and begin forming a Tailed Beast Bomb, their hearts sank.

Kakashi's expression darkened. "This is a tailed beast, after all. One Tailed Beast Bomb is enough to level a village. I don't know how Riku plans to survive that."

Sakura didn't know much about the Tailed Beast Bomb, but she could sense the oppressive density of chakra emanating from it.

"Wait—is Riku going to take it head-on?!"

Kakashi was stunned. "W-what? That's insane."

He turned his gaze back to Riku, who still hadn't moved.

"Why... isn't he dodging?"

At that moment, Guy frowned. "He's not going to move. We're right here next to him—he's not the type to abandon others."

Guy understood Riku's nature well. He wouldn't run. Not now.

If the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded with them still nearby, everything within a kilometer radius would be reduced to a flat, smoldering plain.

There would be no escape.

Not even the Body Flicker Technique could cover that much ground in an instant.

Kakashi, Gaara, Baki, even Guy—none of them could make it out alive.

Which meant Riku wouldn't run.

Kakashi shivered at the realization. "No... no way. Is he really going to block it?"

Sakura clenched her fists, teeth gritted. "It's our fault. We're too weak. We've only held him back. He has to worry about us in the middle of battle... I'm so useless.

"If only I were stronger—then maybe I could fight the Nine Tails by his side. I could stand beside him."

"Riku... he's shouldering too much."

Sakura was extremely sensitive to chakra. She could feel the immense strain Riku must be under. Taking a direct hit from that kind of energy could mean death—ten times over.

It was unthinkable.

Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro all remembered what Shukaku had once said during the Chūnin Exams.

Gaara clenched his fists. "He'll make it. He has to make it."

Temari stared at Riku's back, trembling. In that moment, a fierce desire welled up in her heart. She wanted to become strong—strong enough to stand beside Riku and fight as his equal.

And all the shinobi of Sunagakure...

They would never forget this man.

In the midst of their tension, Riku slowly reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out two kunai.

These weren't ordinary kunai—each was inscribed with the formula for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Kurama, meanwhile, had completed the Tailed Beast Bomb and roared at him:

"Go to hell, you bastard!"

The bomb launched toward Riku, radiating intense pressure, covering the distance of tens of meters in an instant.

Temari, Sakura, and the others froze. Their hearts clenched.

They prayed—begged—that Riku could block it.

But... could any human block a Tailed Beast Bomb?

Only the First Hokage had ever dared.

Even Uchiha Madara's perfect Susanoo couldn't withstand Kurama's Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.

If a bomb struck it directly, even in full form, it would still shatter.

During his battle with Hashirama Senju, the only reason it didn't crumble was because Kurama had been sealed inside the Susanoo, providing a massive chakra source and physical buffer.

And even then—Susanoo still broke apart.

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