After sending the reincarnated First Hokage back to the afterlife, Furen asked Enma to undo the cage transformation.
Outside the cage, Kakashi and Guy quickly approached to check on Furen's condition. Furen, his face full of sorrow, slowly recounted the events of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sacrificing himself using the Reaper Death Seal to take Orochimaru down with him. Naturally, he kept the encounter with the First Hokage a secret.
Upon hearing Furen's explanation, Kakashi and the other Konoha shinobi fell silent.
"And where's Orochimaru?" Furen asked.
Kakashi, pulling his headband down again to cover his Sharingan, deactivated his battle mode since the immediate danger had passed. "Jiraiya-sama went after him. For now, the village is preparing for potential retaliation."
Furen nodded, not expecting Jiraiya to actually catch Orochimaru. After all, that guy could still hold his own in a battle against Four-Tails Naruto without using hand seals.
"I'm going to check on Naruto and the others," Furen said as he began heading towards the area outside Konoha, where he had just sensed the powers of the One-Tail and Nine-Tails.
"Be careful, Furen!" Kakashi barely managed to shout after him. Being former members of the Anbu, they had strict orders to stay and defend the village, even in the wake of the Hokage's death.
In the forest outside Konoha, Gaara, now in a half-tailed beast form, was staring menacingly ahead. His partially transformed body left Sakura trapped in the grasp of his flowing sand.
Naruto, watching his teammate Sakura in grave danger and seeing Sasuke unconscious on the ground, felt a surge of uncontrollable anger.
"You... hurt Sasuke!" Naruto's eyes began to glow red, and the whisker-like markings on his face grew darker and thicker. His body became encased in the bubbling, red chakra of the Nine-Tails, forming the cloak of a tailed beast.
For Naruto… even after Nagato killed his master, Jiraiya, Naruto chose to forgive him.
Even though the Nine-Tails had taken his parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, he chose to forgive the fox.
Even though Obito Uchiha orchestrated the Nine-Tails' attack that led to his lonely childhood, Naruto chose to forgive him.
But when it came to Sasuke, Naruto would never forgive anyone who harmed him. Gaara hurt Sasuke? Naruto was going to destroy him!
Inside Naruto's body, some of the Nine-Tails' chakra leaked out, causing Naruto's anger to push him toward a monstrous transformation. The powerful chakra from the One-Tail and Nine-Tails caused the winds to howl violently around them.
"RAAAHHH!" Gaara, now almost fully transformed into the One-Tail, charged at Naruto.
"RAAAHHH!" Naruto, half-transformed into the Nine-Tails, also roared and charged toward Gaara. The two beasts clashed with raw, animalistic fury, each blow as devastating as any jutsu. Trees fell in droves as the forest was laid to waste by their rampage.
The only one left conscious nearby was Temari, who hid behind a tree, trembling as the two monstrous beings wreaked havoc. When Gaara's tail knocked over a tree, sending it crashing towards her, Furen appeared, catching the tree with one hand and tossing it aside.
"You okay?" Furen turned back and smiled at Temari.
Covered in dust and dirt, Temari looked at Furen in shock. She then rose and threw herself into his chest, trembling. "Gaara... he's going to kill everyone..." she sobbed, her fear overwhelming her.
Furen gently patted her head, comforting her, and then led her to a safe spot.
Temari's affection for you has increased by 10 points.
Furen turned his gaze toward the forest, where the two tailed beasts were still fighting.
The area around Konoha had been utterly devastated, as if by a natural disaster. Following the trail of destruction, Furen finally found them. Naruto, despite being in his tailed beast cloak, still had some semblance of control, maintaining the Three-Tails state. However, Gaara was far gone; his half-transformed state had now fully become the monstrous form of the One-Tail.
"Naruto!" Furen called out, trying to reach him.
Naruto turned, his beast-like eyes softening slightly at the sight of Furen. "He's… my friend… Furen," Naruto muttered, the words barely reaching him through the haze of anger.
However, Gaara overheard, and the mention of "friend" triggered a violent response.
"Friend… FRIEND… FRIEND!!!" Gaara roared, the kanji for "love" on his forehead glowing fiercely. Yellow sand whipped into a frenzy as a massive figure took shape.
The One-Tail, Shukaku, had fully emerged.
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T/N:
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