"What did you say? How do you know the old man's name?"
Kurama's furious glare faltered—shocked disbelief replacing rage.
Only he ever called him that. Only Hagoromo knew that name.
How could this loud brat possibly know it?
"Nine Tails," Naruto said, his tone calm but intense. "Let's talk when we survive this. If I die here, wouldn't you die too?"
"…Hahahaha."
Kurama chuckled low in his chest, half in awe, half in disbelief.
"I see… What a funny kid."
A surge of thick, red chakra exploded from beneath Kurama's paws, rushing toward Naruto. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed him whole.
Gulp—
Gulp—
Red bubbles gurgled up around Naruto's unconscious body. With every pulsing sound, the bubbles multiplied, until his whole body was wrapped in a bubbling, burning red cloak.
Even the python wrapped around him screeched and uncoiled, the chakra literally melting it off his body.
"Nani?!"
Orochimaru yelped, yanking his hand back like he'd touched molten iron. He stared at Naruto in disbelief, his voice laced with both awe and irritation.
"Orochimaru! You've been bullying my friends long enough…"
Naruto's eyes snapped open, glowing crimson. His teeth had sharpened into fangs, and his chakra-cloaked body simmered with pure, feral power.
"Now it's my turn."
He slammed his claws into the ground and grinned at Orochimaru with the smugness of someone who knew he had just flipped the power scale upside-down.
Swoosh—
With a swipe of his arm, a massive red chakra claw extended and lunged toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "Tch!"
He leapt sideways onto a tree branch just in time. The chakra claw slammed into the massive tree behind him with a sickening crunch, tearing straight through its trunk.
The upper half of the tree creaked—and then snapped, crashing backward into the forest with a thundering BOOM.
"That's definitely Nine Tails' chakra…"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. This was no longer a game. Two thick tails now lashed behind Naruto like whips of living fire.
Whoosh!
Naruto vanished.
"Fast—too fast!" Orochimaru scanned wildly. "Where—?!"
Above.
Naruto was already diving from high above him, twin chakra claws extended and descending like a demon comet.
CRASH!
The tree branch Orochimaru stood on exploded under Naruto's attack, shattering into kindling. But Orochimaru had dodged again, leaping to the forest floor.
Naruto landed with a thunderous stomp, cratering the ground and kicking up a tsunami of dust and debris. He shook off the rubble and growled—now with a third tail growing behind him.
Orochimaru's arms drooped unnaturally—shoulder joints popped loose—and his body contorted like a snake shedding its skin. His tongue lolled out, eyes gleaming.
"Three tails already… This brat's becoming a real pain."
Inside, Naruto's mind was swirling.
The violent chakra was flooding everything, eating into his thoughts, pushing him closer to the edge of consciousness.
"Hey, brat."
Kurama's voice rang in his mind again.
"You go any further, you'll fry your brain. No one likes a drooling idiot."
Was…was that a warning? From Kurama?
Naruto blinked in surprise. But there was no time to ponder it.
"Thanks, Nine Tails."
He gritted his teeth and charged Orochimaru again, pushing through the haze.
"Array of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
Hhhrraaaagghhh!!
Orochimaru threw his head back, mouth yawning open, and dozens of black serpents burst out of him, flooding the battlefield like a wave of fangs.
The snakes reared up—five meters tall—each opening its mouth to reveal a hidden blade.
Naruto skidded to a halt.
Then he punched the ground.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The earth cracked. A shockwave ripped outward from the crater, tearing through the wave of snakes like a nuke through tissue paper.
Blood mist exploded into the air.
And still the shockwave rolled on, uprooting trees like weeds. Whole trunks were torn from the earth and flung across the forest like matchsticks.
Orochimaru tumbled end over end, only stopping when he grabbed onto a jagged rock.
Coughing, he wiped blood from his lips, and looked up at the carnage.
"…So this is the Nine Tails' power."
The once-lush forest was now a war-torn wasteland.
He turned to glance at Sasuke, unconscious nearby.
"I've planted the curse mark. Mission complete. I should retreat…"
But then he paused.
Naruto had raised his head.
A black sphere was spinning at his mouth—red and blue chakra spiraling into it like a vortex.
"…Oh. That's not good."
Orochimaru's smirk twitched. He could feel it—the incoming catastrophe.
He wasn't going to outrun this one.
(End of Chapter 46)