"Boom!!!"
When Naruto appeared in the ward via the Flying Thunder God Technique, using the profound Chakra sensory link with his mother for a Flying Thunder God jump, he was met with a highly impactful scene.
The dust had not yet settled, and broken bricks and stones rattled down. Urashiki's body directly smashed through the ward's thick wall, falling heavily onto the hospital corridor floor amidst the sound of impact and the roar of the collapsing wall, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust.
"Mom! Are you okay?!"
Naruto's gaze first anxiously swept towards the familiar figure in the ward. Only after confirming that Kushina, though her clothes were slightly disheveled, was unharmed, did his heart somewhat settle.
"Naruto?!"
Hearing her son's voice, Kushina whipped her head around, surprise flashing across her face, quickly replaced by worry. Seeing Naruto was fine, she first breathed a sigh of relief, then urgently shouted, "I'm fine! Don't come over, stay away from that guy!"
Although the recent exchange made Kushina feel that this enemy "didn't seem as ridiculously strong as she imagined," his bizarre abilities and the mention of his target being Naruto made her unwilling to let her son take even the slightest risk.
Just now, the fishhook that had pierced Kushina's back was passively pulled out of her body due to Urashiki being sent flying and the fishing line being tugged.
A strange sensation welled up in Kushina's heart. The moment the fishhook entered her body, she distinctly felt something being forcibly "hooked" away from within her.
It was an odd sense of emptiness, similar to Chakra being stripped away. According to the Third Hokage's warning and what she had just witnessed, being hit by this fishhook should have resulted in a massive drainage of Chakra, leaving one in an extremely weakened and immobile state, just like the Third Hokage now.
But... Kushina moved her limbs, and the massive Chakra flow within her body was still surging powerfully.
Aside from a slight stinging sensation where she was pierced in the back, she felt no signs of weakness or power decay; her mental and physical states were still at their Peak.
What Kushina didn't know was that although life energy had granted her a perfect life form, almost identical to a true resurrection.
Her intrinsic essence was still based on Edo Tensei. And one of the most core and counter-intuitive characteristics of an Edo Tensei body is "infinite Chakra."
The Chakra stolen by that fishhook was, for her, merely an amount that could instantly regenerate and replenish from the "Origin" of this special body, far from enough to cause any substantial weakening.
"Hehehe... hahaha..."
Just as Naruto was on guard and Kushina was puzzled, a low, yet distinctly joyful laughter emerged from the dust in the corridor.
Urashiki, who should have been in a sorry state and severely injured, slowly supported himself with his arm and stood up from the ground.
He patted his dust-covered white clothes. Although there was still a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth and clear bruises from a punch on his face, the previous furious and ferocious expression had vanished.
In its place was a look mixed with surprise, realization, and... uncontrollable joy.
"Haha... hahaha... This is... truly too 'lucky'! So that's it... No wonder your Chakra felt so 'familiar'..."
He raised his head, first looking at the wary Kushina, then turning to Naruto, whose expression was cold and whose body began to glow with golden Chakra, and finally, his gaze fell upon the dark red fishing rod in his hand.
At the tip of the fishhook, there was a massive, solid, and intensely bright red Chakra orb, like a burning flame, "hooked"!
Inside the orb, a unique and familiar fluctuation emanated—that was the Nine-Tails Chakra!
Urashiki, in that brief moment when the fishhook pierced Kushina's body, had almost entirely "fished out" the immense Nine-Tails Chakra contained within her, whether it was residual Nine-Tails Chakra or Chakra that had long coexisted with and permeated her Soul!
Naruto instantly understood the reason for Urashiki's change in attitude: Urashiki's initial goal, to obtain Nine-Tails Chakra, had been achieved by the "Nine-Tails inheritance" attached to his mother's body!
"Next..." Urashiki's blue Rinnegan slowly closed, and when they opened again, they had transformed into red Rinnegan!
"Returning to my era... the 'plan' can be declared complete!"
"Goodbye, 'Uzumaki Naruto'." Urashiki indifferently glanced at Naruto, "I'm no longer interested in you."
Before his words finished, ripples of black spread through space, forming a stable, pitch-black teleportation gate—Yomotsu Hirasaka!
This is a Bloodline Limit-level space-time Ninjutsu, whose principles and hierarchy are completely different from space-time Ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God Technique, which is based on coordinate positioning and high-speed movement. It directly connects to unknown alternate dimensions or coordinates, and once entered, it's impossible to track or intercept with the Flying Thunder God Technique without leaving a mark.
Naruto gritted his teeth, knowing it was too late.
The next second, Urashiki's figure completely vanished into that profound darkness.
Naruto stood still, his gaze fixed on the Void Realm where Urashiki disappeared. No... wait. Calm down and think.
Although what happened was incredible, now was not the time to explain in detail to Kushina and the Third Hokage. Every second delayed meant another variable.
First, if Urashiki wanted to accurately "return to his own era," he would have to obtain that crucial "key," the turtle-shell-shaped space-time device, the "Kama"!
The strategy instantly became clear. Just continue with the original plan, waiting for the rabbit to come to the stake!
"Sorry, Mom," Naruto quickly turned around, speaking rapidly but clearly to the two people in the ward, "I'll explain the details after this is all over."
As his words fell.
"Whoosh—!"
A flash of golden light, and Naruto's figure instantly vanished. He directly activated the Flying Thunder God Mark coordinate left on Uchiha Satsuki.
——————
Outside Konoha Village, in a sparsely wooded forest.
Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Boruto, and Uchiha Satsuki, whom Naruto used as a coordinate, were moving quickly.
"Naruto?!"
A subtle spatial fluctuation, followed by Naruto's familiar figure appearing without warning beside Satsuki. His sudden appearance startled all three, and Sasuke immediately stopped, asking in a deep voice.
"How is it? Is Konoha Village okay?!" His voice carried a rare urgency.
"Konoha is fine, the attack was stopped." Naruto steadied himself, briefly reporting their safety. Seeing Sasuke and Boruto visibly relax, he immediately continued, explaining what had happened in Konoha.
Upon learning that Urashiki had obtained Nine-Tails Chakra, Sasuke's recently relaxed brow furrowed tightly again.
"It's time to put an end to this."
Sasuke was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "So that's it. He clearly had the ability to perform spatial jumps, yet he didn't immediately flee far away."
He raised his head, and the Ocular Power in his exposed Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan subtly flowed.
"Urashiki's Chakra signature hasn't completely left the Konoha surrounding area; it's just constantly being concealed." Sasuke's voice returned to its calm, analytical mode. "It seems Urashiki was indeed badly injured in the previous battle and the recent attack."
"That level of injury, combined with the consumption of forcibly activating Advanced space-time Ninjutsu, means he absolutely cannot recover to a state where he can perform ultra-long-distance or precise time jumps in a short period."
Sasuke looked at Naruto, "He needs the 'Kama' to ensure he can return accurately. And before he recovers from his injuries and is capable of launching another attack or taking other actions..."
"—That's our best chance to take the initiative and completely eliminate him. We can't wait for him to recover, and we certainly can't let him get close to the 'Kama'. We must find him and deal with him while he's at his weakest."
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"