Chapter:19

A series of hand seals blurred in rapid succession, and in an instant, hundreds of Narutos materialized, surrounding Aburame Torune.

Torune stood calmly in the center of the mass, his gaze cold and analytical.

"This amount of Chakra... exactly what the intelligence reported," he muttered, seemingly unimpressed.

Naruto gave no response, launching the Shadow Clones forward in an overwhelming charge. The mob buried Torune beneath a sea of Narutos, but the victory was short-lived.

A deafening series of bangs echoed through the forest as Shadow Clones popped like soap bubbles.

Torune emerged unscathed, kunai in hand, dismantling the final wave of clones with calculated precision. He moved with such speed and fluidity that within moments, all the clones were gone.

Naruto, the original, found himself caught in a vice-like grip, Torune's hand clamping down on his head.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Naruto thrashed and screamed, kicking his legs wildly, but it was futile.

Torune ignored the struggling boy, his expression darkening as he muttered to himself.

"Is he going to emerge? If so... I need to act now."

Without hesitation, Torune raised his free hand, his fingers glowing faintly with blue Chakra.

"Five Elements Seal!"

With a powerful thrust, Torune pressed his glowing fingertips onto Naruto's abdomen, directly over the Eight Sign Seal.

"AHHH!" Naruto cried out in agony, his body writhing as the seal burned against his skin.

The jutsu disrupted the flow of the Nine Tails Chakra, severing Naruto's connection to the beast. Torune stepped back, satisfied with his work, and observed Naruto's limp form with disdain.

Naruto's cries echoed through the depths of his consciousness, desperately calling for Ichiro.

"Ichiro! Come out, please! He's hurt Sasuke, and he knocked Sakura unconscious! You have to stop him—beat him like you beat Mizuki!"

But Ichiro didn't respond.

Instead, he observed calmly from within the shared mind space, watching the events unfold.

"Blackening value is rising nicely," Ichiro thought, his lips curling into a faint smirk.

Outside, Torune spoke aloud, misinterpreting Naruto's cries as a sign of surrender.

"Your second personality hasn't emerged. It seems the rumors about you being a threat were exaggerated," he said mockingly. "You're nothing without the power of Nine Tails."

Naruto's face contorted with anger as Torune casually tied him up with a length of rope. He then moved toward Sasuke, who was still struggling on the ground, and bound him as well.

As for Sakura, Torune didn't even bother. He callously kicked her unconscious body off the path and into the nearby brush.

"Sakura!" Naruto screamed, his voice breaking with despair as he watched her disappear into the foliage.

Naruto's emotions surged to their limit, and inside his consciousness, the system's prompt appeared.

[The main personality's emotions have reached a critical value. Do you want to switch personalities?]

Ichiro's eyes glinted with satisfaction.

"Perfect timing," he thought as he glanced at the growing blackening value.

[Current Blackening Value: 5000]

Ichiro's grin widened. "This is even better than Mizuki."

He quickly spent a portion of the value.

[Exchange: Jōnin Taijutsu (Aburame Torune)—500]

[Current Blackening Value: 4500]

With his preparations complete, Ichiro gave the command.

"System, switch personalities."

Outside, Torune grabbed both Naruto and Sasuke by their bindings, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, Naruto's struggling stopped. His body went unnaturally still, and the oppressive silence was broken by a chilling voice.

"As expected of an Elite Jōnin, your reaction time is impressive."

Torune's instincts screamed danger. He leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the sudden burst of killing intent that filled the air.

Where Naruto had stood moments before was now someone else entirely.

The new presence exuded confidence, radiating an aura of menace. With a flick of his wrist, Ichiro grabbed Sasuke and tossed him toward the bushes where Sakura lay unconscious.

"Stay there," Ichiro commanded coldly, not even glancing at the Uchiha.

Sasuke struggled to sit up, his instincts screaming that the person before him wasn't Naruto.

"You're not him," Sasuke rasped, his voice weak.

Ichiro turned, a predatory grin spreading across his face.

"I'm Naruto... and yet, I'm not," he said cryptically, before redirecting his attention to Torune.

"Uzumaki Ichiro, the second personality," Torune said cautiously. "So, the rumors were true."

Ichiro smirked. "Bingo. As a reward, I'll give you exactly what you came for—a taste of Nine Tails Chakra."

As he spoke, a reddish glow began to radiate from his body. The malevolent Chakra spilled forth, forming a dense cloak around him. A single, fox-like tail made of Chakra extended from his back, swaying ominously in the air.

The oppressive aura of the Nine Tails filled the forest, suffocating and paralyzing.

"No... it can't be!" Torune stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief. "I sealed the Nine Tails' Chakra! How is this possible?"

Ichiro laughed darkly. "Nine Tails? Sealed? Don't make me laugh. I don't follow your rules."

Before Torune could react, Ichiro disappeared from sight, reappearing directly behind him.

Torune barely managed to block Ichiro's first strike, crossing his kunai in front of his chest. But the force of Ichiro's attack sent him skidding backward, his feet digging trenches into the ground.

Blood dripped from the corner of Torune's mouth as he looked down at the fractured kunai in his hand.

"He's toying with me," Torune realized, his body trembling.

Ichiro didn't give him time to recover. The red Chakra tail lashed out like a whip, striking Torune in the chest and sending him crashing into a tree.

As Torune struggled to stand, his eyes filled with fear.

"You're not a second personality... You're Nine Tails itself!"

Ichiro's smile widened. "Call me whatever you like. It won't change your fate."

End of Chapter.

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