Ch327. Naruto in pinch 2

The fight between Naruto and Guren continued, becoming only more and more crazed as time went on.

Naruto lost count on how many times he evaded certain death by the slightest margin. Once Guren realized he had an immense healing factor, she started aiming at spots that would be a one-hit kill even for him. Naruto managed to dodge but it usually ended with one of his limbs being separated from his body, his guts spilling out, or similar debilitating injuries. By now, Naruto was not even feeling the pain, his brain too used to it.

Guren, on the other hand, was becoming more and more fed up. She also lost count of how many times she missed the killing blow. During the exchange, Naruto managed to land a hit quite a few times, whether with a physical blow or a Jutsu, but unfortunately for him, her armor prevented any damage from reaching her body. It was obvious the kid had no Jutsu in his arsenal that could harm her.

That said, Guren was also getting nervous and frustrated. She couldn't just stand in her spot and take hits. She had to dodge and keep out of Naruto's attacking range. She was doing hit and run tactics for the entirety of the fight and it took a toll on her mind.

While Naruto could not pierce her armor with a single blow, he was still a jinchuuriki using three tails of his bijuu's power. One strike could crack her armor enough to make the second strike count. She still had to be very careful in this fight.

Guren has lost count of how many times she has repaired her crystal armor by now. Only her depleting chakra reserves were an indicator she was not as unscathed as she outwardly appeared. It was obvious that while she could go on for two more hours with this pace, at this rate, the young jinchuuriki would outlast her unless she landed a killing blow.

The fight was one bloody stalemate full of gore, one combatant desperately trying to stay alive while the other desperately trying to kill him in one strike as nothing else would work.

"Haaa~." Guren took a deep breath and straightened up, looking at the gasping Naruto in apathy. "You are the most irritating brat I had the displeasure to fight against."

She had to admit, there was a bit of admiration for the boy growing inside of her. For the last thirty minutes, he was on the very edge between life and death, yet, he didn't make even a single mistake. Just one would have been enough for her and his head would sport a new addition of a crystal spike going through it. As much as this feat impressed her, Guren was also annoyed to the extreme. She had to relax her body and mind for a second because the frustration was slowly gnawing at her efficiency and she almost made a few mistakes in the last five minutes of their fight. That's why she spoke.

"T-Than-ks." Naruto half-gasped, half-hissed in between his labored breathing. He didn't dare to answer with more than one word lest his focus slips. He couldn't afford that.

His carefulness paid off when he felt a surge of chakra from behind, causing him to throw his body forward, only barely noticing a crystal clone with two crystal spikes growing out of its forearms, skewering the air in the place where his body was just a second earlier.

Naruto wasn't able to pay more attention to the clone. He felt another chakra surge... again from behind him, realizing he dodged towards where the real Guren stood. Diverting his momentum by forcefully pushing himself to the side, he evaded a crystal spike hurled at him by the real Guren that instantly bloomed into a razor-sharp crystal shard made of multiple crystal spikes.

Rolling on the ground, Naruto flipped his body into the air with just enough force to get himself back onto his feet...

And he had to quickly duck again as a katana made of crystal passed just an inch above his head. His downward momentum was cleverly used to spin his body towards his attacker as Naruto delivered a punch to her guts, shattering her into multiple small crystal shards. From experience, Naruto knew what would follow. That's why he jumped back, barely a second before these crystal shards exploded with a multitude of crystal shrapnel.

Despite his efforts, his body was still blanketed with this shrapnel and he only managed to cover his face with his arms at the very last moment.

One surge of his chakra later, the splinters embedded in his body were crushed to dust and his wounds started healing.

Naruto inwardly cursed as Guren certainly didn't let this opportunity go unanswered. He had to lean back in order to evade a downward ax kick but the follow-up punch got him good in his gut, causing his feet to lift from the ground as he was forced to hunch over Guren's fist while the air was driven out of his lungs as he thanked his luck that it wasn't one of her crystal clones because that would mean his stomach would have sported a new hole by now.

Since it was Guren herself, he had a split of a second before she created a crystal gauntlet with spikes around her hand.

This split of a second was fruitfully used by Naruto as he lashed out with his fist, smashing it into Guren's shoulder without really aiming. His desperate attempt succeeded and Guren was launched backward... brutally ripping the half-formed crystal spikes covered in blood and Naruto's intestines out of his gut.

Naruto fell to the ground onto all four as he coughed up blood. He could afford a very brief moment of reprieve. Guren was sent flying and rolling on the ground which meant he had around four seconds before her crystal clone reached him.

Calculations, plans, strategies were formed and discarded in Naruto's brain at a pace that would have surprised even Nara. All in order to survive.

Exactly three and half-second later, Naruto raised his head, looking straight at the crystal clone next to him that was swinging crystal kunai at his neck. He let the chakra he was building up for the past two seconds spike to the max, creating a shockwave that was sufficient to crack said crystal clone. With this crack, the clone was weakened enough to shatter and disperse into the air before it could fully deliver its strike. Naruto still got a small and very shallow wound on his neck but it barely reached past his skin.

Naruto felt like shit but more importantly, he felt the chakra of around twenty senbon-like crystal projectiles flying at him. The real Guren clearly already shrugged off his attack. Deciding that jumping into the air would be too risky, Naruto gritted his teeth and smashed his fist into the ground in front of him. The floor of the bridge rose, creating a wall in front of Naruto that intercepted the crystal projectiles before they exploded into more crystal shrapnel which was also stopped by the wall.

Naruto really didn't want to use the bridge this way. He tried to evade damaging it as much as possible but... he no longer had the leeway to mind Tazuna's efforts and feelings. His life was more important.

He hardly finished getting himself back on his feet when Guren appeared in front of him with a burst of speed, her hand cocked back in preparation for a punch. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized he had a huge problem.

There were three new chakra signatures. One to his right, one to his left, and one behind him. He quickly realized Guren took out the big guns and created three more crystal clones. Something which must have affected her chakra reserves quite a lot.

Naruto was presented with a choice. Getting rid of the clones and making himself vulnerable to Guren's punch to the face or blocking Guren's punch while letting the clones skewer or slash him into pieces. It wasn't really a hard choice.

A second passed and another shockwave spread out of Naruto's body as he wildly flared the bijuu chakra. It wasn't as strong as the previous shockwave but it managed to destroy the clones before they delivered their attacks. The real Guren, however, wasn't even slowed down by this kind of shockwave as her fist barreled through the air towards Naruto's face.

The world slowed down for Naruto while his breath hitched and his eyes widened as he realized his gamble didn't pay off as he hoped. Around Guren's fist, a crystal covering started to form. He knew what that meant. Worse yet, he had no chance to evade it! Her fist would collide with his face and promptly form a spike of crystal through his head!

Naruto tried to lean his head to the side, aiming to get his brain out of the way and letting Guren's spike go through his mouth and cheek rather than anything important. His life flashed in front of his eyes as Guren's fist approached, a victorious gleam passing through her eyes.

Naruto was not the only one who tried to make the most of the situation. Guren also tried to adjust the position of her punch to ensure her spike would go through Naruto's brain. It was a battle of wills and wits and Naruto's life and death depended on the next moment.

Guren's fist came close to Naruto's face... Ten inches, five inches, one inch...

Naruto prepared for an impact and planned to jerk his head to the side the second it came...

Guren prepared to twist her fist the second it impacted Naruto's head, intending to ram the crystal spike that was starting to form straight through Naruto's brain...

Both had expressions of utmost concentration and refused to give in.

And then...

The world froze alongside both Naruto's and Guren's minds.

Naruto realized first what happened and his eyes relaxed while his body slumped down before he fell onto his bum and released a long and strained sigh of utmost relief and happiness.

Guren blankly stared at her wrist that was now tightly held by an unknown hand, the scene of her fist just an inch from the brat's face replaying in her mind. She forced her head to robotically turn towards the bastard that stopped her attack... only to realize it is actually a bitch!

"The most amazing and sexiest but unfortunately unavailable Anko Mitarashi has just arrived!"

Anko loudly exclaimed with a big shit-eating grin, enjoying the looks of pure frustration on both Naruto and his blue-haired would-be killer.