Chapter 35: The Power of a Monster. 

The Toad Boss, who had just appeared, wanted to mock Naruto, but was shocked by the scene before him. He frowned, and even his smoking slowed down, "Kid, is that guy from Sunagakure the Jinchuriki?"

A red tail formed behind Naruto, the Tailed Beast cloak condensed, and Naruto's face became beast-like. But he wasn't a beast; he still had the heart of 'Uzumaki Naruto.'

Hearing the Toad Boss's voice, Naruto nodded, "The guy opposite is the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku, named Gaara. Shikamaru said the war has already started. To protect the village, I have to stop him here. If he gets into the village, the consequences will be unimaginable."

The Toad Boss was silent for a moment.

When Naruto said this, memories from twelve years ago flashed in his mind. Back then, the Nine-Tails went on a rampage, bringing endless fear to the village of Konohagakure. It was at that time that the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, stood above him and said the same words as Naruto.

"Gamabunta, to protect the village, we must stop or seal that guy here." Minato's face had become blurry, but the big toad never forgot that golden figure, warm like the sun.

The big toad rolled his eyes and looked at Naruto standing on his head. He wanted to say something but fell silent again when he saw the demon fox cloak on Naruto.

Unlike that golden figure, Naruto's figure was blood-red, with a tail floating behind him. The chakra was evil and crazy, hard to imagine it belonged to a human, but his eyes were the same.

The same determination, the same warmth like the sun, and the same... nostalgia.

The big toad was very familiar with this chakra. Even after twelve years, he had never forgotten that evil and crazy aura, belonging to one of the main characters of that night, the Nine-Tails.

In a daze, Naruto's look made him feel like he was seeing another person: "Big toad, can you help me?"

The big toad fell silent. He felt he should mock this kid for being overconfident, casually tell him how great he was, and not just a Summoned Beast called at will. But no matter what he wanted to say, he couldn't speak under that blood-red chakra.

Naruto was a bit anxious: "Big toad, please help me!"

Shukaku's body was too big. Right now, Naruto had no way to fight Shukaku except for the summoning technique. If the big toad didn't help, things would get really hard. If the big toad refused, the only way left was to tear open the seal and gamble on whether he would die under Kurama's huge chakra.

The big toad heard Naruto's words and came back to his senses, his eyes flashing with complexity: "Naruto, let me ask you, what kind of person is the Fourth Hokage in your eyes?"

Kurama perked up his ears.

"Huh?" Naruto didn't expect the big toad to ask this question, but he didn't hesitate and directly gave his answer, "A great Hokage, and someone I am destined to surpass."

"Oh?" The big toad seemed interested, "You want to surpass the Fourth Hokage?"

"That's right." Naruto clenched his right fist, "Not just the Fourth Hokage, I will surpass all the Hokages. I will become the Hokage, and the strongest Hokage ever!"

Kurama's mouth curled up.

Anyone else hearing this would think Naruto was bragging, that it was just an unrealistic dream. But the big toad was different. He threw his head back and laughed, not mocking, but laughing out loud: "Very good, Naruto. I like your dream. It's unrealistic but somehow believable."

"What?" Naruto didn't understand what the big toad meant.

The big toad didn't explain anything. He slowly stood up from his crouched position. At first, he looked like a toad lying on the ground, but now he looked more like a warrior squatting on the ground.

He slowly drew the sword from his waist and held it in his hand. His bumpy face showed a bit of fighting spirit: "Remember what you said, and stand firm. If you fall off, don't expect me to help you again."

Naruto's eyes lit up, and the blood-red chakra surged up, sticking him tightly to the big toad's back: "Got it!"

The blood-red chakra bubbled up like boiling water. As one tail swayed gently behind him, a second tail began to form. The two tails shone together, making the blood-red chakra even more intense.

"Let's go!" the big toad growled, pushing off the ground with his powerful legs. Despite his huge size, he moved like lightning.

In the distance, Gaara, with his lower body merged with Shukaku, had bloodshot eyes. Seeing the big toad charging at him, he quickly formed hand signs, "Ninja Art: Sand Burial!"

A massive wave of chakra lifted a hundred-meter-high wall of sand, rushing out in all directions, as if to cover the entire forest.

"Hmph." The big toad snorted, lightly pushing off the ground with his legs, and flew into the sky. He formed hand signs: "Water Release: Iron Cannonball!"

His elevated body dodged the ninjutsu attack, and he spat out a huge water bullet at Shukaku.

Gaara coldly watched this and quickly formed hand signs: "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

The huge water bullet and wind bullet collided in the air, 

their powerful forces canceling each other out and exploding. Water and wind scattered everywhere, turning the already messy forest into a sea, with sand moving restlessly beneath the surface.

In the distance, Shikamaru and the others' faces changed drastically. They turned and ran without hesitation: "Let's go, these two guys' battle range is too big!"

Temari, heavily injured by Gaara, could only move with Shikamaru's help. Sasuke glanced at them, then gritted his teeth and supported Shikamaru. The three of them turned and ran together.

But escaping from the range of these two monsters' ninjutsu wasn't that simple. As soon as they turned to leave, a huge wave of wind, water, and sand hit their backs. The powerful force uprooted trees and blew the three of them away.

Fortunately, Sasuke was strong enough. As they were blown away, he threw a kunai connected to a wire, anchoring them to the ground so they wouldn't be blown too high and fall to their deaths.

"Let me go!" Temari shouted through the wind and waves, "We're enemies, you don't have to save me!"

"Shut up!" It wasn't Shikamaru who spoke, but Sasuke, who was gripping the wire tightly.

Shikamaru didn't say anything, but he was also holding the wire with a serious expression. He wanted to form hand signs or throw a signal flare, but he couldn't free his hands.

Temari looked at the two of them and suddenly felt a strange sense of inferiority. She didn't know where it came from, but she felt it.

Clenching her hands, Temari looked at the two monsters fighting in the distance. Just the range of their ninjutsu was so huge that if they were hit directly, they would probably explode into pieces.

She didn't want to die, and she didn't want these two in front of her to die either.

Gritting her teeth, Temari found strength from somewhere, took the iron fan from her back, and swung it down hard: "Wind Release: Great Sickle Itachi!"

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru looked at Temari in surprise.

Temari didn't explain anything. She threw her iron fan backward, cutting the steel wires on the ground. Under the shocked eyes of Sasuke and Shikamaru, she grabbed them and threw them onto the iron fan.

The huge iron fan quickly flew away with the wind, and Temari, with a heartfelt smile, rose into the sky amidst the intertwining of two large Ninjutsu. "Pineapple head, the way to control this thing is simple. You saw it once... you should be able to learn it, right..."

Her voice gradually became faint, barely audible in the strong wind.

Seeing Temari's figure disappear, Shikamaru almost instinctively wanted to jump off the fan, but Sasuke stopped him with his hand, his Sharingan eyes fixed on Shikamaru. "I can find her position, but my steel wires can't reach her."

Shikamaru understood, clasped his hands together, and his chakra burst out. "Tell me where she is!"

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