144 -=Heroic sacrifice?=-

Rimuru stood by an unconscious Kakashi. watching the fight of team 7 against Blizzard and Touka

and he could only say, they are some little monsters...

Touka and Blizzard are powerhouses of their own, he doubted they would have difficulty dealing with most jonins, and yet the three chunnins could keep up against them

Sure, Blizzard could have ended Sasuke right there and then, but didn't, but that also applies to team 7, as Luna was still watching from atop a tree while her illusion clone, a technique from the Kurama clan (Shadow clone without the memory transfer part) fought with 2 of Touka's clones

Yes, the Touka and Blizzard fighting team 7 were both clones, but different from clones of the ninja world, their clones are as powerful as them, and even more dangerous as they don't need to fear death at all

'This plot armor is insane...' He thought

He then felt his own clone take Lee away, apparently, he gave up fighting Guy, which Rimuru could very well guess why

'A shame... I really wanted to see them fight at their full power, but I can see why Lee wouldn't...' He sighed

With a mental message, he told Touka and Blizzard to finish what they want quickly because they need to go back, as he flickered away from his spot

-=-

Back to team 7, the fight kept the same stalemate of Luna keeping the two Toukas in check while Naruto fought Blizzard and Sasuke tried to unfreeze himself

truth to be told, this fight would have never been so equal if Touka and Blizzard didn't have the surprise factor, because team 7 would probably be winning

and albeit Blizzard had an ultimate skill, her clone couldn't use it to the fullest, or else team 7 wouldn't be even able to fight back at all...

Receiving the message from Rimuru, both Toukas started to attack more, leaving their defenses more open, but it was hard for Luna to capitalize on that, Blizzard, on the other hand, didn't change her way of fight, only using her ice at medium range to keep Naruto at bay

she had a plan and knew she had enough time to do it as well, so she kept her pace

After some attacks, Blizzard had Naruto exactly where she wanted him to be, so she made eye contact with one of the Toukas, and since they both discussed their plan before, Touka didn't hesitate to switch her target from Luna to Naruto

Luna illusion clone saw this, but the other Touka kept her in place, the true Luna also saw this, but an ice wall formed between her and the other Touka

'Shit, they knew I was here!' She cursed, Leaving her hiding spot and rushing to try to intercept the other Touka

Sasuke who has been frozen down to the ground also saw that, but he didn't care as he knew Naruto would not be hit by such an attack

"I know what you are thinking" Blizzard looked at him while saying so, an ice spear formed in her hand and she threw it at Sasuke, who was not able to move yet

Naruto saw this and disregarding everything charged ahead full speed to try to help Sasuke

Sasuke who saw everything in slow motion immediately saw through their plan

Touka was NOT going after Naruto, she just baited Luna out! Blizzard wasn't trying to attack him, she was baiting Naruto into close range

at the corner of his eye, he saw the other Touka release a powerful lightning attack on Luna's clone, dispelling it, and then she charged at the real Luna

it was a trap... and he was the bait all along

He couldn't talk, as his mouth was covered in ice... he couldn't move, as he didn't melt the ice yet, he couldn't... do anything?

He trashed around, trying to brute force his way out of the ice, but this only made Naruto more desperate as he thought Sasuke was trying to dodge the attack and did nothing to the ice

this powerlessness... reminded him of that night...

he couldn't do anything then, and now the same thing is about to happen again... being literally incapable of helping his family and/or friends...

He saw slowly as the two Toukas approached Luna, and as chakra gathered in the hands of Blizzard who was closer to Naruto by the second...

His eyes spun incredibly fast, yet he saw no way of saving them...

'No... not again... not again...' His mind went blank

as much as he pretends to not care about them... this team, is probably the only thing between him and insanity nowadays, they are more than his friends... they are everything he still has...

while Sasuke was despairing at his own powerlessness and flaring his chakra like crazy, Naruto rushed in worry

his emotions clouded his judgment, which is not ideal, but inevitable in this situation

it's understandable, the kid grew alone and Sasuke and Luna are probably the closest things he has to a real family aside from Hiruzen, Teuchi, and Ayame

but different from them, he sees his team every day, for more than a year already

yes, Teuchi and Ayame are like family, but they are inside Konoha, and he knows they are safe

yes, Hiruzen is his 'grandfather' but the man is as strong as it gets, even while old

but Sasuke and Luna are his age, he knows them well and knows their limits

he can't just watch them die, can he?

At this very second, his very convenient ability to see the future activated 'randomly'

He saw himself be hit by an ice attack and was unnable to reach Sasuke, who was also hit by the spear, and he also saw an explosion of light, he couldn't tell what it was, but it was obviously with Luna...

Did they all just... die? he couldn't tell

he only saw Blizzard look at him and throw a kunai, and his vision went back to the present

he couldn't tell if it was his ability reaching the limit, or him dying... but he couldn't gamble with this!

'There is no time at all!' He saw everything in slow motion... his focus at his maximum, not a single detail escaping his eye

it was impossible, he couldn't reach Sasuke in time... but can he do something else?

'c'mon Naruto... think, think THINK!' His thoughts passed so quickly that they would impress anyone

He looked at his jutsu repertoire

Shadow clone is useless here

his elemental jutsus are too slow

rasengan is useless here... unless

'Unless... I can throw it?...'

The idea struck him, it was his best bet, as rasengan had no element, so if he added one it could help

but how to? elemental rasengan is not a new idea, Hiruzen said that the fourth hokage tried to do so but failed, same for Jiraya and he himself

can Naruto pull something like this, out of nowhere?...

[Plot armor]... can you go so far as this?

Naruto knew he didn't have time to think over if he could or not

he either did or DID there is no option to fail

because if he did...

chakra gathered on his hands, each forming a small Rasengan

he could make a bigger one, maybe even a standard-sized one, but they would be slower

the small rasengans would be way weaker, and the chakra control needed to do one of them was much more than that needed for a normal rasengan

*Snap*

a bit of the VERY concentrated chakra of those rasengans left them, making a deep cut in each of Naruto's arms

'Wind...' Naruto concentrated on his left hand, wind is his elemental affinity, so it would be easier... no, less hard to do this

the chakra slowly turned to wind chakra, getting harder and harder to control, making shreds on his arm, deep gushes from where blood started dropping

'Ugh... Shit... No no no!' He despaired

It is so hard to make one... he won't be able to make two... heck, even one he's not sure

'FUCK FUCK NO!' He screamed internally, the pain was nothing, but the problem was not being able to save his friends

he canceled the rasengan of his right hand, and immediately stabilized the left one

one attack... two people... he would have... to choose who to save?

This is... the same as deciding to kill the other one... he can't...

'No... I... I can't... I...' His mind almost collapsed, this was a bit too much for him to handle

"I can't...

...

I can't hesitate... or they will both die...' Gritting his teeth so hard that blood started to drip from his mouth, he decided

Rasengan: Shuriken (Basically a weak rasenshuriken)

Turning around abruptly, he threw his rasengan towards the Toukas who had their backs turned on him

"Freeze" He hears Blizzard's voice and felt a shiver go up to his spine

while he was focused before he barely registered that he could die as well, but now he felt fear of death

it's just that it came and went just as quickly... maybe he already knew, and accepted it subconsciously as long as he saved someone

Naruto's right arm started to freeze quickly, and he could only close his eyes

'So... t-that's it...' He tried to keep calm, but couldn't

in his situation, anyone would lose the calm... anyone would despair

he opened his eye only a bit, enough to see his improvised attack splitting both Toukas in half, good thing he didn't know they were both clones...