Tayuya, Kakashi, and Shikamaru sat in a restaurant after yet another day of "intelligence gathering."
"Kakashi. Seriously, can you tell us when that idiot is coming back? At least if he were here, things would be slightly more interesting."
Kakashi sighed. She had asked him this question for three days straight.
Shikamaru let out a lazy yawn:
"Tch, whatever, you troublesome woman. This is the kind of mission I like. No fighting, no running around, nothing to do."
Kakashi winked at Shikamaru:
"See, Tayuya? Shikamaru's got the right idea."
Tayuya groaned in frustration and slammed her head against the table.
******
Two swiftly moving figures dashed through the bushes.
Naruto followed closely behind Sai.
"Hey, bro, I figured we'd end up by the seaside or something like that."
Sai remained expressionless.
"This village is actually one of the hardest to find."
Naruto nodded, keeping pace with Sai:
"So you've memorized the whole terrain already? That's seriously impressive. I haven't even seen you pull out a map."
"Carrying a map would be too risky, Naruto-senpai," Sai said. "There mustn't be any evidence linking you to Mr. Danzo."
"We're almost there, Naruto-senpai."
They leapt over the last dense patch of vegetation and arrived at a massive valley.
A waterfall flowed into a large river running through the center of the village. At the village's heart, where two waterways met, a giant whirlpool churned. Surrounding this whirlpool stood four enormous cylindrical buildings.
Naruto exhaled:
"Well then, shall we begin?"
Sai nodded. The two jumped into the valley and started their search.
******
They walked through the ruined village as Naruto created Shadow Clones, and Sai painted an ink mouse to assist with the investigation.
Naruto whistled idly:
"Man, this place is huge—about the same size as Konoha."
"This village fell during the Second Great Ninja War. As soon as the war began, Sunagakure, Amegakure, and Iwagakure temporarily allied to raid it. Konoha was drawn into the war defending its allies, but it was already too late. Your people had already scattered, and the village was destroyed."
"Come on, we've reached the main building."
Sai and Naruto stepped inside through the broken doorway.
******
Inside was even worse than outside.
Naruto's whistle echoed in the empty room as he looked around.
"Wow, did the Thunder God himself smash this place with his hammer?"
"It's unclear, Naruto-senpai," Sai's voice cut in from behind Naruto. "It seems like quite the intense battle must have occurred here."
The room was basically a vast open space, with a spiral symbol at its center and spiral-shaped staircases lining the walls—though those staircases had collapsed.
Naruto turned toward Sai, pointing upward at the overhang:
"So… shall we get started?"
Sai and Naruto directed chakra to their feet and began running up the wall… until a sudden burst of energy threw them backward. A sealing formation appeared on the wall, and the whole structure began shaking violently.
"Damn it, Sai! Is this whole building going to collapse?!"
Suddenly, the ground split open and a statue emerged from an elevator-like platform covered in blood-soaked stains.
Naruto and Sai prepared for battle, but the statue remained motionless.
It was a magnificent sculpture over ten meters tall, bearing the insignia of Uzushio Village on its forehead and clad in ancient armor reminiscent of the First Hokage's era.
Without warning, one of the statue's massive feet came crashing down on their position. They barely managed to leap out of the way.
The statue turned its head with a grating sound of stone grinding against stone.
Naruto and Sai exchanged glances and nodded at each other.
Naruto charged forward, channeling wind chakra into his blade, attempting to sever the demonic statue's head.
Sai stepped back and began drawing on his scroll:
[Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!]
A lion made of ink erupted from Sai's scroll, charging at the statue.
But the statue merely swiped its massive hand, reducing them to nothing.
Witnessing this, Naruto broke out in cold sweat.
The statue now locked onto Naruto and raised its fist.
Muttering a curse under his breath, Naruto dodged as the giant fist slammed into the ground, shaking the entire structure.
Naruto leapt onto the statue's head, his sword surrounded by wind chakra, but when he struck the statue's neck, a sealing formation appeared and repelled him backward.
Naruto rose from the ground, dazed.
"Damn it! The statue and walls have the same seal! It absorbs our attacks!"
The statue drew a massive stone blade from its back and swung it at Naruto.
Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out an explosive tag, tossing it to Sai.
Sai caught it, attached it to a shuriken, and threw it at the statue. The shuriken bounced off without leaving a mark.
"What the hell is this thing made of?" Naruto thought, as he rushed toward it.
He summoned a spiraling ball of blue chakra in his palm and hurled it:
"Rasengan!"
He was sent flying off the statue once again.
Naruto crashed beside Sai, then quickly stood back up:
"What should we do, Sai? We can't run away, and we can't use our jutsu either."
Sai closed his eyes in thought while the statue lumbered toward them.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open as he turned to Naruto:
"Senior Naruto, how skilled are you with sealing techniques?"
Naruto looked between the statue and Sai:
"I'm not sure. Only Jiraiya truly knows my skill, and I haven't seen him in years."
Sai began painting rapidly on his scroll:
"If you could carefully examine that sealing formation, do you think you could figure out a way to break it?"
Naruto rubbed his chin:
"I don't know, but I can give it a shot."
[Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!]
A flurry of ink bats burst from Sai's scroll, circling around the statue's head. The statue froze momentarily, swiping at the bats but unable to land a single hit.
Using this distraction, Naruto created a dozen Shadow Clones, sending them rushing toward the statue.
On contact, the first clone disappeared as the sealing formation flared up.
Naruto pulled out a scroll and brush:
"That formation activates every four seconds! Attack in sync with its cycle!"
Sai signaled the bats to dissolve into ink, engulfing the statue's face and blinding it.
The statue wildly swung its sword, searching for targets.
Finally, Naruto's eyes sparkled with realization. He quickly scrawled something onto the sealing tag.
As the statue turned around, Naruto clapped his hands together and shouted,
[Wind Release: Wind God Fist!]
Naruto released a wide-area wind technique that struck the statue directly.
He darted forward, slapped a sealing tag onto the formation, then another one on himself.
[Sealing Technique: Personality Possession Seal!]
A golden glow surrounded Naruto and the statue, and the light from the statue disappeared.
Naruto moved his arm slightly, and the statue's arms mirrored his movements.
Cheering loudly, Naruto said,
"Hey Sai, get over here fast! I don't know how long this will last."
Sai hurriedly walked toward Naruto. As Naruto started walking toward the statue, it mimicked him. Though Sai looked uneasy, he followed along anyway.
Naruto made a scooping gesture, indicating for the statue to lift them up.
"Climb on," he yanked his hand backward, then thrust it forward, shooting Naruto and Sai straight up to the tower's peak.
An ornate door loomed ahead.
Naruto and Sai crashed through the rusted metal door.
Forming a single hand seal, Naruto announced,
"Release."
The golden glow faded away.
Dusting himself off, Sai asked,
"What was that just now, Naruto-senpai?"
Stretching and wiggling, Naruto replied,
"It's my new seal. I read that true sealing masters invent their own techniques, so I decided to try too. This seal allows the user to take full control of the target's body."
Sai nodded,
"Are you sure you want to release it?"
Naruto waved dismissively,
"What else could it even do?"
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