Right now, Naruto needed to keep Urashiki in check—at the very least, he had to make sure the guy didn't leave Sasuke's body and retreat into the Kāma.
"You don't really have to worry about that," Kurama muttered. "With how stubborn Urashiki is, unless you beat him to a pulp, he's not going anywhere."
Kurama even suspected that if Urashiki had a choice, he'd rather go down fighting than retreat.
"Uh…" Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I don't think I made him that mad."
"I can help you find out," Kurama said with a cold smirk.
Naruto: "…"
Yeah, no thanks. If someone insulted his parents, he'd probably charge straight in for a fight too.
"So what are you waiting for?" Kurama growled.
Ignoring Kurama's grumbling, Naruto gripped a Tailed Beast Bomb in his right hand and charged toward Urashiki. Urashiki, in turn, threw a purple energy orb straight at him, colliding with Naruto's attack mid-air.
A deafening explosion echoed across the sky.
Naruto abandoned long-range ninjutsu altogether and decided to engage Urashiki in close combat instead.
To his credit, Urashiki was no slouch. In mid-air, his Taijutsu was even sharper than Naruto's. But Naruto made up for it with sheer strength and speed, overpowering him completely. Watching the reckless brawling, Kurama felt an ache in his liver.
*Brute force wins again, huh…*
Then, Naruto saw Urashiki pull out a kunai.
Naruto instantly made a pained face. "I've been holding back from using weapons so I don't hurt Sasuke's body, but this guy is just using them like it's nothing! Where's your Otsutsuki pride? How can you use such lowly ninja tools?!"
And they were the same ninja tools that had once killed Sasuke, no less!
This was just great. Naruto was worried about harming Sasuke's body, so he avoided using weapons. But Urashiki had no such concerns—shuriken, kunai, he threw them like they were going out of style.
Just as Naruto was getting used to Urashiki's attack patterns, the next second, Urashiki reached down and—wait, not his pants—his arm! He pulled out a freakin' rocket launcher and fired it straight at Naruto without hesitation.
Times have changed, old man!
Asura Path, activate!
— ¶ —————————————————————
Naruto started cursing loudly, making even Kurama feel like his ears were burning.
Wearing his metaphorical "pain mask," Naruto dodged the incoming shuriken attacks while also staying alert for the Asura Path abilities of the Rinnegan. He was practically buzzing around in the air like a frantic fly.
Urashiki sneered as he watched. Sure, he was an Otsutsuki, and yes, he followed their traditions, but after all these days inside Sasuke's body—
He wasn't completely stagnant. You don't want to hurt Sasuke's body, do you? Then I'll just use this body to fight you!
If you've got the guts, hit me with a full-power attack and kill me! Otherwise, I'll just keep annoying you until you break!
Urashiki smirked at Naruto. "Uzumaki Naruto, why are you running? Weren't you supposed to be strong? Where's your Sage of Six Paths power? Where's your Tailed Beast chakra? Where's your Adamantine Sealing Chains? Weren't you supposed to be unbeatable?"
"This guy really learned from Sasuke," Kurama muttered with a look of exaggerated sympathy. "Especially the part about being infuriating."
Another explosion went off nearby, sending Naruto flying. Before he could recover, two more projectiles came his way. Completely fed up, Naruto shouted, "Aaaah!!! Sasuke, I'm sorry! I can't hold back anymore!"
"Sage Art: Super Giant Rasenshuriken!"
A Rasenshuriken as massive as a Susano'o took shape. As Naruto deflected the incoming attacks, the sheer force of the energy sent Urashiki's aura scattering into the wind.
Naruto, eyes burning red with rage, glared at Urashiki. "Don't push me! If you piss me off, I'll take Sasuke down with me!"
To be honest, just looking at the giant Rasenshuriken in Naruto's hands made Urashiki feel the pressure. In his current state, if that thing hit, both he and Sasuke would probably die.
But Urashiki wasn't worried at all. In fact, he spread his arms out, completely relaxed. "Then go ahead and do it."
Naruto: "..."
*Damn it! I really want to blast this bastard to hell!*
"I completely agree," Kurama nodded. "Afterward, we can just request to have Sasuke's name added to the Memorial Stone as a tribute. What do you think?"
Naruto: "..."
*Don't think I don't know what the Memorial Stone is. That's the monument where they engrave the names of fallen heroes of the Leaf…*
For the record, Naruto's parents' names were on it too.
"Th-that's a bit too much…" Naruto wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
"No, no, you can't think like that." Kurama looked completely serious as he whispered, "We can even hire some professionals to cry at the stone, you know, the kind that makes it seem like Sasuke's death was really meaningful, so that people naturally start respecting him."
"Then, once enough time has passed and people start to forget, we hire someone to stand in front of Sasuke's grave on a rainy day, no umbrella, wearing all black. Ideally, a pretty girl. She doesn't say a word, just stands there… all day."
"And then, when the rain finally stops, she looks up at the sky and says, 'The sky is finally clear, Sasuke… The sun has come out.' Then she turns around and walks away without saying another word."
"Thinking about it this way, doesn't it seem kind of acceptable?"
Imagining people crying in front of his grave after he died, being admired by everyone, and having people say things like that afterward…
Naruto actually wanted to give it a try himself.
But a moment later, his face darkened. "You just really want Sasuke to die, don't you?"
Kurama waved a hand. "That's not true at all. If you really want to go all out, we can have a few ninja dressed like Anbu standing silently in the back during the funeral, holding black umbrellas. They won't say a word, won't even offer flowers. They'll just stand there from start to finish, then quietly disappear after Sasuke is buried, leaving everyone wondering who they were."
"Or, we could have Sakura go to Sasuke's grave at night and draw some weird sealing symbols that no one understands. She can time it so that someone happens to walk by while she's chanting some mysterious spell. Then, you add some light effects, and finally, she can cry in front of Sasuke's grave, saying things like, 'Why can't you come back to life?' or 'Even angels and demons won't let go of your soul?!'"
"That would be seriously dramatic."
Naruto stayed silent, listening. After a long pause… damn, it actually sounded kind of tempting. Forget Sasuke—he almost wanted to set this up for himself just for fun!
"N-no… that wouldn't be right…" Naruto's eyes were practically shining, his whole body itching to give it a try.
Kurama smirked. "You really want Sasuke to die, don't you?"
Naruto froze on the spot.
Urashiki twitched as he watched Naruto's face go from dark to confused, then dark again, then suddenly light up with excitement, before finally settling on complete shock. "Uzumaki Naruto, did your brain finally break?"
"Shut up! I'm not trying to get revenge on Sasuke by giving him a ridiculously flashy funeral!" Naruto jumped up like a startled deer.
Urashiki's face stiffened. "Wait… are you actually considering killing Uchiha Sasuke?"
"I am NOT!" Naruto yelled, his face turning red.
A crimson sword slashed through the sky.
Under the stunned gazes of Naruto and Urashiki, the sword, held by a red Susano'o, stabbed straight into Urashiki—or rather, into Sasuke's back—piercing through his chest completely.
Itachi watched coldly, as if the blade hadn't just gone through Sasuke's body.