"Haaaah..."
Naraku Shihouin let out a deep sigh, calming his rapid breathing.
The intense battle between the three of them had left him somewhat breathless.
Even so, this fight had been thoroughly enjoyable.
Looking at Kakashi Hatake, who still hadn't gotten up in the distance, Naraku knew the Copy Ninja was nearly at his limit!
The collision between the Chidori and his Fire Rasengan had been truly outrageous.
The main issue was that although Naraku had used his control over fire to complete the Rasengan, he had underestimated his own power.
It wasn't until the Chidori and Rasengan collided that he realized something was wrong. He hurriedly endured the chakra backlash in his meridians and tried to pull back some of his strength.
But even with that precaution, the explosion from the collision between the Flame Rasengan and Chidori was beyond imagination.
Fortunately, Guy had heard Naraku's shout at that critical moment. Without hesitation, he'd opened the Eight Inner Gates and rushed into the explosion, pulling Kakashi out just in time.
Otherwise, given Kakashi's physical condition, he would have been burned to ashes and scattered to the wind.
Now, Naraku had a clearer understanding of his own strength!
If this had been just a battle between Naraku and Kakashi, it would have ended right there with no need to continue.
But the passionate Guy had appeared, and the battle continued.
Naraku wasn't satisfied at first, but after seeing this new challenge, he immediately accepted it and began fighting with Guy.
Halfway through, Kakashi, who had finally caught his breath, was also dragged in, and a three-way fight erupted!
...
Naraku was wrapped in flames, with occasional sparks flashing around him.
Guy's entire body erupted with green energy, his congested skin turning bright red.
On Kakashi's torn clothes, zigzagging electric currents crackled and sparked.
Among the three, Naraku and Guy were in the best condition. Kakashi was clearly exhausted. Though he still had some chakra left, his physical strength was nearly depleted.
Now the battle was mainly between Naraku and Guy, with Kakashi occasionally joining in, relying primarily on his natural talent.
It was unfortunate they weren't fighting one-on-one now; otherwise, Kakashi could have used his ability to level the playing field.
Perhaps even against Naraku's Kage-level strength, Kakashi could have pulled him down to fight on equal terms.
"HA!"
With a mighty roar, Guy rushed toward Naraku with a battle aura raging around his body.
"Hmmph!"
Breath of the Sun...
Naraku felt his cardiopulmonary function strengthen, instantly absorbing a large amount of oxygen and feeling his body's abilities improve dramatically.
As he watched Guy charging toward him, flames instantly erupted around Naraku as he rushed forward to meet his opponent.
"CRASH!"
A second later, Naraku flew backwards at incredible speed, smashing through several large trees before finally rolling into a deep crater in the ground.
"Crack!"
Naraku pulled himself out of the pit and steadied his breathing.
"This is trouble... I can't keep up with Guy's speed."
By relying on the sun breathing technique to increase his strength briefly, combined with observation of Haki, Naraku could perceive Guy's attacks.
The problem was that even if he could see his opponent's movements, Naraku couldn't react quickly enough against such blinding speed.
"Gate of Opening: OPEN!"
Kakashi, lightning coursing over his body, opened the first of the Eight Inner Gates, improving his attack power and speed.
However, this also meant Kakashi couldn't last more than a few seconds—the overload would rapidly consume his remaining energy.
"Gate of Opening: OPEN!"
Naraku didn't hesitate any longer and immediately opened the first gate as well.
He watched Kakashi and Guy fighting as they approached him. Placing his hands on his waist, he slowly drew an extremely refined straight blade.
Kurikara!
Breath of the Sun!
First Gate of the Eight Inner Gates: Open!
With these three techniques combined, Naraku felt an explosive improvement in his physical capabilities.
"Shing!"
Naraku pushed Kurikara's blade forward with his thumb. A cold light flashed as he stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the ground, Naraku appeared beside Kakashi and Guy as if he had teleported.
Holding Kurikara, the pitch-black blade drew a perfect arc through the air.
"God of Fire Kagura: Round Dance!"
The blade, wrapped in crimson flames, traced an incomparably beautiful circle!
A scorching heat hit their faces, lashed by surging, dancing tongues of fire as the breath of destruction descended instantly.
"BOOM!"
"CLANG!"
Kakashi threw a shuriken and leaned backwards, dodging the slash with an extreme reaction.
But Guy didn't retreat a single step. Instead, he punched directly into the flame. The impact formed by his fist extinguished the fire instantly.
Naraku, not expecting to defeat both men with a single move, gripped Kurikara tightly. The black blade pierced through the flames and stabbed toward Guy at point-blank range.
The attack was so swift and powerful that even the extremely fast Guy couldn't dodge in time.
"CLANG!"
Sparks flew as super-alloy steel nunchaku suddenly appeared, striking the tip of Kurikara and deflecting the blade's trajectory.
"Sharingan Technique!"
Kakashi suddenly appeared before Naraku, aimed his Sharingan directly at the other man's eyes, and instantly released a genjutsu.
But Naraku's spirit was extremely strong, his resistance to illusions very high. He instantly broke through this low-level genjutsu designed to trigger fear in his heart.
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"
The moment the illusion shattered, Guy performed a spinning kick with amazing speed and power, aimed directly at Naraku.
"Whoosh!"
Afterimage! Guy's kick passed through Naraku's afterimage.
Guy's body tilted uncontrollably, but he quickly recovered and launched a Konoha Senpū kick behind him.
"THUD!"
Naraku suddenly appeared and raised his arm to block Guy's kick. With his other hand, he gripped Kurikara tightly and chopped downward!
"CLANG!"
Kakashi held up a kunai and blocked Kurikara's blade.
"Hmm?"
Naraku's arm suddenly exerted tremendous force. The strange power that burst forth crushed the kunai against Kurikara's dark blade. The light-swallowing edge continued cutting toward Kakashi.
Fortunately, Guy swung his nunchaku and struck Kurikara, allowing Kakashi to roll away safely.
But Naraku stomped hard and appeared in front of Kakashi, who hadn't yet regained his footing, and swung Kurikara down again.
Bad luck!
Kakashi groaned inwardly. He had already opened the first gate, so why couldn't he keep up with the speed of his two opponents?
"Konoha Gōriki Shō!"
With a sudden burst of speed, Guy tore up the ground beneath him and struck Naraku with a powerful elbow, knocking him away.
"Raikiri!"
Kakashi gritted his teeth as his remaining chakra surged, lightning flashing once more.
What was supposed to be a three-way free-for-all had somehow become him and Guy against Naraku. Since he couldn't hold out much longer, they needed to decide the winner once and for all.
His body transformed into a flash of lightning as Kakashi rushed toward the airborne Naraku!
At the same time, Guy roared and charged forward at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
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