Chapter 589

Su Xiao turned his head to look at Naruto in the distance; his blue eyes had turned pale red, and the whisker-like marks on his cheeks were more pronounced.

"Could it be…"

Su Xiao frowned; this guy was clearly triggered and about to explode.

"Kakashi-sensei… dead?"

Naruto's blood-red eyes fixed on Kakashi's corpse; pale red chakra rose from his skin like flowing water, wrapping him in a layer of Tailed Beast Cloak.

At this point, Naruto had already unleashed his One-Tail; his consciousness was growing chaotic, the Nine-Tails' chakra wildly erratic—the more tails that erupted, the more blurred Naruto's mind became; if nine chakra tails appeared behind him, he would be fully controlled by the Nine-Tails.

Su Xiao had no interest in fighting Naruto; he could handle Naruto at Four-Tails, but anything beyond that was a headache.

Boom~

A dark red chakra spread outward from Naruto's side, blowing away surrounding ruins, a fierce gale radiating in all directions.

Su Xiao raised one hand to shield his face; having absorbed the chakra of two Tailed Beasts, he was unusually sensitive to Tailed Beast chakra.

At this moment, he could no longer sense Naruto's own presence—the Nine-Tails' violent chakra had completely engulfed him.

A dark red energy sphere, six to seven meters in diameter, formed; inside it, Naruto was fully wrapped in dark red chakra, transformed into a fox-like creature.

The fox-like Naruto resembled an energy entity, the chakra burning his skin.

"Roar!!"

The Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto roared to the sky; his facial features were no longer discernible, leaving only two glowing white eye sockets and a gaping, bloodied maw.

Four chakra tails swayed behind Naruto; he had leapt directly from One-Tail to Four-Tails!

Su Xiao grew alert, gripping his Checking Zhan Long Shan tightly.

Whoosh, whoosh~

Several figures appeared nearby—Konoha's ANBU.

"What is this?"

One ANBU stared at Naruto; his chakra signature was overwhelmingly strong.

"This is a Tailed Beast transformation of a Jinchuriki—could it be a Jinchuriki attacking the village?"

"No, I recognize this chakra—it's the Nine-Tails!"

"Go notify the Hokage—tell him… our Jinchuriki has lost control!"

One ANBU vanished in a blur; the remaining few kept their eyes locked on the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto, their glances occasionally drifting toward Su Xiao.

The Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto crouched dazedly on the ground, his white eye sockets scanning the surroundings.

He first swept over the ANBU, but just as he prepared to kill them, his peripheral vision caught sight of Su Xiao.

A sudden impulse surged within the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto—he must kill this man, he must.

The Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto dropped to all fours like a beast, glaring fiercely at Su Xiao.

Sensing this, Su Xiao lowered his body, his muscles tensing slightly.

"Here it comes."

With a whoosh, the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto vanished from his spot, the ground beneath him shattering violently.

Su Xiao felt his hairs stand on end; Naruto at Four-Tails was stronger than he'd imagined.

The Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto suddenly appeared before Su Xiao, a dark red claw slashing toward his skull; had anyone looked behind Naruto, they'd have seen his chakra tails had grown to five! His body began forming an exoskeleton.

Su Xiao formed a 200-point mana-strength energy shield before him; the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto's claw slammed into it.

Crack! The shield cracked open a bowl-sized hole, the claw continuing toward Su Xiao's face.

He ducked to avoid the claw, but Naruto's claw extended further, shifting its target from his face to his chest.

Pfft.

Blood sprayed—four deep claw marks appeared on Su Xiao's chest.

A numbness spread across his chest; though severely wounded, Su Xiao wouldn't wait to die—he slashed his blade toward Naruto's claw.

The long blade descended; the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto sensed the threat and quickly retracted the claw, the energy shield separating Su Xiao from the transformed Naruto.

Su Xiao immediately dismissed the shield; Naruto's other claw slammed toward his neck.

He raised Checking Zhan Long Shan before him; the dark red claw struck the blade's surface, transmitting immense force.

As the force hit, Su Xiao angled Checking Zhan Long Shan sideways, using Naruto's own momentum to deflect the attack.

Sssss! The claw scraped along the blade's edge, the powerful strike diverted, slamming into the ground beside him.

Boom!

Dirt sprayed, dust billowed.

Within the dust, Su Xiao stepped forward, slashing his blade toward the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto's chest.

Though the Tailed Beast transformation greatly enhanced Naruto's power, he was now merely a mindless beast, relying only on brute force.

Checking Zhan Long Shan cut through the air, its edge aimed at Naruto's neck.

At this point, Su Xiao no longer cared about capturing the Jinchuriki alive; Naruto at Five-Tails was too dangerous—any lapse in attention could cost him his life.

Ding!

The blade struck Naruto's neck; a layer of exoskeleton blocked the blade—another chakra tail sprouted behind Naruto, bringing the total to six.

This situation differed from Naruto's battle with Orochimaru; then, he had unleashed tails one by one—now, he had exploded directly from One-Tail to Four-Tails, and from Four-Tails to Six-Tails in under a minute.

At Six-Tails, even the Deva Path would be overwhelmed; Su Xiao now understood one thing: the Nine-Tails was an entirely different concept from other Tailed Beasts.

Su Xiao seriously doubted that even all eight other Tailed Beasts combined could match the full-power Nine-Tails.

Remember, the Nine-Tails inside Naruto was only half—the other half sealed away by the Fourth Hokage.

"Roar!!"

The Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto roared, clearly displeased by the blade pressed against his neck.

Su Xiao switched from one-handed grip to two-handed grip, driving the blade downward with full force.

Clang.

The blade cut through—the exoskeleton shattered, the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto's throat slit clean.

The cut was deep; Qinggangyingsuo energy devoured the Tailed Beast chakra in Naruto's neck—Su Xiao could now see the trachea.

Chakra surged across Naruto's body; the wound healed at incredible speed—in less than two seconds, the neck wound was completely sealed.

Su Xiao's eye twitched; the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto outclassed him in strength, speed, and regeneration—if not for his blade technique and combat experience, he wouldn't have lasted a single round.

"Shinra Tensei."

A shockwave hit—Su Xiao was blasted backward; the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto rolled several times—Deva Path had arrived.

"You've found the Nine-Tails? Good."

Devas Path stared blankly at the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto; he still didn't know how strong it was.

"Then let's begin the capture."

"Wait."

Su Xiao spoke; Deva Path looked puzzled.

"First eliminate the Nine-Tails' reinforcements—then deal with the Nine-Tails. They're holding back now, afraid of collateral damage—but once the Nine-Tails falls, they'll strike."

Su Xiao tilted his chin; Deva Path turned his head—Shizune, Sakura, and the Fifth Hokage were arriving.

"Byakuya, hold off the Nine-Tails for two minutes."

Deva Path stood still; the Animal Path abandoned his current opponent and began retreating beyond Konoha's perimeter.

After the Animal Path crossed Konoha's outer barrier, he pressed one hand to the ground.

Poof~

White smoke rose; the other four Pain members, except Deva Path, were summoned nearby—now only Su Xiao and Deva Path remained inside Konoha.

The Animal Path quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground.

"Summoning Technique."

Another burst of white smoke erupted—a massive, bird-like creature emerged, its beak shaped like a sharp cone.

The monstrous bird spread its wings and soared straight toward Su Xiao's position.