At a critical moment, just as Naruto braced himself for the unavoidable impact of the dark purple energy ripples, he felt a steady hand rest on his shoulder. Startled, he looked up to see a familiar figure beside him.
Swish!
In the next instant, he and the mysterious figure vanished from the spot, just as the dark purple ripples crashed down, leaving a deep, smoldering hole in the ground where they had stood moments before. They reappeared a few meters away, next to another masked figure holding a distinct, three-pronged kunai.
"Are you okay?" the figure who had saved him asked, his voice calm and reassuring as he glanced over at Naruto.
Naruto's eyes widened as he took in his savior's presence. The signature kunai in the other figure's hand, the masked yet oddly familiar stance… It all pointed to a single, undeniable conclusion.
"Flying Thunder God!?" Naruto whispered, his mind racing as he recognized the sudden teleportation. Only one person he knew was capable of such a move—his father, the Fourth Hokage, the legendary Yellow Flash of Konoha.
"…Dad?" Naruto blurted out, barely able to contain his shock. In the entire ninja world, there was only one person capable of executing this S-rank time-space jutsu so effortlessly.
But before Naruto could process his thoughts, the masked woman turned toward him, her brows furrowing slightly under the mask. "What are you talking about?" she asked, her tone sharp. "Who's your dad?"
Naruto's eyes flicked between the two figures in front of him. Despite the masks they wore, everything about them—this woman's long, bright red hair tied in a ponytail, the way she carried herself—reminded him of his mother. Could it really be? he wondered, struggling to comprehend the surreal reality in front of him.
"…Mom?" he ventured tentatively, his voice barely audible.
The red-haired woman's eyes narrowed, and her voice dropped a few degrees. "Keep calling me that, and I'll tear your mouth apart!" she snapped, clearly unimpressed. She shot him a fiery glare, her presence and fierce tone all too familiar. Despite himself, Naruto felt a cold sweat break out on his back, instinctively tensing as though he were really being scolded by his mother.
Meanwhile, Minato chuckled softly, understanding the situation but choosing not to reveal the truth to Kushina just yet. It was obvious to him now that Naruto was his son, the boy he and Kushina had longed to see grow up. Despite the masks, Naruto had recognized them instantly, a clear sign that in the future, they had been there to raise him.
But this wasn't the time for explanations.
"Enough talking," Minato said gently, stepping between them. "We've got an enemy in front of us."
Naruto shook himself, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he focused on the massive, glowing purple ball of energy before them. "Whoever you are… thanks for saving me," he said, stealing a glance at his masked parents. Though he sensed something undeniably familiar, he pushed his questions aside. There was no time to unravel the mystery now.
Suddenly, the dark purple energy sphere began to emit an intense glow. Its light flared, illuminating the entire area for a hundred meters. As the three of them looked on, a strange gravitational force began to radiate from the sphere, pulling in everything around it.
They were unaffected, but the guards' armor wasn't as fortunate. The special plating on the guards was wrenched from their bodies, disassembling and flying toward the energy sphere in pieces. Even the ground beneath the sphere began to crumble, bits of stone and earth swirling into the gravitational pull.
Minato's eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation. "What's going on?" he muttered. He could feel a distinct resonance between the objects that were being pulled and the dark purple energy within the sphere, as though they shared a common frequency.
"It's the Dragon Vein's power," Naruto said, his tone steady but urgent. "It's the same energy the guards' armor was using earlier. But now it's reversed, like it's pulling everything back into itself."
Minato nodded, Naruto's observation confirming his own theory. He sensed the same resonance, a connection between the energy sphere and the guards' armor, only now it was drawing power inward rather than out.
"Well done, Naruto," Minato thought, feeling a surge of pride. Though Naruto's earlier strategy of expanding his perception across Rōran was risky, it had ultimately revealed critical information. This daring, instinctual approach—it reminded Minato of Kushina's courage and fiery determination.
Under the pull of the dark purple sphere, dozens of suits of armor and pieces of rubble began to attach themselves to the energy core, gradually shaping into something massive. The ground shook as the fragments came together, morphing into the form of a towering giant over ten meters tall. The giant's eyes glowed with a faint purple hue, its massive form clad in a chaotic fusion of armor and stone.
Bang!
The giant's foot landed heavily, cracking the ground beneath it as it advanced toward them. Dark purple energy pulsed from its body, a volatile force that flickered around it like crackling lightning.
"What is that?" Kushina breathed, her gaze hardening as she took in the giant's towering form. The power radiating from it was unlike anything she'd felt before, save for the presence of the Nine-Tails within her. She clenched her fists, turning to Minato for guidance. "What's the plan?"
Just as Minato was about to speak, Naruto dashed forward, his voice ringing with confidence. "The plan? We go straight for it!" he shouted, forming a cross seal with his fingers. Shadow clones erupted from the ground, dozens of them running alongside him as he charged at the giant.
The behemoth reacted immediately, its massive limbs swinging toward Naruto's approaching clones. Despite its enormous size, it moved with shocking speed, its fists slamming into the ground with bone-rattling force.
Bang!
Naruto's clones scattered, many of them dissipating upon impact, but his main body and a handful of clones managed to leap over the giant's fist just in time. They regrouped in midair, each pair forming hand seals as they prepared their next move.
Minato and Kushina looked on in awe, their eyes widening as they realized what Naruto was attempting.
High above, the sky began to glow an intense blue as dozens of enormous orbs of chakra appeared around Naruto's clones, each one a massive Rasengan that shimmered with incredible energy. The Rasengan spheres floated in the air like a cluster of small suns, casting an intense light over the battlefield.
Naruto's voice echoed with determination as he prepared his final attack. "Sage Art: Super Odama Rasengan Barrage!"
With a cry, the clones launched the Rasengan spheres at the giant, each one slamming into its armored form with explosive force. The sound of impact was deafening, a series of thunderous booms that shook the ground beneath their feet. The Rasengan barrage tore into the giant's armor, ripping pieces of stone and metal from its body in a dazzling display of blue chakra.
==============================================
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this FANFIC or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
==============================================