Naruto looked him in the eye and smiled as he spoke, "Since you all came here to deal with me…"
"Shouldn't you at least show me some respect?"
"Stop asking such stupid questions every time."
"It doesn't make you look smart."
Kimimaro leaned against a tree, expression indifferent. "Apologies. I simply underestimated your sensory abilities."
"However, I'm not like those people you've encountered before."
"I came here for Lord Orochimaru."
Naruto asked, "To avenge him?"
"Lord Orochimaru isn't dead," Kimimaro shook his head, his tone still cold. "He just needs you."
"If you're willing to come back with me and serve Lord Orochimaru, that would be ideal."
"If not…"
"Then I'll have to force you."
Naruto shook his head. There was no way he would agree.
Kimimaro said no more. He took out a pill, swallowed it, and then leapt from the tree, striking down with his palm.
A strong wind howled!
Though no blade was drawn, a sharp edge like a sword emerged from his palm as he slashed down.
Naruto raised his sword to block.
Clang! Sparks flew from the collision.
In that moment of contact, Naruto saw clearly what it was in Kimimaro's palm.
It was a bone blade.
A bone that pierced out from the center of his palm.
A Kekkei Genkai?
Kimimaro pressed forward—his bones protruding from different parts of his body in sudden strikes.
Slashes, stabs, surprise attacks!
Every small movement turned into a lethal strike.
His ability to manipulate bones at will made him a deadly weapon.
But—
After several exchanges, Naruto caught the bone in Kimimaro's hand.
Chakra surged, and golden chains extended, wrapping along the bone to his arm, crawling across his body, binding him tight.
A non-incantation binding spell—
"Binding Spell Four: This Rope."
Kimimaro struggled, bones pierced out, but the golden chains only tightened further.
"If this were a performance, I'd applaud your dance," Naruto pulled the chains and raised his sword. "But this is battle."
"Your Kekkei Genkai is indeed eye-opening…"
"But your performance doesn't please me."
Kimimaro was strong—but not strong enough.
Comparable to someone like Zabuza Momochi.
That guy had once been a worthy opponent, but now to Naruto, such strength only barely qualified to stand before him.
"My strength… is not equal to yours," even now, Kimimaro's face remained calm. He spoke gently, "But what Lord Orochimaru left in me…"
"Let me show you my true form."
Naruto's sword halted mid-air.
He looked at Kimimaro, eyes showing surprise.
This was—
What was happening?
From the back of Kimimaro's neck, at the cursed seal marked with three tomoe, a powerful chakra erupted.
But it wasn't his own chakra.
Or rather, its nature was completely different from chakra Naruto had known.
It absorbed surrounding ambient energy, refined through the cursed seal, and fed it back into Kimimaro's body.
It made his chakra stronger.
And changed his appearance.
Black markings spread across his body like dense veins.
Then, in a blink, the black lines blurred, staining his pale skin a dark tone. Massive bone spikes emerged from his back, and even a thick black tail formed.
He had mutated.
His appearance became twisted and monstrous.
But despite the evil exterior, Naruto felt that the essence of this power didn't feel particularly evil.
It was simply… energy.
"What technique is this?" Naruto asked.
Kimimaro clenched his fists. "It is the power Lord Orochimaru granted me."
"Let this be my final dance… my final contribution to Lord Orochimaru."
He didn't roar in anger, only calmly spoke those words.
The cursed seal's power-up allowed him to break free of the golden chains.
But he didn't rush into an attack.
He stood still, forming hand seals.
"Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
A bone spike suddenly burst from the ground—sharp and pointed.
Like bamboo shoots after early spring rains.
The second, the third—bone spines kept sprouting from the ground.
They grew larger, taller, spreading wider.
Naruto lightly leapt into the sky, standing above as the forest below became a bone forest.
Far off, on the road from the village to Konoha—
Shino Aburame suddenly stopped, catching a bug on his finger. "My bugs tell me Naruto seems to have encountered an enemy."
The others took a few steps more before pausing.
"Where?" Hinata asked.
Shino pointed in a direction without speaking.
Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked that way.
"What kind of enemy is Naruto facing?" Kiba asked anxiously.
Hinata trembled and shook her head, "I… I don't know. I can't see who Naruto is fighting. But that forest is completely destroyed—covered in bones. Huge ones. A lot of them."
Bones?
Destroyed forest?
"That must be a powerful enemy," Kiba said more urgently. "Kurenai-sensei, let's go help Naruto!"
Kurenai hesitated. "An enemy strong enough to face Naruto…"
"Even if Naruto left Konoha, he's not a traitor," Kiba said firmly, "He's still our friend."
"If not for him, Konoha would've been destroyed by Orochimaru during the Chunin Exams!"
"Kurenai-sensei!"
Kurenai looked to the others. "What do you two think?"
"I…" Hinata clenched her fists. "I want to help Naruto-kun."
What Naruto said that day, standing in the sky, had pierced not only Jiraiya and Kakashi's hearts—
But Hinata's too.
She had liked Naruto for a long time.
But never dared to express it openly like Ino or Sakura.
To put it nicely, she was "shy."
But honestly, she had simply stood by silently in the face of Naruto's suffering.
When he was sad, she didn't dare comfort him.
When he was bullied, she didn't offer help.
Compared to Jiraiya or Kakashi—who at least showed up, even if late—she had done nothing.
Shino nodded silently.
Kurenai took a deep breath and declared, "Team 8—temporary mission!"
"Support Naruto Uzumaki."
"Mission Rank: A-Class."
"Move out!"
The four of them immediately set off toward the bone forest.
They hadn't gotten far from the town, so the distance wasn't great. When they arrived, bones were still emerging nonstop, the rumbling never ceasing.
Their purpose was clear: to pursue Naruto in the sky.
"What kind of jutsu is this…" Kiba was stunned.
Hinata's earlier description hadn't quite conveyed the scale of the "bone forest."
Destroying a forest—
That's not too hard.
Even Kiba had techniques that could do it.
He figured his teammates probably did too.
But—
What he now saw was completely beyond imagination.
The entire forest was blanketed.
The bones rose tall, beautiful, and chilling.
Like a funeral.
"Hinata, Shino," Kurenai was briefly stunned but quickly recovered. "Locate the enemy."
"Kiba, be ready—we'll support—"
A voice suddenly cut her off from behind. "No need. An enemy of this level—Naruto can handle it easily."
Kurenai was startled, turning with kunai drawn.
Her vision filled with red hair.
It was that girl from the Uzumaki clan, the one who followed Naruto.
She took a deep breath, calming herself.
When did she get here?
Why didn't anyone sense her presence?
She hadn't even passed the second round of the Chunin Exams—a dropout. Yet now, she had grown this much?
Team 8 specialized in sensing—
Shino's bugs, Kiba's dog, Hinata's Byakugan…
Yet none of them noticed her approach?
"What do you mean by that?" Kurenai asked.
Karin shook her head and smiled. "If you don't have the power to face Naruto head-on, and you can't hide your presence either—then you're not qualified to fight him."
Team 8 fell silent.
They looked at the ever-growing bone forest, glinting coldly.
Even this isn't enough to fight Naruto?
High in the sky, Naruto stood. "I had hoped you would show me more…"
"But is this all?"
"Your cursed seal only made a bit of a show—just stirred up some dust?"
"How boring."
He formed seals, and golden chains surged forth.
One lashed out and pierced through the nearest massive bone.
Boom—
Bone shattered, fragments flying.
But Kimimaro wasn't harmed.
He moved rapidly within the forest of bones, melting into them at will.
The golden chains crisscrossed in pursuit—
Piercing bone after bone, shrinking his available space until only the final, towering bone remained—like a small mountain.
Naruto flash-stepped over.
With his Nine Tails sword, he stabbed through.
With a flick of his wrist, the bone mountain split in two and collapsed.
Revealing Kimimaro, impaled on the blade.
Sunlight fell upon them.
From the others' perspective, the two figures were silhouetted.
One stood in the sky, raising a sword that held up an enemy larger than himself.
Team 8 remained silent.
Kimimaro used the last of his strength. The pill from Kabuto had kept him barely alive. He reached up, grasping the blade, and whispered with a smile, "Uzumaki Naruto… Did I amuse you?"
Naruto didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the back of Kimimaro's neck.
The cursed seal—
Was the most interesting part of him.
Kimimaro's head drooped.
He still wanted to say goodbye to Lord Orochimaru.
But… it was too late.
(End of Chapter)