Naruto: Starting with the Granted Strongest Eye

When Sasuke and the others saw Hidan reemerge from the sand once more, they were momentarily stunned. Quickly, they turned to Yakumo, who furrowed her brow and whispered:

"This is the Earth Fusion Technique that Tō-sensei mentioned. He can transform his body into sand and merge with the ground. The earth absorbs any attacks on him, but that should be extremely chakra-intensive!"

Sasuke and his comrades were at a loss; Hidan had clearly shown abilities beyond the ordinary. Asuma and others had suffered badly. If not for the timely intervention of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, Asuma and Kurenai might not have survived.

After a moment of silence, Yakumo looked to Sasuke. "Are you not going to help Tō-sensei?" Her question made Sai and Naruto pause in their tracks—Sai's shoulders trembled slightly, and Naruto's expression turned conflicted. Meanwhile, Sasuke forced a wry smile.

"Do you think we can join that fight? Look at Steel Gorilla Beast and Kū's Scythe Mantis—Steel Gorilla is dominating, and Naruto's Golden Sword Lion Beast is only holding his own against two-headed snakes. But... eventually, maybe we can support Sensei Tō. As for us..."

Even Sai bowed his head. At that moment, the next-generation Ino–Shika–Chō trio and Kiba arrived beside them. Shikamaru shook his head and sighed, then smiled wryly.

"Instead of worrying about Tō, why don't you try stopping that guy?" Shikamaru gestured toward Gaara, now transformed into Shukaku. He looked dour but resolute.

Kakashi and other elite shinobi were engaged with Deidara and Hidan. The ANBU had captured Tō's summon beasts. Summoned creatures restrained Orochimaru and Jiraiya. But the most critical fight was with Gaara. In his current state, he was unstoppable—even the Sound Four seemed injured.

"But this guy's tough. We can only slow him down," Shikamaru added.

Temari's mouth bled faintly, and Kankuro stared grimly. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances and then dashed toward Gaara at top speed. Sasuke's Chidori sparked in his left hand, and Naruto created a Shadow Clone to launch a Rasengan—something Tō had previously taught him, but he'd never perfected. Over the past month, with no interference from the Nine-Tails, Naruto managed a one-handed Rasengan. It was his finisher—long unused, until now.

Shikamaru (exasperated): "You guys... I haven't even finished explaining yet!"

Inu and Sai merely snorted and also ran toward Gaara's onslaught.

Gaara flicked Shukaku's hand, sending them both flying. He sneered at Sasuke and Naruto:

"I've wanted to teach you two a lesson—you're still Tō's students, but frankly, your skills are lacking!"

With a single move, Shukaku's paw struck toward them. Sasuke's Sharingan flashed; he leaped aside. Naruto used his Rasengan head-on against Shukaku's hand. BOOM echoed—it bent the hand slightly at best.

Sasuke soared into the air, his Chidori surging, then thrust it into the hand. Sand and smoke clouded the air—

"This guy's hardness is incredible," Sasuke murmured under his breath, "and I can only use that move once more."

Naruto nodded and turned to Yakumo. "Yakumo-nee, can you use genjutsu? If we go head-on, we'll get hurt too."

The Rasengan had nearly caused internal injuries to Naruto from the recoil. Yakumo nodded and began forming hand seals, with chakra so dense that both Naruto and Sasuke felt uneasy.

Temari (shouting): "He's going into medium hypnosis! Once that happens, Shukaku might fully appear. We're all dead!"

Temari and Kankuro exchanged looks and instinctively moved to retreat. The Sound Four struggled to stand, clearly exhausted.

At that moment, Arashi spoke calmly:

"If they can't get up, they stay down."

Snap—the necks of Jirō and Konohamaru snapped cleanly. At the same moment, Kogorō and Shō appeared behind one of the Sound Four. Soon, all were dead—save Tayuya.

Naruto (surprised): "Arashi, what are you doing?"

Shikamaru frowned, recalling something. Shō sneered:

"We said it before—Tō saved our village. And Konoha's behavior now is unjust."

Kogorō (coldly): "It's disgraceful—we should've been fighting Orochimaru. Instead, you helped destroy Tō. We, the Village of Blossoms, can't tolerate that!"

Tayuya suddenly surged forward toward Arashi sans genjutsu. Arashi's brow twitched, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Tayuya. One strike, a single red cut across her throat, and she fell. The speed was so great that even Sasuke's Sharingan—three commas spinning—couldn't track him.

Arashi (calmly): "Gaara, go help Tō-sensei! We'll handle things here."

Gaara snorted and ran toward Tō. Meanwhile, Tō—still calm—wore an icy smile as he watched the Third Hokage, Enma the Monkey King, tugging on his soul.

Hiruzen, from the fight with Orochimaru onward, had been reaching his limits. Cold sweat dripped from his brow. A final breath left him, as he whispered:

"Compared to the old you... Your strength has declined. I came only to kill Orochimaru—why entangle yourself with me?"

Tō smirked and replied softly:

"You know what? I never really cared for Konoha either. Why should I let anything hold me back?"

Hiruzen coughed, then began to pull Tō's soul again with Shiki Fūjin (Shiki's Seal):

"You and Orochimaru are the same—you act on instinct. You said you're passionate. Even if you killed Danzo, you'd feel unfulfilled. What if that destroyed Konoha? I couldn't live with that... So take my soul—and come with me."

Tō looked up, slightly furrowing his brow. Then he grinned wryly:

"You know, that Shiki Fūjin you used—may I remind you it's originally a jutsu of the Uzumaki clan?"

Hiruzen froze, and realization dawned in his eyes as he stared at Tō.