After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 233

Chapter 233: The Crasher Who Crashes Crash Scenes

Kurama read the other tailed beasts’ mood and let out a disdainful snort loud enough for all of them to hear.

“Now you know how it feels. A bunch of country bumpkins who’ve never seen the world—and you dared laugh at me.”

As Naruto walked toward the group, his belly shrank a little with each step.

It was as if Life Return also enhanced the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit.

Ever since the incident with the will of nature, Naruto had stopped trying to fuse with unknown energies.

Anything he swallowed would be forcibly broken down by the Munch-Munch Factory into the most basic energy and absorbed.

Feeling the strength coursing through his limbs and bones, Naruto almost lost control of his footing and stepped straight into the ground. Nourished by that purest energy, it was as if every cell in his body was cheering.

Before everyone’s eyes, Naruto’s body visibly “grew.”

A build that had been about the same as Killer Bee’s suddenly bulked up several sizes. Roughly speaking, he now stood over two meters thirty.

More suffocating than his size was the pressure that seemed to radiate from his very level of life.

It had nothing to do with Naruto’s intent. It was pure, instinctive awe of life.

Even the Jinchūriki were not exempt.

If anything, because they shared the tailed beasts’ senses, they could feel that pressure even more clearly.

"Ugh..."

Naruto could not help but stop to stretch in place.

With crackling bone pops like thunder, his body’s durability climbed another step and was now very close to the other him.

He felt like someone who had traveled for years under a heavy load and suddenly shrugged off the weight.

The sensation of every pore being able to breathe almost made Naruto sink into it completely.

Only now could he vaguely sense the subtle difference between the air of the ninja world and the air above the sea.

A faint, nearly imperceptible energy drifted in the air.

Was it chakra, or natural energy?

It was both.

The body was like a sponge. As it grew, it could hold more.

Chakra and natural energy in the surroundings swirled toward him as if drawn by a vortex, actively seeking to enter his body.

That would not do.

His brow knitted slightly. Haki spread to cloak his entire body, isolating the free natural energy that surrounded him.

Call it once bitten, twice shy, or simple caution. Naruto would not let natural energy enter his body again unless absolutely necessary.

Who knew whether he could break free again if that consciousness influenced him once more?

After being blocked by Haki, the natural energy still tried stubbornly to bore in, but it failed every time.

From the others’ perspective, Naruto first “ate” the monster from before, then “swelled” into a small giant.

Coupled with the sudden surge in presence.

It was very easy to misunderstand.

"Careful! Naruto looks like he is being affected by that thing!"

Yugito reacted first, calling instructions to the other two Jinchūriki.

It was Killer Bee’s first time seeing Naruto like this. His expression turned serious at once. He and Rōshi rushed to Naruto’s flanks, trying to suppress a possible rampage.

Several massive tails wrapped around Naruto.

"Stay sharp, Naruto!"

While binding Naruto with octopus limbs, Killer Bee also bellowed in his ear, hoping to keep him centered.

Naruto found the posture funny and a little frustrating, yet their goodwill passed straight into his heart without disguise.

"Alright, alright. No need to panic."

Like plucking leaves off a sleeve, Naruto gently pinched the Four-Tails’ tail and Gyūki’s limbs.

Then he peeled them off himself without any effort.

Of course, from the other two’s angle, that irresistible, terrifying strength was enough to make anyone despair.

Is this still human?

The same thought popped into both Rōshi’s and Killer Bee’s minds.

"Move!"

All at once, Naruto’s gaze snapped to another direction, and he shouted.

The gentleness vanished from his motions. He flung the two Jinchūriki aside in an instant.

The moment they left his sides, a massive yellow spear shot in from afar.

It moved so fast that even Killer Bee, a perfect Jinchūriki, only barely saw a blur.

Chains extended from Naruto’s back, layering in front of him.

When they touched the faintly glowing spear, the chains were pierced without resistance.

This spear seemed to naturally restrain chakra constructs.

If chakra does not work, then do not use it.

Naruto dispersed the Adamantine Sealing Chains on the spot. Muscle swelled up his arms, and a coat of ink-black Armament Haki wrapped his forearms.

He seized the split spearhead in both hands. Where his palms met the spear, the air itself seemed to warp.

The screeching made everyone cover their ears.

After a few seconds of struggle, the falling spear went still.

Only then could they see it clearly.

Unlike the thin shaft, the spearhead was unusually broad, split forward like a claw. Red lines curled along it. Several tailed beasts all felt a strange familiarity at the sight.

They had seen it somewhere.

Whatever material the spear was made of, it did not crack even under Naruto’s crushing grip.

"Sage energy?"

That was Naruto’s first impression upon handling it.

Just like the ninjutsu he released in Sage Mode, the spear was a construct of natural energy mixed with chakra.

"Another one?"

Even as minds were catching up, Naruto’s Observation Haki detected the next attack incoming.

He did not play nicely. He gripped the strange spear in one hand, flipped it around, and layered Armament Haki over it.

In the next moment, the spear shot back the way it had come, even faster than before.

It was pure brute force.

It was the body contesting nature.

The second spear collided with it midair. Thanks to the Haki, Naruto’s spear was harder and won the clash.

With a hiss, the other spear shattered into a shower of fragments, and Naruto’s throw continued on toward the distance.

The flakes fell over their heads. Killer Bee brushed some off, caught a pinch in his palm, and peered closely.

"This is sand?"

At those words, the tailed beasts finally remembered where they had seen that spear.

"Shukaku’s power."

"Did the One-Tail Jinchūriki arrive too?"

That was Shukaku’s Spear.

It was called the hardest absolute attack, though it could not compare to the old man’s Amenominuhoko.

But had it always been like this?

The spear felt a little different from what they remembered.

At least the original Shukaku’s Spear should not have been this strong.

Each Jinchūriki got a nudge from the tailed beast inside and relayed it to Naruto.

A short, gloomy face resurfaced in his mind.

Naruto remembered. The One-Tail Jinchūriki was the guy he had knocked out with a single Rasengan earlier.