How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

"Flying Thunder God is such a pain," Sasuke muttered. 

Compared to Amenotejikara, Flying Thunder God wasn't as fast for instant movement, but it all depended on who was using it. With Tobirama's skill, even if his chakra was restricted, his mastery of the technique was unmatched in the ninja world. 

Of course, there were only two people in history who could use it at all. 

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!" 

A thin white stream of water shot from Tobirama's mouth. It wasn't flashy, but the sheer power behind it was undeniable. 

Susano'o raised its shield, blocking the Water Severing Wave completely. Sasuke swung his sword in return. 

Tobirama dodged effortlessly. 

"Annoying," Sasuke frowned as he glanced at the cracks forming on Susano'o's arm. "Just one Ninjutsu was enough to break through Susano'o's defense. If he does that two more times, Susano'o might actually shatter." 

He was incredibly strong. 

Not just in raw power, but in battle instinct—it was on a completely different level. 

"Fire Release: Majestic Dragon Fire Technique!" 

The massive Susano'o opened its mouth and unleashed roaring flames, forming a huge fire dragon that rushed toward Tobirama. 

Even as the flames closed in, Tobirama's expression remained unchanged. He quickly formed hand seals. 

"Water Release: Water Dragon Fang!" 

Water Dragon Fang was an advanced version of the Water Dragon Bullet—a single cast summoned nine water dragons at once. 

Though they weren't as large as the fire dragon from Susano'o, they were not to be underestimated. 

The fiery and watery dragons clashed in midair, but before a winner could be decided, both sides had already started forming new seals. 

"Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Blade!" 

"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song!" 

It was as if only blue and red light remained in the world. A massive water tornado rose from the ground, tearing through the flames, while the dragon formed from fire roared and bit at the towering water vortex. 

Water flooded the land, forming a lake that covered the ground, while the fire's intense heat caused the water to evaporate. 

Thick white steam rose continuously, making it seem as if the entire world was covered by a white curtain. 

"Kid, your Fire Release is pretty good," Tobirama praised. "Among the Uchiha I've known, only Madara and Izuna had stronger Fire Release than you." 

"It's mostly because of my chakra," Sasuke shook his head. His Fire Release wasn't powerful because he had mastered the nature of fire chakra—it was because his chakra itself had grown far stronger than before. 

With such a huge amount of chakra backing him, any jutsu he used could— 

—turn into something like a natural disaster. 

 Thinking this, Sasuke looked at Tobirama with a complicated expression. "Second Hokage, the title 'Water God' really isn't an exaggeration. Even with your chakra heavily restricted, having less than half of mine, you can still use Water Release strong enough to match me. That's seriously impressive." 

Once again, he saw the gap in battle awareness between himself and top-tier shinobi. If Tobirama had more chakra, Sasuke might have had to push even harder just to suppress him. 

"I don't need your approval," Tobirama said, forming hand seals without the slightest change in expression. "You'd better be careful—my fighting style focuses on gathering information. If you drop your guard, I'll kill you in an instant. So don't let your vigilance slip." 

Unlike Hashirama, Tobirama never underestimated any opponent, no matter how powerful he was. His combat approach embodied the very essence of what it meant to be a ninja. 

If anyone was careless—even Madara—they could be killed by Tobirama. Madara himself had admitted it before. Against Tobirama, letting your guard down, even for a moment, meant giving him the opening to strike a fatal blow. 

That was exactly how Uchiha Izuna had died by his hands. 

"Don't worry," Sasuke's Mangekyō spun steadily. He wasn't about to let his guard down. He had learned that lesson the hard way—getting beaten up by Naruto and Kurama too many times during training. 

"Good," Tobirama nodded approvingly. "Listen, kid, Edo Tensei bodies have unlimited chakra. If you can't overpower me, you need to find a way to restrict my movements. Baiting tactics work best." 

Sasuke was momentarily stunned. "Are you sure you should be telling me that?" 

How could it be called a baiting tactic if you just openly explained it? 

"Don't worry," Tobirama said confidently. "The one controlling this body isn't my consciousness—it's just my combat instincts. So my thoughts don't affect my body's actions." 

"From our fight just now, I can tell—this body functions well in every way, but it's too rigid." 

"It inherited my combat instincts, so its fighting style mirrors my habits. And my habit is to go for the kill the moment my opponent shows an opening." Tobirama's face was full of disdain. "The curse energy behind this jutsu isn't strong enough to support complex thought processes, so if you make a mistake— 

This body will automatically attack according to my usual battle patterns." 

"First, it will strike at your back. Then, it will follow up with the second stage of Flying Thunder God Slash. If you block both, and my body doesn't have time to teleport away with Flying Thunder God, that's your moment to counterattack and finish the fight."

Sasuke: "..."

Teaching your enemy how to beat you—what a joke.

This is basically like handing Sasuke a blueprint of the enemy's strategy. If he still doesn't know what to do, then how could he even face… face Naruto?

"I get it." Sasuke smirked. "In that case, I've got a better fighting style for setting traps."

As he spoke, the purple Susano'o slowly faded, and a surge of powerful chakra burst out from within Sasuke.

Tobirama was about to speak, frowning, but stopped the next second. His expression turned serious without even realizing it: "I can't sense his chakra… Sage Mode? No, that's not it. Even with my brother's Sage Mode, I can still sense chakra."

"So that means… he's reached a whole new level of power?" Tobirama nodded with approval. "Good. Very good. That's how it should be."

To have such a powerful ninja in the village—Tobirama truly felt happy.

The Uchiha? It's not that he hated them. He just knew that the Uchiha were prone to emotional extremes, so he stayed extra cautious. But he had never actually done anything against them. In fact, he had even tried to support them, hoping to change their nature.

Even though it ended in failure, Uchiha Sasuke... he really did approve of him. Just like he had once approved of Uchiha Kagami.

Dark markings spread from Sasuke's arm, covering half of his body. As chakra surged out, his shirt transformed into a floating robe, and his Mangekyou Sharingan shifted into blue Rinnegan.

A white, bone-like horn grew out from one side of his forehead. It wasn't symmetrical, but it had a strange kind of beauty.

Tobirama silently watched. Even though he was now more alert, he could feel that the cursed energy in this body hadn't changed. In other words, his combat instinct wasn't sensing Sasuke as stronger—in fact, it felt like he had gotten weaker.

"As expected, this body is unbelievably weak." Tobirama gave a cold snort, his tone full of sarcasm.

If it were him, the power of Edo Tensei wouldn't be this poor—he wouldn't be unable to tell how strong his opponent was.

That younger guy named Orochimaru probably doesn't understand sealing techniques very well.

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