The ground cracked inch by inch, bottomless fissures spreading in all directions as something forced its way upward, lifting Naruto Uzumaki with it and bursting out of the earth. Dust shot into the sky and vast amounts of Gravel cascaded down.
"What is that?" Ryoma and the others looked up in shock, staring into the dust-choked sky.
A massive stone statue, dozens of meters tall and formed entirely of solid rock, appeared before them. Naruto Uzumaki was embedded in the statue's chest, his snake-like eyes gleaming with madness as he looked down on them like ants.
"Hahahaha, ignorant fools. This is the power of 'Zanpakuto'!" he laughed harshly. "Offer up your souls!"
In the next instant, the giant statue raised its fist and smashed downward, bringing with it terrifying pressure and force.
Feeling that overwhelming power, the faces of Two-Tails Jinchuriki and Mei Terumi changed drastically. Without any hesitation, almost at the same time, they entered full Tailed Beasts transformation.
"This time, please be reliable. Give me a useful Naruto Uzumaki." With a grim expression, Kakashi muttered to himself as he drew his "Jealousy" and poured all of his Chakra into it.
Jealousy. Replica Mirror Image.
Boom.
The Rock Colossus swung down a massive fist that blotted out the sky, carrying crushing wind pressure as it smashed toward the tiny figures below. The ground split and collapsed under the terrifying force, and a column of dust shot upward, blocking everyone's view.
"Two-Tails Jinchuriki!" In the distance, Ryoma's expression changed sharply, and he moved on instinct to rush to the rescue.
"Hmph! Where are you looking?!" Obito's cold voice rang out as the skeletal giant arm of Susanoo slammed toward Ryoma without mercy.
"Get lost!" Ryoma roared. His remaining right arm crackled with violent Chakra as he answered with a fearless punch.
Thunder and bone collided again with a deafening boom, and the shockwave forced both of them back several steps. Ryoma's face was dark, his eyes burning with rage as he stared at the incoming Susanoo and snarled that the enemy was courting him.
At that same moment, inside the half stone giant, Naruto Uzumaki's snake-like pupils tightened slightly. His senses were linked to the statue, and he clearly felt a faint rebound from the punch he had just delivered.
Even the joints of the stone fist felt numb. Confusion surfaced in his mind as he slowly raised the Rock Colossus's enormous hand.
As the giant fist lifted, the dust gradually dispersed. What appeared below caused Naruto Uzumaki's gaze to harden.
In the deep crater stood a semi-transparent hemispherical barrier, its surface flowing with gentle, water-like light that protected the area beneath it. Inside the barrier, Kakashi knelt on one knee, his Wakizashi Jidu driven into the ground as his Chakra was nearly drained, leaving him gasping for breath.
Yet he was staring straight ahead, his face frozen in disbelief, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. The Two-Tails Jinchuriki and Mei Terumi had already completed Tailed Beast Transformation Technique, clearly prepared to defend as well, but they too were staring in shock at the same sight.
A figure now stood in front of them. It was someone who had appeared without warning, standing with her back to Naruto Uzumaki atop the Rock Colossus.
All Naruto Uzumaki could see was waist-length black hair like flowing moonlight, loosely tied with a simple branch hairpin that revealed the elegant line of her neck. She wore a spotless, well-fitted white robe with dense golden patterns embroidered at the cuffs and collar.
"You…" Kakashi's eyes nearly bulged as he stared at her face, as if he were seeing the most impossible thing in the world.
Shock, confusion, and disbelief tangled together in his gaze. At last, the figure spoke.
Her voice was unmistakably female, clear and calm, carrying a rational tone that seemed to see through everything. She looked over Kakashi and the two Tailed Beasts and said that it was interesting, and that perhaps the parallel world theory did have merit.
Her voice was not loud, yet everyone heard it clearly as she slowly turned around. As she moved, the small snake-shaped earrings on her ears, linked head to tail in the shape of an infinity symbol, swayed gently and gave off a soft sheen.
When her face was fully revealed to Naruto Uzumaki, time itself seemed to freeze. Inside the Rock Colossus's chest, his golden snake pupils shrank to pinpoints, and the smile on his face went rigid.
What replaced it was shock and blank disbelief he had never felt before. That face clearly resembled his own by seven parts.
The same outline, the same jawline, even the slight upward tilt at the corners of the eyes. Yet hers was more refined and complete.
She wore silver round-frame glasses, and her features looked as if they had been carefully carved, but without any artificial stiffness, only natural harmony. Her white skin was fine and almost translucent, not sickly, more like polished white jade with faint golden patterns flickering beneath the surface.
She appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six. She simply stood there, quiet and composed.
There was none of the cold, venomous presence of a snake. Instead, she carried an indescribable air of intellect, rationality, and gentleness that felt completely out of place on a bloody battlefield.
Beneath the white coat was a fitted black high-collar garment that outlined a tall and well-balanced figure. On her chest was an emblem of a snake coiled around a tree, along with a highly visible identification plate.
It read: Konoha Academy of Sciences, Director. At a glance, she felt like reason and life made manifest, inspiring reverence without daring to profane, yet also a sense of calm from her gentle presence.
It was a kind of intellectual beauty that surpassed gender.
"You…" Naruto Uzumaki lost all composure, leaving only hoarse disbelief as he demanded to know who she was.
Her deep, clear golden slit pupils swept calmly over the half stone statue and Naruto Uzumaki. He felt as if he were being seen through completely, yet strangely wrapped in an indescribable tolerance.
"Me?" Her lips curved slightly, not with madness or Greed, but mild interest.
"I am Da She she-hime," she said evenly, as if stating an objective fact. She smiled and added that she believed his name was Naruto Uzumaki.
"I am you, and you are me."
Naruto Uzumaki swallowed hard. The intense sense of absurdity nearly made him think he was trapped in Genjutsu, yet the smooth flow of Chakra in his body told him this was reality.
"A Shadow Clone Technique-like aggregation of Chakra?" Da She she-hime ignored his daze and glanced at her own body, then followed the faint connection to Kakashi.
"Kakashi, you are still alive in this world." Her gaze dropped to the blade in Kakashi's hand, and she adjusted her glasses thoughtfully, noting the strange and domineering power that allowed no refusal from Obito.
She also noted the absence of any Flying Thunder God marker, wondering if the distance between worlds was the reason. Her consciousness had been forcibly pulled here from a laboratory experiment.
Confirming the parallel world theory was exciting, but the restrained sensation was not pleasant. She could feel that if Kakashi cut the link or ran out of Chakra, she would leave.
"If Kakashi maintains the current output, the estimated stable residence time of this projection in World Two is…" She folded her arms and rubbed her chin as she calculated.