"Is that… him?!"
Inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade shot to her feet, fists clenched, eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
"Shu! The man who called himself one of the 'Seven Warlords Under the King'—the one who forcibly took the 'Devil Fruit' from Karin and killed Danzō!" Hiruzen Sarutobi exclaimed, his aged face tightening with grief and astonishment.
That was the man who had slain his old friend.
"Why is he here? And why is he fighting Naruto?!" Jiraiya demanded, equally unsettled.
It wasn't only Konoha. In the high-level meeting chambers of the other great nations, similar cries rang out.
Shu's existence had long been classified as top secret—an individual of extreme danger.
After his first appearance, he had vanished without a trace. Despite covert investigations by the Five Great Nations, no clues had been found.
And now—
He had reappeared in the projection, clashing head-on with Uzumaki Naruto, who had become a calamity incarnate.
Inside the Projection
The battle exceeded all expectations.
Naruto had fully entered combat mode. A golden chakra cloak wrapped around him, intertwined with a dark crimson aura of ominous energy. His eyes bore the ripple-patterned Rinnegan—without tomoe, yet brimming with destructive ocular power.
More terrifying still was his body, enhanced by so-called "divine techniques." His speed left afterimages. His strength shattered mountains with a single blow.
Yet against such a ferocious Naruto, the man named Shu appeared… composed.
His movements were wide and forceful, filled with primal strength. Every punch and kick triggered explosive booms as the air fractured under the pressure.
Even stranger—
His body seemed to resonate with the surrounding natural environment.
The earth surged upward beneath his feet, forming shields or jagged spikes. Vegetation around him exploded into rapid growth, twisting into binding vines or lethal wooden spears.
"The power of a Devil Fruit…" Tsunade and the others immediately concluded while watching.
The two clashed like colliding meteors.
Each exchange shook the land. Shockwaves tore apart the already devastated basin, expanding and deepening it further. The clouds above were blown away entirely, revealing chaotic, flickering energy currents beyond.
"So strong…" an Iwagakure jōnin muttered hoarsely. "Is this the power of one of the 'Seven Warlords Under the King'? He can fight Naruto in that state head-on?!"
"So that's the power granted by a Devil Fruit… No wonder he tried to seize one!"
"But why are they fighting? Is Shu an enemy—or an ally? Is he trying to stop Naruto, or does he have another agenda?"
Questions spiraled through the minds of countless observers.
Above the battlefield, Sasuke and Neji watched with grave expressions.
"This man…" Neji murmured. His Tenseigan scanned Shu's body and energy flow carefully. "It's different from chakra. I've never seen anything like it."
Sasuke's Six-Tomoe Rinnegan locked firmly onto both combatants—particularly Shu.
"Whoever he is, whatever his purpose," Sasuke said coldly, "anyone who can fight Naruto at this level… is equally dangerous."
Should they join forces with Shu and eliminate Naruto first?
Or sit back and let the two weaken each other?
Or—
Treat both as threats that must be removed?
Their arrival did not go unnoticed.
Yet Shu seemed to have eyes only for Naruto. He ignored the observers entirely, his assault growing even more savage.
Naruto, however, faltered briefly after noticing them. Under Shu's relentless offensive and astonishing regenerative resilience, Naruto began to struggle. Several times he was caught off guard and blasted into the cliffs, clearly pressured.
Sasuke frowned deeply.
Neji clenched his fists, torn.
After being knocked back once more, Naruto wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"You're Shu, right?!" Naruto's voice thundered across the basin. "What the hell is wrong with you?! We just met! I didn't answer a few of your weird questions and you came at me like a rabid dog! What do you want?!"
There was frustration and genuine confusion in his tone.
From Naruto's words, it was clear—they were not old enemies. Their battle had erupted suddenly, escalating from a brief exchange into a life-or-death struggle.
Shu remained silent.
His response was another savage punch wrapped in emerald energy, blasting Naruto into a mountain wall. Stone exploded outward in all directions.
This time, however, Naruto did not immediately counterattack.
He emerged from the dust and hovered midair, staring at Shu intently—as if trying to see through that calm, bark-like face.
His pupils contracted.
A look of realization—and something colder—spread across his face.
"I get it now…" Naruto's voice dropped, heavy and sharp with understanding. "You're an… invader."
The word pierced through the chaos like an icicle.
"I saw records in an ancient hidden site. Energy fluctuations not belonging to this world. A forced resonance with nature—yet inherently predatory and destructive… No wonder you're not using chakra!"
Naruto's voice quickened, eyes sharpening further.
"You're from outside the shinobi world… an invader."
The word echoed not only across the battlefield—but across the entire shinobi world watching.
An invader?
So Shu—whose power system was utterly alien—was not native to this world?
He came from beyond it?
That explained everything—his bizarre abilities, his unprecedented strength, the complete absence of records before the projection.
For the first time, Shu's movements paused—just for a fraction of a second.
His eyes, deep as an ancient forest, finally regarded Naruto directly with unmistakable coldness.
"…It doesn't matter," Shu said at last.
His voice was calm—yet far more chilling than his previous silence.
"No matter what… you must die."
He offered no explanation.
But his killing intent was absolute.
In the next instant, emerald light around his body surged violently.
In the distance, Sasuke and Neji exchanged a glance. Both saw shock—and gravity—in the other's eyes.
An invader… from beyond the shinobi world?
Was Naruto targeted because he had uncovered this secret?
Or because his very existence threatened these "invaders"?
There was too little information.
But the sense of crisis had exploded.
Until now, Naruto had been, in Sasuke's mind, the world-ending threat that had to be stopped.
Now—
With Shu's identity revealed, the situation had grown a hundred times more complicated.
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