Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

The moment the ball of light touched the third bluestone slab, the entire snowfield suddenly collapsed into a honeycomb-like hole.

Kai's bandages were quickly wrapped around everyone's waists, but the mysterious girl's bell still hit the ice wall, making a sickening metallic scraping sound.

Follow my chakra trajectory. Naruto slammed the Rasengan into the ground, and the golden-orange light flowed like a living thing through the cracks in the ice.

Sasuke noticed that deep within the illuminated ice, dozens of corpses dressed in the attire of ninjas from various countries were frozen in place, and one of the heads wearing a Sand Village headband still had a hand seal in place.

Suddenly, Kai grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar and pulled him back quickly.

Suddenly, countless sharp ice shards rose up on the originally flat ice surface, several of which grazed Sasuke's headband and left slow-motion-like cold light trails in his Sharingan.

The mysterious girl's bell suddenly began to vibrate spontaneously, and the buzzing sound of some ancient barrier being triggered made everyone's eardrums hurt.

Thirty degrees southeast, seven steps. The girl spoke for the first time, her voice seeming to travel through a curtain of water.

A bluish-gray chakra shone from her fingertips, which she precisely placed on the melting ice sculpture between the eyebrows.

Sasuke's Sharingan detected the sealing runes flowing inside the ice sculpture—strikingly similar to a Yin Release technique he had seen in the Uchiha Forbidden Land.

As everyone stepped through the seventh ice crevice, Naruto suddenly staggered and covered his right eye.

The Nine-Tails' chakra overflowed uncontrollably from its body, scorching black fox claw marks onto the ice. Something was...resonating? He stared at his trembling fingertips, where chakra fluctuations similar to those of the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique lingered.

The dark figure emerged from the reflection of the ice wall.

The mysterious girl was the first to notice something was wrong.

The bell at her waist suddenly stopped, as if a pause button had been pressed.

Just as Kai's bandages were about to give a warning, the dark figure had already torn through the chakra filter, and its claws, wrapped in ice shards, aimed straight for Naruto's back.

Sasuke's Chidori barely grazed the shadowy figure's left shoulder, but the lightning twisted and dissipated strangely at the moment of contact.

The true form of the shadowy figure was like melted ink, leaving a serpentine afterimage trailing across the ice.

The mysterious girl's cloak was ripped open by sharp claws, and three bloody streaks oozed an eerie indigo liquid from her collarbone.

"Step back!" Kai's bandages suddenly wove into a cocoon to protect the girl, and the red steam of the Eight Gates exploded at the soles of his feet.

The dark figure dispersed into mist under the impact of the physical attack, but then reformed five meters away.

This time everyone saw it clearly—the Konoha headband, faintly visible within the misty outline, still bore the dents left by the kunai scratches on its edges.

The ice cave suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Chapter 373 Mind Your Own Business

Naruto stared at his hands, which had formed the Silent Hand Seal without him even realizing it. The Nine-Tails' chakra was surging wildly along specific meridians, as if its trajectory had been predetermined by some being.

At his feet, a scroll half-frozen in the ice suddenly unfurled, revealing the Flying Thunder God Technique formula of the Fourth Hokage on its cover.

In the eerie light refracted by the ice wall, the dark figure split into seven afterimages.

Just as Kai's bandages wrapped around three of Naruto's necks, four more were already striking from different angles at the back of Naruto's neck.

The Nine-Tails' chakra erupted in response, but was completely devoured by a cold, sinister chakra the moment it touched the shadow.

Sasuke! Naruto rolled away from the ice spikes, his elbow slamming heavily against the rock wall. Is your Chidori just for show?

The black-haired boy threw three shuriken with a backhand, and lightning exploded into cross-shaped star patterns on the surface of the ninja tools.

One of them flew past Naruto's ear, exploding with purple plasma the moment it pierced the ice. Mind your own business. Sasuke's Sharingan spun rapidly, but as he tried to track the movement of the shadowy figure, he suddenly felt a sharp pain; this thing was mimicking their chakra fluctuations.

The mysterious girl suddenly pressed her collarbone wound, and wisps of blue smoke rose from where the indigo blood dripped.

The bronze bells at her waist suddenly shattered simultaneously, the resulting sound waves forcing the dark figure back three meters. In the southeast, the ice layer was uneven in thickness. Her lips barely moved as she spoke, as if her vocal cords were bound by some force.

Fine beads of blood suddenly seeped from Kai's green bodysuit; the impact of the Eight Gates had torn his calf muscles.

He flung out a bandage, wrapping it around Sasuke's ankle, pulling the boy away from danger the moment the shadow attacked. "Concentrate your attack on the three o'clock position!" The older ninja's voice held an unusual restlessness; the core of that mist was...

Before the words were finished, the shadowy figure suddenly materialized.

The scratches on the Konoha headband were clearly visible, and his right hand was holding the same Rasengan as Naruto's.

As Sasuke's Lightning Blade collided with the shadowy figure's Rasengan, shards of ice suddenly rained down from the dome of the ice cave, and the sealing array beneath everyone's feet glowed with a blood-red light.

It's a Yin attribute chakra copy! The mysterious girl suddenly ripped off her tattered cloak, revealing a snake-shaped tattoo on her pale arm.

She bit her fingertip and quickly drew incantations on the ice, needing to simultaneously sever the energy resonance...

Naruto suddenly froze at that moment.

The trail of Nine-Tails chakra left on the retina perfectly matched the path of the black shadow's movement.

As the shadow split again, he noticed that the afterimage in the northwest corner was always a beat slower than the main body. Sasuke! He quickly formed hand seals, using Fire Release to seal the gap on the east side!

Do you think I'm your shadow clone? Sasuke's Fireball Jutsu precisely burned the spot Naruto indicated.

The moment the flames touched the ice wall, the black shadow emitted a hissing sound like metal scraping, and the split afterimages suddenly all returned to the original body.

It's now!

The Rasengan that Naruto had gathered in his palm suddenly rotated in reverse, and black tomoe appeared inside the orange sphere of Nine-Tails chakra.

When the shadowy figure used the copied ninjutsu again, the gravitational field generated by the reverse spiral simultaneously drew both of them into the energy vortex.

From deep within the ice came the crisp sound of chains snapping, and the dark, misty body began to collapse uncontrollably.

Southwest position! The mysterious girl's spell was finally complete, and the bluish-gray chakra transformed into chains that bound the shadowy figure's ankles.

Gai's bandages wove a cage, while Sasuke's Chidori Stream created a lightning voltage field outside the cage.

Before disappearing, the shadowy figure suddenly let out a human-like sigh.

In the reflection on the ice, everyone could clearly see a blond figure wearing a Konoha headband—the hem of the robe embroidered with the Fourth Hokage's haori was slowly sinking into the depths of darkness.

As the last wisp of black mist dissipated, the honeycomb-shaped ice cave floor began to tremble violently.

The bluestone slabs beneath everyone's feet automatically rearranged, piecing together a huge stone gate engraved with swirling patterns.

The shape of the groove in the center of the door perfectly matches the handle of the Flying Thunder God kunai that Naruto always carries.

This is... blood suddenly seeped from Sasuke's Sharingan, and the flowing runes twisted into the Uchiha clan crest in his vision.

The mysterious girl staggered and grabbed the ice wall for support; the indigo blue of her collarbone wound was fading back to normal blood color.

Kai silently loosened his grip on the bandage, and dark red blood dripped through his fingers.

When he looked at the stone gate, a serious expression appeared on his usually smiling face for the first time: the flow of chakra had changed, and the space behind the gate was fluctuating...

Naruto suddenly pressed down on his violently throbbing right eye.

The Nine-Tails growled a warning deep within his consciousness, and a resonance that transcended time and space caused the tailed beast's chakra to boil uncontrollably.

When he reached out and touched the groove on the stone door, the Fourth Hokage's specially made Flying Thunder God kunai suddenly flew out of his ninja tool pouch and embedded itself firmly in the center of the mechanism.

Chapter 374 The Temperature Is Dropping Rapidly

The tremors of the ice cave gradually subsided, and the swirling patterns on the bronze door began to glow with a pale golden light.

The burning sensation from when the Flying Thunder God Kunai was embedded in the mechanism still lingered on Naruto's fingertips. The Nine-Tails' chakra surged through his meridians, evaporating the frost into tiny water droplets.

These symbols... Sasuke's Sharingan transformed into its three-tomoe form, blood flowing down his left eyelid to his jaw, like a variant of the Uchiha Stone Tablet, but in a completely reversed order. He reached out to touch the raised runes, but was suddenly jolted three meters away by a burst of electricity, his back slamming heavily against the ice wall.

Naruto hurriedly grabbed his companion's arm and discovered that Sasuke's entire right arm was covered in an abnormal bluish-purple color.

Kurama sneered in his mind: the tricks left behind by the old man of the Six Paths, brute force will only be torn apart by the spatial turbulence. The tailed beast's warning sent a chill down Naruto's spine. He stared at the Flying Thunder God kunai in the center of the stone gate—a relic left to him by his father, which was now resonating with the swirling patterns.

Guy suddenly pressed down on Naruto's trembling shoulder, his hand, perpetually wrapped in bandages, radiating a reassuring warmth: the Eighth Gate's chakra flow was similar to these runes, perhaps requiring taijutsu strikes with a specific rhythm. He demonstrated by lightly tapping the side of the stone door three times, icy blue chakra ripples spreading along the network of runes, only to explode upon touching the crack in the door, knocking Guy's headband to the ground.

"Let me try." The mysterious girl tore off the blood-stained bandage, and the faded indigo tattoo on her collarbone suddenly glowed faintly.

She placed her palm on a rune that resembled a sun wheel, and the entire stone gate immediately emitted a rumbling sound as if gears were turning.

During the ten seconds that everyone held their breath, the light from the patterns gradually dimmed and eventually returned to silence.

Naruto slammed his fist into the ice, the shattered ice crystals cutting his knuckles: Damn it!

The key has been found! The Nine-Tails' chakra overflows uncontrollably from its body, and its golden coat scorches the surrounding ice.

He recalled the oath he made three days ago at the Hokage Rock, and the worry in the Fifth Hokage's eyes when he handed him the Spirit Orb Scroll. Now, all of that turned into a huge boulder pressing on his heart.

"Calm down, you loser!" Sasuke stood up, clutching his injured arm. His Sharingan was bleeding from overuse. "Are you trying to cause the entire ice cave to collapse by recklessly releasing chakra like this?" Before he finished speaking, a crisp sound of ice shards breaking came from above.

The mysterious girl suddenly staggered and grabbed the stone door for support. Her faded tattoos abruptly turned an eerie purplish-red: carved on the stone slab were...carved the songs of the forgotten people... She curled up in agony, her fingernails scratching wild marks into the ice, songs her mother had hummed before she died...as dawn kissed the third icicle.

Kai quickly wrapped her bleeding collarbone with bandages: the seal of her memories was loosening!

Little girl, try to recall the next line of the song! But the girl suddenly fainted, and the last half of the sentence turned into a faint sound scattered in the cold wind.

Naruto felt a tightness in his throat.

He counted the runes on the stone gate, which corresponded exactly to the ninety-nine sealing nodes recorded in his father's notes.

When the fingertip touched a symbol resembling a Rasengan, the Flying Thunder God Kunai suddenly emitted a buzzing sound.

Suddenly, the Nine-Tails perked up its ears in the consciousness space: Idiot, smear your blood on the kunai blade!

Crimson blood beads seeped into the mechanism through the grooves of the ninja tool, and the entire stone gate suddenly projected a three-dimensional rune array.

Sasuke's Sharingan detected the flow of chakra and suddenly pulled Naruto backward: It's a composite space-time barrier!

Four energy nodes need to be activated simultaneously!

Kai's bandages snapped shut on the two bottommost runes, and Naruto's shadow clones simultaneously lunged at the light spots on the left and right sides.

When four streams of chakra of different attributes were injected simultaneously, the stone gate finally opened slowly.

Instead of the expected path, a silvery stream of gas carrying stardust emerged from the crevice.

Just as Naruto was about to step through the gate of light, he suddenly noticed that Guy's right hand, which was hanging down, was trembling slightly.

The bandages that had been wrapped around his hands for years had come undone at some point, revealing his palms covered in black curse marks.

The Nine-Tails suddenly let out a low growl of warning, but before Naruto could ask anything, a bone-chilling cold suddenly shot up his spine to the back of his neck.

The once crystal-clear ice wall is now condensing frost flowers at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Sasuke's breath condensed into ice crystals in the air, and the mysterious girl curled up unconsciously in a ball.

Kai silently tightened the loose bandages, his gaze towards the portal growing somber: the temperature was dropping rapidly...

Chapter 375 Crossing the Gap Between Life and Death

The ice cave emitted a teeth-grinding squeaking sound, and dark red blood beads suddenly seeped from Kai's tightly bandaged right hand.

Naruto stared at the drop of blood on the ice, a metallic taste rising in his throat—three days ago in the Hokage's office, the Fifth Hokage had specifically instructed him to keep an eye on Guy's old injury.

The temperature plummeted seventeen degrees in thirty seconds. Sasuke's Sharingan swept across the frost-covered rock face, the three tomoe spinning wildly to measure the thickness of the ice layer. Structural cracks appeared in the icicles to the southeast. "We only have..." He coughed violently, and the white mist instantly froze into ice shards at the exit.

Suddenly, the mysterious girl convulsed and grabbed Naruto's ankle. The purplish-red tattoo on her collarbone began to devour the surrounding cold air: Song... The third icicle... Her bloodshot eyes reflected the stone gate rune array, and the faded indigo patterns resonated with the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Naruto suddenly remembered a warning scrawled on the last page of his father's notebook: "Time-space nodes require the sacrifice of an equal amount of something."

Suddenly, Kai's bandage wrapped around Naruto's wrist: "Use the Reverse Lotus in conjunction with my Morning Peacock!" He turned and kicked out three afterimages, the fist wind wrapped in crimson chakra accurately striking the sun ring pattern in the upper left corner of the stone gate.

The moment the ice crystals shattered, the Nine-Tails roared in its consciousness space: Idiot!

Wrap the kunai in a Rasengan!

The azure energy ball in Naruto's palm suddenly expanded, covered by a golden cloak formed from the tailed beast's chakra.

Sasuke's lightning chakra suddenly enveloped them, and amidst the sharp cry of Chidori, the two combined their strength to slam the composite ninjutsu into the central rune array.

The intense light emanating from the stone gate blinded everyone, and Kai's bandages broke apart inch by inch in the shockwave, revealing the black curse marks spreading across his forearm.

"Last-place!" Sasuke's roar was drowned out by the roar.

Naruto felt his ankle being wrapped in icy energy. The Nine-Tails' chakra spontaneously formed a protective shield, but it crumbled the moment it came into contact with the silver energy.

The last thing he saw was Sasuke's outstretched hand brushing against his headband, Guy using his body to shield him from falling ice spikes, and the mysterious girl's tattoos radiating a star-like halo.

The stone gate slammed shut amidst a deafening tremor, and the Flying Thunder God Kunwu crashed to the ground.

Sasuke's fingertips still bore the scorch marks from the burning chakra, and his Sharingan clearly captured Naruto's shocked expression before he was swallowed up.

The chill suddenly stopped spreading, and the ice cave returned to deathly silence. Only the newly formed spiral cracks on the surface of the stone door proved the dramatic change that had just occurred.

Kai picked up the headband that had rolled to his feet, and a shadow fell over his usually smiling face.

The curse mark on his forearm was fading at a visible rate, as if it were being forcibly suppressed by some force.