Naruto: Unlocking Kaido Template

Zixu's keen eyes locked onto the distant figures of the Sand Ninja trio. At the same time, he noticed Naruto in pursuit, while Sakura stood her ground, attempting to hold them back.

"Naruto... he could be captured, but Jiraiya values him highly. If we act, will he interfere? If we do move, it has to be together..." Zixu mused, weighing the risks.

As he pondered, the tree trunk beneath his feet splintered under his weight. His black cloak billowed in the fierce wind. With his crowbar damaged and no suitable weapon at hand, he simply stepped forward, barehanded.

"Tsk, Konoha's reinforcements..." Kankuro muttered, clicking his tongue. The situation was turning problematic.

Gaara, slung over Kankuro's back, stirred awake. As his eyes opened, a massive fist came hurtling toward his face. Zixu had wasted no time, launching an immediate strike to knock Gaara unconscious and take him away.

In an instant, half of Gaara's body bloated unnaturally. His entire arm morphed into a grotesque, sand-colored claw, its surface covered by a hardened shell of compacted sand. Half of his face grew feline features—pointed ears made of sand, his eyes blackened, and his pupils contorted into eerie cross-shaped slits.

With unnatural agility, he formed an additional arm from sand, gripping a nearby tree trunk and using it to pole-vault away from Zixu's attack.

Zixu's blow missed, but he remained unfazed. Meanwhile, Gaara, caught in a haze of madness, barely recognized the masked man before him. His frenzied mind fixated instead on Sakura, who had just arrived. With a sudden lunge, he snatched her up.

"Hiss... Ha..." Gaara could no longer form coherent words. His monstrous grip crushed Sakura's fragile body, forcing a spray of blood from her mouth. Then, without hesitation, he hurled her aside. She landed motionless, her fate uncertain.

Naruto's gaze locked onto the scene, his body trembling. Dark red chakra erupted around him, violent and ominous. The three whisker-like marks on his cheeks deepened, his eyes shifting into feral, crimson slits.

Sensing this sinister chakra, Gaara's insanity spiraled further. The bloated transformation consumed him entirely. A violent sandstorm swept through the battlefield, shrouding the sky in darkness. In the storm's eye, a massive, broad-tailed sand beast emerged—its khaki body marked by dark blue patterns.

The battlefield transformed into a desert under the beast's influence. The relentless sandstorm battered Sasuke, who had been shielding Sakura. Activating his Sharingan, he struggled to discern an escape route, only to realize that the storm itself was laced with Shukaku's chakra. The colossal entity before him was beyond anything he could handle.

Naruto's chakra grew increasingly malevolent. His once-thin frame became shrouded in a crimson cloak of energy. Dark red tails flickered into existence behind him, and a skeletal structure took shape around his body. Though smaller in stature than Shukaku, the sheer malice, rage, and desperation emanating from Naruto carried an oppressive weight that rivaled the beast's.

"Oh no... Shukaku is awakening! He's about to go berserk again!" Temari braced herself, shielding her face with her giant fan as she retreated alongside Kankuro.

"And Naruto... that chakra... it's terrifying," Kankuro muttered in disbelief. Their mission had simply been to escape—yet now they found themselves ensnared in an escalating nightmare. What more could possibly happen?

Unfortunately for him, reality was about to exceed his worst expectations.

Zixu cursed Orochimaru internally. He had wondered why the Sannin had given him such a sinister smile when saying, "If the opportunity arises, capture Naruto as well." Now he understood—Naruto was a ticking time bomb. Unchecked, he would spiral into destruction. Zixu himself could handle it, but the others in his organization might not be so fortunate.

Discarding the notion of capturing Naruto, he turned his sights to Gaara instead. A rampaging tailed beast was still preferable to an unstable Jinchūriki possessed by the Nine-Tails. A cat was still a cat, even if it was orange.

Without hesitation, Zixu's body underwent a dramatic transformation. His once-human frame expanded rapidly, his height soaring past three meters. Light green dragon scales enveloped him, and two protrusions emerged from his forehead. Within moments, his human form vanished, replaced by something far more formidable.

Gasps of disbelief echoed across the battlefield as a massive, 50-meter-long dragon took to the skies. Its blue-green scales glistened, a fiery red mane encircled its neck, and two gnarled horns—resembling the branches of an ancient tree—extended from its head. A sinuous tail, reminiscent of a fish's, swayed in the air. Four talons, sharp as blades, flexed menacingly.

"The horns of a deer... the head of a camel... eyes like a rabbit... the neck of a snake... scales like a fish... claws of an eagle... paws of a tiger... ears like an ox... this is..." Kankuro's voice trembled. "A dragon...?"

He turned to Temari, his face pale. "Temari... hit me. Am I dreaming?"

Temari didn't waste time on his nonsense. She grabbed him and bolted. This was beyond them—if they didn't flee now, they might never get the chance.

Sasuke, still holding Sakura, stared at the spectacle, his body trembling involuntarily. The last time he had felt such fear was the night of his clan's massacre. His Sharingan allowed him to see the overwhelming chakra surging within the dragon. It was beyond terrifying. Never before had he felt so insignificant.

His fingers traced the curse mark on his neck—the sinister gift Orochimaru had bestowed upon him. And yet, even with its power, he knew he was hopelessly outmatched.

For the first time, Zixu had revealed his beast form. Flames ignited around him, lifting his massive body higher into the sky. Then, he opened his maw wide and let out a thunderous roar.

"ROOOOAAARRR!!"

The sound tore through the battlefield. Every shinobi present instinctively clutched their ears. Even Shukaku recoiled, covering his own with his thick, sand-covered paws. The tanuki-demon despised noise, and Zixu had unleashed a roar that shook the heavens.

Naruto, who had fully succumbed to his beastly instincts, dropped to all fours. His body trembled as he involuntarily stepped back.

It was fear—an instinctive terror before the apex predator.

Thunder rumbled across the sky, thick clouds swirling ominously above. The howling sandstorm was swept away by the tempestuous winds accompanying Zixu. The oppressive atmosphere before a storm descended upon the battlefield, pressing down on both Shukaku and Naruto.

Far away, Orochimaru led a group of Konoha shinobi, watching the distant sky as lightning crackled ominously.

He turned to Kabuto, smirking. "So... do you still want to fight him now?"

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