Naruto: I didn't say this is the real Hokage.

"It seems you're still a little unconvinced... It's okay, let's start over."

"No, you're lying down right now?! You're not good enough as the Raikage... Come again!"

"Don't worry, before I agree to your death, you can't die even if you want to... continue!"

……

He was knocked down, vomited blood, lost his fighting ability, and then was pulled back from the brink of death by Naruto.

This is a torture, a horrific torture that is enough to make anyone lose the courage to live.

Perhaps, what keeps Ai fighting till now is his determination to avenge the ninjas of the Hidden Cloud Village who died at the hands of Naruto.

Or maybe...

Naruto simply didn't want him to die, and wouldn't allow him to stop attacking.

……

"So…how strong is this boy Naruto now?"

"Dad, do you think you can be Naruto's opponent now?"

"Gulala la la la la~

I am getting old. I guess I am no match for my son now.

As for how strong Naruto is... maybe only he himself knows clearly."

The old man with white beard smacked his lips and let out another series of devilish laughs.

In fact, regarding the question of "How strong is Naruto now", even Naruto himself does not have an accurate answer.

There haven't been many new missions released by the system over the years, sometimes even only a few throughout the year, and Naruto is happy to stay at home in the village and be a safe salted fish;

But don’t forget that among the tasks issued by the dog system, there are also long-term phased tasks such as [enhancing the overall strength of the host’s forces].

Although no interim goal was achieved, the rewards given by the system were only some bronze and silver, and the highest was a gold-level lottery ticket.

Although these lottery tickets are of lower quality, Naruto can still draw something he likes from the prize pool every now and then.

Little by little, Naruto's overall strength, although seemingly intending to remain inactive until the end, has actually been steadily improving in secret.

There were even a few times when Naruto, feeling a little overwhelmed, dared to ask the dog system bluntly whether he, with his newly acquired certain abilities, could pin the Six Paths Sage to the ground and beat him.

[Host, you are overthinking. Otsutsuki Hagoromo can punch your head into your stomach. ]

However, no matter how many times Naruto asked, the dog system always gave this only one answer.

Naruto: (???) ...hiss~ The Six Paths Sage's power is so terrifying~

Every time he heard this answer, Naruto's heart, which had just soared, would quickly fall back to its original place.

What poor Naruto didn't know was that this was a complete lie from the dog system.

With his current strength, if he were to face off against the Six Paths Sage, one of them would have his head smashed into his stomach, but that person would not be him.

Naruto didn't realize the lie of the dog system until one day in the future when the Six Paths Sage came to visit the Hidden Rain Village with his suicidal face...

Ahem~ We've gone off topic, let's go back to the battlefield between Naruto and Ai.

……

"To be honest, it's a complete waste to use something as good as Senzu Beans on a scum like you, but who made me happy today?"

The Senzu Beans were rated as diamond-level items by the dog system. Even Naruto had to be lucky to draw a small bag of them in a platinum-level ten-draw draw.

There were only ten Senzu beans in the small bag.

These were things that Naruto had always regarded as his most precious treasure, but now nine of them had been destroyed by the reckless man Ai.

"This is the last one, which means the battle between you and me will soon be over... Come on, open your mouth."

After swallowing a magic bean, my life is in my own hands.

Ai quickly got up from the ground full of energy, but the anger in his heart had already burned out, leaving only intense fear.

If possible, Ai really wanted to turn around and run away, but unfortunately Naruto never gave him such an opportunity from beginning to end.

To paraphrase the words of an inspector named Chen in "New Police Story":

[Ai, stop it, there are Narutos everywhere outside! ]

Analyzing the situation at the scene from this sentence, Naruto's real body was beating Ai violently, and tens of thousands of Naruto's clones were standing by and watching.

Emmm...by the way, all directions of the scene were blocked, cutting off Ai's idea of ​​escaping from the root.

"Uzumaki Naruto!

What hatred do I have with you that makes you torture me like this?!"

Ai collapsed, he really collapsed!

Even if he had no brain, Ai had already successfully recognized Naruto's identity through various clues during his repeated encounters with Naruto.

The hysterical questioning was Ai's last struggle before facing death.

"Let's talk after we finish."

Naruto felt that as the victim, he had given enough face to Ai, the Fourth Raikage.

Haven't you seen Naruto use even balls besides the Kaio-ken? !

But every time he was rescued, he would shout a few words, and it was just these few words of nonsense...

Are you annoying?!

I told you to talk after the fight, but you keep asking me questions... Aren't you giving me face? !

He's such a shameless guy and he's still the Fourth Raikage... Ha~te!

Looking at Naruto rushing towards him at high speed, Ai couldn't help but shrink his pupils, and seemed to have made some decision in his heart.

"Even if I die, I will never die in your hands...Ibenguanshou!!!"

Ai raised his right index finger, which was surrounded by lightning, and stabbed it straight down towards his chest.

At this moment, he seemed to want to learn from his dead father and perform such shocking feat as stabbing himself to death.

【Finally...freed.】

When his fingertips pierced the flesh on his chest and touched the surface of the still beating heart along the gap between the sternum, Ai's face actually revealed a hint of relief.

"Wind Style*Rasenshuriken!"

A white light flashed by, and Eina's right hand, which was about to pierce his heart, fell to the ground.

"I said, you can't die without my permission."

Naruto flashed in front of Ai and spoke in a calm tone, as if he was not the one who cut off Ai's right hand.

The two of them faced each other, one of them had eyes as calm as a pool of stagnant water, no emotion could be seen in them;

The palpitations, fear, and pain in the other person's eyes... were almost becoming physical.

Obviously when the two stood together, Ai seemed to be more than a head taller than Naruto, but at this moment Ai always felt that he was the one being looked down upon.

“…I will fight you!”

Faced with the threat of death, the fear in Ai's heart finally transformed into a desperate courage at a certain moment, urging his body to launch a final attack on Naruto.

"Oh, that's a bit interesting.

Unfortunately... it's not enough."

Gaba~

Accompanied by the sound of bones breaking, Naruto tore Ai's remaining left arm off his body and threw it on the ground.

Along with it, the last bit of dignity and courage left by a certain Fourth Raikage also fell to the ground.