Boom! Boom! Boom!
Since it was a suicide assault, each of Naruto's shadow clones clearly understood their role.
After drawing Mukade's attention, they were all swiftly obliterated by him with minimal effort.
Meanwhile...
Veigar, who had just been hurled into a high tower by Mukade, lay on the floor gravely wounded, with multiple fractures across his body, barely able to move.
And yet, his face showed no trace of despair, instead, his eyes sparkled with barely contained exhilaration.
Because the fragment of Phenomenal Evil Power returning to his body was in the final stages of merging with him. As long as he successfully inscribed the Ultra-Fast Regeneration Technique, he had no concern for the state of his injuries.
More importantly, he had succeeded in obtaining Ryūmyaku energy.
Veigar's original plan had been to use the Phenomenal Evil Power fragment implanted in Mukade to inscribe the Ultra-Fast Regeneration Technique. Because the fragment was inside Mukade and powered by Ryūmyaku energy, he believed he had a high chance of absorbing some of that energy for himself.
Though he had worried before about whether the plan would succeed...
Now, all that worry had vanished. As the fusion completed, Veigar clearly felt the Ryūmyaku energy coursing through his body.
Even more so, he could sense the surrounding Ryūmyaku energy across the ruins of Roran.
All he had to do now... was wait for the fusion to complete.
On the other side...
Despite Naruto's relentless chakra-draining assault, Mukade kept advancing, his monstrous puppet body relentless as he finally caught up with Sara.
Swatting Naruto aside once more like a pesky insect, Mukade extended chakra threads from his hands, ensnaring Sara from behind in an instant.
"Sara, I'll now send you to reunite with your mother."
Believing the end was inevitable and that he had no more weaknesses left to exploit, Mukade grinned in grim satisfaction.
But Naruto sprang forward again.
"Sara!"
With a chakra blade in hand, Naruto sliced through the chakra threads binding her, rescuing her once again.
At that same moment, Veigar, gravely wounded just moments ago, completed the inscription of the Ultra-Fast Regeneration Technique, marking his second Constant Ninjutsu.
"Ultra-Fast Regeneration Technique!"
Lying on the ground, Veigar growled through clenched teeth. His body lit up with an eerie violet glow, and the Ryūmyaku energy from Roran surged into him.
BOOM—!
In that instant, the violet chakra bursting from Veigar shimmered with an otherworldly gleam.
"What?!"
Both Sara and Mukade felt the surge of power and turned toward Veigar.
To Sara, it was as if she felt a long-lost familial bond, as though blood itself was calling out to her.
To Mukade, it was terror. He sensed it too, Veigar had gained the ability to harness Ryūmyaku energy.
Bathed in its radiant flow, Veigar's pain faded quickly, his injuries healing at an astonishing rate.
Even more shocking, his chakra underwent a qualitative transformation, fusing seamlessly with the Ryūmyaku energy.
"RAAHHHHHH—!"
With his wounds fully healed, Veigar let out a triumphant roar, sending a pillar of ghostly violet chakra soaring skyward.
"What… What is that?!"
Sara stared at the beam in awe, speechless.
Everyone else, too, was shaken to their core.
As the light column faded, Veigar stuck out his tongue, only to discover that the Seal of the Cursed Tongue Eradication etched upon it had been purified by the Ryūmyaku's cleansing flood.
Yes, purified.
In that moment, it was as if Veigar's entire body had been washed clean by Ryūmyaku energy. The cursed seal, once like a festering virus, had been erased.
Now, Veigar could feel the very source of the Ryūmyaku energy, and more than that, he sensed he had obtained the power to seal it.
"…Now, let me end you."
Looking up, Veigar locked eyes on Mukade's towering puppet form and immediately charged.
Grand Rasengan of Phenomenal Evil Power!
His body restored, Veigar had returned to peak condition. His chakra, now infused with Ryūmyaku, was even more immense than before, rivaling even Naruto's.
But the most critical factor, within Roran, Veigar's power was now... limitless.
RUMMMMBLE—!
Caught off guard by the surge, Mukade was smashed by Veigar's Rasengan and sent crashing through several towers.
"Sara, head to the Ryūmyaku's source and seal it. Only then can I destroy Mukade!"
Standing atop the tower, Veigar shouted back without turning.
Watching his not-so-tall figure from behind, Sara felt an overwhelming sense of security.
It was a trust born of shared blood.
Without hesitation, she replied with firm resolve:
"I understand."
Mukade dragged himself up again, roaring in fury:
"Damn Konoha brat! Damn Sara!"
But to Veigar, his howls were nothing more than the rage of a cornered beast.
And Veigar wasn't about to show mercy.
Once Sara sealed the Ryūmyaku, Mukade would no longer pose a threat.
"Roran… is not yours to corrupt."
Veigar roared back and unleashed the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
POOF POOF POOF—!
In an instant, Veigar summoned twenty shadow clones, all of which launched into coordinated assault.
"Wind Release: Shuriken!"
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In perfectly synchronized pairs, his clones executed the Wind Release: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.
A storm of wind-imbued shuriken hurtled toward Mukade.
Ryūmyaku Style: Grand Ryūmyaku Fire Dragon Jutsu.
Facing the onslaught of shuriken, Mukade neither dodged nor flinched. Not because he didn't want to, but because his massive body couldn't.
Besides, he didn't care. As long as he had Ryūmyaku energy, he could regenerate endlessly.
The real threat wasn't the jutsu, but Sara, racing to seal the Ryūmyaku source.
And standing in his path… was Veigar.
To bypass Veigar and get to Sara, he had to eliminate this obstacle, no matter what.
Thus, he unleashed the Grand Ryūmyaku Fire Dragon Jutsu, aiming either to destroy Veigar or force him back.
Only then could he rush to Sara, before she sealed the Ryūmyaku, and kill her.
But even in the face of that devastating jutsu…
Veigar did not take a single step back.
-------
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]