Through My Lying Eyes

37 - Just Take Deep Breaths

"And I don't care."

"W-what? No, you need to be caref-"

"I said I don't care. His ability isn't perfect, it can be worked around pretty easily." Naruto said confidently while crossing his arms.

"You seem overly confident." Madara said to the new challenger. He got into a fighting stance with his scythe by his side. "Allow me to fix that."

Madara rushed to Naruto, swinging his scythe to his left, which Naruto jumped to avoid. Naruto spun and sent a kick to Madara's head, but it phased through it. Naruto landed on his hands and pushed himself away towards the Konoha team. Madara rushed towards him again, this time swinging from the other side. Naruto this time, dodged and poked Madara's mask for fun moving around him and getting behind him all in one move.

Madara covered the mask with his hand and started to slightly panic. 'He actually...' Madara looked back to see Naruto smile innocently. 'He's toying with me.' "You're just as obnoxious as you were when you were younger. You never know when to take things seriously, do you? That'll be your downfall." Madara said with malice in his voice.

"But why should I take you seriously..." In the blink of an eye, Naruto was now inches from Madara's face. "...When I don't see any serious threats." Naruto punched Madara in the stomach, sending him back several meters.

'I couldn't react in time, even with my sharingan active. His speed is on another level. I have to focus.' "I'll admit, *cough cough* you're definitely the Yellow Flashes son." Madara said.

"Oh stop, you're making me blush." Naruto sarcastically said. "Seems like he already knows." Sasuke said to Kakashi and Gai, who both nodded in agreement.

Madara was getting angrier and angrier. "Take this seriously, dammit!" He yelled. He went for more attacks that were effortlessly dodged by Naruto. Naruto charged at Madara who let him phase through. Madara turned around and swung down, and Naruto stood there looking up until the blade was almost touching his nose.

Naruto smiled and teleported out of the way, and right in front of him with his fist cooked back. In a flash, his fist made contact with Madara's chest, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him flying back another several meters. Naruto smiled and turned to the konoha team.

"See what I mean, if you know how his ability works, then you can exploit it pretty easily, given you're fast enough." Naruto said. "Speaking of speed, it looked like you teleported for that attack, did you?" Kakashi asked his lost student. Naruto responded by pulling out a three-pronged kunai that once belonged to his father.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "It's good to see you've been doing well without us."

Naruto lost his smile and looked away. "I guess."

Before they could ask what he meant, Madara got up and rushed behind Naruto and swung the tip of the scythe into the side of Naruto's neck. Instead of going through however, the blade stopped midway, leading to the rest of the blade shattering into a million pieces due to the momentum of the swing.

Madara landed on his feet and turned to look at Naruto, who roared in pain. The Konoha team was by his side in an instant, attempting to treat his wound, but Naruto stopped them. Naruto reached into the cut and grabbed the large shard of metal that was lodged into his neck. A slicing sound could be heard as he pulled it out, and Gai tried with everything in his power to not throw up.

Naruto dropped the metal shard and placed his hands over his neck wound, and instantly, smoke poured from underneath his hands. At the same time, red bubbly chakra seeped from his neck and landed on the ground, accumulating into a small puddle which quickly evaporated.