On the other battlefield, where ruined mountains still smoked from their clash, Madara suddenly paused mid-step.
His head tilted slightly. Even from this distance, he could feel it. That chakra. That overwhelming, ancient sage, godlike presence blooming across the world.
The Ten-Tails had awakened. A slow smirk spread across Madara's face.
' About time, ' he thought.
His gaze shifted back toward Naruto's shadow clones, who were still battling his Susanoo duplicates across the devastated terrain. Blades of chakra clashed in the distance, explosions lighting the horizon.
Then Madara's eyes narrowed.
The original clone that had been fighting him directly was suddenly standing beside him.
Hands in his pockets.
'When did he—'
B A M!
Naruto's fist slammed into Madara's jaw with monstrous force.
The impact bent Madara's face sideways and sent him rocketing across the battlefield like a cannonball. He tore through layers of stone, smashed through a ridge, and cratered violently into the ground hundreds of meters away.
BOOOOM!
Dust exploded upward in a giant cloud. For a moment, all that could be seen was debris and broken rock raining from the sky.
When the smoke thinned, Madara lay in the crater on his back, staring upward.
He exhaled slowly.
"I'm beginning to not like fighting," he muttered dryly.
Far in the distance, the Five Kage stood watching in stunned silence.
Ōnoki folded his arms, floating slightly above the ground.
"That kid really is strong," he admitted.
Tsunade smirked teasingly "A can confirm that firsthand."
Then Mei clasped her hands together dreamily. "He's the perfect candidate to be my husband."
Every head turned toward her instantly.
The Mizukage froze. A faint blush touched her cheeks. She cleared her throat and looked back at the battlefield as if nothing had happened.
"…Focus on the enemy."
The Raikage snorted. Gaara looked away politely. Ōnoki nearly threw out his back laughing. Before anyone could say more, Madara shot upward from the crater in a violent sonic boom.
BOOM!
The earth beneath him cracked from the launch force alone.
He soared higher and higher, piercing the clouds like a black spear. Then brilliant blue chakra erupted around him.
A majestic Susanoo formed partially around his body, and from its back emerged enormous glowing wings.
With one powerful flap, Madara surged through the heavens toward the Ten-Tails. His remaining Susanoo clones across the battlefield instantly dissolved into blue chakra smoke.
At the same time, Naruto's shadow clones vanished one after another with soft poofs, their purpose complete.
Only the original clone remained, sitting casually atop a broken boulder with one leg crossed over the other.
He watched Madara disappear into the distance.
"That was fun while it lasted," he said to himself.
Then he leaned back and scratched his cheek. "I feel like Gogeta now that I think about it."
Then—
Poof.
He vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving the battlefield strangely quiet.
Madara arrived soon enough, descending from above and landing beside Obito atop the Ten-Tails with practiced ease. The massive beast shifted beneath their weight, its tails swaying violently behind them. Without wasting a second, Madara connected himself to it as well, black receivers extending into its flesh.
Kakashi and Gai nearly shat themselves seeing that the actual Madara was here now.
Naruto only sighed.
'When will this fight end?' he thought, shaking his head.
He lifted his gaze to the Ten-Tails.
It towered over everything.
Far bigger than Kurama, Bee, or any Tailed Beast he had seen. Its sheer size blotted out the sky, its presence crushing the battlefield beneath it. Well… he could probably make Kurama just as big.
But that wasn't the point.
Its massive maw slowly opened.
"It's time for you to feel real despair, Naruto Uzumaki!" Obito said, his voice carrying over the storm.
A red and blue energy began gathering in the beast's mouth, spiraling together into a dense sphere of destruction.
It grew larger and larger.
The air around it distorted from the pressure alone. A sharp, violent wind swept across the battlefield, kicking up mud, broken weapons, and chunks of stone as shinobi struggled to keep their footing.
Naruto didn't waste a moment.
He thrust both hands forward, and red-and-black markings spread from his palms, crawling up his arms before bursting outward in waves.
Kurama's chakra exploded around him.
It expanded rapidly, taking shape into massive constructs that grew and grew, matching the Ten-Tails in size within seconds.
Then—
Naruto punched.
A colossal fist shot forward with terrifying speed, large enough to move mountains, and slammed directly into the Ten-Tails' jaw.
Its mouth snapped shut.
The Tailed Beast Bomb detonated inside it the next second.
BOOOOM
The explosion ripped through the air, shaking the battlefield as a monstrous shockwave burst outward. Smoke, fire, and debris swallowed the Ten-Tails whole.
Naruto moved instantly, shifting his chakra to shield Kakashi and Gai from the blast as the storm of dust crashed around them.
'I know it ain't enough to beat him but… if only I had Kurama's other half,' he thought.
'I second that,' Kurama replied.
'No matter though. Let's just beat this fucker!'
'We might die.'
'I don't plan on dying. I gotta crack Tsunade, Hinata, Konan, and many more beautiful girls. That's my goal!!'
'What about becoming Hokage?'
'That too.'
Red chakra surged out of Naruto, spilling into the air like a raging flame before taking shape. It burst upward in violent waves, twisting and condensing as the battlefield trembled beneath it.
Then it formed. Kurama. Larger than before, far larger.
His massive body rose until he matched the Ten-Tails in scale, tails swaying behind him like towering pillars. Each movement stirred violent gusts of wind, sending dust and broken stone skidding across the ground. His crimson eyes locked onto the beast ahead, full of savage intent.
The sheer presence of the two monsters facing each other made the battlefield feel small.
Kakashi and Gai floated safely within the chakra body, surrounded by warm red energy as they stared outward in disbelief. Even after everything they had seen today, This was still absurd.
The smoke slowly began to clear. Ash drifted through the rain. The Ten-Tails stood there.
Unmoved and unscathed.
Its massive frame remained untouched, its eye staring down at them without emotion. Steam rolled from its mouth as if the explosion had been nothing more than an inconvenience.
Seeing that, Naruto chuckled and scratched the side of his cheek.
'Yep… this is gonna suck,' he thought.
TO BE CONTINUED