Naruto had been sitting quietly with his eyes closed, using Sage Chakra to shape the pathway toward his inner spiritual palace, when he suddenly snapped his eyes open.
"Kurama."
"Yo." The Nine-Tails answered inside his mind with a lazy grunt.
Golden fox-fire surged around Naruto the next second. His Sage Fox Mode activated with a roar of energy that rippled outward like waves of heat.
But Naruto did not stop there.
"Eight Gates Release. Seventh Gate… Shock Gate. Open!"
An explosive stream of chakra burst from his body, whipping his hair upward. The sheer force of it made golden and blue flames crackle around him, and lightning flickered within the energy storm.
Sasuke sensed the violent flare instantly. In a flash, he appeared at Naruto's side.
From all across the village, the strongest shinobi felt the same overwhelming power erupt and raced toward them, unsure of what had triggered it.
"Link to me with Mind Resonance." Naruto said.
"Got it." Sasuke did not hesitate. His Mangekyou Sharingan spun, forming six angular stars, and Naruto's eyes mirrored the same pattern through the linked ability.
Three Truth-Seeking Orbs manifested behind Naruto. Sasuke gained the same aura, with his own orbs and Sage Fox markings spreading across him.
Do you see what I saw? Naruto's voice echoed in Sasuke's mind.
So that's what it is. Sasuke smirked slightly.
"Since the moment finally came, I guess I'll join in too." Naruto took a breath, stepped onto one of his Truth-Seeking Orbs as it flattened into a floating platform, and shot upward into the sky.
Sasuke followed behind him like a streak of violet lightning.
Once suspended high above the clouds, Naruto lifted both hands. The other two Truth-Seeking Orbs drifted into his palms.
Their pitch-black shells shimmered as fine flakes of gold and blue light began flickering across the surface, like constellations crushed and folded into the spheres.
Sage Chakra collided violently inside them. The wild energy from the opened Gate poured in like fuel. The orbs swelled rapidly, growing from the size of a fist into a massive sphere nearly ten meters wide.
Electric arcs snapped across the surface. The surrounding air twisted into rippling waves. Even the clouds vaporized the moment the energy brushed past.
"Sage Art… Asura's Cry."
Sasuke drew half-bodied Susanoo and summoned the Bow of Heavenly Magatsuhi.
Two Truth-Seeking Orbs broke away from behind him and landed perfectly on the bow, stretching into long, sleek arrows.
They gleamed with a shifting dark-gold sheen as the Sage Fox Chakra Naruto shared flooded into them through the resonance. The arrows vibrated with growing instability, their tips sharpening into condensed energy points.
Blue-gold chakra spiraled together with Susanoo's deep violet, leaving two twisting trails of light that hissed hot enough to burn the air.
"Sage Art… Indra's Deliverance."
Together, they released their strongest attacks into the heavens.
The twin beams tore through the sky. Air molecules screamed as they were ripped apart, forming a high-pitched wail. Sunlight vanished behind the blinding collision of colors, leaving only gold-blue and gold-violet swirling like two storms trying to devour the world.
Down below, Konoha's shinobi stared upward, stunned.
But as the colors twisted together, something strange happened.
The energy burst… formed two lines of floating text.
Naruto squinted in confusion. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.
Below them, Hinata watched the display. A soft smile formed on her lips.
Natural energy shimmered around her like flowing water. Her hair glowed faintly at the ends. Most striking of all were her eyes. No longer the pure white of the Byakugan, they had transformed into two radiant sapphires. Natural energy rippled inside them like tides of light.
She raised a hand gently.
"Golden Wheel… Rebirth Slash."
A radiant crescent streaked across the sky, cutting between the two beams. It erupted, showering the sky in gold and turquoise sparkles like a rain of shooting stars.
The glowing fragments shifted, rearranging themselves into a final line of text across the sky.
Banner: Remember the past, shape the future.
Naruto blinked.
Sasuke stared.
Kurama clicked his tongue.
Tch. You two really attract strange things.
Somewhere on the ground, someone muttered, "What… just happened?"