Before anything more could be said, a sharp, piercing alarm bell rang out across the summit hall.
The sound cut through the tension like a blade—high, urgent, echoing off the stone walls and iron beams. Samurai guards snapped to attention instantly, hands flying to katana hilts. Aides and attendants froze mid-motion. Every Kage's head turned toward the massive doors.
Naruto's lips curved into a slow, knowing smile.
'Wow… Sasuke came a bit early,' he thought.
The bell kept ringing—three sharp peals, then silence.
Mifune stood immediately, armor clinking as he raised one hand for calm.
"Guards—report."
A samurai lieutenant burst through a side entrance, breathing hard, helmet visor up.
"Intruder alert. Uchiha Sasuke has breached the outer perimeter. He is accompanied by three more intruders. Their moving fast—heading straight for the summit hall."
Murmurs erupted around the tables.
A's fists slammed onto the table—cracking the wood.
"Sasuke is here?!"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. She glanced up at Naruto. Who had a smile on his face.
Mei's smile turned sharp and interested. Ōnoki floated higher, cane gripped tight. Gaara's expression remained calm, but his sand gourd shifted slightly behind him.
Naruto stayed leaning on the railing, arms still crossed, smile never fading.
Kakashi's eye flicked up from his book and Yamato cracked his knuckles once.
The hall filled with the soft metallic rasp of drawn steel and the low hum of chakra flaring to life.
Mifune's voice rose, steady and commanding.
"Secure the perimeter. No one enters or leaves until we confirm the threat."
He turned to the Kage.
"We will adjourn briefly. Remain here under guard."
But Naruto's gaze had already drifted toward the massive doors.
'I won't fight him. The mate's almost blind at this point. I'd be bullying him if I did,' he thought.
The alarm bell rang once more—shorter, sharper. Sasuke was close.
The next moment—
BOOOM!
The double doors exploded inward in a blast of splintered wood and smoke. A thick cloud of dust and debris billowed into the hall, swirling under the lantern light.
Samurai guards drew their katana in a unified metallic *shing*, forming a defensive line. Every Kage rose to their feet—chairs scraping back, chakra flaring instinctively.
All eyes lifted upward.
Sasuke stood on the ceiling—boots planted against the iron beams, long black coat hanging downward, gravity defying his stance.
His Mangekyō Sharingan burned red in both eyes, tomoe spinning slowly, killing intent rolling off him in waves thick enough to taste. The Sharingan's glow cast faint crimson light across his pale face.
'Did all that just to get packed. Reminds me of Vegeta honestly. Then again, he was the blueprint for that character trait,' Naruto thought, smirking faintly.
That very moment A moved.
Yellow lightning erupted around his body. He vanished in a streak of light.
Sasuke barely had time to react.
BAAM!
A's fist connected with Sasuke's chin in a thunderclap of force. The impact echoed like a cannon shot. Sasuke's head snapped back; he flew downward, crashing through the summit table in a shower of shattered wood and splintered banners.
Bang!
The table collapsed under him—splinters flying, chairs toppling. Sasuke hit the ground hard, rolling once before sliding to a stop on his knees.
Suigetsu and Jūgo stepped through the smoke behind him—Suigetsu grinning wide with Zabuza's sword over his shoulder, Jūgo's eyes already shifting to feral orange.
"Don't interfere!" Sasuke snarled, pushing himself up slowly. He pointed straight at Tsunade. "I'm here for you!"
'Well, that's dumb. Tsunade didn't do shit. She wasn't even in the village when Itachi was told to kill his clan. Dude's probably desperate,' Naruto thought.
A wasn't having any of it.
He blitzed again—body vanishing into a yellow strip of light, lightning chakra crackling like a live wire.
He was about to hit Sasuke when a purple aura erupted around the Uchiha.
It expanded rapidly—ribs forming first, then a skeletal torso, then an armored shoulder. The Susano'o skeleton materialized in seconds—massive, glowing violet, towering over the shattered table.
A's fist slammed into its ribcage.
The force was absorbed instantly—shockwave rippling outward but doing zero damage to Sasuke inside. The Susano'o didn't even flinch.
Ōnoki laughed from his floating platform—dry, raspy.
"A Susano'o? I'm surprised someone so young already has one of the Uchiha clan's ultimate defenses."
The Mizukage's attendant, Chōjūrō, locked eyes on Suigetsu's sword—the Kubikiribōchō gleaming in the smoke.
'That's Master Zabuza's Executioner's Blade. I have to get it back!'
He darted forward—water chakra flaring around his blades.
Jūgo stepped up behind Sasuke, body already shifting—skin darkening, muscle bulging, eyes glowing feral orange as he entered his cursed seal form.
It was five against two.
And Sasuke wasn't backing down.
A went for the attack again—lightning chakra surging brighter. Jūgo transformed fully—thrusters igniting on his elbows, roaring forward with a powerful fist aimed at A's chest.
Bwoosh!
A didn't flinch.
He took the punch head-on—chest absorbing the impact without moving an inch.
The next second his fist thrust forward—lightning-wreathed, unstoppable.
BAM!
Jūgo's head snapped back. He flew sideways—crashing through a stone pillar and into the wall.
CRASH!
Rock shattered. Dust billowed. Jūgo slumped in the rubble, dazed.
Naruto watched the entire thing from the upper balcony—arms crossed, expression bored.
'Man, this is boring! I did say I wouldn't fight. Not enough enemies honestly. After this, I'll take Karin back with us.'
The hall had descended into controlled chaos—samurai rushing forward, Kage standing ready, chakra signatures flaring all around.
Sasuke eyes were locked on Tsunade, Mangekyō spinning. The summit had just become a battlefield.
The Raikage's attendants—Darui and C—dropped from the balcony in a flash, boots slamming into the cracked stone floor.
Darui's cleaver sword was already drawn, black blade gleaming as he moved to intercept Jūgo. C flanked him, hands forming seals, green medical chakra flaring around his palms.
Jūgo roared—cursed seal spreading across his skin like cracking earth, muscles bulging, thrusters igniting on his elbows with a hot *whoosh*. He charged straight at A, fist cocked back.
A didn't wait.
"You little Uchiha brat!" he bellowed, lightning chakra surging around his arms like coiling serpents. "Where is my brother?!"
He steeled his hands with concentrated lightning—fists glowing white-hot—and lunged.
Sasuke turned his head just enough to glance at the incoming storm.
'I'm gonna have to deal with him first,' he thought.
In the same instant, black flames erupted along the ribs of his Susano'o—Amaterasu igniting with a low, hungry *roar*. The inextinguishable fire licked upward, dark and liquid, clinging to the violet skeletal armor like oil.
Naruto's voice rang out from the balcony—clear, calm, cutting through the chaos.
"Do not touch those flames. They can't be turned off unless the user wishes it."
A skidded to a halt mid-stride, lightning crackling angrily around his fists. His glare snapped up to Naruto—eyes wide with fury, veins bulging at his temples. He looked like he was genuinely about to explode.
Before he could move again, Naruto's head snapped upward.
His senses flared.
'Tobi. So quick? Guess he knows Sasuke is low-key about to die right now.'*l
The air above the shattered table warped.
White Zetsu clones erupted from the floor in a wave—pale bodies rising like mushrooms after rain, dozens of them in seconds.
They swarmed Sasuke's Susano'o, latching onto the skeletal frame, vines and tendrils burrowing into the purple aura.
Sasuke's eyes widened—only for a heartbeat.
The Zetsu drained him—siphoning chakra in greedy pulses. His Susano'o flickered, ribs dissolving. His knees buckled. Black flames sputtered and died.
He collapsed forward, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Two Zetsu caught him mid-fall, hoisting his limp body between them.
A roared—lightning exploding outward in a blinding flash.
But the Zetsu were already retreating—vanishing into the floor, walls, ceiling—Sasuke with them.
More white clones grabbed Suigetsu and Jūgo—dragging their struggling bodies downward into the stone like quicksand.
Karin stayed hidden—curled behind a fallen pillar near the back wall, heart hammering, hands pressed to her mouth.
'Where is Sasuke?' she thought in fear, chakra signature suppressed, tears stinging her eyes.
The hall fell into stunned silence as they all stared at Tobi.
TO BE CONTINUED