"This is…"
Minato Namikaze spoke with certainty. "This is the true Nine-Tails Chakra Mode!"
Sasuke's Sharingan let him see it clearly. Naruto was completely wrapped in golden chakra.
He was no longer wearing that orange tracksuit. The dead-last had been coated from head to toe in radiant gold, and even the shape of his clothing had been altered by the chakra itself.
If one had to describe what Naruto looked like right now…
Led by Kakashi, the Konoha ninja stared at Naruto's back as he fought within the golden Nine-Tails chakra. The cloak that fluttered without any wind looked just like—
Minato-sensei's… no, the Fourth Hokage-sama's ceremonial robe!!!
...
While Naruto was talking with the Nine-Tails, Shukaku and the Nine-Tails had already fought their way out of the Death Forest and into a much wider, denser forest far away from Konoha!!
["Didn't beat you up for two days and you're already getting cocky again, huh? Stupid tanuki."]
"!!!!"
Everyone froze in shock.
A deep, heavy voice.
Laced with mockery and playful amusement.
That Nine-Tails…
It spoke?!!
"Yaaah!! You stinking fox, you finally came out!!"
"So what? Still not running away with that one little tail of yours? Dumb tanuki."
As the Nine-Tails spoke, its nine beautiful golden tails swayed arrogantly, the meaning behind the gesture painfully obvious.
"Here's a suggestion. How about hiding in a teapot? When you get angry, you can double as an electric kettle."
Shukaku let out a shrill, piercing screech of rage. If humans could read a tailed beast's expression, they'd know Shukaku's face had turned green from sheer fury.
"That's exactly why, out of all the tailed beasts, I hate you the most!!! The number of tails doesn't decide strength!!!"
Shukaku threw his head back and opened his massive mouth. Red and blue energy poured together, gathering above his head into a black sphere that continued to expand?!
"A Tailed Beast Ball?!!" This was something Minato Namikaze hadn't expected at all.
No good! The destructive power and range of a Tailed Beast Ball were far too great!
Minato drew a Flying Thunder God kunai, already preparing to transfer the attack away.
"Careful, Naruto! He's about to use his big move!"
"Big move?! What big move are you talking about, dattebayo?! Weren't all those just now already big moves?!"
The Nine-Tails curled its lips.
"For him, sure it's a big move. For this great lord… heh."
The massive golden tailed beast let out a scornful, mocking laugh.
Enraged, Shukaku forcibly expanded the nearly completed Tailed Beast Ball to twice its original size!
"Ahhh! You idiot Nine-Tails! Can you stop provoking him, dattebayo?!"
"Hmph! What's there to be afraid of? Focus and use my chakra. I'll guide you in forming a Tailed Beast Ball."
A Tailed Beast Ball?!
Naruto felt like he was being shoved onto the stage with no way out. The Nine-Tails was being way too cooperative right now—way too cooperative, dattebayo!!!!
Seeing a Tailed Beast Ball begin to gather in the Nine-Tails' mouth on Naruto's side, Minato understood their intent and made a huge gamble. For some reason, he believed that this Nine-Tails wouldn't cause even the slightest harm to Konoha.
…
Two Tailed Beast Balls fired almost simultaneously!!
The distance between them wasn't far. In the next instant, they collided head-on!!
Even from far away, the shockwave still sent people flying dozens of meters back!!
The two Tailed Beast Balls struggled against each other for two or three seconds. Then, without hesitation—
The Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball pushed the One-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball and shot straight toward the storm-darkened sky!!
Like two arrows tearing through chaos, the Tailed Beast Balls chased and entwined with each other as they soared into the heavens!!
Then—
Boom!!!
The explosion's shockwave tore through the turbulent smoke. Even people back in Konoha could hear the heavy detonation. The delayed echo of the blast rang in their ears for a long time!!
They didn't know what had happened. They only knew that something terrifying had occurred in that direction.
...
Hidden in a corner of the Death Forest, Kabuto Yakushi looked toward the distant battlefield.
The mission scroll he had opened was spread out in his hands.
[Mission Rank: S-rank]
[Mission Objective: Force Gaara to use the Feigning Sleep Technique.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
Then—
Before his eyes, the scroll, which should have ended there, suddenly added another task?!
[Mission Rank: A+-rank]
[Mission Objective: Defeat Gaara.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
"Even with this scroll in my hands… as long as Naruto Uzumaki and the others are judged to have completed the mission, it still links back to this scroll?!!"
Kabuto stared in disbelief. His interest in this scroll surged dramatically.
In that case…
He could afford to hand this thing over to Orochimaru-sama a little later.
He rolled the scroll back up and slipped it into his ninja pouch. Instead of heading to the lone tower in the center of the Forest of Death, he followed the plan and pretended to have failed the exam, leaving the area.
...
On the other side, the Nine-Tails casually fired a Tailed Beast Ball, knocking away the One-Tails' long-charged attack with ease.
The gap between the One-Tails and the Nine-Tails was obvious.
Shukaku was furious, grumbling and cursing that the Tailed Beast Ball had been too small because he hadn't been using his true body. In short, it wasn't his fault at all. It was the jinchūriki's problem…
And, to be fair, that wasn't wrong.
At the moment, the maximum amount of chakra Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara could withstand was limited. Even the Nine-Tails present here was only a tiny fraction of the Nine-Tails' chakra from the era of the Seventh Hokage.
That was why the two Tailed Beast Balls hadn't caused catastrophic damage. Otherwise, even if no one had died, half of Konoha would have been wiped out.
As the raging winds faded, the battlefield was left in complete ruin.
Gaara, who had been knocked out of the Feigning Sleep Technique by Naruto slipping out of the Nine-Tails' chakra and smashing him with a headbutt, finally woke up.
At this point, both he and Naruto had completely exhausted their chakra.
...
Naruto once again entered his deep mental space.
The Nine-Tails was still there, sitting cross-legged in front of him like a person.
"All right," the Nine-Tails said calmly. "This old man's chakra is used up."
"What?!" Naruto blurted out. "It's gone after just one hit?!!"
"Don't underestimate a tailed beast's Tailed Beast Ball, you idiot! Besides, I'm only a tiny fragment of the real thing to begin with!"
He held up his fingers, showing a piece no bigger than a fingernail, emphasizing just how small a portion he truly was.
The idea of how overwhelmingly powerful the true Nine-Tails must be took shape in Naruto's mind.
"So… are you leaving?" Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails, his eyes unconsciously filled with reluctance and a hint of grievance.
Compared to the fox sealed inside him, this Nine-Tails was just too nice. He felt more like a friend, even a brother. It made Naruto feel as though the two of them formed their own little two-man team, connected without distinction. A simple fist bump was enough to understand each other.
But that reaction left the Nine-Tails flustered, like a parent who didn't know how to comfort a child.
"I already told you, I'm just a small cluster of chakra," the Nine-Tails said, gesturing again with his fingernail. "The real Nine-Tails still exists inside you. As for when you'll be able to use this kind of power again…"
An image flashed through his mind. He saw the Sage of Six Paths through the back of sixteen-year-old Naruto.
"That will be when you can truly resolve my hatred."
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails without saying anything. Instead, he copied what the Nine-Tails had done earlier and extended his fist.
The Nine-Tails froze for a moment, then bumped his own fist against it.
Before everything faded away, Naruto faintly heard his final words.
"Remember this well. My name is—"
"Kurama."
…
As the other Nine-Tails disappeared, the Nine-Tails originally sealed within Naruto returned.
Boom—
The dark golden cage reappeared, sealing the enraged Nine-Tails back inside!
The sharp claw that had been swinging toward Naruto was also firmly restrained by the cage, slamming down just two meters in front of him.
"Come here, Naruto Uzumaki! Let me kill you!!!"
Naruto simply folded his hands behind his head and grinned at him with a carefree look.
"Don't always glare like that. You'll never make any friends if you keep it up, Kurama!"
With that, Naruto exited the deep mental space to avoid the Nine-Tails' furious roar.
The Nine-Tails was left completely stunned, questioning how Naruto could possibly know his true name.
Back in the real world, Naruto Uzumaki finally realized that his strength was completely gone. High in the air, his body dropped straight downward.
But less than a second into the fall, he was already caught and held securely in someone's arms.
Looking up, Naruto saw that it was indeed Minato Namikaze, using the Flying Thunder God.
"Dad?!!" There was clear surprise and joy in Naruto's voice.
"That was an excellent fight, Naruto." Minato set him down not far from Gaara and praised his son.
Naruto froze for a moment, then scratched the blond hair he'd inherited from his father and let out a goofy laugh.
Gaara, who had just awakened from the Feigning Sleep Technique, was also completely drained of chakra, lying in a battered heap on the ground.
His pale green eyes stared at Naruto Uzumaki, filled with confusion and fear.
"Naruto Uzumaki… just who are you, really?!!"
Whether it was that monstrous fox form, that terrifying power, or the sheer volume of chakra that even Shukaku couldn't match—
This was the first time since his birth that Gaara had ever encountered an opponent like this.
Naruto pushed past Minato and walked toward Gaara, step by step.
"Don't come any closer!"
"...."
"I said don't come any closer!!!"
"I'm just like you…" Naruto spoke calmly. He was bruised and battered himself, but his spirit was clearly stronger than Gaara's.
"What?"
"We're both jinchūriki. We're both the power of sacrifice."
"Sacrifice…"
The shock in Gaara's eyes was reflected in Naruto's blue gaze.
But in the next instant, Naruto's own startled expression was reflected back in Gaara's pale green eyes?!
[A+ Rank Mission: Defeat Gaara.]
[Completed.]
[Mission Reward: Time Travel Journey.]
"Wh—!"
Before most people could even react, the surroundings shifted in a blur?!
First, the bright midday sky turned into a dim, pitch-black night.
Then, the scenery no longer looked like Konohagakure at all…
Shikamaru said urgently, "We can't move our bodies!!"
They could still speak, but their bodies were completely immobilized.
The sensation felt exactly like being caught by the Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Technique.
Once he spoke up, everyone else realized it too!
…
It wasn't just the genin. Even Konoha's jōnin, ANBU, and even Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Kazekage, and the Fifth Kazekage were all unable to move!!
More importantly, as ninja, their chakra had been completely sealed?!!
"What's going on, Hokage?!" Rasa demanded.
They had been far apart just moments ago, but after being transported here, they were all packed together, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Even Kazekage Gaara looked completely baffled.
Back when he and Naruto had taken part in the second stage of the Chūnin Exams, nothing like this had ever happened.
Neji frowned. "Something's wrong with our bodies!"
Without using the Byakugan, he noticed that his own body, as well as everyone else's, looked like vegetation seen through the Byakugan—shaded somewhere between white and gray.
But just before they lost control of their bodies, when he and Hinata activated their Byakugan, they found that they couldn't see any chakra flow inside anyone at all. Right after that, they couldn't even use the Byakugan anymore!!
Minato said thoughtfully, "In this spacetime, we're like grass, trees, and stones on the ground. We're just mediums. No matter what happens here, all we can do is watch. We can't act."
Before anyone could properly respond—
More Konoha and Suna villagers appeared around them! Just like them, they could speak, but couldn't move at all?!
"Hey! What's going on here?!"
"Is this connected to that explosion in the sky just now?! What happened?!"
Compared to the Konoha side, the Suna ninja looked even more confused.
"What explosion?! What just happened?!!"
"Everyone, please calm down," Minato said loudly. "There's no immediate danger. Please stay calm."
Rasa frowned. "This is Sunagakure!"
One moment they were in Konoha. The next, they were in Sunagakure.
"Is this a space-time ninjutsu?!"
Minato replied, "I can't be sure. The space-time energy here is extremely chaotic. It feels like we're trapped in the gap between two parallel worlds."
[...]
[....]
Soft, playful sounds drifted through the air.
Children's laughter.
Clearly cheerful sounds, yet for some reason they carried an eerie, chilling feeling…
Like a scene straight out of a horror movie.
It made everyone's skin crawl.
The villagers from both villages, who had been loudly questioning what was happening just moments ago, fell silent all at once.
Empty. Monotonous. Colorless. Fearful…
In the end, it all condensed into a single word—uncanny—making it feel as if the temperature around them had suddenly dropped.
Naruto and Gaara both wore grim expressions, their eyes wide yet unfocused.
Look…
That monster is coming…
Hehehehe… that… monster…