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Naruto's mind was mush.
He could hear voices, distant and echoing, calling his name.
He couldn't move.
A simple action felt impossible.
He could only stare, dazed and hollow, at the figure standing atop the Ten-Tails. He was that little kid again, the one who needed Heshu's hand just to take a step.
"Naruto!"
"Naruto?"
"Naruto!"
Kakashi-sensei's voice.
Sakura's voice.
Pervy Sage's voice.
They all wanted him to get up. To be strong.
None of them knew. None of them understood what this meant.
Everything. His everything. His entire world, crumbling right now.
His faith. His courage. His hope. All of it, ripped away.
His soul had drowned in a sea of his own lies. Only an empty shell remained.
A hundred meters separated them, but Heshu felt the heat of Naruto's gaze.
So full of sorrow. So full of despair.
'The protagonist's faith has shattered,' Heshu mused internally, shaking his head. 'How unfortunate.'
'All this fighting and killing is so cruel.'
'You guys can handle it.'
He turned his attention to Obito and Madara.
'As for the Ten-Tails, I'll help you control it.'
He looked at them, perfectly serious.
Obito: "…"
Madara: "…"
"Are you serious?" Madara Uchiha asked.
Heshu coughed lightly. "Would I lie to you?"
Madara looked away. "Fine. But only if you can actually control it."
Heshu severed the Ten-Tails's connection to Obito and Madara.
"Easy."
A sphere of golden light materialized in his palm and shot into the beast's body.
"ROAR!"
The Ten-Tails stiffened.
Its violent aura faded. Its wild chakra settled. Its ten massive tails began to sway, slow and calm.
A dark light flashed in Madara's eyes. "You've improved over the years, it seems."
Heshu smiled. "Thanks."
Madara looked away, annoyed. "Then leave the rest to us."
He drew a weapon and leaped from the Ten-Tails's head.
Obito shot Heshu one last, unreadable look before following Madara down.
Even in control of the beast, Heshu's nature didn't change. He was still a spectator. Besides, he couldn't just dive into the Allied Shinobi Forces now. They were all standing there, stunned. It'd be like cutting wheat.
No. Let Madara and Obito play the villains.
"Obito!"
Kakashi's form blocked the path, intercepting the Uchiha before he could reach Naruto.
"Why is Heshu up there? What did you do to her?" Kakashi's eyes burned with fury.
"Hmph." Obito sneered. "Still so weak, Kakashi. Still lying to yourself, even now. How pathetic."
Kakashi's pupils constricted. The taunt struck true. He attacked.
On the other side of the field, Madara was a force of nature, tearing through the Allied lines. Unstoppable. But there were too many of them, and Obito couldn't shake Kakashi.
Soon, both Uchiha were back atop the beast.
"Use the Ten-Tails," Madara said, his voice flat.
Heshu nodded. "Fine."
Golden light flickered in the beast's eyes. A Tailed Beast Ball of black and red energy shot toward the Allied Shinobi Forces.
"Naruto! Dodge!"
"Neji!"
Amidst the scrambling crowd, one figure did the opposite. He charged, not at the Ten-Tails, but at the person standing upon it.
Heshu watched the boy weave through the chaos, sprinting relentlessly toward him. He sighed softly.
This kid is so foolish. I don't remember teaching him to be like this.
"Neji! Don't go!" Might Guy bellowed, his eyes wide with panic. Whether Heshu was being controlled or not, charging the Ten-Tails and Madara was suicide.
Neji tuned out the shouts. He refused to believe it. The teacher who had raised him, who had cared for him, would never hurt him.
Black Truth-Seeking Orbs flew from behind Neji, targeting Madara and Obito. Every single one pointedly avoided Heshu.
"Hm?" Madara dodged, a flicker of shock in his eyes. "Such power…" His gaze shifted to Heshu. "That child?"
"My disciple," Heshu said, his eyes never leaving Neji as the boy dodged the Ten-Tails's sweeping tails.
"It seems you've raised a fine ninja," Madara commented, sidestepping another orb. "But that's all he is." His voice turned cold. "He's in the way. Kill him, Heshu." He watched Heshu, gauging his reaction.
Heshu remained silent.
"This world is meaningless to us now, is it not?" Madara continued, still trying to brainwash him even now.
Heshu had to admire the persistence.
"Enough, Neji."
Heshu's voice finally cut through the chaos, clear and cold.
Neji's momentum froze mid-air. His expression was shattered. "Sensei…"
Compared to the turmoil on Neji's face, Heshu's was a mask of indifference. "Take another step, and I will kill you."
Neji flinched as if struck. He stared, disbelief drowning his features.
"Liar…"
His kind sensei… would never say that. His vision blurred.
"WHY?!"
The roar came from below. Naruto.
He stumbled forward, tears carving paths through the dirt on his cheeks. His whole body trembled. "Why did you betray us? Why did you lie to us?"
"You said shinobi were one family! You said to never give up hope! You said you'd protect everyone! You said you'd never hurt us!"
Each accusation was a thunderclap.
"You promised! How can you just… take it back? WHY?"
Every shinobi watched Heshu in silence. Naruto's questions were theirs. Naruto's need for an answer was theirs. Their tower of faith had crumbled, and they were all buried in the rubble.
"Promises?" Madara chuckled. "You made such worthless vows?"
Heshu: "…"
Any faint trace of pity he'd felt for Naruto evaporated. He looked down at the furious, despairing boy. Slowly, a smile spread across his lips. It was nothing like the smiles of 'Tsukimi Heshu of Konoha'. This one was pure arrogance. Mockery. Contempt. The sunlight, the unwavering faith that had once lit his face—all of it was gone, replaced by the cold truth beneath.
"You want an answer? Fine."
Heshu took a step forward. His voice rang across the unnaturally quiet field.
"There never was a 'Tsukimi Heshu of Konoha'."
Naruto jolted. "W-what… What does that mean?"
"What does it mean?" Heshu's smile was icy. "It means 'Tsukimi Heshu of Konoha' was a lie from the start. The only one who ever existed was 'Tsukimi Heshu of the Akatsuki'. The one who endured, all for the success of the Eye of the Moon Plan. Is that clear enough for you?"
His gaze was cold. Pitying. The kind of pity that cuts deeper than hate.
Standing up there, fooling them all… How could he? Naruto thought. But every time he looked at that face, he remembered. Mornings together. Nights talking. A hand on his head.
"Can… can you fake everything?" Naruto's voice broke. "Can you fake anything?" The tears wouldn't stop. He was a lost child, begging for a scrap of the love he remembered. "Even… even love? Can you fake that too?"
"Don't be stupid." Heshu's laugh was soft, cruel. "Everything in this world can be faked. Love? I don't have any love for this world. How could I possibly have any for you? Love is just a tool. A trick to make people lower their guard."
He watched the boy sob. For a split second, through a crack in time, he saw a smaller Naruto crying over a scraped knee.
This is why you should never raise kids yourself.
"NO!" Golden-red chakra erupted around Naruto, cloaking him in the Nine-Tails's power. Familiar fire returned to his eyes. "That's not true! The Heshu-nee I knew loved me! That love was real! It was the best thing I ever had!" he shouted to the sky. "I'll carry that love with me! And I'll keep moving forward!"
"So stubborn," Heshu sighed, almost admiringly.
"I must admit," Madara said, watching the shinobi forces rally, "this brat has a talent for inspiration."
"He does." A new voice joined the fray. Shisui Uchiha stepped forward from the Allied ranks. His eyes were complex as he looked up at Heshu. "We don't know what changed. We don't know what you've been through. But we know the Heshu in our memories. And we'll carry her will. We'll stop the Eye of the Moon Plan."
Heshu: "…"
Incredible. He was standing right here, and they were already eulogizing a ghost.
"Stop the plan?" Heshu shook his head, his blade sliding from his sleeve. "You're just grasshoppers trying to stop a cart."
"We won't know until we try!" Naruto roared. The red chakra around him surged. Tendrils of Nine-Tails energy shot out, connecting with every single shinobi on the field. One by one, cloaks of fiery red chakra ignited around them, like countless flames suddenly blazing in the dark.
"The Nine-Tails's chakra," Madara noted.
"Trying to block the Ten-Tails with such petty tricks is pointless," Heshu said. As he spoke, the Ten-Tails threw back its head and howled, the sound shaking the heavens.
Multiple Tailed Beast Balls formed around it simultaneously. They fired, shooting in every direction, aimed not only at the shinobi below but at a target miles away—the brains of the operation.
The command center.
"So it was you, Heshu," Nara Sōsai murmured, looking up at the ceiling. The message had reached them the moment Heshu appeared.
'Allied Shinobi Forces, the rest is up to you. We're signing off.'
The final transmission hit the ears of every shinobi just as the Tailed Beast Balls struck. A flash of white lit up the sky. A roar shook the earth. Everyone staggered.
"What… What was that?" Naruto looked toward Shikamaru and saw the tears streaming down his friend's face. His father, Nara Shikaku, and his uncle, Nara Sōsai, had been in there.
"Dammit!" Naruto clenched his fists. From that expression, he knew. They were gone.
"The battlefield is ours now," Shikamaru said, wiping his face. His voice was firm. "And we won't lose!"
"Yeah!" Ino Yamanaka shouted, her own cheeks wet. Her father was gone too.
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!"
The chorus grew. A wave of defiance.
"How naive," Madara scoffed.
"The Ten-Tails is tiring," Heshu reported, sensing the beast's condition. "It's not fully evolved yet."
Madara frowned. "Buy us time. Its full evolution is all that matters."
"Correct," Obito added. "Once it's complete, victory is impossible for them."
"You're wrong, Obito." Zetsu's head popped up from the Ten-Tails's skin. "Even now, they have no chance of winning." Its face wore an expression of pure, uncharacteristic arrogance. As it spoke, its eyes met Heshu's for a fraction of a second. A tiny, satisfied smirk touched both their lips.
"Oh? Is that so?"
A voice, familiar yet long unheard, rang out from above.
Four figures landed in front of the Allied Shinobi Forces, facing the Ten-Tails.
"What?"
"No way…"
"It can't be!"
The shinobi from Konoha stared, jaws slack. "The First Hokage… the Second… the Third… and the Fourth?"
"We're late," the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, announced.
Naruto stared at the blond man's back. His eyes softened, filled with a longing he'd carried all his life. "No… You're right on time. Dad."
"Dad?" Sakura's eyes widened. The Fourth Hokage… was Naruto's father?
"Hiruzen." The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, crossed his arms. He narrowed his eyes at the figure on the beast. "This is your 'Light of the Shinobi'? Your hand-picked Fifth Hokage? The bringer of peace to the world?"
What wonderful peace.
Tobirama felt his blood pressure spike. The entire journey to the battlefield had been one long, glowing lecture from Hiruzen Sarutobi about the genius, the virtue, the unparalleled brilliance of the Fifth Hokage he'd chosen. He'd even piqued his brother Hashirama's curiosity. A Hokage whose fame might rival the 'God of Shinobi' himself?
Well. This was certainly a surprise.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face looked like cracked pottery.
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