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Glass exploded across the district as another inhuman roar tore from Naruto's throat, the sound reverberating off stone walls and sending tremors through the foundations of nearby buildings. Three blocks away, the scattered cadets pressed their backs against chimney stacks and rooftop ledges, sweat beading on their foreheads from the waves of scorching heat radiating outward from their transformed comrade.
"Everyone stay back!" Marco shouted, his voice cracking as he watched Naruto launch himself at a fifteen-meter Titan with impossible velocity. The impact sent the creature stumbling backward, its massive form crashing through a residential building in a cascade of timber and masonry.
Jean scrambled further away from the destruction, his face pale. "We need to get out of here! That thing—whatever Naruto's become—it's not human anymore!"
"What exactly do you think we can do?" Connie snapped, jabbing a finger toward Jean's chest. "Unless you think we can walk to Wall Rose on foot and pray the Titans don't notice us...Or that he doesn't notice us." His gaze shifted nervously toward the crimson beacon of destruction below.
Mikasa's jaw tightened, her grief-numbed features hardening into something dangerous. "My little brother would never harm us."
A bitter laugh escaped Jean's lips. "Really? Then why aren't you down there helping him? Why is he roaring like some bloodthirsty beast?"
Before Mikasa could respond, movement in the periphery caught everyone's attention. A ten-meter Titan had spotted Naruto and was shambling toward him with typical mindless determination. What followed defied everything they understood about combat.
Naruto crouched low, red energy swirling around his form like liquid fire, then exploded upward in a vertical leap that carried him thirty meters into the air. His descent transformed him into a crimson meteor, clawed fist connecting with the Titan's skull in an impact that resonated like thunder.
The creature's head caved inward completely, brain matter and blood erupting in a geyser that painted the surrounding rubble. But instead of targeting the nape—the killing blow every soldier learned—Naruto began savaging the fallen Titan with fury. His claws ripped through regenerating flesh, each swipe accompanied by bestial snarls that made several cadets flinch.
"Why isn't he attacking the Nape?" Sasha whispered, horrified fascination evident in her voice as steam rose from the Titan's wounds, tissue knitting itself back together even as Naruto continued his assault.
Across the rooftop, Reiner grabbed Bertholdt's arm and pulled him behind a ventilation shaft, their conversation barely audible above the ongoing carnage.
"Which one?" Bertholdt hissed, his tall frame trembling. "Which Titan does he have?"
Reiner's expression darkened, for the first time since they had entered the walls, and Reiner's expression showed fear. "None of them. Whatever's happening down there has nothing to do with Titan powers. This is something else entirely. We will discuss it later, drop it for now."
"But what could possibly—"
"I said drop it!" Reiner's grip tightened on his friend's arm. "Whatever abilities he's displaying, they're not from any of the Nine. And right now, he's beyond reason."
Their hushed exchange was interrupted by another thunderous crash as Naruto abandoned the still-regenerating Titan to pursue new prey. A group of smaller Titans had been approaching from the eastern district, but something remarkable was occurring—they were turning away. The pure instinct that drove them toward human flesh seemed overridden by something else.
"Look at them," Krista breathed, pointing toward the retreating forms. "They're actually running from him."
Ymir wrapped a protective arm around her companion, pulling her back from the roof's edge. "Smart Titans. Wish I could say the same about us."
Annie stood motionless near the roof's center, her typically impassive features betraying the slightest tremor of distress as she watched Naruto's rampage. Her blue eyes tracked his every movement with intense focus, hands clenched into fists at her sides. To most observers, she appeared as collected as always, but those familiar with her subtle tells could detect the tension in her shoulders, the barely perceptible tightening around her eyes.
"We can't stay here," Marco declared, forcing authority into his voice despite the chaos. "Gas reserves are critical. If we don't reach the supply depot soon, we're all dead anyway."
"You want to cross through that?" Jean gestured wildly toward the destruction below, where Naruto had cornered another Titan against a clock tower and was systematically dismantling it piece by piece. "He's lost his mind! What if he decides we're threats?"
The debate was cut short by an earth-shaking impact as Naruto drove his clawed hand completely through a Titan's torso, the creature's agonized howl mixing with his own savage roars. The sight of their friend—someone who had shared meals with them, trained alongside them, laughed at their jokes—reduced to this primal force of destruction left most of the cadets speechless.
Steam continued rising from Naruto's form, creating heat mirages that distorted the air around him. The red chakra cloak that enveloped him pulsed like a heartbeat, and the tail-like appendage lashed behind him with each attack.
"He's clearing a path," Mikasa observed, her tactical mind overriding her emotional turmoil. "Whether intentional or not, his rampage is driving Titans away from the route to headquarters."
Armin, who had remained silent since delivering the devastating news about Eren, finally spoke. "The supply depot. If we move now, while they're focused on him..." His voice trailed off, guilt evident in his expression.
Marco seized on the strategy. "Formation Beta. We use the distraction, get in, refuel, and extract. No heroics, no detours."
"What about Naruto?" Annie's question was barely audible, but still, everyone heard her.
The assembled cadets exchanged uncertain glances. Below them, their transformed comrade continued his bloody work, each roar a reminder that the person they had known might be lost forever.
"We survive first," Marco decided grimly. "Then we figure out how to help him."
Naruto Yeager (Uzumaki)
Heat.
Everything burns. Skin, bones, the spaces between thoughts—all of it screaming with pressure that builds and builds until—
CRACK.
Another Titan's skull splits beneath claws that aren't his, can't be his, but the blood is real and warm and—
Eren's face, smiling, saying "See you later, Naruto" before heading to the middle guard and—
"MINE."
The voice erupts from somewhere deeper than his chest, deeper than his bones, a roar that shatters windows three streets away. But whose voice? His throat feels raw, torn, like he's been screaming for hours or years or—
Armin's broken words: "He sacrificed himself. The Titan bit down. His arm—"
Pain lances through his skull, white-hot and blinding. The red light pulsing around him intensifies, and he can feel it eating at him, consuming him from the inside out like wildfire through dry timber. Every heartbeat sends molten agony through his veins, but underneath that pain lurks something worse—
Hunger.
Not for food. For destruction. For revenge. For the taste of Titan flesh between teeth that feel too sharp, too long, too—
"Weak. They're all weak. Even the brother you loved—weak enough to die."
"NO!" The word tears from his throat, but it sounds wrong, distorted, like hearing his own voice through broken glass. "Eren isn't—he can't be—"
I will kill them. Every single Titan out there. I won't stop
The memories fracture like mirrors hit by earthquakes, each shard reflecting a different moment, a different face, until he can't tell what's real and what's—
Movement.
Something massive lurches toward him—gray skin, vacant expression, reaching with fingers like tree trunks. Threat. Enemy. Kill.
His body moves without conscious thought, muscles coiling and releasing like springs. The world blurs past in streaks of red and gray until massive fingers close around his torso, squeezing, trying to—
Snap.
The bones break with wet pops, Titan fingers bending backward at impossible angles. The creature's bellow of pain-confusion sounds distant, muffled, like hearing someone scream underwater. His claws—when did he have claws?—rake across regenerating flesh, tearing, shredding, painting the air crimson.
"Yes. This is what you are. Not their friend. Not their protector. Their weapon."
The voice echoes from everywhere and nowhere, vibrating through his bones like struck metal. He tries to focus, tries to remember—
Annie's gentle touch when she thought no one was looking. Mikasa's fierce protectiveness. Marco's easy laughter. His mother teaching him to cook, patience infinite even when he burned the—
"Ghosts. All of them. They fear you now. They should."
"They don't—" But even as he tries to deny it, he can smell their terror on the wind. Sweat. Adrenaline. The sharp tang of humans preparing to flee.
Are they running from me?
The thought hits like a punch, and for a moment, the red haze clears enough for him to see—really see—the destruction around him. Buildings reduced to rubble. Steam rising from dismembered Titan corpses. And in the distance, tiny figures on rooftops, moving away from him with desperate haste.
Away from me.
"Now you understand. Power comes with a price. They love you when you heal their wounds and grow their flowers. But show them what you really are..."
The pressure in his skull intensifies, and suddenly he's somewhere else—somewhere that isn't Trost, isn't anywhere he recognizes. Orange sky. Massive trees. A woman with red hair reaching for him, her mouth moving but no sound emerging. Then darkness, and the sensation of falling through endless black water.
Who was she? Why does her face make his chest ache with longing he can't name?
"Irrelevant. Focus on what matters. The brother is dead. The humans flee. You are alone, as you have always been alone."
"I'm not alone!" The denial rips from his throat with such force that nearby buildings shudder. "I have family—I have friends—"
But even as he says it, another memory surfaces: Reiner's suspicious questions. Bertholdt's fearful stares.
"They knew. Even before this, they knew you were different. Wrong. How long before they decide you're too dangerous to live?"
The red chakra flares brighter, the tail behind him lashing with agitation. His breath comes in ragged gasps, each inhalation feeling like swallowing fire. The pain is constant now—bones aching, muscles cramping, skin feeling like it might split apart at any moment.
What's happening to me?
He looks down at hands that end in claws, at arms wrapped in pulsing crimson energy that moves like liquid flame. The reflection in a broken window shows eyes like burning coals, pupils elongated into vertical slits.
Monster.
"Finally, you see clearly. You are not one of them. You never were. Stop pretending otherwise."
Another Titan approaches—or maybe he approaches it, the distinction blurring as rage overwhelms rational thought. All he knows is movement, impact, the satisfying crunch of cartilage beneath claws. The world becomes a kaleidoscope of violence and heat and the rhythmic pounding of his heartbeat like war drums in his ears.
Eren. Eren. Eren.
The name becomes a mantra, the only anchor in the storm of fury threatening to sweep away everything he once was. But with each repetition, the voice grows stronger, more insistent—
"The brother is gone. Let the rage take you. Let it burn away everything weak and human until only power remains."
And despite every instinct screaming resistance, Naruto feels himself beginning to listen.
Armin Arlert
Armin's hands trembled against the rough stone of the chimney, his knuckles white from gripping too tightly. The sound of Naruto's roars echoed through his skull like accusations, each one a reminder of his failure. If I hadn't frozen. If I'd been stronger. If, if, if—
The guilt crashed over him in waves, threatening to drag him under just as it had when the Titan's massive hand had picked him up as if he were a toy. But this time, Eren wasn't there to pull him free. This time, Eren was—
Focus. The word cut through his spiraling thoughts like a blade. Calculate. Analyze. Find a solution.
He forced himself to study the chaos below, cataloging details the way he'd once memorized military formations from dusty textbooks. Naruto moved with impossible speed, his red-shrouded form carving through Titans like a scythe through wheat. But there was something wrong with the pattern—he wasn't targeting napes, just tearing into whatever he could reach. The creatures regenerated, rose again, only to be savaged anew. There were a few times he would destroy the nape, but those times felt accidental, as if whatever Naruto was just happened to destroy the nape out of his rage.
The rage is controlling him, not the other way around.
"We need gas," Mikasa's voice cut through his analysis, sharp and clinical. She'd moved to the roof's edge, her red scarf whipping in the superheated air currents. "The supply depot is our only option."
Marco nodded grimly. "We go in fast, grab what we need, and extract before—"
"Before what?" one voice cracked with barely controlled panic. "Before that thing down there decides we're threats? Look at him, Marco! That's not Naruto anymore!"
Armin's pulse hammered against his temples as he watched their transformed friend slam a Titan's head into the ground with enough force to crater the street. The memory of Naruto's gentle hands healing Krista's wounds felt like pages from a book being consumed by flames—real but fading, warmth turning to ash.
"He would never hurt us," Mikasa stated with absolute conviction, but Armin caught the slight tremor in her voice. Even she wasn't entirely certain.
Krista stepped forward. "We can't abandon him."
"Can't we?" Jean shot back. "Because right now, I'm not seeing our friend down there. I'm seeing a weapon that's lost its wielder."
The words made Armin's eyes widen. Weapon. That's exactly what Naruto had become—a force of destruction without purpose or control. But underneath the red chakra and bestial roars, was their friend still fighting to break free?
Too late. The thought whispered through his mind like static. Maybe it's already too late to save him.
"Look!" Connie's shout snapped everyone's attention eastward. "More titans are backing away from him."
Armin followed his gaze and felt his analytical mind struggle to process what he was seeing. A cluster of Titans that had been advancing on their position had reversed course, shambling away from Naruto's rampage with what could only be described as fear.
Impossible. Titans don't fear anything except—
"What the hell is that?" Connie's voice rose an octave as something new appeared on the battlefield.
A massive figure had emerged from behind a collapsed building—another Titan, but this one moved differently. Where the others stumbled with mindless hunger, this creature looked different, its green eyes scanning the battlefield. Fifteen meters tall, muscled like a human athlete scaled to impossible size, it surveyed the chaos.
"It's... attacking the others," Sasha whispered in disbelief.
Indeed, the strange Titan had set upon a nearby Titan, its massive fists crushing bone and tearing flesh with techniques that looked almost martial in nature. Steam rose from its knuckles as it systematically dismantled its opponent.
"What the hell is happening?" Connie demanded, his voice small and lost.
Armin's mind raced, trying to fit this new piece into the puzzle. An Aberrant? No, this is something else entirely. Intelligence. Purpose. It's fighting the others just like—
Just like they would.
A Titan that fights other Titans. A weapon turned against its own kind.
"This is our chance," he said suddenly, surprising himself with the steadiness of his voice. "Both of them—Naruto and that Titan—they're drawing attention away from the supply depot. If we move now, while every Titan in the district is focused on them..."
Marco's eyes lit up with understanding. "A three-pronged distraction. Brilliant."
"It's insane," Jean protested, but was already preparing himself to move.
Armin could see the tactical situation unfolding in his mind like a chess problem from one of his grandfather's books. "We use the rooftops to approach from the north. The Titans will be facing south toward the fighting. Quick insertion, grab what we need, and rush towards the wall."
Like bridges collapsing behind us, he thought grimly. No retreat, only forward.
Mikasa nodded once, her hand instinctively checking her blade handles. "How long do we have?"
Armin studied the two forces of destruction carving through Trost's Titan population. Naruto's rampage showed no signs of slowing, but there was something unsustainable about the fury driving him—like a star burning too bright, consuming itself. And the strange intelligent Titan, while effective, was vastly outnumbered.
"Twenty minutes," he estimated. "Maybe less if that red energy burns out or if the Titans overwhelm them."
"Then we move now," Marco decided. "Annie, Connie, Jean—you're with me. Mikasa, take Sasha and Krista. Armin—"
"I'm going too," Armin interrupted, surprising everyone including himself. The guilt still gnawed at him, but beneath it lay something harder—determination forged in the furnace of loss. I couldn't save Eren. But maybe I can save the rest of them.
"Armin—" Mikasa began.
"I'm done being the one who needs saving," he said quietly. "Eren died pulling me from a Titan's mouth. I won't let that sacrifice be meaningless."
The words tasted like ashes, but they were true. Below them, Naruto continued his savage dance with death while the mysterious Titan carved its own path of destruction. Two weapons unleashed upon the field—one driven by grief, the other by purpose neither of them understood.
Hold on, Naruto, Armin thought as he checked his remaining gas. Just hold on long enough for us to survive this. Then maybe we can figure out how to bring you home.
Naruto Yeager
Massive. Muscled. Moving wrong.
The creature that killed the titan that Naruto was attacking looking at him strangely, it was clearly more powerful than the others, this one had muscles, and his mouth was like a demon.
Kill it.
The command erupted from somewhere deeper than thought, and his body responded like a drawn bowstring released. Crimson chakra flared around him as he launched forward, claws extended, the world blurring into streaks of gray stone and blue sky. Heat radiated from his form in visible waves, turning rainwater on broken pavement into instant steam.
The impact when he struck felt like colliding with a mountain.
Massive hands rose to block his assault, but they moved too slowly. His claws raked across forearms thick as tree trunks, carving furrows through muscle and sinew that immediately began regenerating. The creature staggered backward, eyes wide with what looked almost like... surprise?
Too slow. Too weak. KILL.
Naruto twisted in midair, chakra-shrouded tail whipping around to catch the Titan across its jaw. Bone cracked under the impact, sending the massive head snapping sideways. Before it could recover, he was moving again—claws finding purchase on broad shoulders, using them as leverage to vault higher.
The Attack Titan's hands shot up, trying to swat him away like an oversized insect. One massive palm caught him across the ribs, and he felt something inside crack, but the pain only fed the inferno burning through his veins. He sank his claws deeper, drawing steaming blood that spattered across the broken street below.
Nape. Strike the nape. End this.
But his claws hesitated inches from the crucial target, some buried instinct screaming a warning. Instead, he raked them across the creature's throat, opening wounds that started healing themselves.
Around them, the other Titans had stopped their advance entirely. Some stood frozen like statues, their vacant faces turned toward the battle with what might have been recognition. Others began backing away, massive feet crushing rubble as they retreated from the crimson energy bleeding off Naruto's form.
They fear me. Good. Let them fear.
The Strange Titan managed to grab his ankle, fingers closing around it like a steel trap. Pain shot up his leg as bones ground together, but before the creature could capitalize on its grip, Naruto twisted with feline flexibility and drove both claws into its wrist. The grip loosened immediately, and he sprang free, landing in a crouch on the street below.
For a heartbeat, they faced each other across twenty meters of destruction—predator evaluating predator. The Titan's chest heaved with exertion, steam rising from dozens of healing wounds. Its massive hands opened and closed, testing damaged joints, while those strange green eyes tracked every twitch of Naruto's movements.
Something's wrong.
The thought pierced through the red haze like a blade through silk. Those eyes—he'd seen them before. Not in a Titan, but...
Where?
Naruto's head tilted, confusion bleeding through the rage. The Titan moved closer, but there was something in its posture that didn't match the others. No hunger. No mindless advance. Just...
Caution. Like its thinking. Like it's—
The Titan's mouth moved, jaw working as if trying to form words. No sound emerged except the hiss of steam, but the attempt itself sent ice through Naruto's superheated blood. Titans didn't speak. Titans didn't think. Titans didn't look at him with eyes that held—
Recognition.
"What..." The word scraped from his throat, barely human through the elongated canines. "What are you?"
Those green eyes fixed on his face, and suddenly Naruto was drowning in familiarity he couldn't name. The shade of green—exactly like new leaves in spring. The determination burning behind them—fierce and uncompromising and so achingly familiar that his chest seized with emotion.
I know those eyes.
For one crucial moment, the red haze cleared completely. The voice in his head went silent. The rage that had driven him through dozens of battles faltered like a flame in sudden wind.
Eren.
The name whispered through his consciousness like a prayer, impossible and true. Those were his brother's eyes, trapped in fifteen meters of Titan flesh and fury. Alive. Somehow, impossibly, beautifully alive.
"Eren?" The word emerged as a broken sob, all violence bleeding from his posture. "Brother, is that—"
The Titan's fist caught him full in the chest with the force of a battering ram.
Air exploded from his lungs as he flew backward, his transformed body crashing through the first building's wall like paper. Brick and mortar cascaded around him as he tumbled through what had once been someone's living room, then burst through the far wall into the alley beyond. A second building couldn't stop his momentum—he smashed through a bakery, scattering flour and broken ovens, before finally coming to rest buried in the rubble of a third structure's collapsed roof.
Pain lanced through his body as he tried to move. His left arm bent at angles, for a moment, his doctor mind came to him, and he knew his arm was broken...very badly. Ribs had turned to splinters inside his chest. Blood filled his mouth with the taste of copper and defeat.
Can't... move...
The red energy around him flickered like a dying candle, and for a terrifying moment, he felt the warmth beginning to fade. But then something deeper responded—not the foreign energy that had consumed him, but something else. Something that belonged to him, that had always been part of him.
Heat flooded through his broken body, and he felt bones beginning to knit themselves back together. The process hurt worse than the breaking had, like molten metal being poured into his veins, but gradually sensation returned to his extremities. His vision cleared enough to see the Titan standing at the mouth of the alley, silhouetted against the smoke-filled sky.
Around them both, the surviving Titans had begun to converge. Drawn by the scent of fresh blood or the cessation of combat, they shambled forward with renewed purpose. Vacant eyes fixed on the two fallen combatants—one massive and steaming, one small and bleeding.
Prey.
Naruto struggled to his knees, energy flaring weakly around him as his healing factor worked overtime. Every breath felt like swallowing glass, but he was alive. Functional. And those approaching Titans meant to change that.
Jean Kirstein
With beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, Jean barked out orders to the cadets. "Everyone, we are rushing towards the Headquarters. Do not stop no matter what. If you do, you're dead. No matter what you hear, do not stop," he commanded, his eyes scanning the group for any signs of hesitation. Despite the nods of agreement from the cadets around him, Jean knew many were terrified.
With a firm resolve, Jean led the charge. He leaped into the air, his body hurtling toward the ground at a dizzying speed before activating his ODM Gear. The grappling hook shot out, piercing the side of a nearby building with a thud. With a burst of gas, Jean propelled himself forward through the smoke-filled air.
As they approached the towering structure, the thunderous footsteps of Titans echoed behind them, but Jean didn't dare look back. Any distraction could be fatal. He heard screams behind him, people begging for help and their lives, the sound of gas going back, trying to help their friends. A massive hand suddenly grabbed his leg, and he quickly slashed downward, his blade severing the finger and freeing himself.
Despite having only drops of gas left, Jean made a desperate leap toward the window. Glass shattered around him as he crashed through, sharp shards cutting his skin. He rolled hard, body aching, then sprang to his feet as the sound of breaking windows filled the air around him.
Relief flooded through Jean as he saw his friends alive—Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, and several others burst through another shattered window moments later.
"Wait, where are Mikasa and Armin?" Jean wondered aloud.
His attention turned to two cadets cowering under a desk, their faces drained of color. Deep anger bubbled up inside him. Without hesitation, he strode toward them, fists clenched.
"Are you from Supply Squad?"
The two nodded without saying anything, like mutes.
He grabbed one soldier by the jacket and pulled him close, delivering a punch that sent blood streaming from the man's nose. Marco quickly grabbed Jean from behind before he could strike again.
"Jean, stop! It's over," Marco pleaded.
"It's their fault," Jean spat. "They left us out there, and now people are dead because of them!"
"The Titans invaded the Supply Depot," the supply soldier explained, voice shaking. "There was nothing we could do."
"Doing something about it is your job!" Jean shouted, the screams of fallen cadets echoing in his memory.
Reiner's voice cut through the tension. "Jean, enough. We're here now. That's what matters."
"Where are Mikasa and Armin?" Krista called out desperately, trying to look through the windows before Ymir pulled her back.
"Titans are coming!" someone screamed as a section of wall crumbled, revealing two Titan faces peering inside. The cadets scattered in terror, but Jean found himself frozen in place.
What was I thinking? I should have stayed with the others.
The Titan's faces suddenly disappeared, replaced by the sound of impacts—someone had punched both creatures. A burst of gas and screaming filled the air as Mikasa flew through the window, followed by Connie carrying Armin.
Jean's face brightened seeing his friends alive, but before he could speak, Krista rushed forward.
"You're alive!" she exclaimed, relief evident in her voice.
"Good to see you in one piece," Jean said, managing a grin despite everything. "I was starting to think the Titans had finally caught up with your reckless streak."
"Well, since you were busy leading everyone to safety, someone had to look after these two," Connie replied, gesturing to Mikasa and Armin.
Jean's expression grew serious. "How are you all still alive out there? And what was that thing we saw earlier—that other Titan attacking the rest?"
"The Rogue Titan saved us," Armin explained quietly. "We used it as... as a distraction. When we got close enough, Mikasa and I used the last of our gas to reach the windows."
Jean stared at him skeptically. "Armin, have you lost your mind? How did a Titan help you?"
"It's true," Connie defended. "It's attacking all the other Titans and showing no interest in us. Look for yourself."
Everyone moved to the windows, witnessing the impossible sight—a Titan systematically destroying others of its kind.
The cadets watched in awe, many looking more hopeful for the first time since the attack began.
"How did you get its attention?" Reiner asked, his tone unusually pressing.
Armin shifted uncomfortably. "We... we threw rocks at first. When that didn't work, we made noise, and it started following us toward the headquarters."
Annie shook her head. "That was incredibly reckless. You could have been killed."
"Sometimes the body just moves on its own," Armin said softly, echoing words he'd heard before.
"What should we do about the first floor? It's full of small titans." Marco asked, refocusing on their immediate problem.
"Find supplies, everything we can use," Jean ordered, taking charge as the group scattered.
As they gathered weapons and ammunition, Armin spread a map on the table. "I have an idea," he said, his voice growing steadier. "There are seven Titans below. We can use rifles to blind them, then our best fighters can strike from the beams."
"Can rifles even damage Titans?" Jean asked, examining the weapons.
"Not kill them, but we can disorient them long enough for a killing blow," Armin explained his plan in detail, outlining the elevator strategy.
Reiner tried to lighten the mood. "Don't worry, Armin. We survived outside—we can handle small Titans."
Annie's voice cut sharply through the optimism. "The risk is the same, no matter who does it. If one fails, everyone dies."
"You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you, Annie?" Jean muttered.
"I only speak the truth."
Marco placed a hand on Armin's shoulder. "Your plan will work. You've always been able to analyze situations and find the best solution."
As they prepared for the assault, Jean couldn't help but think about what they'd witnessed outside. "That red energy around Naruto... I've never seen anything like it. What do you think happened to him?"
"I don't know," Mikasa said quietly, her usual confidence shaken. "But whatever it was, he's still fighting. Still protecting people."
"Even if he's become something else entirely," Armin added, the weight of recent losses evident in his voice.
The elevator doors crashed open, ready for their desperate gambit to reclaim the supply depot and escape this nightmare.
As the elevator started moving down, the cadets inside could feel their nerves kicking in, realizing they were about to face the Titans once again. Despite the dim lighting, they could still make out the figures of the Titans walking around aimlessly as if waiting for their next victim.
Armin whispered to everyone, "Well, the number hasn't changed. There are still seven." His voice was barely above a whisper, but it was enough to send shivers down their spines.
When the elevator stopped abruptly, the cramped space's atmosphere shifted from tense silence to heightened alertness as the cadets inside instinctively pointed their weapons in all four directions. Marco spoke in a hushed voice, urging his comrades to stick to the plan and maintain their composure despite the slight tremble in his grip on his rifle.
The sudden halt of the 4-meter Titan walking ahead of them caused a ripple of unease. A shiver of fear ran down their spines, and the cadets tensed up, their breaths coming in short gasps.
Despite his own trembling, Armin managed to keep his cool and quickly assessed the situation. "Don't shoot yet. Wait until they get closer!"
The cadets felt their hearts pounding in their chests, their palms sweating with fear.
"Easy boys," Marco said, his voice barely above a whisper. The others around him gulped nervously, their eyes darting back and forth between the Titans and their fellow cadets positioned on the rafters above.
As the Titans approached the elevator, the cadets could feel their hearts thudding against their ribcages in terror. Suddenly, Armin's voice rang out, clear and commanding.
"FIRE!"
A cacophony of weapon fire erupted, causing the Titans to falter in their advance. As the smoke cleared, it became apparent that the cadets had executed their maneuver flawlessly, blinding all seven Titans simultaneously.
The cadets on top of the rafters sprang into action, leaping with precision onto the backs of the blind Titans, their blades slicing through the air as they aimed for the vulnerable spot at the nape of the Titans' necks. Six Titans fell, their lifeless bodies hitting the ground with a thud, but Connie's strike missed its mark, the blade instead making contact with the Titan's shoulder.
In a split second, Connie realized the danger he was in and muttered an expletive under his breath. "Shit!"
"Connie, move!" Annie's voice boomed through the air as she sprinted toward him. She sliced the Titan's knee, causing it to fall to one knee. Jean quickly jumped upward, his sword cutting through the nape effortlessly. The Titan groaned before hitting the ground, its body emitting steam.
Slowly, Connie made his way to where Annie and Jean stood. "Thank you so much, Jean. Thank you, Annie."
"No problem," Jean said with a small smile. "Now stand up. We need to leave."
The cadets cheered and pumped their fists in the air. They eagerly rushed to their gas containers to refuel their ODM gear without wasting a moment. Jean, Marco, and Armin found themselves sitting beside each other, pouring the gas into their containers.
"You know, Jean," Marco began, his tone slightly hesitant. "You might not like me saying this, but I really do think you're an excellent leader."
Jean, who had been lost in thought, looked up at Marco, his expression quizzical. "What do you mean?" he asked, not quite understanding where that came from.
"I hope you don't get mad, but you're not the strongest fighter. So you can relate to how the weak feel. Isn't that why you immediately know what should be done?" Marco continued with a soft smile.
Jean paused in his refueling, considering Marco's words. "I don't know about that. I just... when I saw everyone panicking up there, someone had to take charge."
"That's exactly what I mean," Armin interjected, looking up from his own gas canister. "You saw what needed to be done and did it. That's leadership."
"Speaking of things we don't understand," Jean said, his voice dropping lower, "what the hell happened to Naruto out there? That red energy, the way he was moving... I've never seen anything like it."
Marco's expression grew troubled. "Whatever it was, it wasn't normal. The heat coming off him, the way he tore through those Titans..."
As if summoned by their words, a distant roar echoed through the building—inhuman and filled with rage. The cadets exchanged worried glances, each wondering what had become of their friend, and whether they would ever get him back.
As the cadets worked to refuel their ODM gear, the temporary relief of victory began to settle in. The supply depot buzzed with activity as everyone prepared for their escape to Wall Rose.
"You know what the strangest part is?" Jean said, pausing in his refueling to look at Marco. "I keep thinking about what we saw out there. That rogue Titan fighting the others, and then..." He trailed off, his expression growing troubled.
"Naruto," Mikasa said quietly, her voice carrying across the depot. Several cadets turned toward her.
"What happened to him out there?" Connie asked, setting down his gas canister. "I mean, I've seen him angry before, but that was..." He struggled for words.
"Inhuman," Bertholdt whispered, his tall frame hunched over his equipment. "The heat coming off him, the way he moved—it was like watching a demon."
Reiner's jaw tightened. "Whatever it was, it saved our lives. Those Titans were fleeing from him."
"But at what cost?" Annie interjected, her voice barely audible. She hadn't looked up from her gear since they'd entered the depot, her usually steady hands trembling slightly as she worked.
Armin finished filling his canisters and turned to face the group. "Do you think he's still... himself? When I saw his eyes, they weren't..." He shook his head. "They weren't Naruto's eyes anymore."
"Of course he's still himself," Mikasa snapped at Armin with anger. "He's my little brother. Whatever this is, whatever's happening to him, he's still in there."
"Is he though?" Jean asked quietly. "Because what I saw wasn't the guy who helped us with training. That thing out there was a weapon."
The depot fell silent except for the hiss of steam from the fallen Titans. Marco cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Maybe we should focus on getting out of here first," he suggested. "We can worry about understanding what happened once we're safe."
Krista moved closer to the group, Ymir hovering protectively behind her. "What if Naruto needs our help? What if he's trapped somehow, and that's why he can't control it?"
"Control what exactly?" Jean demanded. "We don't even know what 'it' is! Healing wounds with a touch, and now this red energy that makes him tear through Titans like they're made of paper?"
"The energy had a tail," Sasha added quietly. "I saw it clearly. Like it was alive."
The observation sent another chill through the group. They'd all seen it, but hearing it spoken aloud made it more real, more terrifying.
"Whatever's happening to him, we can't abandon him," Mikasa declared with finality. "He's family."
"Family or not," Connie said hesitantly, "we might not have a choice. If he can't recognize us anymore, if he sees us as threats..."
"He won't," Mikasa insisted.
Marco stood, shouldering his refilled ODM gear. "Look, we all care about Naruto. But right now, our priority has to be survival. We get to Wall Rose, we report what happened here, and then maybe—maybe we can figure out how to help him."
"Report what exactly?" Reiner asked. "That one of our graduates can transform into some kind of energy-based monster? That there's a rogue Titan helping humans? Who's going to believe any of this?"
They all decided to go back to the top floor, reaching the highest tower of the HQ, many cadets started using their gear to go to the top of the wall as soon as possible, but Mikasa remained behind, and the others who were still there realised why, Mikasa was looking at the Rogue Titan and Naruto.
"I can see him. And that rogue Titan. They're... working together? Fighting side by side against a group of Titans."
"They're magnificent," Krista breathed.
"They're terrifying," Ymir corrected.
"They're both," Annie said quietly.
As they watched, the battle began to wind down. The last of the surrounding Titans fell, and for a moment, the two unlikely allies stood facing each other across the rubble-strewn street.
Then, suddenly, the rogue Titan swayed and collapsed.
"It's falling!" Connie shouted.
Steam began rising from the fallen creature's body, and through the haze, they could see movement at its nape. A figure emerged—human-sized, unconscious, and unmistakably familiar.
"Is that..." Armin's voice caught in his throat.
"Eren," Mikasa whispered, her face going white.
The impossible became reality as they watched Naruto's energy cloak flicker and begin to fade. His bestial posture straightened slightly, and he stumbled toward the fallen figure with something approaching human recognition.
"Eren's alive," Jean said in disbelief. "He's the rogue Titan."
"How is that possible?" Marco demanded.
But before anyone could attempt an answer, they watched as Naruto reached his brother's unconscious form. The red energy surrounding him guttered like a dying candle in the wind, flickering weaker with each labored step. His claws retracted, his savage posture crumbled, and suddenly he was just a sixteen-year-old boy again—small, and broken.
Naruto's legs gave out mere inches from Eren's still form. He crawled the final distance on trembling hands and knees, blood seeping from countless wounds, before finally collapsing beside his brother. One shaking hand reached out to touch Eren's face, as if needing proof that this wasn't another cruel dream.
Both brothers lay motionless in the street, surrounded by the steaming corpses of their enemies—two children who had fought monsters and become something monstrous themselves, now reduced to nothing more than exhausted, wounded boys.
Mikasa was already moving before conscious thought could stop her, her ODM gear carrying her through the shattered window with desperate speed. She hit the ground running, her red scarf streaming behind her like a banner of hope.
Upon reaching them, she dropped to her knees so hard the impact sent shockwaves up her legs. Naruto's half-closed eyes had returned to their familiar blue—tired, pained, but undeniably human. And Eren... Eren was there. Alive. The Eren she'd been told was dead, the Eren she'd mourned, was breathing.
Without hesitation, she gathered Naruto's battered form against her chest, pressing her ear to his heart. The steady rhythm filled her with such overwhelming relief that her vision blurred.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Her little brother's heart, beating strong and true beneath her ear.
She shifted to Eren, cradling his head as she listened to his chest, tears already streaming down her face.
Bump-bump. Bump-bump. Bump-bump.
The sound she'd thought she'd never hear again.
Unable to contain herself any longer, Mikasa pulled both boys against her, one arm around each, holding them as tightly as she dared. The scream that tore from her throat was raw—a sound of pure emotion that echoed off the broken buildings around them. Joy at finding them alive. Relief that the nightmare was over. And pain for everything they'd all endured, everything they'd lost, everything they'd become.
She wept for the innocence that was gone forever, for the boys they'd been this morning who would never exist again. But mostly, she wept because they were here, they were breathing, and despite everything that had changed, they were still her brothers.
Still, her family.
Still alive.
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