'Insane!'
'This Uzumaki Naruto is as crazy as Uchiha Sasuke!'
'No, I should say all these ninjas are insane!'
Seeing Naruto begin to gather his ultimate technique, completely disregarding Kawaki's life or death, vowing to kill him alongside, Isshiki panicked.
He could block that terrifying Six Paths Giant Rasenshuriken, but the consequence would be severe injury again.
Already cornered against Six Paths Naruto, he held no advantage.
If injured further, he'd almost certainly lose!
With his opponent's speed and killing intent, he'd get no chance to escape again.
This time, he had no Daemon as a shield to block attacks.
Unless…
Seeing the crazed Naruto about to unleash a massive attack, Isshiki, fearing death, didn't dare fight to the end. He could only grit his teeth and make a decision.
He threw Kawaki toward Naruto.
For him, without the courage to fight to the death, he'd always be hindered.
To stop Naruto's attack and gain a chance to escape, he had to sacrifice a pawn to save the king, abandoning Kawaki.
Kawaki hurtled toward Naruto.
Startled, Naruto hurriedly stopped gathering his ultimate move, sprouting two chakra arms to steadily catch Kawaki.
*BUZZ!*
Seizing the moment Naruto was distracted, Isshiki swiftly opened a space-time gate and, without a second thought, dove through, escaping the scene.
"Damn it!"
Naruto roared in anger, too late to stop Isshiki's escape.
As expected, to survive, that man would abandon anything.
But this was also a good thing—at least Naruto saved Kawaki, costing Isshiki a trump card.
In that moment, Naruto finally understood: as long as he didn't treat a hostage as a hostage, the hostage in the enemy's hands posed no threat!
This was the only way to save a hostage.
Sasuke had long understood this, but Naruto only truly grasped it today!
Naruto didn't chase Isshiki.
The space-time gate had closed, and he couldn't pursue.
He could only check Kawaki's body, wary of traps left by Isshiki.
Fortunately, to escape, Isshiki had thrown a living Kawaki to Naruto without killing him first.
If he'd thrown a corpse, Naruto would likely have fired the Six Paths Giant Rasenshuriken at Isshiki, ensuring he joined Kawaki in the afterlife.
"Kawaki? Kawaki!"
Naruto injected a bit of Yang chakra into Kawaki, quickly restoring his exhausted body and bruises.
Bathed in warmth, the unconscious Kawaki slowly woke.
Opening his eyes, he saw his succubus foster father, his heart surging.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"Kawaki? How are you? Are you okay? How do you feel?"
"Seventh Hokage!!! It's really you!"
Kawaki confirmed it wasn't a dream—his succubus foster father had returned! And he'd seemingly snatched him back from Isshiki!
His heart felt bitter, his tear glands stirred, nearly crying.
"It's me!"
"It's okay, I won't let you get hurt again!"
Seeing Kawaki's exhausted, disheveled state, Naruto's heart ached.
He'd only heard Toneri's rough account of past events, but facing an enemy as strong as Isshiki, he could imagine how tough it was for Kawaki and the others.
He was the Hokage, sworn to protect everyone.
Yet it had come to this.
Truly shameful!
Kawaki felt that bone-deep warmth, this selfless, sincere love—how could someone raised in a lab and nutrient tank withstand it?
The title of 'ninja world's number one succubus' was no joke.
But Kawaki knew now wasn't the time for pleasantries. He urgently asked Naruto for help:
"Seventh Hokage, hurry! Boruto and Uncle Sasuke are still in the village—save them!"
"Boruto's in the village too?!!!"
Naruto was shocked. His brief contact with Eida hadn't revealed Boruto was there—only Sasuke's fight.
"Yes! Boruto seems controlled by Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki, attacking Uncle Sasuke with Kaguya! Uncle Sasuke's in great danger!"
Naruto's heart trembled—his son teaming with Kaguya to attack his best friend?
That was too absurd, wasn't it?
"Don't worry, someone's already supporting Sasuke. I'll head there soon!"
"Leave the rest to me!"
Naruto delayed no longer, leaving a clone to guard Kawaki, while his real body soared into the sky, speeding toward Konoha.
He didn't know his exact location.
But with Six Paths Mode's super sensory abilities, Kaguya's aura from the distant village shone like a beacon in the night, guiding him back.
'Faster, faster!'
Six Paths Naruto pushed his extreme speed, shooting toward Konoha.
Though lacking space-time abilities, his speed neared the world's peak, rivaling Isshiki's.
Naruto, at full speed, was like a blazing golden meteor splitting the clouds, leaving a shimmering vacuum tunnel behind.
Massive air compressed and shattered, erupting into molten light waterfalls—burning atmosphere forming absolute shockwaves, incinerating everything touched.
Frankly, if Naruto flew over another village at this speed, in less than a second, he'd destroy it entirely, reducing buildings to rubble.
"Sasuke, Boruto, wait for me!"
"Don't let anything happen to you!"
Naruto gritted his teeth with hope, accelerating frantically.
The sky tore apart, leaving only a brilliantly burning trail.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Meanwhile, the situation in Konoha was bizarre.
When Isshiki chased Kabuto, he left Kaguya and Momoshiki to face Sasuke.
Kaguya was busy controlling Wood Release, absorbing Konoha residents' chakra, so she ordered Momoshiki to attack Sasuke first. Black Zetsu also aimed to use Sasuke to eliminate Momoshiki, then devour Sasuke.
But Sasuke, while deliberately feeding chakra to Momoshiki, bombarded Konoha, killing tens of thousands of Wood Release-entangled residents instantly.
This made Kaguya and Black Zetsu realize something was wrong.
They didn't expect Sasuke was forced to slaughter the village for future resurrection; they thought he was just stopping Kaguya from absorbing more chakra.
Reluctantly, Kaguya began attacking Sasuke.
But Momoshiki suddenly blocked her, claiming he alone was enough for Sasuke.
What a joke.
He could absorb Sasuke's attacks while letting Sasuke kill more villagers, preventing Kaguya from gaining chakra and recovering.
Momoshiki wouldn't miss such a good opportunity, intentionally or not blocking Kaguya.
Kaguya disagreed, launching long-range attacks at Sasuke.
But perfect Susano'o could fly. Sasuke gave up fighting, keeping distance, leaving the village, and soaring into the sky.
While dodging, he kept firing arrows at the village!
With Momoshiki intentionally or unintentionally blocking and absorbing, Kaguya couldn't defeat Sasuke quickly.
Of course, if Kaguya used an ultimate move like Amenominaka, she could swiftly defeat Sasuke. Without his Rinnegan, Sasuke's combat power barely reached quasi-Six Paths.
But Black Zetsu was unwilling!
His mother had just used a super-scale Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei, dragging the entire moon, consuming vast energy. Another large-scale move would drain more chakra.
How would they defeat Isshiki then?
Indeed, from start to finish, Black Zetsu planned to eliminate Isshiki, making his mother the sole victor!
So he held back, hoping Momoshiki would exhaust Sasuke or Sasuke would kill Momoshiki…
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
Kaguya attacked Sasuke symbolically, Momoshiki secretly aided Sasuke, and Sasuke kept firing arrows, killing people.
All three had their own calculations, forming a strange stalemate.
But this balance was fragile.
Sasuke's chakra was limited.
Having used much already, maintaining perfect Susano'o and destroying Konoha, he couldn't last long.
Once his chakra ran out, he'd almost certainly die.
Sure enough.
In mere minutes, Sasuke's chakra nearly depleted.
Not only did Susano'o dim, but his bow-drawing and arrow-firing slowed drastically…
By now, Sasuke had fired hundreds of chakra arrows. Over 80% of Konoha was obliterated, with hardly an intact building.
Over 90% of the Wood Release-entangled villagers were dead. Hundreds of thousands perished—Konoha was destroyed in a sense, and Sasuke, the dutiful son, was the destroyer.
Truly fantastical…
'Looks like he's reached his limit?'
'My chakra's recovered a lot, thanks to this Uchiha Sasuke!'
'Time to finish him…'
Momoshiki, having absorbed plenty of chakra, was thrilled.
Seeing Sasuke's chakra nearly gone, he prepared a lethal strike. Killing Boruto's teacher might further break Boruto's mind, strengthening his control over the body.
'Mother, plans changed. We couldn't use Sasuke to kill Momoshiki, so let Momoshiki kill Sasuke, then devour him!'
'He's absorbed a lot of Sasuke's chakra, so eating him won't be a loss!'
Black Zetsu kept inciting Kaguya. He only wanted his mother to win, whether Sasuke killed Momoshiki or vice versa—it didn't matter much.
Finally, Sasuke's chakra ran out, unable to maintain perfect Susano'o. It devolved to a half-body Susano'o, and he fell from the sky.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
Momoshiki raised his hand, activating Takemikazuchi, amplifying Sasuke's absorbed chakra arrows multiple times in size and power, aiming at the falling Sasuke and firing hard.
In his exhausted state, Sasuke couldn't block this arrow!
*BUZZ!*
At the critical moment, an unexpected space-time gate opened, a blazing blue light shooting out, blocking Sasuke.
*BANG!*
The giant chakra arrow, deflected by Toneri controlling a Tenseigan Truth-Seeking Ball, bounced off, exploding into a massive chakra fireball in the air.
Then, Toneri controlled another Tenseigan Truth-Seeking Ball, shaping it into a floating circular platform, catching the falling Sasuke.
"Who are you? Ōtsutsuki Toneri?"
Sasuke was shocked, recognizing Toneri.
Though he'd never seen Toneri's real body, Naruto had mentioned him often, and he'd seen him in Naruto's memories, so recognizing him wasn't strange.
What was strange was how he appeared here suddenly?
Wait… didn't he just destroy the enemy's base, the moon?
Was this revenge?
But it didn't seem so.
And wasn't this guy blind? How did his Tenseigan and Byakugan recover?
"It's me."
Toneri glanced at Sasuke, not fond of the ninja who destroyed his moon.
But as Boruto's teacher and their need to team up to save Boruto, he suppressed his displeasure and saved him.
Looking at Konoha's scorched ruins, Toneri sighed.
He assumed it was the enemy's doing and didn't care much.
It was Naruto's village, not his home—why didn't he marry into the Hyūga clan?
"How are you?"
"Naruto's back, chasing Isshiki. He sent me to help you first."
Toneri explained briefly.
"Naruto's saved? Was that the Lord's doing?"
"Yes."
Hearing this, Sasuke was overjoyed, his accumulated frustration and pain vanishing.
His exhausted dōjutsu even recovered slightly from his surging spirit, showing his excitement.
Everything Sasuke had done, all the sins he'd committed, were over 80% to save Naruto, and 20% for the village and Konoha.
Without Naruto, what was Konoha worth?
Hearing Naruto's safe return, Sasuke felt relieved, a faint smile forming.
"What's the situation here?"
"Momoshiki controls Boruto's body, Isshiki released Kaguya—it's all very troublesome!"
Sasuke's excitement was cut short by Toneri, returning to calm rationality, explaining the situation.
"How do we save Boruto?"
Toneri, sealed by Urashiki, didn't fully understand Kama's effects or how to save Boruto.
"As long as Momoshiki's defeated or knocked out, Boruto's consciousness should return…"
"Got it. Need to retreat?"
Toneri nodded, asking Sasuke, given his poor condition.
"Can't run—Kaguya has space-time abilities. Besides, don't worry about me, I can still hold on!"
"Then let's team up to hold them both until Naruto returns!"
Toneri knew his strength. Though he regained his Tenseigan, his power only reached slightly above Naruto and Sasuke's quasi-Six Paths, not true Six Paths level.
He was confident against an incomplete Momoshiki.
But the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya? He couldn't handle her.
The chakra ancestor, only sealed by Hagoromo and Hamura, even weakened, was beyond him and a frail Sasuke.
The only way was to hold them off until Naruto returned.
Then they might defeat Kaguya together!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Meanwhile, Toneri's sudden appearance shocked Momoshiki and Kaguya.
Momoshiki had heard Urashiki mention him—a mixed Ōtsutsuki descendant, nearly a branch family member, supposedly destroyed with the moon. Why was he here?
Kaguya and Black Zetsu were more confused, not knowing Toneri. But through chakra sensing, they could tell he was likely Hamura's descendant…
'Mother, plans changed—we can't hold back anymore.'
'We must finish these people quickly!'
Realizing the situation had shifted beyond his plans and control, Black Zetsu grew anxious.
"Alright!"
Kaguya raised her brows, her heart inexplicably uneasy, deciding to stop holding back and devour everyone there!