Naruto Uzumaki and Tobi stared each other down.
One was cloaked in the terrifying radiance of Baryon Mode.
The other grinned with a half-spiral face, as though none of this mattered at all.
"That hurt, you know."
Tobi spoke while one of his hands rubbed his stomach dramatically.
"I spent a lot of effort growing this body."
Naruto kept his expression blank and didn't respond, but the terrifying look in his eyes told a different story.
It was as if he wanted to eat Tobi alive.
"I don't like that look in your eyes, Naruto-kun, so…"
Tobi smiled.
But in the next instant, that smile twisted into a ferocious expression, like that of a demon.
"Dismantle."
A cold sensation crawled across Naruto's skin.
Then...
SPLAT!
Blood burst from Naruto's eyes.
Another slash carved across his ribs.
Then his thigh.
Then his cheek.
All in one seamless, brutal instant.
Each slash was so sharp and precise that even Naruto's Baryon Mode-enhanced senses could barely register them.
Naruto's body jerked backward, blood scattering across the scorched ground.
"Tch!"
He twisted midair, chakra tails lashing out violently behind him, but the slashes kept coming.
The wounds healed almost instantly beneath the overwhelming vitality of Baryon Mode, golden-red chakra burning over his skin like living flame.
But Naruto's expression darkened.
These cuts… what kind of jutsu were they?
They were instantaneous, and invisible to the naked eye.
No.
That wasn't right.
Naruto's gaze snapped toward Tobi.
The four-armed monster hovered ahead of him, his grin stretched wide across that half-spiral face. One of his hands was raised lazily, two fingers extended, as though he were conducting an invisible orchestra of death.
But what caught Naruto's attention was not the hand.
It was Tobi's eye.
It had changed from its original red. The sclera had turned black, and inside it, yellow lines formed a strange geometric pattern—cold, precise, and utterly unlike any Sharingan or Rinnegan Naruto had ever seen.
Naruto's brows drew tight.
"A dōjutsu…?"
Tobi's grin widened, and deep down, he felt secretly pleased that Naruto had finally noticed.
He had wanted to flex, after all.
So he pretended to be serious.
"Oh? You noticed?"
The moment he spoke, Naruto moved.
BOOM!
The air exploded beneath his feet as he shot forward in a red-gold blur.
"Idiot!"
Tobi grinned maliciously, extending one hand forward to touch Naruto as he uttered calmly, yet with unmistakable excitement,
"Cleave."
Naruto's instincts screamed.
But his fist had already slammed across Tobi's face.
Tobi tanked the blow head-on. At the same time, Naruto's body was suddenly struck by thousands of slashes, forcing even his iron will to let out a pained grunt.
At such close range, Naruto finally understood what was happening.
This monster…
His slashes, although invisible, were not enough on their own to be this deadly.
What truly made them terrifying was that strange ability.
Shrinking.
Using that strange eye, Tobi compressed the already unseen blades until they became almost impossible to perceive, almost impossible to evade, then enlarged them again at the exact instant they struck.
It was a technique made to kill even those who could sense danger before it arrived.
Kurama's voice rumbled inside him, grim and heavy.
"Naruto, this is bad. Your regeneration is keeping up for now, but every wound is eating away at our time. Baryon Mode isn't meant for a long fight."
"I know."
Naruto distanced himself from Tobi, breathing heavily. The ground beneath his feet sizzled as blood dripped from his body and vaporized against the heated earth.
ZSSST.
"Naruto, block his vision, then attack him off guard," Kurama advised, quickly laying out the battle plan.
A blue sphere formed against Naruto's palm, swelling larger and larger until it reached the size of a Tailed Beast Bomb. Then he hurled it toward Tobi, its range wide enough to make dodging difficult.
"Rasengan: Starburst!!"
Tobi's eye widened, and he stopped his technique.
"Oh?"
But the surprise didn't last long.
He changed targets and shrank the massive Rasengan rushing toward him instead.
"Hmph. Did you really think that would work against the great Tobi? What a—"
Tobi mocked Naruto after shrinking the Rasengan, but before he could finish—
Naruto appeared in front of him without warning.
His fist came down like a falling meteor.
BOOOOOOM!
Caught off guard, Tobi still crossed two arms to block.
The impact detonated across the sky, scattering the clouds and sending a shockwave roaring over the ruined village below.
For the first time, Tobi's body was forced backward, shooting straight into the wreckage.
Tobi used two of his arms to grip the ground and steady himself, then flipped backward to stand, but what met him was another blow.
Naruto pressed in immediately.
A left hook.
A right straight.
A knee.
An elbow.
A chakra tail stabbed forward like a spear.
"Well, shit!! I'm getting pounded~ Help, Mahoraga, help!!!"
Tobi roared in a complaining tone, twisting between the blows as all four arms moved at once. One blocked Naruto's fist, another parried the elbow, the third caught the chakra tail, and the fourth snapped toward Naruto's throat with clawed fingers.
"Dammit, I'm angry! Why can't I have my buddy Mahoraga!!!"
Naruto ducked under it and drove his knee into Tobi's ribs.
CRACK!
The sound of breaking bones rang through the air.
Tobi's grin did not fade.
His body healed instantly.
"Ku-ha-ha-ha! This is so much fun! I'm feeling it… the exhilarating feeling of a real fight!!"
He grabbed Naruto's shoulder with two hands and hammered both remaining fists into Naruto's face.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"Fight back, Naruto! Fight back!"
Each punch landed with enough force to cave in a mountain.
Naruto's head snapped back, blow after blow crashing into him.
On the fifth punch, he caught Tobi's wrist.
His crimson slit pupils burned with murderous light.
"Is that supposed to hurt?"
Tobi's face, which had been distorted from the earlier blows, healed back into a menacing grin.
"That's my line, Naruto-kun."
"Cleave."
Naruto's abdomen split open, but before the wound could widen, he slammed his forehead into Tobi's face.
CRACK!
The half-spiral mask fractured along with his nose.
"Ohhhh~ Super painful~"
Tobi's head snapped back with a moan that sounded half pain, half something disturbingly pleased.
Naruto followed with a brutal punch to the jaw.
BOOM!
Tobi shot downward like a cannonball, smashing through three ruined buildings before carving a trench across the blackened street.
Naruto dropped after him like a falling star, but Tobi rolled aside at the last second, laughing as the crater swallowed half the block.
"Good! Good! That's the face!"
He rose from the rubble, broken bones snapping back into place, the hole in his body already gone. Smoke curled from his skin, but his grin remained bright, manic, and cruel.
"You finally look like you want to kill me, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto stood in the center of the crater, blood dripping from his chin, his wounds healing one after another.
In a way, both of them were lucky they had regenerative power. Otherwise, the damage they had already sustained would have made it impossible for either of them to continue.
Tobi's black-and-yellow eye fixed on Naruto with grotesque delight.
"Ku-ha-ha-ha!"
"Then come on, Seventh Hokage."
His fingers flexed.
"Let's see whether your rage runs out first…"
"Or your life does."
"Naruto… we're running out of time," Kurama growled inside him.
Naruto clenched his fists.
"I know. I'll finish this fast."
...
"Well, I'll be damned. Someone is having so much fun?"
A voice suddenly sounded right beside Sakura's ear.
"So, what are you gonna do? Watch? Or should we have some fun too?"
Sakura, who had been intently watching the fight, felt a chill run down her spine.
"You… you're that other guy…"
BOOM!
Her fist shot out instantly, but White Zetsu caught it with ease. Seeing her attack stopped so casually, Sakura followed up with a kick, only for her leg to be caught too.
This hooded figure…
What was his deal?
He was a monster too, just like that other guy.
Sakura bit her lip in anger, but the sudden pain in her leg snapped her eyes wide open. Then, almost out of control, a shriek tore from her mouth, though she quickly bit it down into a muffled cry.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
"Oh, come on. I was just getting started. Don't be such a baby."
White Zetsu casually tossed the leg he had ripped off to the side, then kicked Sakura across the face and sent her flying.
BOOM!
"Cough, cough!"
Sakura choked hard, her head spinning from the pain of having her leg torn off so brutally, along with part of her hip.
Even her Strength of a Hundred healing couldn't restore something like that.
"This can't be all I can do…"
Sakura stood up trembling, her body swaying, but she bit her lip hard to keep herself from crying out.
She knew that if she did, Naruto might get distracted from his fight.
And that was the last thing she wanted.
"I promised I wouldn't be useless again…"
"What the hell are you babbling on about?"
White Zetsu tilted his head, shoved his hands into his pockets, and grumbled.
"I'm already pissed off as it is. That idiot went ahead and took the strongest one while leaving me with trash."
Then an idea suddenly came to him, and his eyes flashed red beneath the hoodie.
"Well, a good idea just occurred to me."
A bad feeling welled up inside Sakura the moment she heard those ominous words.
...
Huff… Huff…
Both Tobi and Naruto were gasping for breath.
Half of Tobi's face was splattered with blood and badly disfigured, but his smile still did not vanish. He even stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from his lips.
Before he could taunt Naruto, a sudden cry of anguish and pain caught both of their attention.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
"That voice…"
Both of them recognized the voice and who it belonged to.
"Dammit, Sakura!!!"
Naruto didn't care about anything else. He immediately turned toward the direction of the cry, intending to rush over and help.
On the other hand, Tobi frowned, and a dark aura began to seep from his body.
"Well done… very well done, Zetsu. To think you came up with such a plan."
His smile thinned.
"But I'm sorry. I won't let it succeed."
Tobi knew Zetsu far too well. He understood exactly what that bastard was trying to do by making that pink pig scream like that.
He wanted Naruto to go after him.
Swoosh!
"Where do you think you're going, Naruto-kun?"
Bang!
Tobi appeared in front of him with a punch, forcing Naruto to block and stop in his tracks.
"Dammit, get the hell out of my way!!"
Naruto skidded backward, and Rasenshuriken formed in his hands before he sent them flying toward Tobi, who instantly shrank them.
"And who are you talking to in such a condescending tone?"
Tobi disappeared from sight.
Not by speed.
By shrinking himself until he vanished completely from Naruto's perception.
When he reappeared, his eye was flashing with red light, his face split by a wicked grin that bared his teeth like a beast. One hand was pulled back, black lightning crawling along it, and the power alone distorted the space around his fist.
"Limit Breaker: Black Flash!"
Tobi's fist sank into Naruto's abdomen.
"Ghhk—!"
Naruto's eyes bulged, the air bursting from his lungs in a broken gasp.
BOOM!
Crackle!
Naruto's eyes flashed white, and he fell toward the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Naruto, get a hold of yourself!!"
Kurama's anxious voice echoed inside him, but Naruto could no longer hear it clearly. His mind buzzed violently as Tobi slowly approached, saying something Naruto could barely understand through the ringing in his head.
"That felt so good. For reference, you must be confused, right? Naruto-kun, you want to know, don't you? Don't worry, I'll tell you… Ahem, actually…"
Tobi coughed, and all of his menacing aura vanished as he rubbed his nose proudly. Then he puffed out his chest and crossed all four arms.
"This was a technique specifically made by Captain for me… Yes, well, me. Ahem. Definitely not a technique everyone back in the Heian era could use."
"The principle is based on the Eight Inner Gates technique and many complicated applications that my smart brain doesn't care to comprehend. So just know that it can multiply the strength of a blow by nearly the same amount as opening the Eight Gates of Death… Impressive, isn't it? Huh!? Hahahaha!!!"
With that, he laughed proudly.
But after a while, he fell silent when he saw Naruto giving no reaction.
"What? Already done? How boring. I still wanted to use another trump card of mine. What a mood killer."
"Tsk, tsk… then I might as well go and torture that pink trash over there…"
Tobi turned to walk away, but then stopped.
A smile slowly spread across his face. His one eye curved evilly, and his teeth bared out.
"Get back here, you bastard."
Naruto stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes staring at Tobi with killing intent.
No.
With actual hatred.
Hatred.
A word Naruto had denied throughout his life, yet now it flowed out of him naturally.
"Then let's see whether you die first or that pink trash does. Ku-ha-ha-ha!"
Tobi laughed maliciously, obviously wanting to mess with Naruto's mental state even more.
"Come on. Show me, Naruto."
"Entertain me more."
...
On the other side, Sakura continued screaming.
Her body was a bloody mess, covered in hundreds of cuts, and even her Strength of a Hundred healing could no longer keep up.
"One more minute. If you hold on for one more minute, I'll let you go…"
White Zetsu spoke in an encouraging tone.
"And I'll even tell you where Sasuke actually is. So hold on…"
Sasuke…?
Did this bastard just say… Sasuke?
The light had already begun fading from Sakura's eyes, but those words forced her to hold on. Her body was supported by one trembling leg as she remained standing, still receiving slash after slash.
I… I have to hold on…
Sasuke…
I want to…
Yet when another slash struck across her neck, the wound did not regenerate.
Her head rolled from her shoulders and hit the ground with a dull thud.
It stopped with her eyes still wide open, hope and tears mixing with blood.
Then a foot came down and crushed it into meat paste.
CRUSH!
"Sigh… I thought I'd get to see the desperate expression on your face when you heard Sasuke was dead too. Too bad. You got lucky."
White Zetsu placed a hand against his face and yawned, then turned his head toward the battle between Tobi and Naruto, where things were also reaching their conclusion.
...
Naruto, who had been ready to make a move, suddenly froze.
Something in his chest went cold.
A presence that had stayed in the back of his mind this entire time… disappeared.
Naruto slowly turned his head toward the direction where Sakura had been.
His lips parted slightly.
"Sakura…?"
Across from him, Tobi looked unimpressed, then spoke with faint surprise.
"What? Don't tell me you're surprised."
His voice dripped with mockery.
"You were fighting me so proudly, standing there like some grand hero who could save everyone."
He spread all four arms.
"But look around, Naruto."
The scorched remains of Konoha stretched in every direction.
"You couldn't protect Shikamaru."
Tobi's voice grew colder, completely different from his usual goofy tone.
"You couldn't protect Konohamaru. You couldn't protect Hinata."
With every word, Naruto's breath hitched, making it difficult for him to even breathe.
"You couldn't protect Himawari."
Tobi's grin widened until it looked inhuman.
"And now…"
"You couldn't even protect Sakura."
"Shut up!!"
Naruto roared, breathing heavily as his body took several steps back on its own.
"You are a shallow man, Naruto Uzumaki."
Tobi had no intention of stopping. He kept going, twisting each word like a knife into Naruto's heart and gut.
"A boastful fool who convinced himself he could do the impossible just because people kept calling him a hero."
Tobi pointed at him.
"Face it."
His tone turned merciless.
"You are useless."
For a heartbeat, Naruto did not move.
His subconscious had stopped responding beneath the repeated mental shocks he had received.
Then the chakra around him erupted.
BOOOOOOM!
The red-gold aura of Baryon Mode surged higher, twisting into a roaring pillar that tore through the smoke above.
"Naruto, one minute is all we have… Make it count."
Kurama's strained voice echoed in Naruto's mind, and Naruto flashed a deadly smile in response.
"I'm sorry, Kurama. This might be the last time… If I could, I wanted to…"
"What are you saying, idiot? We're going to win!"
Naruto's eyes sharpened.
"…That's right!!!"
"Ohh? You look fired up."
Tobi's expression brightened.
"Kurama! Put everything into this one attack. We're going to blast through everything here."
Naruto and Kurama spoke inside his mind, and in that inner world, both of them raised their fists and bumped them together.
Sssshk.
A massive Rasengan formed in Naruto's hand, even larger than a Tailed Beast Bomb, and it kept expanding in a violent rotating manner. But the most dangerous part was not the rotation.
It was Naruto's body inside it.
His eyes were closed, and his hands were brought together.
The Rasengan became a protective shield around him, and even when Tobi tried to shrink it, his technique had no effect. The sphere only continued expanding toward him.
For the first time, Tobi found himself in a predicament.
He could simply fly away, but that would be the same as admitting he was afraid, and that was something he absolutely refused to do. And even if he did run, for some reason, he felt that this technique was not that simple.
If Naruto was using it as a last resort, then there was definitely something different about it.
Its range might even reach…
Captain.
The thought that this attack could ruin Obito's fun made Tobi's grin slowly stiffen.
Just as expected, Naruto kept advancing until he was directly below Obito. Although Obito was high in the sky, Naruto standing right beneath him was definitely suspicious.
Tobi grinned.
Then he moved forward and touched the sphere of energy.
The instant his hand made contact, it shriveled and aged, forcing him to hurriedly pull it back.
Even Obito, high in the air, raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He could tell what Naruto intended to do.
It was nothing more than a suicide attack, and the principle behind it was the same as the one Genryūsai Yamamoto had once used against Aizen.
So different from the anime.
There, only Kurama had sacrificed himself.
But this time, both Naruto and Kurama were betting their life forces, and this time, even Kurama would not reincarnate afterward like he had in Boruto.
"To create an attack of this caliber, one that can take the life force and vitality of anyone hit by it… impressive."
Obito smiled and praised the display Naruto was putting on for him.
Such a scene was outside his expectations, and that was exactly what made it even more entertaining.
But suddenly, the corner of his mouth twitched in a speechless gesture.
Because of someone below.
Just like Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen had his greatest supporter, Gege himself, along with unlimited binding vows…
Tobi did not merely look like Sukuna now.
He had both Gege and binding vows on his side too.
Calling it a binding vow was a stretch, but since Obito was connected to their souls, he could receive a request from them. Depending on what that request was, he could grant it.
And now, Tobi was simply doing that.
On the ground below, Tobi's smile stretched from ear to ear.
"I didn't think you could force me to use a binding vow, Naruto-kun…"
His voice echoed like a curse over the dead village, a gleeful whisper filled with delight.
"For entertaining me this much…"
"And for presenting such a wonderful finale for our Captain…"
"I'll send you off with my ultimate move."
With that, his four hands came together and began forming hand signs while he also chanted.
"…"
Obito's face turned deadpan.
Still, after feeling the request, he granted it with an indulgent thought.
Just this once.
He did not mind lending power, but Tobi clearly had many ways to deal with the attack.
He was simply flexing.
Tobi felt the request being granted, and his grin twisted into something feral.
The playfulness vanished from his face, replaced by sharp, murderous delight.
"Scale of the Dragon."
"Recoil."
"Twin Meteors."
Then he raised one hand.
The moment he did, even Naruto, who had his eyes closed, felt the instinctive chill of death crawl through his body.
He no longer hesitated.
He prepared to pour everything left inside him into this attack, even if it meant killing everyone nearby.
After all, the only ones still alive were these animals.
These monsters who had killed everyone he loved.
Everyone he had sworn to protect.
For that, he—
"W̶o̶r̶l̶d̶ ̶C̶u̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶S̶l̶a̶s̶h̶."
....
PS: I have some bad news...
Kidding!
I've started a brand-new novel:
Naruto: Minato Died, So I Took His Wife
Ahem...
The title alone should tell my fellow men of culture exactly what to expect. Yes, you guessed it—there will be R-18 content from the earlier chapters.
But don't worry, it won't be mindless smut.
The plot is refreshing, the story has actual direction, and there's plenty more to enjoy beyond the mature content.
So, check it out if you're looking for a breath of fresh air from the usual Naruto fanfics!
Tagged below 👇