After finishing his harsh declaration, the Masked Man leapt onto the gigantic Ten-Tails' head and muttered to himself:
"Almost forgot… before Infinite Tsukuyomi, there's one more important thing to do…"
...
On the other side, the moment the Ten-Tails fully regained its mobility, the Allied Shinobi Forces reacted with lightning speed!
The Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage appeared at the Ten-Tails' east, west, and south sides respectively.
Immediately after, the Fifth Hokage stepped in with perfect timing and filled the final northern position.
Next—
All four Hokage formed seals, shouting in unison:
"Four Red Yang Formation!!"
"Whummm—!!"
A crimson barrier spread outward with the four Hokage as its pillars, eventually forming a massive cube of red light!
After immobilizing the Ten-Tails, the four Hokage deliberately opened a small entry point in the barrier so the smaller human members of the Allied Forces could get inside.
Then, acting as Allied Commander, the Raikage shouted:
"Sealing division! Restrict the Ten-Tails' movements!!"
But before the sealing squad could even move, Naruto—at the very front—rushed into the crimson barrier first!!
He was clad in the red cloak of chakra mode, with the orange markings of Myōboku Sage Mode around his eyes.
"Shff shff shff!"
His hands formed a mysterious yet somehow familiar sequence of seals.
"Sage Art: Tailed Beast Gate!!"
Everyone froze at the words, looking confused.
Naruto, why are you butting in now?
And that jutsu name… nobody's ever heard of that before… (*￣rǒ￣)
A second later, shock erupted across every face!!
"Crack crack crack—!!"
Dozens of massive wooden gate-shaped structures dropped from the sky!!!
Each structure had an inverted U-shape, and when they slammed down they locked onto the Ten-Tails' limbs, head, torso—every one of its tails too!!
The Ten-Tails, just moments ago rampaging arrogantly, was instantly pinned to the ground!!
Raikage: "Naruto, what is—"
The Second Hokage, equally stunned: "Kid, that looked like brother's Gate! But the torii shape is… different…"
Naruto, pleased with himself, grinned:
"This sage art is something Shinju taught me❛‿˂̵✧."
"Since Shinju's chakra is attached to me right now, I can use it."
"And also, Second-sama, this is called a Gate. Shinju told me it's way stronger than a torii…"
Second Hokage: (||๐_๐)
"Forget that for now. We need to deal with the Masked Man on the Ten-Tails' head!"
...
Opposite them—
The Ten-Tails seemed to realize the shinobi wanted to do something to it, so to stop them from getting close, it rapidly spawned clones to defend itself.
Very quickly, thousands of Ten-Tails clones appeared, all different sizes but each brimming with murderous power—none of them looked easy to handle!
Seeing this, Naruto used Summoning Jutsu to call forth the toads of Mount Myōboku, having one carry him as it leaped toward the Ten-Tails.
Everyone else also jumped into action, unleashing everything they had as they charged forward!!
With Ino's healing and the boost from Shinju's chakra, many shinobi pushed all the way up to the Ten-Tails' main body!
"Crashhhh—"
Under a flood of dazzling chakra—
Everyone launched their strongest jutsu at the Ten-Tails!
But the results were minimal.
The Second Hokage explained:
"Ninjutsu barely works on the Ten-Tails. Use taijutsu and sage arts!"
Everyone stiffened.
Only a handful of people in the entire shinobi world could use sage arts.
And as for taijutsu… charging in up close against the Ten-Tails felt suicidal…
Just then, blue steam erupted—coming from Might Guy!
"Seventh Gate of Shock! Open!!"
"The Blue Beast of Konoha… makes his entrance! ❛‿˂̵✧"
Guy roared with passion and instantly fired a Daytime Tiger!!
"FWOOM!!"
The compressed air blast shaped like a roaring tiger smashed into the Ten-Tails' torso!
The spot it hit visibly caved in.
It worked—taijutsu really hurt the Ten-Tails. But only so much…
Guy clenched his teeth, refusing to give up:ヽ('⌒´メ)ノ
"It's time to burn with the flame of youth!"
"The proud Blue Beast of Konoha… will now become—"
Before he could finish, Kakashi cut him off:
"Guy! It's not time yet!"
Guy turned back. Their eyes met—three eyes total.
And in that instant, Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, revealing the Sharingan beneath.
Guy fell silent, choosing to trust him.
"Kakashi yo! My eternal rival… I'll trust you this once! ❛‿˂̵✧"
At that moment, Naruto's voice came from behind:
"Guy-sensei, move!!"
Guy jumped back immediately. Turning around, he saw Naruto soaring into the air atop a toad!
"Sage Art: Super Odama Rasenshuriken!!"
"WHUMMMMM—!!!"
The massive Rasenshuriken screamed through the air, spinning straight toward the Masked Man atop the Ten-Tails!!
The Masked Man didn't panic at all. He slipped into his space-time dimension.
"WHUM—!!"
The Rasenshuriken crashed into the Ten-Tails' head, and the enormous storm of compressed Wind Release chakra detonated, blowing open a crater on its skull!
As the energy dispersed, the Masked Man reappeared. He looked up at Naruto and said mockingly:
"Uzumaki Naruto… without Shinju, you're just trash."
Naruto: "…"
"You're right. So what?"
"At least I have friends like Shinju. You have no one." Naruto didn't even bother arguing—he just answered bluntly. Ծ‸ Ծ
The Masked Man froze, unable to respond.
Ever since he'd watched the one he loved die, he'd abandoned the village, his beliefs, his hope.
Friends? He barely had anyone he could even talk to.
The Masked Man finally said:
"So what? Friends, lovers, heroes, villages… none of those things need to exist in the world to come."
"In the dream of Infinite Tsukuyomi, you can have everything you want."
"This hopeless world is better off erased!"
When he finished, he activated his eye technique, distorting the space around Naruto and whipping up a vortex-like storm!
Then he formed.
He lifted one side of his mask—spewing forth a gigantic serpent of flame!
Driven by the spiraling vortex, the flame serpent accelerated instantly and expanded wildly—becoming a massive whirlwind of fire that moved fast and covered an enormous area!!
And right at that moment, Naruto's summoning time ended—the giant toad beneath him vanished!
With no footing, Naruto began falling!
"This isn't fair!!ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!" Naruto shouted in panic.
But an instant later, his eyes sharpened—
On the other side, Kakashi saw Naruto about to be swallowed by flames and yelled anxiously:
"Naruto!!"
The next moment—
He received a telepathic message from Shinju!
----------------
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