Chapter 6: Last Five
The battlefield was silent.
No more explosions. No more orders shouted over comms.
Only the sound of five ragged breaths… and the soft crackle of fading chakra flames on the ground.
Boruto, Sarada, Kawaki, Naruto, and Sasuke stood alone.
All around them, the titans lay in heaps of disintegrating light, their immense forms breaking down into streams of chakra that vanished into the air.
But the victory was hollow — because every other shinobi had fallen or been evacuated by Boruto's portals.
From the sky above, the clouds split.
A ripple passed through the dimension itself, and Shukuyomi descended.
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The Progenitor Appears
He didn't fall — he stepped through the air, each movement impossibly slow yet closing the distance instantly. His hair was pure white, flowing like liquid light. Two horns curved back from his forehead, framing a face carved from stillness itself.
But it was his eyes that stopped Boruto's heart — twin Byakugan, layered with a golden ripple that seemed to look through time itself.
When he spoke, it was as if the air carried his words directly into their bones.
> "You've slaughtered my children.
You've erased my clan's remnants from this plane.
And yet… you stand before me with human flesh, daring to raise your hands."
He tilted his head, almost curious.
> "Show me your defiance. Show me why you should be allowed to exist."
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The First Clash
Boruto was the first to move — his Kāma blazing black across his body.
"Rasengan Barrage!"
He spun forward, six glowing orbs striking Shukuyomi's chest in rapid succession. The explosions ripped through the air — and passed right through him.
Boruto's eyes widened. "What—?!"
Sarada followed instantly, Mangekyō spinning as she unleashed a lightning-coated slash across his neck. It sparked against nothing, her blade phasing through as though he were a mirage.
Kawaki didn't hesitate, his transformed arm erupting into black flames that devoured chakra itself.
"Disappear!" he roared — but the flames simply rolled off Shukuyomi's form like water.
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The Realization
Only when Naruto lunged in — golden Byakugan burning — did Shukuyomi move.
The progenitor's hand came up, blocking a Rasengan with a sound like shattering stone. His body jerked back from the impact.
Sasuke appeared on his blind side, both eyes swirling Rinnegan, his blade glowing with condensed lightning and black flame. The strike tore a gash across Shukuyomi's shoulder — actual blood, glowing pale blue, spilled into the air.
Shukuyomi's gaze shifted between the two elder shinobi, expression finally changing — a flicker of interest.
> "Ah… you. The reincarnations. The ones whose chakra has died and been reborn a thousand times."
Boruto's mind snapped to the truth instantly. "He's… only reacting to them?! Our attacks can't even touch him!"
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The Strain
The fight became a brutal dance.
Naruto and Sasuke struck in tandem, one blinding with speed, the other cutting with precision. But their bodies were already pushed past their limits — Sasuke's breathing ragged, Naruto's cloak flickering.
Every exchange left them slower, their guard lower.
Boruto, Sarada, and Kawaki kept diving in — blocking strikes, redirecting Shukuyomi's blows — but their own jutsu passed through uselessly. They were shields now, not swords.
A single backhand from Shukuyomi sent Kawaki crashing through three pillars of crystallized chakra, coughing blood.
Sarada barely caught Boruto as a shockwave hurled him from the center.
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At the Edge
They regrouped for a heartbeat, five shadows against the blinding white light of the battlefield. All were bleeding. All were swaying on their feet.
Naruto's voice was hoarse. "We… can't keep this up."
Sasuke didn't answer — his eyes were fixed on Shukuyomi, calculating, desperate.
Boruto glanced between them, chest tight. They couldn't kill him like this. They knew it.
And if Naruto and Sasuke fell… the world would follow.
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The air grew still as Shukuyomi began walking toward them again, each step shaking the ground.
Boruto looked at Sarada. She nodded once, eyes steady despite the blood running down her cheek.
Kawaki met his gaze next — grim, resolved.
They didn't need to say it out loud.
They all knew what came next.
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End of Chapter 6
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