The Konoha ninja who sensed Naruto Uzumaki transforming into a "little golden man" within the genjutsu found it impossible to believe. Some were even convinced that this person couldn't possibly be the fox brat they knew from the village.
Yet Naruto Uzumaki's inner emotions were unintentionally transmitted to everyone through Ino Yamanaka's Mind Body Switch Technique.
...
Back at the Ninja Academy, he had noticed that Sasuke Uchiha, just like himself, was always alone.
He wanted to walk up and say hello, but he didn't have the courage.
He sat alone on the swing, watching as others graduated from the Ninja Academy with their parents standing beside them.
For some reason, his heart felt so unbearably heavy that he wanted to cry.
Who exactly is that kid from Konoha?
Naruto? Never heard of him.
If this is ten years before the Fourth Shinobi World War, then this kid should only be six or seven years old, right?
That sense of loneliness didn't fade with time. Instead, it only grew stronger.
The decisive battle at the Valley of the End.
The news of the Third Hokage's death, along with the deaths of many other ninja.
The death of Asuma Sarutobi.
And the grave of his mentor, Jiraiya.
Born without parents by his side.
A childhood spent being rejected by the entire village.
As he grew up, his most important friend fell into darkness.
Mentors and companions leaving him one after another.
This life…
Was filled almost entirely with regret and pain.
And yet—
Why? With so much regret and pain!
Why did his heart still feel…
As if, even against a raging headwind, he had to keep moving forward!
As if… something was pulling him onward.
What was going on?!
Like sparks meeting gravity—
Igniting the flames of hope all around, then drawing them all together!
Jiraiya was shaken. After seeing his own gravestone, he actually sensed Tsunade's fighting spirit within the illusion… and even Orochimaru's?!
Teenage Sasuke Uchiha, who hadn't yet fully recovered from the previous illusion, felt that same surge of emotion snap him awake at this very moment.
Within Naruto Uzumaki's memories, they saw—
Itachi Uchiha.
Nagato.
They saw Chiyo give her life to save Gaara.
Sasori of the Red Sand: …
Rasa: …
Gaara: !!
They saw Neji Hyuga die to protect Naruto Uzumaki.
At that moment, the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead finally vanished.
"I already…"
"I don't want to regret anything ever again!"
I don't want to lose anyone else ever again!!!
"And I don't want to torment myself thinking—if only I'd tried harder back then!!"
What is this feeling…?
This emotion is—
More and more fighting spirit gathering together!
I want to know what really happened in the Fourth Shinobi World War!!
These fragmented experiences aren't enough!
Why did just a few words, the will of some unknown boy, awaken so many people?!
Who exactly is Naruto Uzumaki?!
Why did even the Fourth Hokage-sama stand behind him?!
Wait—
Why is the Fourth Hokage-sama's chakra golden too, just like Naruto Uzumaki's?!
"We've come this far. For the comrades who sacrificed themselves! For the hopes that were placed upon me! I will never give up!!"
!!!!
What is that?!
Right next to Sasuke Uchiha's Susanoo!
What is that?!
Golden Naruto Uzumaki and…
A golden Nine-Tails Fox?!
"That's… the Fourth Hokage!!"
"Is the Fourth Hokage sharing his chakra with Naruto?!"
"Why? Why would the Fourth Hokage place such trust in that dead-last from the Ninja Academy?! No—was he really just the dead-last student at Konoha's Academy?!"
"With this kind of presence and combat power, has the entire future battle system broken down?! Back when we still needed forty or fifty hand seals, who could've imagined someone would already be able to shape chakra into a state like that?! A Susanoo and a golden demon fox?!"
No one could understand what was happening. Why had someone who had already lost all fighting spirit undergone such a massive change just because of a blond boy's resolve?
Yet, from the waves upon waves of will surging toward them, they sensed those towering figures…
The trust placed in him by the five Hokage and the Kage of the other villages.
And from that perspective—Sasuke Uchiha's unconditional trust in Naruto Uzumaki.
It felt as though they were one and the same, mind and body alike.
"To be able to gather like this with the First Five Kage of the Five Great Nations…"
All of a sudden, as everyone received the image of Naruto's fighting spirit from the First Hokage, they were pulled into their own memories.
Those memories were tightly linked to the earlier illusion—the very first Five Kage Summit, held after Konoha's construction was complete, when the other ninja nations followed suit and established their own villages.
The First Shinobi World War.
The Second Shinobi World War.
The Third Shinobi World War…
How many years had it been since the Five Kage last gathered together like this?
"Too much information!"
"My brain can't keep up!"
"To actually witness the First Five Kage Summit?! This is such an honor!"
Just as the Konoha ninja were thinking this—and even the Uchiha were carefully experiencing this memory within their inner worlds…
…
—BOOM!!
The First Hokage they had always revered, Hashirama Senju, whose overwhelming chakra could solidify into raw force and shatter the Uchiha Shrine itself, bowed deeply toward the Kage of the other villages…
…and then slammed his forehead hard against the table.
"I am… truly, deeply grateful!!"
Absolute disbelief.
"Brother! You are the Hokage! The representative of Konohagakure, the ninja village of the Land of Fire! How can you bow your head so easily to the other Kage?!"
"But… but I'm just so happy."
"...…"
"The Second Hokage must have an enormous psychological scar."
"I always thought the Second Hokage's attitude toward us Uchiha came from Madara Uchiha, but now I feel…"
"Uh…"
"It's… hard to put into words."
"The First Hokage definitely bears a huge share of the responsibility."
The First Raikage said, "Raise your head, Hokage. That is not how a leader should conduct himself."
The First Tsuchikage said, "Although we came here for the peace treaty proposed by His Excellency the Hokage, don't think we'll sign it for free."
The First Mizukage said, "Lowering yourself like this only makes it seem as though you have ulterior motives…"
The First Kazekage said, "This is nothing more than a transaction. Don't let emotions sway you. As for distributing the tailed beasts to the other villages, what are your conditions?"
Tobirama Senju said, "Exactly. This is a transaction. We will distribute the captured Tailed Beasts, but each village must pay for them."
"Huh?! They still have to pay? Wouldn't it be fine to just give them away?" Hashirama Senju said.
"Hiss—"
Tobirama Senju said, "Shut up!!!!"
This really was…
It was like someone was constantly dancing on the Second Hokage's nerves.
The First Kazekage said, "Then that won't be necessary. Our village already possesses a Tailed Beast. If you want to discuss a Five Nations Peace Treaty, you must cede a fertile stretch of land from the Land of Fire to us. And in this transaction involving the Tailed Beasts, we also want a thirty percent share."
As expected, the Land of Wind's excessive demands immediately made it a target of resentment from the other villages.
Amid the heated arguments…
—THUD!!
An even heavier, dull impact rang out. Once again, it was the sound of Hashirama Senju smashing his head into the tabletop.
"In the past, we truly did fight many wars and had countless conflicts. But all of that was because we had to protect our clans and our people. Those were choices we made out of sheer necessity!"
"And even if we sign a Five Nations Peace Treaty today, how far it can go, or how long it can last…"
"…that's still completely unknown."
"But I believe. I dream that one day…"
"Ninjas will help one another regardless of borders, joining forces as a single whole!"
As the figures of the Five Kage emerged within the illusion, Hashirama Senju's final words echoed in everyone's minds—
"Now, decades have passed. Although we stand on the battlefield, still…"
The Allied Shinobi Forces… wasn't that exactly his dream?
The Fourth Raikage, A, saw himself within the illusion and said, "In our era, we no longer convene Five Kage Summits for this reason, right?"
Mei Terumi, who was not yet the Mizukage, heard her own voice answer, "That's right."
There was also Tsunade.
And the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, who already had half a foot in the grave.
"Our dream has finally been realized. The Allied Shinobi Forces, united beyond national borders. But if we fail to win this battle, then that hard-won dream ends right here."
The Fourth Kazekage's eyes went wide. He saw clearly who it was speaking on behalf of the Kazekage—
'Gaara?! It's Gaara!!'
"The Tsuchikage is right. This battle must be won!"
"Good. As the Five Kage, we will each lead the ninja of our own villages into battle!"
"Disperse!"
Though their strength was weak, the ninjas and samurai who had just lost all hope still drew their kunai, formed hand seals, and stared straight at the enemy.
This feeling of comrades standing together made past conflicts seem trivial. Not just between Konohagakure and the Uchiha clan, but all grudges across the entire ninja world felt insignificant compared to survival itself.
A single Uchiha empowered by despair was crushing the entire ninja world.
And yet, in such desperate circumstances, it was Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki who were saving it.
Two boys who should have fallen into darkness because of their pasts were instead giving everything they had to protect the entire ninja world.