The ocean stretched in every direction. Gray water. Endless sky. No land in sight.
Guy stood with his hands on his hips, grinning at the ocean like it was a new training partner. Shisui adjusted his headband over his missing eye, the cloth shifting slightly in the wind. The water barely rippled under their feet.
I inhaled and let Monkey Sage Mode rise.
Nature chakra flooded through me. My skin shifted to a deeper tone, faint markings spreading across my arms and cheeks like ink brushed by a steady hand. My pupils sharpened into golden rings. My hair lifted slightly as if the air itself was holding it. My senses expanded outward in every direction.
The ocean was no longer just water. It was sound, vibration, movement, and life.
I felt Isobu immediately.
A massive presence resting on the ocean floor, curled like a sleeping mountain. Calm. Heavy. Watching.
"Isobu," I said quietly.
The ocean trembled.
A massive shape moved beneath the surface. The water bulged upward as a huge shell rose slowly from the depths.
Then the Three Tails surfaced. Isobu's massive shell broke through the waves first. Coral-like spikes curved across its back, water pouring down the ridges. Three enormous tails stirred behind it, sending waves outward in slow circles.
Its head lifted above the surface.
Massive eyes regarded us calmly.
I stepped forward.
"We're not here to fight."
The Three Tails studied us.
Its voice echoed across the ocean like a deep tide rolling against stone.
His eye narrowed, then softened.
"You carry the scent of another. The fox."
"Kurama and I are partners."
Kurama stirred faintly inside me.
Isobu hummed. "He was always loud. You are quieter."
"I try."
Isobu tilted its head slightly.
"You are not hostile."
"No."
Guy leaned closer to me. "He seems polite."
Shisui snorted quietly.
I looked up at the enormous turtle.
"The Akatsuki are hunting tailed beasts," I said. "If they reach you first, they'll try to take you."
Isobu's gaze darkened slightly.
"Yes. I have felt their eyes."
"You can come with us," I said. "The Leaf can protect you until this war is over."
Isobu's tails curled slightly. "I do not wish to be sealed again."
"I know. I will not force you. I want to talk first."
Isobu's voice softened. "You speak with respect. That is rare."
I stepped closer. "Then let us work together."
A shadow passed overhead.
Shisui's voice sharpened. "Menma."
I looked up.
A giant clay bird dove toward us, wings spread wide, its body glowing with explosive chakra. Two figures leapt off its back before impact.
"ART IS AN EXPLOSION!"
The clay bird slammed into the ocean.
The explosion detonated across the water like a thunderclap. Waves erupted outward as Guy and Shisui launched themselves backward across the surface.
Two figures jumped from the explosion just before impact.
Sasori landed lightly on the water, cloak fluttering.
Beside him, Deidara hovered in the air on another clay bird, grinning.
"Well, well," Deidara said. "Looks like we found the Three Tails."
I raised my staff.
"Watch the puppets," I said quickly. "Sasori's poison will kill you if it touches you."
Guy grinned.
"Understood!"
He vanished. Guy appeared above Sasori in the next instant.
"Axe Kick!"
His heel crashed down like a falling hammer.
Sasori's puppet body burst apart instantly.
His real body launched sideways in midair, red hair whipping behind him as he landed lightly on the water.
Deidara whistled.
"They're strong," he said. "Good thing we brought the new guys, or we would've been outnumbered."
A swirling distortion appeared beside him.
Tobi.
And Kabuto.
Tobi waved cheerfully. "Hello, friends."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Let us make this efficient."
Shisui turned to me and raised an eyebrow at the masked man's new personality, but didn't dwell on it.
I moved before anyone else could.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Three clones burst into existence beside me and sprinted straight for Kabuto.
Kabuto sighed. "That was predictable."
Steel flashed as scalpels formed in his hands. The first clone lunged. Kabuto sidestepped and cut straight through it. Smoke exploded across the ocean.
The second clone came in low. Kabuto flipped backward, slicing through that one too.
The third clone grabbed his arm. Then detonated into a Rasengan at point-blank range. Kabuto slammed into the water, coughing.
The clone formed two more clones mid-motion. They launched Kabuto upward with a coordinated kick before one drove him back into the ocean with an axe strike.
Meanwhile, space twisted again. Obito appeared directly in front of me. His hand reached for my shoulder.
I flickered. Flying Raijin carried me ten meters away instantly.
He lunged. I met him halfway.
Water surged around my hands as I formed a blade of compressed chakra. Tobi phased through it, his body slipping like smoke. I spun and struck again. He phased again.
I raised my hands.
"Water Style."
The ocean erupted upward into a towering dragon of water.
Obito phased. The dragon passed through him. He reappeared behind me, launching a massive fireball.
I spun my staff and countered.
"Water Style: Rising Wall!"
The ocean surged upward and devoured the flames in a cloud of steam.
We flashed around each other across the battlefield. Teleport. Phase. Teleport. Phase.
His hand passed through my chest. My Rasengan passed through his torso. We reappeared ten meters apart. He chuckled.
He tilted his head. "You have grown."
"So have you."
Behind us, the battlefield was chaos.
Guy had smashed through three of Sasori's puppet bodies already.
Wood splintered across the ocean surface as Guy launched a spinning kick that shattered another puppet's head.
Sasori's real body shot forward with dozens of hidden blades. Guy dodged them effortlessly.
Meanwhile, Deidara circled overhead.
"C2!"
A massive clay dragon formed beneath him.
Shisui vanished. His body flicker cracked the air. He appeared above the dragon and slashed across its wings.
The clay construct detonated instantly.
Shisui landed back on the water before the explosion even reached the surface.
Shisui and Deidara danced across the sky. Deidara's clay birds swarmed him, but Shisui's speed was unreal. He flickered behind Deidara and nearly took his head off with a kunai. Deidara barely escaped, losing an arm in the process.
"Not my best day," Deidara hissed.
I lunged toward Obito again. Our hands collided midair. I formed a Rasengan instantly. He phased halfway through it. The chakra sphere tore through the edge of his cloak.
His arm drove into my ribs. Pain exploded across my side. I skidded across the water. Blood dripped down my vest. Tobi jumped from leg to leg across from me.
"Oh No! You're slowing down."
I wiped the blood from my mouth.
"Maybe."
I vanished.
Flying Raijin carried me directly behind him.
"Rasengan!"
The sphere slammed into his back just as he began phasing. The impact blasted him across the ocean. He tumbled through the air.
I exhaled slowly.
"Maybe you would have won," I said, "if you were the real Madara."
Behind me, Guy smashed Sasori's core puppet with a devastating punch.
The red-haired puppet master collapsed in pieces across the water. Deidara tried to retreat.
"One arm is enough!" he shouted as he fled across the sky.
Shisui appeared beside me instantly.
"He is getting away."
"Not for long."
I raised my hands. The sky darkened as the sea twisted into a massive dragon. Lightning and water surged together across the ocean.
"Ryu!"
A massive dragon of lightning and water erupted from the sea beneath Deidara. The dragon swallowed him whole. The explosion of lightning lit the sky.
Deidara vanished inside the storm.
Shisui landed beside me. Guy appeared next to us moments later. Isobu lowered its head slightly.
"Everyone gather," I said.
I placed my palm against the Three Tails' shell.
"Flying Raijin."
Red chakra flared across the ocean surface. Space folded inward. We vanished in a flash of crimson light.
Seconds later, the battlefield was empty.
Space twisted again.
Obito reappeared beside the ruined ocean waves. Tobi's cheerful mask was gone.
His voice was cold. And furious.
The world snapped back into place.
We appeared on solid ground, the ocean gone, the sky clear. The air smelled like pine and damp earth. I had left a Flying Raijin kunai here months ago, far enough from the village walls that Isobu would have room to stretch without causing panic.
The Three Tails rose behind us, water cascading off his shell. His tails drifted lazily, stirring the grass like a breeze.
Shisui landed lightly beside me. Guy stumbled once, then straightened with a grin.
I exhaled slowly. The adrenaline faded, and the weight of the fight settled into my bones.
Guy whistled.
"Excellent foresight, Menma. Plenty of room for youthful turtles."
"Three Tails," Shisui corrected calmly.
Guy nodded. "Of course. A youthful three-tailed turtle."
I barely heard them.
My mind was still back on the ocean.
Kabuto.
Why was Kabuto there?
Orochimaru had not been sighted in two years. Kabuto should not have been anywhere near the Akatsuki. He should not have been working with Tobi. He should not have been fighting us.
I should have questioned him.
I should have grabbed him before he escaped.
If Orochimaru was planning something…
A sharp smack hit the top of my head.
I blinked. Shisui lowered his hand, looking mildly amused.
"You drifted off."
"I was thinking."
"That much was obvious."
Guy leaned closer. "Did the teleport scramble your brain?"
"No."
I exhaled slowly and looked back at Isobu. The giant turtle watched us with calm, ancient eyes.
"We need to talk," I said.
Isobu lowered his head slightly. "I am listening."
"It is not safe for you out here," I said. "The Akatsuki will come again. They will not stop."
Isobu's tails curled. "I know."
"You would be safer inside a person," I said. "Not sealed. Not controlled. Just partnered. Like Kurama and me."
Isobu was silent for a long moment.
Shisui crossed his arms. "He is right. They will not stop hunting you."
Guy nodded. "The Leaf will protect you. That is a promise."
Isobu's massive eye shifted between us.
"I do not wish to be sealed."
"I know," I said. "But inside a host, you would be harder to track. Safer. They would have to fight through the village to reach you."
Isobu was silent for a long moment. The wind moved through the clearing.
Finally, the Three Tails spoke again.
"If I accept this… I choose the host."
Guy raised an eyebrow.
"That is reasonable."
I nodded. "Fair."
Isobu's gaze lingered on me, then on Shisui.
The clearing went quiet. Even the wind seemed to stop.
"You," he said.
Shisui blinked. "Me."
For the first time since we arrived, Shisui actually looked surprised.
Guy blinked.
"Well, that was unexpected."
"You carry sorrow," Isobu said. "But you do not drown in it. You carry loyalty. But you do not let it blind you. You carry strength. But you do not use it to harm."
Shisui looked away for a moment, then back at Isobu.
"If you choose me," he said, "I will honor that."
Isobu nodded once. "Then I choose you."
Shisui glanced at me.
"That is not a small decision."
"No," I said.
Kurama hummed inside me. "He chooses well."
Isobu lowered his head slightly.
"The Akatsuki are dangerous. I felt their intent. I will not allow them to cage me again."
Shisui sighed quietly.
"Well."
He looked back at the enormous turtle.
"I suppose I should meet my new roommate."
"We should discuss this with Kakashi first," I said.
Everyone nodded. Then Guy swayed. His face paled.
"I feel strange," he said.
Shisui and I turned at the same time.
A thin cut ran across Guy's forearm. Barely visible. Almost nothing. But the skin around it was turning purple. Sasori.
"Poison," I said.
Guy swayed. "I didn't even feel it."
I caught him before he fell.
"Stay with me."
I dropped into Sage Mode instantly. Kurama's chakra surged through me, mixing with nature energy. My hands glowed with green light as I pressed them against the wound.
Basic medical ninjutsu. Stabilization. Chakra cleansing. Kurama's chakra burned through the poison like fire through dry leaves, but it was slow. Too slow.
Shisui crouched beside me. "Can you keep him stable?"
"Yes," I said. "But we need the hospital."
Guy's breathing steadied slightly. His eyes focused on me.
"I am fine," he said.
"No, you're not," I said. "Don't argue."
He smiled weakly. "You sound like Lee."
I lifted him onto my back.
"Shisui. Stay with Isobu. I'll be back."
Shisui nodded. "Go."
I vanished, and red light flared across the clearing. We reappeared directly outside the Konoha hospital entrance. I burst through the doors, shouting for help.
Tsunade met me halfway down the hall.
"What happened?"
"Sasori's poison," I said. "I slowed it. Not enough."
She placed her hands on Guy's arm. Her chakra flared.
"Good work," she said. "You bought him time."
I stepped back as she and the medics rushed him into a treatment room. Once the medics had taken Guy inside, I stepped outside again and activated Flying Raijin.
My heart was still pounding when I reappeared beside Shisui and Isobu.
Shisui looked at me. "Guy."
"He will live," I said. "Tsunade has him."
Isobu rumbled softly. "The puppet master's poison is cruel."
I nodded solemnly.
Shisui let out a breath. We turned toward the village.
"We should tell Kakashi," he said.
"Yes."
Isobu lowered his head. "I will follow."
We walked together toward the gates.
Shisui glanced at me.
"You think Kakashi will approve."
"He will," I said. "He trusts you."
"And you."
I nodded. "And me."
Shisui looked ahead, thoughtful.
"Then let us go decide the future of the Three Tails."
We stepped through the gates as the sun dipped low, casting long shadows across the village.