In the void, the system's mechanical voice echoed, cold and emotionless—yet somehow still badly timed.
Right now—
Konoha was a mess of Fire Style and Earth Style techniques. From all corners, flames raged and rocky spikes erupted, tearing up the familiar streets of the Hidden Leaf Village. The entire area resembled a volcanic disaster zone.
At the center of it all, a massive body lay motionless—Leo's Stage Two Susanoo had been buried beneath molten rock and scorched debris.
From a distance, Princess Tsunade looked at the scene, lava hardening around the edges, and let out a sharp cry.
"Do you all see now? This is the power of the Will of Fire that burns in every one of us!!"
She turned, her golden eyes blazing with pride, to Kakashi and Nara Shikaku, who stood quietly to the side.
"Kakashi, Shikaku—you did well. Very well."
The plan had been Shikaku's. He had devised the coordinated Earth and Fire Style barrage. Kakashi had executed it perfectly.
Still… it hadn't sat right.
Uchiha Madara—a figure from legend. Could someone like him really be defeated so easily?
Sasuke, standing among the other young ninjas on the perimeter of the battlefield, clenched his fists. His voice trembled.
"Could the strongest Uchiha… someone as powerful as the God of Shinobi's rival… really be killed just like that?"
It didn't make sense. The great leader of the Uchiha Clan, a man who stood shoulder to shoulder with Senju Hashirama, felled by coordinated jutsu from a handful of Leaf shinobi? It was… unthinkable.
From the crowd, Naruto blinked in confusion.
"Wait... what just happened? Why did the guy in red armor attack Uncle Asuma?"
TenTen stood beside Neji, her voice shaky.
"I think… that man is Uchiha Madara…"
Everyone turned to her.
It was an outrageous claim—but when they thought about it, the resemblance was eerie. The red Sengoku-era armor, the flowing dark hair, the face—he looked just like the stone carving at the Valley of the End.
And no one else could stand against so many shinobi at once, even the Hokage, and remain unfazed.
"U… Uchiha Madara?!!" Naruto's voice rose in a mix of awe and disbelief.
"But… wasn't he supposed to be dead a long time ago?!"
"Exactly," Neji said, frowning. "Not only is he alive, but… how is he still that young?"
Elsewhere, Ino, Chōji, and Shikamaru stood together—shocked into silence. Shikamaru looked down at Asuma's still body, the cigarette still burning faintly in his fingers.
Behind them, Kurenai, her eyes shimmering, stood speechless. Her shoulders trembled.
———
Back on the battlefield:
"Fifth Hokage," Kakashi said, stepping up to Tsunade, "Do you think... he's really dead?"
Tsunade's proud expression faltered slightly.
She wanted to believe it. She wanted to think that Leo—no, that Madara—had been defeated. That their strategy had worked.
But…
Kakashi's instincts told him otherwise. Leo hadn't resisted. Not even once. He had just stood there, calm, as the jutsu hit him. Why?
Suddenly—
CRACK—SSHHK!
A colossal blue chakra blade tore up through the earth, right under Tsunade's feet, and pierced straight through her chest!
"—Tsunade-sama!!!" Kakashi's eyes went wide in horror.
Screams broke out around the battlefield. Civilians and shinobi alike cried out in disbelief.
"Grandma Tsunade!!" Naruto screamed from the distance.
The lava and smoke cleared… and from beneath the scorched earth, Leo rose.
The blue glow of his Susanoo: Second Stage shimmered around him like a demon god.
Though he wasn't a master of Earth Style, with the power he now possessed—taken from Uchiha Madara himself—even advanced techniques were child's play.
Tsunade coughed, blood pouring from her lips, suspended in the air on the chakra blade.
Leo stood, cold and unreadable, his eyes shining red with the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"The Will of Fire you mentioned… means nothing to me."
His voice was void of emotion.
"Damn it!!" Kakashi snarled, fists clenched. "He's still alive!!"
"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto roared as he charged forward, blue chakra blazing from his body.
He leaped across the broken battlefield, forming a Rasengan in his right hand with the help of a Shadow Clone.
"Wait, Naruto!" Sasuke called out, but it was too late.
Sasuke stood still, haunted by the rooftop fight with Naruto not long ago. He clenched his fists again, helpless.
Leo turned, sensing the oncoming chakra.
His Mangekyō Sharingan focused on Naruto—
And deep inside Naruto's mind…
———
Inside the seal.
Kurama—the Nine-Tailed Fox—jerked awake.
That chakra—
That overwhelming, terrifying chakra—
"No... that's impossible," the giant fox muttered, trembling. "That chakra… colder than mine… It's him... It's really Madara?!"
He could feel Naruto charging straight toward him.
Without hesitation, Kurama roared and—
Pulled Naruto's consciousness into the sealed space.
"What—?!"
Naruto blinked, disoriented. "Hey! Nine Tails?! Why'd you drag me in here?! Tsunade's in danger! I need to save her!"
Kurama growled. "Shut up, you idiot!"
Naruto flinched at the sudden rage.
"Do you have any idea who that man is?!"
Naruto frowned. "Neji and TenTen said he might be Uchiha Madara."
Kurama's fur bristled. "So it really is that bastard…"
Naruto stared. "Wait… you're scared."
"Don't be stupid!" Kurama snapped, though his voice trembled. "You're just a kid. You don't understand what that man is capable of!"
"But I can't just run away!" Naruto protested. "Tsunade needs help!"
"You idiot!" Kurama snarled. "You think you're Senju Hashirama or something?!"
Naruto was silent.
"If you dare to bring me near that guy again… if I become a pet again under that bastard's control…" Kurama's eyes glowed red.
"I will tear you apart myself, you arrogant little brat!!"
Before Naruto could argue further—
WHOOSH!
He was blasted back into the real world.
———
"LEAVE NOW!!" Kurama's voice echoed in Naruto's mind, a desperate warning.
But Naruto gritted his teeth. "No. I won't abandon Tsunade."
He clenched his fists tighter.
"She believed in me. She made me who I am."
Back in the real world, Leo slowly turned toward Naruto again, his Mangekyō Sharingan locking onto the boy.
Naruto stood, breathing hard, Rasengan glowing in his palm.
And despite the fear in his heart, despite the warning of a tailed beast inside him…
He didn't back down.