The world was too quiet.
Too still.
Too wrong.
Two years had passed since Madara's last appearance, yet the land still trembled beneath the weight of his silence. Konoha rebuilt, trained, prepared. The Allied Nations strengthened borders, reinforced sensors, and forged new alliances.
Every child born in those years learned one truth:
Madara Uchiha still walks the earth.
Across the horizon, crimson clouds drifted over Budekan—the fortress city Madara raised with impossible power. Its walls shimmered faintly, neither metal nor stone, but something… other.
Deep beneath Budekan, torches flickered against ancient stone. Madara and Obito stood in a circular ritual chamber, a place sealed since before the Fourth War. Eternal Eye seals pulsed along the pillars, glowing like a heartbeat.
Six massive chakra cocoons hung from the ceiling, dark fluid swirling inside. Their surfaces trembled, cracked, shifting as if something was dreaming within.
Obito crossed his arms.
"It took you two years to finish this. Why rush now?"
Madara's Eternal 16-Tomoe Rinnegan glowed faintly.
"This world forgets too quickly. I will remind it of fear."
With a simple gesture, the seals ignited.
The cocoons split open.
Roars—low, twisted, familiar yet wrong—shook the chamber. Six silhouettes emerged, dripping with black chakra, armored with Eternal markings, embedded Rinnegan circles pulsing faintly.
Not true Tailed Beasts.
Not perfect recreations.
Demi Eternal Beasts.
Clones engineered for one purpose:
Obedience to the Eternal Eye.
Their bodies were distorted versions of the originals—lean, sharp, violent. They breathed in sync with Madara's chakra.
Obito stepped closer.
"They're strong… but not perfect."
"They don't need to be perfect," Madara replied calmly.
"They only need to break the world."
---
Far away in Konoha, the sensor division collapsed as one.
"Six signatures—massive chakra! Unknown nature!"
Mountains trembled.
Forests split.
Rivers recoiled backward.
Naruto's eyes snapped open.
"That chakra… it's not the real bijuu. Something's wrong."
Sasuke appeared beside him.
"They're not natural. And they're spreading."
Six roars cracked the sky.
The Demi Eternal Beasts had awakened.
---
The first monster marched across the Iron Plains, each footstep carving craters. Obsidian armor. Three spinning tails like bladed saws.
Naruto landed on shattered stone.
"Alright… you're not Isobu. You're just a fake."
The beast roared, chakra spiraling outward.
Sasuke joined him, Rinnegan glowing.
"Fake or not… it hits hard. Stay sharp."
The monster slammed its tails, releasing a tsunami of black chakra across miles.
Naruto raised his palm.
"Celestial Rasengan Barrage!"
Hundreds of Rasengan detonated against the wave, carving trenches through the battlefield.
Sasuke used Amenotejikara, switching places with the beast's tail.
"Chidori: Black Edge!"
His lightning blade cracked the beast's shell.
Naruto leapt high.
"Let's end this!"
Together, they formed a massive sphere of lightning and chakra.
"Rasen-Chidori Impact!"
The blast shattered the Demi Three-Tails into glowing dust.
Naruto exhaled.
"One down."
Sasuke frowned.
"Five left."
---
The ground hissed.
The air melted.
A beast crawled forward, dripping acidic mist.
Naruto jumped back.
"Ew—gross! It's like Shizune invented a monster."
It spat a river of acid that dissolved entire boulders.
Sasuke cut through the mist.
"Chidori: Void Slash!"
His blade split the creature. Naruto followed with a crushing strike—
"Celestial Spiral Break!"
The beast burst into smoke.
---
A shriek sliced through the sky.
Wind blades rained like guillotines.
Sasuke's Susanoo rose, shielding them.
"The Seven-Tails clone…"
Naruto grinned.
"He's fast."
The beast dove. Naruto punched the air.
"Giant Spiral Sphere Wall!"
A dome of spinning chakra caught it midair. Sasuke flew upward, Susanoo gripping the wings.
"Fall."
He smashed it into the earth.
Silence.
Dust.
---
Then the final roar.
The Demi Nine-Tails emerged—towering, armored, violent.
Naruto whispered,
"Kurama… it looks like you, but twisted."
Kurama growled inside him.
"That thing is an insult."
A crimson beam fired from its jaws, erasing mountains.
Sasuke teleported Naruto away.
"That thing can't stay alive."
Naruto nodded.
"Let's finish this like old times."
They charged.
Naruto's palm swirled with celestial chakra.
Sasuke's hand crackled with void lightning.
"Rasengan!"
"Chidori!"
Their attacks spiraled together—
"Twin Annihilation!"
The sky exploded.
The Demi Nine-Tails shattered.
Dust drifted.
Naruto breathed heavily.
"That was… intense."
Sasuke wiped a cut.
"Madara created these to test us."
Naruto looked toward the horizon.
"And he knows we passed."
---
On a crimson cliff, Madara watched, cloak whipping in the wind. Obito stood behind him.
"They destroyed every Demi Eternal Beast," Madara said quietly.
Obito smirked.
"I warned you. Those two aren't ordinary."
Madara's Eternal Rinnegan spun slowly.
"No… they are the only ones worthy of my next move."
Far below, Naruto shouted toward the cliff,
"We're coming for you, Madara!"
Sasuke stepped beside him.
"We'll end this. Once and for all."
The wind howled.
This arc had ended.
But the next… was already awakening.
---