Before Naruto could engage anyone, he suddenly paused. His body stilled mid-step, instincts flaring as his head snapped toward the distant horizon. For a brief moment, the battlefield noise dulled in his ears.
Then his eyes sharpened. As he turned on sage Mode. A ripple of natural energy surged through him, sharpening his perception far beyond the visible.
Almost instantly, he felt it, a massive, overwhelming wave of chakra moving across the battlefield. It wasn't just one presence.
It was layered… synchronized… multiple signatures blending together in an unnatural rhythm.
'…I almost forgot about Obito,' Naruto thought, his expression tightening slightly. 'I rushed ahead to deal with Madara…'
He exhaled slowly, recalibrating. 'I've still got time before Madara fully makes his move…'
His gaze shifted briefly toward Killer Bee, who was already deep in combat, tentacles lashing and smashing through enemies with brute force.
Naruto watched for half a second, then shook his head.
'Nah… I won't need him for this.…'
His senses stretched outward again, locking onto another familiar presence moving rapidly through the forest.
'Kakashi-sensei is already heading there. I'll go to him.'
In the next instant. Naruto vanished.
Leaing just a faint distortion in the air where he once stood.
He reappeared behind Kakashi and Might Gai, both of them leaping from branch to branch at high speed, their movements fluid and precise as they cut through the forest.
The sudden spike of chakra behind them triggered immediate reactions.
They turned sharply bodies twisting mid-air, weapons ready, instincts screaming danger.
Then they saw him.
"…Naruto?" Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly, though his posture remained guarded. "What are you doing here?"
Naruto straightened casually on the branch, hands at his sides, though his gaze was already focused ahead. "I sensed some strong guys in this direction… figured I'd check it out."
Guy let out a confident laugh, flashing a wide grin as he struck a pose mid-branch. "Ah! Then it must have been us you sensed, right Kakashi!" he declared proudly. "The flames of our youth burn brighter than ever!"
Kakashi didn't respond to the joke. His eye had already shifted forward, narrowing as he focused on something approaching through the trees.
"…No," he said calmly. "I'm guessing he sensed them."
Gai's grin faded instantly. He turned. And saw them.
Multiple figures, moving in perfect coordination, their speed unnatural as they closed the distance. The air itself seemed to grow heavier with each passing second.
Naruto's expression lost all trace of humor.
'…So this is it.'
He stepped forward, moving past Kakashi and Gai without hesitation, placing himself at the front as the incoming group became clearer.
Six figures. All of them radiating the same oppressive chakra. All of them with Sharingan… and a single Rinnegan.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
'They just passing these eyes like a ball…'
His gaze shifted slightly and locked onto the one standing behind them.
The masked man. White mask. Obito. Naruto didn't wait. The moment the distance closed.
He moved. Bursting forward with explosive speed, he shot straight toward Obito, bypassing the Jinchūriki entirely. The ground cracked under his initial step as he launched himself like a projectile.
Obito reacted instantly, stepping forward to meet him. His arm came up, fist driving forward in a precise, calculated strike aimed directly at Naruto's face.
Naruto dipped low at the last second.
The punch cut through empty air above him.
In that same motion, Naruto's body twisted, his left arm coiling before snapping upward in a brutal uppercut.
BAMM—
His fist connected cleanly with Obito's chin.
The impact was solid.
Obito's body lifted off the ground instantly, launched upward through the canopy as branches snapped and leaves scattered in every direction.
Naruto didn't even look up. Instead, he turned his attention forward.
The real threat.
The six Jinchūriki were already closing in, their movements synchronized, eyes glowing with cold, controlled intent.
Naruto rolled his shoulders slightly, exhaling as he settled into stance.
' See, this is what I meant,' he thought, eyes scanning them carefully. 'The rarest dojutsu… become hella common.'
His gaze hardened. Then, he stepped forward to meet them.
He didn't flinch as the Four-Tails Jinchūriki lunged at him first. The man's arms bulged, skin cracking as molten chakra erupted outward, coating his limbs in thick, bubbling magma. Heat distorted the air around him as he swung a heavy punch straight at Naruto's head, the force behind it enough to shatter stone.
Naruto remained where he was balanced on a tree branch, eyes locked on the incoming strike. At the last second, his body shifted.
A sharp pivot on his heel.
His torso twisted just enough for the magma-coated fist to graze past his face, close enough for him to feel the heat scorch his skin.
In the same motion, his leg snapped upward.
BAM—
His foot drove straight into the Jinchūriki's chest.
The impact echoed through the trees as the force blasted the man backward, magma splashing outward as his body tore through branches and vanished deeper into the forest.
Naruto landed lightly back onto the branch, already resetting his stance.
Behind him, Kakashi and Gai moved without needing a word.
Kakashi blurred to the side, intercepting the Two-Tails Jinchūriki. Their clash was immediate, steel flashing as Kakashi deflected a clawed strike, his Sharingan spinning as he read every movement with precision.
Gai, on the other hand, met the Five-Tails head-on. The moment their fists collided.
BOOM—
A shockwave burst outward, leaves and branches ripping free from the surrounding trees as raw strength met raw strength. Gai's grin was gone now, replaced by focus as he pushed forward.
Naruto didn't turn to watch.
The remaining four Jinchūriki were already on him. They moved without hesitation, surrounding him in a loose formation, their movements eerily synchronized.
'…Well, I signed up for this,' Naruto thought, his breathing steady, his senses stretched to their absolute limit.
Sage Mode was fully active. Every shift in weight, twitch of muscle and fluctuation of chakra. He saw it all.
[A/N: Time to lock in!]
TO BE CONTINUED