Naruto straightened slowly, his gaze shifting from the fallen Jinchūriki to the one standing behind it all.
Obito.
His eyes locked onto him, calm but focused, the cross-shaped pupils of Sage Mode and Kurama's chakra narrowing slightly.
'…The only way I'll stop them is to pull those rods out,' Naruto thought, his mind already running through the outcome. 'It should be easy now.'
A low rumble echoed in his mind.
Kurama's voice.
'But we both know you don't want that,' the Nine-Tails said, a faint amusement in his tone.
Naruto's lips curled slightly into a smirk.
'…Yeah,' he admitted.
For a brief moment, he just stood there, watching. Everything shifted again.
BWOOM—
A surge of chakra exploded outward from the Jinchūriki. It wasn't like before.
A deep, blood-red aura erupted from their bodies, spilling outward like boiling liquid. The ground beneath them cracked and sank under the pressure as the air itself seemed to thicken.
Naruto's expression changed.
Their bodies began to transform
Skin darkened beneath the cloak of chakra, bubbling and shifting as the red energy wrapped tightly around them. It clung to their forms like a second skin, tails forming behind them, twitching violently as raw power leaked into the surroundings.
It looked familiar. Just like when Naruto had lost control in the series.
Naruto leaped back, putting distance between himself and them as the transformation intensified, their chakra spiking higher with each passing second.
He didn't take his eyes off them.
"You guys should sit this one out," Naruto said, his tone firm but calm.
Behind him, Kakashi and Guy didn't argue.
They understood immediately.
Both of them stepped back, landing behind Naruto as they watched the transformation unfold, their expressions tightening slightly.
Kakashi's eye narrowed as he studied the scene, the red chakra reflecting in his Sharingan.
"…What's happening to them?" he asked.
Naruto glanced back slightly, but his focus remained mostly forward.
"Bijū form," he replied.
Kakashi's gaze hardened.
"…I don't like the sound of that."
In front of them, the Jinchūriki continued to change, their forms becoming more unstable, more monstrous, as the red chakra pulsed and expanded around them.
Just as Naruto said, the transformation didn't stop at the chakra cloaks.
It deepened.
The red, boiling aura around the Jinchūriki began to expand outward, stretching and reshaping, forming massive outlines that grew larger and larger with each passing second. Their human forms were swallowed completely, replaced by towering masses of chakra that pulsed with violent life.
The ground trembled. The Tailed Beasts took form.
The Two-Tails emerged first.
A massive, cat-like beast formed from blazing blue chakra, its body sleek yet enormous, dwarfing everything around it. Its flames burned cold and sharp, licking upward like ghostly fire as two long tails swayed behind it. Its eyes glowed with a piercing intensity, locked forward with predatory focus.
Next—
The Three-Tails rose.
A hulking, turtle-like monster with a jagged, armored shell that looked almost impenetrable. Its body was low and heavy, yet radiated immense power, with three thick tails lashing behind it. Its presence felt ancient, like a moving fortress planted firmly into the battlefield.
Then the Four-Tails.
A towering ape-like beast, its entire body dripping with molten lava. Its muscles bulged with raw strength, magma pooling and dripping from its limbs as heat distorted everything around it. Four thick tails moved behind it, each one leaving trails of burning residue as they shifted.
The Five-Tails followed.
A strange, powerful fusion of horse and dolphin, its body built for both speed and force. Steam erupted constantly from its form, hissing loudly as pressure built within it. Five tails whipped behind it, and every breath it took released bursts of heated vapor into the air.
Then—
The Six-Tails.
A massive, slug-like creature, its body smooth yet heavy, with a slick, almost liquid-like surface. Six tails fanned out behind it, and bubbles formed constantly around its body, floating outward before popping softly or violently depending on their size.
Finally—
The Seven-Tails descended from above.
A massive, insect-like beast with a beetle-like body and wide, translucent wings that vibrated rapidly, producing a constant, high-pitched hum. Its seven tails extended behind it like flowing ribbons of chakra, and its presence filled the air with overwhelming pressure from above.
All of them stood together.
Monsters.
Towering over the battlefield, their combined chakra crushing everything in the area, warping the air, cracking the ground, and silencing everything else.
Naruto stood before them, small in comparison but unmoving.
The massive Bijū loomed over him, their presence crushing the battlefield, their chakra pressing down like a physical weight. The ground beneath Naruto's feet groaned, small cracks spreading outward under the pressure, yet he didn't shift.
Not even an inch.
"Now that's a challenge!" Naruto said, a grin spreading across his face, excitement flashing in his eyes as his blood surged.
Behind him, Kakashi and Guy exchanged a quick glance.
Neither of them spoke at first.
They didn't need to.
The sheer scale of what stood in front of them was overwhelming. Their instincts screamed at them, bodies tense, muscles tight, every sense on edge.
And yet—
Naruto stood there like he'd just found something fun.
"…This kid," Kakashi muttered under his breath, his Sharingan flicking between the towering beasts.
Guy clenched his fists slightly, his aura flickering as he steadied himself. "…His spirit truly burns bright."
Naruto didn't hear them. Or maybe he just didn't care. His focus was forward.
"Wanna join, Kurama?" Naruto asked casually, as if he wasn't staring down multiple Bijū at once.
A flicker of chakra formed on his shoulder.
Kurama appeared in a smaller form, perched there with a grin of his own, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Heh… sure, why not!" he replied, voice filled with eager malice.
Naruto's smirk widened.
Then it erupted.
A dense, crimson aura burst outward from Naruto's body, expanding rapidly in all directions. It wasn't wild or uncontrolled, it moved with purpose, flowing outward like a living force.
The chakra thickened, expanded and then took shape. It rose higher and higher, forming massive limbs, a long body, and finally, the shape of a fox.
A towering, chakra-constructed Kurama formed around Naruto, its shape solidifying as the aura condensed into a complete form.
Tails extended outward, swaying with immense power as the ground beneath it cracked further under the weight.
Kakashi and Guy were pulled into the structure of the chakra cloak as it formed, their bodies drawn inside the construct, landing behind Naruto as the interior stabilized around them.
They stood within it. Protected. Surrounded by raw power.
Naruto stood at the center, his entire body now cloaked in the same red chakra, patterns of energy flowing across him as his presence merged with Kurama's.
Kurama roared.
ROAAARRR—
The sound shook the battlefield, a deep, thunderous roar that echoed across the open land. The force of it blasted outward, a violent gust of wind sweeping across the ground and crashing into the opposing Bijū.
Dust and debris were thrown into the air.
The other beasts stared back, silent but tense.
Naruto lifted his gaze slightly, his expression sharpened, excitement still burning but now focused.
"Let's do this, Kurama."
Kurama's grin widened.
"Yeah!!!"
TO BE CONTINUED