Tsunade exhaled sharply and forced the tension away. "Right. Enough of that. I want this matter finished. Shizune—go with Amai and remove that larva inside Karai—"
But before she could step forward, Naruto gently caught her by the arm. Gentle—exactly the way Dan once used to calm her trembling hands.
Naruto's voice softened, carrying something old and familiar. "Tsunade… my relative. It's time to confront your past."
Shizune immediately stepped forward, alarm rising. "Tiel—Tsunade-sama's past is not something you can just—"
A's the raikage hand cut through the air, stopping her.
"Raikage-sama, this isn't Kumo's concern!" Shizune hissed.
A the raikage didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on Naruto—serious, steady, reading something the others couldn't see.
"I know," he said. "But I also believe in my hunch. And whatever this mysterious Tiel is about to do… it will fix your master's problem."
A the raikage nodded once toward Naruto. "I saw it in his eyes. Eyes that want a change. A good one."
Tsunade swallowed hard, voice cracking. "You… you know about me, Tiel? What I've been through?"
Naruto's golden eyes dimmed, not in weakness but in empathy sharpened by centuries. "I know very well. You lost everything. But you can't keep running. One day blood will splatter in front of you again—and you'll have to confront it."
Tsunade's breath hitched. Tears trembled at the edge of her lashes. "I… I can't. My hands shake when I see too much bloo—"
"Then we'll do it together," Naruto said. "You and I. In the wonders of healing."
He snapped his fingers once. Shizune and Amai jumped at the cue and rushed to prepare the surgical tools. The ruined house became a makeshift operation room, lit by lantern glow and reflected rain.
Tsunade stood over Karai, chest rising and falling in small panicked breaths. Her fingers hovered over the incision point. Then—
They trembled.
Naruto's hand slid over hers, steadying without overpowering.
"Let it flow," he murmured. "The past is history. Today we move forward. That's how you carry the legacy—not by running."
She inhaled. Deep. Shaking. Naruto guided her first motion.
The surgical cut was clean.
Amai held her breath. A watched with clenched fists. Shizune whispered prayers under her breath. Naruto adjusted Tsunade's posture with quiet precision, nudging fear aside one moment at a time. Faint glow pulsed as the parasite writhed inside Karai's chest. Tsunade dug in with forceps, sweat on her brow—but her hands did not freeze this time.
She pulled the bug free. It hissed, curled, and shriveled—devoid of chakra to feed on, nullified before it could explode.
Tsunade's knees weakened in relief. Seventy-five percent of her old fear cracked and fell away like old mud—but the remaining piece still clung deep inside.
Then, unexpectedly, Tsunade grabbed Naruto and pulled him into a trembling embrace.
Her voice broke against his shoulder. "Are you… Dan reincarnation ? Because if you are… gods, I've missed you so much…"
Naruto sighed gently, lifting one hand to her head.
"Sorry," he whispered. "I'm Tiel, not Dan. But if you want me to be Dan… then call me Dan."
Tsunade froze, then slowly pulled back to look him in the eyes. A sly, mischievous grin crept onto her face .
"So Tiel is a fake name, huh?" she teased.
Naruto blinked. "Oh, I'm Tiel because I'm Tiel."
"No, no," Tsunade pressed, poking his chest. "You said you could be Dan. That means you have a true name, right?"
Naruto sighed, reached out, and gently bonked her on the head with a soft headpat. "I regret saving your ass now."
Tsunade straightened, offended. "I'm not a kid. I'm a mature lady."
Naruto tilted his head, smirk forming. "So you want me to call you 'damn granny' instead?"
A vein popped on tsunade forehead. Shizune panicked.. Amai almost dropped the tray.
Tsunade's laughter finally settled into a warm, breathy grin—something the room hadn't seen from her in years.
A the Raikage stepped forward and gave a respectful bow, his voice steady with gratitude. "Thank you, Tiel. And Tsunade… I may not have brought much today, but both my village and I owe you a debt."
Amai followed him, bowing deeply. "Thank you for saving my friend.."
Shizune bowed last—slow, trembling, tears slipping down her cheeks as she looked at Naruto with raw sincerity.
"I've prayed for years that Tsunade-sama would be able to face her fears… and today it finally happened. Thank you, Tiel. What you've done—nothing can measure it."
Naruto nodded once, calm on the surface—yet his grin stretched sharper, teeth glinting like a predator humoring a room full of prey.
Tsunade flinched. "Tiel—can you not smile like that? That smile always creeps me out."
Naruto tilted his head. "Aren't you going to join the party?"
Before she could snap back, a blur tore through the rain.
Tobi dropped from the rooftops, landing in a crouch—then straightened, dragging a bound group of shinobi behind him. Chains rattled. The Nokizaru group forced to their knees.
Tobi addressed the Raikage in a flat tone. "A, I've got an offer. These prisoners are responsible for the death of Karai's teammate. I dug them out myself."
A's expression tightened. "You have nothing to offer me, Tobi."
Naruto's golden eyes slid toward the masked man, the grin still stretching in that eerie, knowing shape. "I know what you want in exchange," he said. "Don't interfere between you and me."
Tobi went still.
Naruto continued, voice smooth as silk and twice as dangerous. "Actually, I was just about to say the same thing. I want them as witnesses."
Tobi's mind raced. Tiel wants them as witnesses… not reinforcement. What kind of game is he playing?
Before he could speak, Guruguru whispered from within his wooden armor, voice tight with warning. "Tobi… that's not part of the plan. This will bring heat on you. Didn't you say you didn't want to be involved?"
Tobi ignored him, mouth parting—
—but Naruto cut in first, calm and sharp.
" Raikage," Naruto said, "I want to cash in one of my favors. Can you use your privilege to borrow an arena here?"
A the raikage blinked, confused for a heartbeat. Then annoyance flared across his features. "If you want me to beat Tobi, I'll do it now. But why do you want to settle this yourself? And this isn't Kumogakure. My title means nothing here."
Naruto smiled lightly. "I know. But Raikage have a certain… reputation. Powerful. Loud. Annoying. The kind of people Amegakure bureaucrats are too scared to say no to. So if you ask for an arena, it becomes possible."
A the raikage vein popped across his temple.
"Boy," he growled, leaning forward. "If you order me around too much, I'll introduce you to my Iron Claw. My sworn brother Killer B still has trauma because of that."
Naruto only waved him off.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Time skip: Amegakure Arena. Steel walls. Rusted frameworks. Industrial platforms stacked like a graveyard of old metal.
Rain hammered the roof-less structure. Torches barely clung to life.
At the center: Naruto — in his apostle form, "Tiel," white hair drifting, golden eyes gleaming.
Facing him:
Tobi — dark cloak, white flame-motif mask, the same silhouette that once fought the Yondaime.
On the benches, Shizune pulled back her hand.. "The iron is corroding," she whispered. "Just from us sitting here."
A the raikage sat beside Tsunade, arms crossed like boulders.
"I don't get it. Why doesn't Tiel just let me punch Tobi? And that mask—very suspicious." He squinted. "Looks like trouble I've seen before."
Tsunade didn't look at him. Her eyes stayed locked on the battlefield. "Quiet, old man. The fight's about to start."
Shizune leaned close. "You have a theory, Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade nodded slowly. "Yes. If Tiel wanted help, he'd ask , he'd let Raikage handle it. But instead… he told us not to interfere and insisted we watch."
Shizune frowned. "Meaning…?"
"Meaning," Tsunade said, eyes narrowing, "there's bad blood between them. Something deep. And Tiel wants witnesses.."
Shizune said "Witnesses? For what?"
Tsunade exhaled once. "For whatever he's about to reveal."
On the arena floor, rain hammered the steel plates as Tobi launched the opening salvo. Iron chains laced with explosive tags whipped out from his sleeves, clattering and hissing across the metal.
Tobi's voice echoed behind the mask. "Either you're a fool or a dead man. Doesn't matter which. Humor me—why would someone like you ask for a one-on-one?"
Naruto tilted his head just slightly, apostle form glowing faintly under the stormlight. "Actually, I've got a funny question for you. And you're going to be very shocked."
Naruto smirked. "How long will you keep avoiding using that Mokuton implant in your right side? And that second living armor fused inside you?"
Inside Tobi's body, Guruguru jolted like someone dumped ice water on him.
Black Zetsu surged through the Hashirama cells, voice a sharp whisper. "Tobi. Run. Now. This man knows your deepest technique."
Tobi's hand twitched. Sweat crawled under the mask. But he forced out a laugh—too stiff, too thin.
"Oh? Anything else you know about me?"
His Sharingan whirled, then snapped into Mangekyō. Kamui flickered around him, distorting the air as he activated his intangible slip-space defensive technique. Anything thrown at him would phase through. As always.
Naruto's smile widened. "Space-element warping is terrible against someone like me.
Tobi stiffened.
Naruto clapped once, the sound echoing unnaturally through the steel arena. "And you really should've brought your White Zetsu army."
The masked man paused—half a blink, half a breath—but that single hesitation was fatal. Naruto raised an empty hand… and reality folded around it. Bone erupted from nothing, twisting into a jagged white blade that fused instantly with spatial magic, humming like it wanted to devour the world.
A weapon for Tiel. Naruto's voice rang out, formal and cruel.
"Bone × Spatial Magic: Demon Sword Dainsleif."
Naruto smirked and tilted his head. "Dodge."
Tobi moved instantly, Kamui flicking into full activation. The world blurred as he slipped into intangibility—and yet the sword still clipped him..
His right pinky finger spiraled through the air.
Tobi froze mid-phase, breath catching behind the mask.
Naruto lowered the blade lazily. "If you were late by half a second… you'd have lost that Mokuton arm."
Naruto's golden eye glinted. "But Zetsu cells can fix anything, right?"
Tobi said nothing. Instead, he shifted his stance—subtle, practiced, dangerous. Kamui began to coil in front of him, space spiraling into a dark vortex at the center of his mask, one of the few ranged attacks he rarely used. Inside the mask,
thoughts churned. Madara only trusted me. I was the one who found him. No one else should know…
His voice dropped into a low growl. "Did that old man have a secret apprentice before me? And you're that person, Tiel?"
Naruto tilted his head, expression deadpan and cutting. "Please. I don't want an Uchiha relic who could barely stand on his rotten legs. And don't get me started on him giving his round, purple eyes to an Uzumaki brat the moment he was born. All because he wanted those eyes to survive."
Tobi's breath hitched , tiel knew. He knew the Rinnegan's origin. He knew the transfer. He knew Madara's body was already collapsing long before Obito ever inherited his mission.
Black Zetsu hissed through the Mokuton graft, voice low. He knows everything Madara entrusted you with.
But Tobi gritted his teeth behind the mask, forcing his breath steady. He still doesn't know who I am. That's my advantage.
slow smile formed beneath the porcelain. The mask shifted with a faint click—opening a small vent near the mouthpiece just as Kamui spiraled around him. He inhaled sharply and then exhaled flames into the distortion.
"Katon: Bakufū Ranbu." The swirling vortex from Kamui caught the flames, twisted them, and launched a spiraling inferno toward Naruto like a drifting cyclone of fire.
Naruto flicked Dainsleif once, the spatial edge dispersing the flames like smoke. When the last ember faded, Tobi was gone. Then a distortion rippled under Naruto's feet.
Tobi erupted upward from the ground, Kamui snapping open at full force as he tried to drag Naruto into the dimension. His timing was perfect—except for one mistake.
Naruto didn't even flinch. Years of Bernkastel's "training" had made him immune to far worse than dimensional pressure. Naruto's leg snapped upward with brutal precision, kicking Tobi full-force across the steel floor. Metal screeched under the impact as the masked man slid back in a rough line.
Naruto rested Dainsleif against his shoulder, expression bored. "Careful, boy. When you try to suck me up, things slip. And with that technique of yours, you can only suck one thing at a time."
He pointed the blade forward. "So? Want to continue? Because this isn't your best field."
Tobi straightened, breathing thin through the mask. "Do you, Tiel?"
The steel floor beneath Naruto suddenly flickered—every inch of the arena under him coated in hidden paper bombs. They ignited at once.
Naruto swung Dainsleif in a clean diagonal cut. Spatial rupture shredded every tag into harmless dust, dispersing the explosion before it could form.
When the last ember vanished, Tobi was nowhere.
And then . thunderous impact crashed onto the arena.
A the Fourth Raikage, landed in a burst of lightning, his entire body wrapped in crackling Raiton armor. His grin was wide, feral, excited.
"Eyyyy! This battle's like kids taking turns! That Tobi ran away again! Tiel—forget him. I challenge you one-on-one!"
On the benches, Shizune gasped. "WHAT—?!"
Tsunade blinked. "Ehhh?"
Naruto stared at Raikage for two seconds… then burst out laughing. "Pft—ahahahaha—oh my god another twist? My ally suddenly goes rabid?" He wiped a tear of amusement. "Wow. But sure. If you're serious… are you sure, Raikage?"
A crackled with lightning. "I'M ALWAYS SURE."
Naruto twirled Dainsleif once. "Lightning… against spatial rupture. Not a good mix, old man."