"This... this is a new Ten-Tails?"
Kurama whispered in shock from within Naruto.
"No... it feels completely different."
"There's no malice."
"No kindness either."
"It's like... a blank sheet of paper."
"We succeeded."
Sasuke breathed heavily.
His silver Susanoo dissolved into particles of light as he dropped to one knee.
His ocular power had been nearly exhausted.
"We turned 'Zero' into 'One.'"
"An independent 'One' that exists beyond his control."
Naruto also exited Sage Mode and collapsed onto the sand.
"Ha... ha..."
"So what do we do now?"
"That thing doesn't exactly look easy to talk to."
The newborn Ten-Tails slowly rotated its golden Rinnegan.
Its gaze swept across the battlefield.
When it looked at Kai, instinctive fear and rejection appeared in its eyes.
When it looked at Naruto and Sasuke, however, there was curiosity.
Affection.
Like a newborn chick looking at its parents.
"An uncontrollable variable..."
Kai stared at the newborn Ten-Tails.
The shock on his face gradually transformed into a fanatical excitement.
"A truly free will."
"One that exists beyond the fundamental logic of this world."
"How wonderful!"
"This is far more interesting than the perfect yet boring world I originally envisioned!"
Not only was he not angry—
He actually applauded.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"You are no longer viruses."
"You are developers."
"You have created an entirely new DLC for my otherwise boring game."
"I've decided."
"I'm not going to delete you anymore."
His eyes gleamed.
"I'm going to analyze you."
Before the words had fully fallen—
Kai vanished.
The next moment, he appeared directly in front of the newborn Ten-Tails.
His palm pressed against the blank mask covering its face.
"You may be a bug."
"But once I understand your source code..."
"You'll still belong to me."
ROOOAAAR—
The newborn Ten-Tails released its first roar.
It was not sound.
It was a shockwave that directly assaulted the mind.
Instantly, countless fragmented images flooded everyone's consciousness.
Shukaku happily playing in endless deserts.
Matatabi dancing within seas of blue flames.
Gyūki performing rap battles.
Kurama...
Taking a nap.
Fragments of instinctive memories belonging to all nine Tailed Beasts.
Even Kai's body swayed slightly.
The newborn Ten-Tails seized the opportunity.
Its ten tails lashed forward like divine whips.
Each tail contained a different power.
Shukaku's sandstorms.
Matatabi's flames.
Isobu's coral.
Son Gokū's lava.
All nine powers merged together in an impossible harmony.
And the tenth tail—
The tail born from Naruto and Sasuke's Yin-Yang power—
Granted the attack a single definition.
Guaranteed Hit.
This was its first attack since birth.
Yet it had already surpassed the realm of ninjutsu.
It had reached the level of reality itself obeying its command.
Faced with this world-ending strike—
Kai smiled.
"An excellent attack."
"But your understanding of power is still far too shallow."
He made no attempt to dodge.
The ten tails slammed into him.
Then—
Something impossible happened.
His body became a bottomless abyss.
The moment the nine elemental powers touched him, they disintegrated into streams of raw information.
Then they were absorbed.
"Conservation of Energy."
Kai casually brushed nonexistent dust from his shoulder.
"The first law I established."
"All power you wield originates from this world."
"And this world originates from me."
"Using my power against me is like trying to drown the ocean with seawater."
"Meaningless."
He suddenly grabbed one of the Ten-Tails' tails.
"Now then."
"Let me examine your internal structure."
Countless golden chains erupted from his hand.
They crawled across the Ten-Tails' body.
These were not physical chains.
They were chains forged from pure law.
The concepts of restraint.
Control.
Domination.
The newborn Ten-Tails cried out in pain.
Its newly born free will was being forcefully analyzed and overwritten.
"You bastard!"
Seeing this, Naruto ignored his exhaustion and struggled to his feet.
"That thing is ours—!"
He coughed violently.
"It's our creation!"
"You're not touching it!"
"Well said, loser."
Sasuke also stood.
His Kusanagi Sword pointed directly at Kai.
"It's this world's variable."
"Not your property."
"The parents protecting their child."
Kai didn't even bother turning around.
"How touching."
"Unfortunately, before absolute authority, you can do nothing."
The golden chains tightened further.
Despair appeared within the Ten-Tails' golden Rinnegan.
Then—
Someone moved.
Someone nobody expected.
Obito.
Struggling across the sand, he slowly rose to his feet.
His lone Mangekyō Sharingan stared unblinkingly at the chained Ten-Tails.
The despair and emptiness in his eyes were gone.
Something else had replaced them.
"That world..."
"A world where Rin is alive..."
His voice trembled.
The Ten-Tails' mental shockwave had shown him fragments of the same perfect world Naruto had witnessed.
The dream Kai had created.
And destroyed.
"You..."
Obito stared at Kai.
"You can create worlds."
His voice grew steadier.
"Then you can create another one."
"A world where she exists."
"Right?"
Step by step, he walked toward the center of the battlefield.
His body staggered.
Yet his determination never wavered.
"Obito!"
Kakashi shouted.
"Have you lost your mind?! Come back!"
Obito ignored him.
He walked directly between Kai and the newborn Ten-Tails.
Then spread his arms.
Blocking Kai's path.
"I don't care about world peace."
"I don't care about the future of the shinobi world."
His Mangekyō bled crimson tears.
"There's only one thing I want to ask."
He looked directly into Kai's eyes.
"Give Rin back to me."
The battlefield fell silent.
"As long as you return her to me..."
"I'll help you."
"My Kamui."
"My Sharingan."
"My life."
"Everything belongs to you."
"I'll help you capture the Ten-Tails."
"I'll help you capture the Nine-Tails."
"I'll help you complete your boring little peace project."
He smiled bitterly.
"So?"
"Let's make a deal, God."
His words rippled through the hearts of everyone present.
Naruto stood frozen.
The man responsible for countless deaths.
The architect of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
And yet...
His final wish was so simple.
So pitiful.
Sasuke's gaze grew complicated as well.
In Obito, he saw his former self.
The version of himself that would have challenged the entire world for revenge.
"A deal?"
Kai finally stopped tightening the chains.
He examined the man standing before him.
"What gives you the right to negotiate with me?"
"A right?"
Obito laughed.
The sound was uglier than crying.
"My right is despair."
"A man who has lost everything."
"A man who no longer fears death."
"That despair is my greatest weapon."
"You enjoy playing with human hearts, don't you?"
"Then you should understand."
"A desperate man is capable of anything."
He pointed toward his remaining eye.
"My Kamui connects to another dimension."
"A space outside your control."
"It's small."
"It's empty."
"But it's the only place untouched by your rules."
For the first time in a long while—
Kai narrowed his eyes.
Because Obito was right.
The Kamui dimension was something he had overlooked.
A private realm created by the Sharingan.
A world existing within the cracks of reality itself.
Dependent upon the main world—
Yet governed by its own internal laws.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Kai asked quietly.
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