f4 Arrives!

The Ten-Tails' nine Tailed Beast Bombs were still gathering.

Dark-red Chakra compressed, spun, and swelled within the core of each Tailed Beast Bomb, like nine suns about to ignite at once. There was no sequence, no interval—the Ten-Tails intended to erase the entire battlefield from the map in this instant. The ninjas were still running, not to charge the Ten-Tails, but to survive. They leaped off their comrades' shoulders over ground that was melting away, drove Kunai into rock walls that had not yet fully softened to hang on, and clung to the Ten-Tails' tails like ants, unable to let themselves be shaken off. Golden specks of Nine-Tails Chakra still lingered over everyone's bodies, flickering under the Ten-Tails' pull like candle flames on the verge of going out.

Naruto stood before the Ten-Tails, his legs sunk deep into the melting ground. Nine golden tails plunged into the lava beneath his feet like nine blazing flagpoles that still stood tall. He looked up at the nine forming Tailed Beast Bombs. Each was dozens of times larger than his body, each locked onto a different direction, covering the entire battlefield. There were no blind spots, no way out.

"Kurama." Naruto's voice was hoarse but steady. "Can you block them?"

"No." The Nine-Tails' voice was deep and blunt. "That number, that density—even at my peak, I couldn't block them." Its voice paused. "But you can dodge."

"If I dodge, what happens to the people behind me?"

The Nine-Tails did not answer.

Kakashi sensed everything outside from within the Kamui Space. His body did not feel physically trapped, but his heart was. He knew what the Ten-Tails was doing. He knew what Naruto was facing alone. He knew he should have been out there, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Naruto. But he could not