Contesting Tailed Beast Chakra

Naruto did not answer.

It was not that he did not want to answer. He had suddenly realized that Obito's question was not directed at him—not even at anyone. It was the last thing a man said to himself as he stood on the edge of a cliff for too long and was finally blown off by a gust of wind. And what Naruto had to do was not catch those words, but catch the person who had spoken them.

"It's not too late." Naruto's voice came from within Susanoo Nine-Tails. It was not amplified, nor did it echo. It was merely one person's voice, passing through the Nine-Tails' Chakra, through Susanoo's armor, through darkness and smoke, and reaching Obito's ears. "As long as you're willing to stop, it's not too late."

Obito drew his gaze back from the moon. His eyes passed through the golden light in the Nine-Tails' palm and looked upward, through the golden-violet slit at Susanoo Nine-Tails' eyes, where he saw two faces behind it.

Naruto stood there with his right hand pressed to his chest, Nine-Tails' Chakra continuously pouring from his wound. There was no victor's expression on his face, not even the resolve of someone who had won—only a young, exhausted face smeared with blood and mud, whose eyes still shone.

Sasuke stood beside Naruto, his left hand resting on Naruto's shoulder. His right arm hung at his side, blood still seeping from the wound in his right shoulder. It was no longer flowing in a stream, merely trickling down from his fingertips, drop by drop. His face was completely expressionless, but his stance leaned slightly to the left, all his weight pressed onto his left leg—because his right leg could barely support him anymore.

Obito looked at those two faces. His lips moved,