Naruto quietly dressed, picked up his kunai, and slipped out of the tent. In the darkness, the campfires flickered in the wind, and patrolling ninja passed by from time to time. He avoided their patrol routes and crept northeast.
Five hundred meters away, there was indeed a dead tree.
Someone stood beneath it.
In the moonlight, the figure raised his head, revealing a youthful face-it was Yuki Haku. But his eyes were no longer human. They were pure white, bearing the black tomoe of the Ōtsutsuki.
"Naruto Uzumaki..." Haku spoke, but the voice belonged to someone else: deep, aged, and full of authority. "At last, we meet."
"Who are you?" Naruto tightened his grip on his kunai.
"I am Ōtsutsuki Isshiki." Haku smiled. "You may also call me... your grim reaper."
The instant he finished speaking, Haku vanished.
Naruto instinctively rolled aside. A beam of white light grazed his cheek and blasted a huge crater in the ground.
"Good reflexes." Isshiki appeared behind Naruto. "But not good enough."
He reached for Naruto's neck.
Just then, a golden flash streaked through the night sky.
Minato appeared in front of Naruto, blocking Isshiki's hand with his Flying Thunder God Kunai.
"You won't lay a hand on my son."
Isshiki retreated a few steps and studied Minato with interest. "The Fourth Hokage... Namikaze Minato. Your Flying Thunder God is certainly fast, but do you think you can stop me?"
"I don't need to stop you," Minato said calmly. "I only need to hold you here until reinforcements arrive."
An alarm sounded in the distance. Countless ninja were rushing toward them.
Isshiki glanced around, then looked at Naruto and suddenly smiled. "Never mind. Today isn't the day. But Naruto Uzumaki, we'll meet again very soon."
His body began to melt, turning into a mass