"I thought this move would leave you completely unable to fight back, but your strength far exceeds what I imagined."
"If that's the case, then I'll just have to gang up on you."
"Everyone, attack together!"
Before Nagato had finished speaking,
several figures erupted into action at once.
Hidan gripped a weapon that looked like a scythe and charged at Naruto at full speed, eager to claim a head as his trophy.
"That guy's fast. If you can't hit him, you won't be able to kill him!"
The masks inside Kakuzu's body writhed. It looked like his chakra had reached its limit.
"So what? With Lord Jashin's power, I'm still immortal! All I need is a single drop of blood from his body!"
"Fantastic! This is the most exhilarating battle I've had since joining the Akatsuki. Even the Deva Path couldn't defeat him!"
"Lord Jashin, just wait for me to bring you the perfect sacrifice!"
Hidan's eyes were bloodshot. He paid no heed to Kakuzu's attempts to stop him.
The pair with the most lives charged at Naruto.
Meanwhile, Zetsu, standing amid the ruins, had already sent a clone to meet the Masked Man outside the battlefield.
"The plan has changed."
Zetsu appeared to be carrying on Madara Uchiha's will and helping Obito Uchiha.
In truth, what worried him most now was Naruto disrupting their plans, preventing them from gathering the Nine Tailed Beasts and resurrecting his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki.
"When the time comes for us to leave, we can let them fight until both sides are crippled."
Obito hung upside down from a tree with the Frilled Lizard Technique.
"Are you trying to resurrect Madara Uchiha?"
"If there's even a one-in-ten-thousand chance, it's worth trying. As long as we're both alive, the plan won't fail!"
Obito watched the battle from afar.
Then he disappeared into the heavy rain with Zetsu once more.
Amegakure.
Above the ruins.
Naruto used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge Konan's three thousand Explosive Tags.
"Long time no see, Naruto Uzumaki!"
Kisame Hoshigaki gripped Samehada, eager for a fight.
Ever since he'd crossed swords with Naruto at an inn outside Konoha, he'd been looking forward to a proper, honorable rematch.
When he heard Naruto had become Acting Hokage, he'd been even more eager for the chance to see him again.
"Kisame Hoshigaki, how've you been?"
Without realizing it, Naruto had been surrounded by the Akatsuki.
Itachi stood some distance away.
Rain soaked the Akatsuki's cloaks.
The one they were hunting was the strongest Kage of the era!
"You have no chance of defeating the Akatsuki alone."
Itachi seemed ready to cast a genjutsu at any moment.
In truth, he was wondering if there was any way to keep Naruto alive.
Itachi Uchiha knew that from the moment Hiruzen Sarutobi died,
Konoha had severed all ties with him.
He was like a kite with its string cut. They called him a spy, but in truth, there was no going back.
"The Akatsuki are pretty interesting!"
Naruto threw his head back and laughed excitedly.
"I didn't come alone this time, either. These three were all once members of the Akatsuki!"
Deidara, Sasori, and Orochimaru appeared behind Naruto.
Naruto had successfully dismantled the Akatsuki.
That made their forces two to one.
"Join me. The Ninja World needs a whole new future!"
"You won't achieve all your ideals with the Akatsuki's petty schemes alone."
"And I will soon launch a war in the Ninja World that will bring an end to war for good!"
"Back then, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha joined forces to end the Warring States era."
"I'll end the era of the Ninja Villages on my own and usher in a new age for the Ninja World!"
Naruto took off his hat.
His golden hair turned white.
The pouring rain beneath the dark, cloud-filled sky couldn't dim the white light radiating from him.
"Itachi!"
"Come back with me. I'm here to reclaim the Uchiha's power!"
The Mangekyō Sharingan at Naruto's brow spun.
Everyone was shaken.
Was he another genjutsu master like Itachi?
"Where did you get that eye?!"
Itachi would never forget Shisui's eye. He recognized it at a glance.
"I took it from Shimura Danzō."
"I came here to ask you for the other eye, too."
Naruto opened his palm.
Rainwater rapidly gathered, as if an invisible Rasengan were spinning there.
"Danzō supported your becoming Hokage. I thought it was because you'd used that technique."
"I didn't expect the truth to be the exact opposite. You were the one who came out on top in the end. Shimura Danzō really did meet his match."
The dilemma that had tormented Itachi his entire life
seemed to have become so simple in Naruto's hands!
"Even a stubborn fool like Orochimaru follows you. A madman like Deidara obeys your every word. Why would the reclusive Sasori follow you?"
Itachi had too many questions.
What had happened in Konoha? How had Naruto Uzumaki, a boy around his younger brother's age, changed Konoha's darkness overnight?
"Want to know?"
"Follow me, Itachi, and I'll tell you the answers to all of it!"
The Nine-Tails behind Naruto whipped up a gale.
Even standing before the entire Akatsuki, he seemed completely at ease.
Attack?
The enormous Nine-Tails protected Naruto, its body like an impregnable fortress.
The pressure of a Jinchuriki wielding the strongest Tailed Beast, combined with the double Sage Mode he possessed on his own, was beyond the limits of humanity!
"Konoha can't accommodate a second Uchiha."
In Itachi's palm lay one of Shisui's Mangekyō.
"When the Uchiha go from individuals to a clan, they frighten the world. And as they grow stronger, they become more prone to emotional extremes."
"The stronger an Uchiha is, the more stubborn his convictions become. In the end, the entire clan is bound to meet an irreversible doom."
"You're no different. You want the power born of hatred, but it'll consume you in the end!"
Itachi formed Hand Seals.
Orange-red chakra bones appeared around his body.
The giant skeleton seemed constrained, unable to reach its true peak.
But the flesh and skin surrounding the bones, along with the impenetrable armor, proved
that Itachi Uchiha hadn't yet reached the realm of a dying man.
"Susanoo!"
Itachi's transformation left Deidara speechless.
"He really did have another trick up his sleeve."
Sasori, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased.
"What an enviable power."
The Sharingan was what Orochimaru had always dreamed of.
If he could use it as a vessel for his rebirth, he'd be invincible—and he'd make up for his shortcomings in genjutsu and mental strength.
Unfortunately,
not every Uchiha could fully develop the power of the Sharingan.
And once they did, they might not be able to handle it.
"Mr. Itachi, whether in the world of genjutsu or reality, you possess peerless, truly admirable power."
Kisame Hoshigaki smiled.
At that moment, he wished more than anything that Itachi would be the one to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He'd be far happier with him than with Madara.
If the world could be plunged into an endlessly beautiful Tsukuyomi World, he'd want it to be the gentle Itachi he knew.
"Naruto, I can never return to Konoha!"
"Totsuka Blade!"
The blade turned from nothingness into reality and could extend without limit.
His heart had been twisted by his desire to protect Konoha, his kindness exploited, and in the end he'd become a hated outcast, driven away by everyone.
"Itachi!"
Naruto transformed into a standing Nine-Tails.
"I didn't want to do this, but am I the only person in the Ninja World who can awaken Susanoo with one eye?"
"Susanoo!"
Shisui could awaken Susanoo with one eye.
So could Naruto!
The jade-green Susanoo became armor that covered the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails moved, its wings spread wide.
With a spiral sword in hand, Naruto faced them in that form as well.
"It's incredible that the Uchiha Clan once had two people with this kind of power at the same time, only to be wiped out completely!"
Konan couldn't help exclaiming at the sight of Naruto facing off against Itachi Uchiha.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!"
Naruto struck with a terrifying slash.
"Yasaka Magatama!"