On the other battlefield, things were not looking good.
Naruto vaulted left as Sasori directed a swarm of puppets with a flick of a finger. Several tried to stop him, but he slipped under a pair of scythes then leapt over three tackling puppets.
Suddenly, bang!
One managed to hit him as his boots skidded against the dirt. Three more unhinged their wooden jaws, causing a concussive blast of sound that threw him back further.
Nearby, William scrambled up the arm of a giant. Three smaller puppets snapped toward him with their wooden ribs expanding like bear traps. So he vaulted off the giant's shoulder.
"Rasenshuriken!"
Ka-bang!
Splinters rained down after he hit the ground. His arm was twisted at an awkward angle. It was dislocated, so he gritted his teeth and shoved the joint back into the socket. Then he felt chakra knitting the torn muscle fibers together.
Suddenly, three blades punched into his back!
William stumbled forward before he recovered. Thankfully, the fox's cloak had deflected the steel, leaving him unpunctured.
But when he looked, his last attack had done nothing to the giant puppet.
Over his shoulder, he noticed Rai's eyelid slid shut.
'Dang it,' he thought, knowing it was another Izanagi.
To his right, Naruto roared, thrusting his hands out. Eight chakra limbs burst from his back, each with a Rasengan.
"Rasen-Rampage!"
Ka-bang-bang!
The blasts tore through the clearing. For every limb, two Sound puppets splintered into sawdust.
Naruto planted his feet, bracing for another Izanagi. But nothing changed. The sixteen broken puppets remained defeated.
"I can afford to lose those numbers," Sasori said.
He then flicked his fingers, causing more puppets to swarm the field.
Naruto wove through before bounding high into the air. "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" Dozens of copies popped into the sky as they held out their arms in unison. "Planetary Rasengan super barrage!"
Ka-ka-crash!
Intense air pressure cratered the earth, causing William to lift an arm up and shield his face from the debris. He had never seen Naruto use that technique to this degree.
When William dropped his guard, he knew this was his window of opportunity to enter Toad Sage Mode.
But before he could try, the shattered puppets stood perfectly intact.
The Narutos hit the dirt in frustration. Across the field, Baru's single eye clicked shut.
Izanagi again.
"We've got to try something else," William muttered.
That's when the idea hit him: forget the puppets—go after the one controlling them.
As such, he bounded straight through the mob before ducking a giant's thrust.
Sasori knew he was coming after him, so he used his mechanical wings to hover into the sky. But it wasn't enough; William cleared the distance in three strides while gathering air in his lungs.
"Wind style: pressure damage!"
The Nine-Tails chakra magnified the gale as the explosion ripped upward after engulfing Sasori and shredding a dozen puppets in the immediate blast radius.
William landed, thinking the attack was successful. But when he looked up, Sasori still hovered untouched.
Baru's final eye closed.
'That's so annoying!' William thought.
He wasn't the only one affected.
A barrage of fire, water, lightning, and earth ninjutsu rained down on Naruto's clones, causing a grid of elemental destruction to poof them out of the battlefield.
Before William could advance, a hissing sound caught his attention. Yellow mist poured from the tree line, smelling of rotting copper.
Poison, he believed.
So he reached into his pouch and swallowed a purple pill again.
Ready to attack, his legs suddenly locked in place.
"You really think I'd use the same trick twice," Sasori mocked. Then William's knee buckled before driving him into the dirt. "That poison's laced with a special type of paralysis toxin. Strong enough to take down even a Jinchūriki." William couldn't even lift a finger now. "Hmph… And to think you said you knew my moves."
"Will," cried Naruto, sprinting toward him. But a wall of twenty puppets and a giant slammed into his direction. "Outta my way!" Naruto threw his right hand forward. "Super mini tailed beast bomb!"
Ka-boom!
The black sphere had detonated against the giant's chest, causing a shockwave that blew the massive puppet backward while simultaneously crushing the smaller ones around it and scattering the yellow mist into the upper canopy.
When Naruto finally reached William, he slapped a hand onto his head, causing more of the Nine-Tails' chakra to surge into William's system.
He blinked upon feeling sensation return to his fingertips. "Thanks, cuz."
"No problem, but we're not getting anywhere."
William couldn't agree more. Every major strike they landed just burned an Uchiha eye.
Only two Uchihas had both eyes closed right now, meaning two more remained, which was also four more uses of Izanagi.
Sasori wasn't even trying to kill them. Instead, he was anchoring them here to let the clock run out while Jasper and Gaara remained out of reach.
'What the heck do we do?' William thought to himself.
With another flick of Sasori's fingers, a dozen more puppets raced toward the two. They were ready to defend until suddenly, a high-pitched whistle cut through the air.
"Wind scythe jutsu!"
Blades of pressurized air forced the oncoming wave of puppets back several yards. Then Temari dropped from the canopy as her massive fan dug into the earth next to Naruto and William.
"I don't know if I should yell at you two or not," she said.
"Temari!" they exclaimed.
"Don't 'Temari' me. You both ran off without notice."
"But, Temari, we had to get—"
"And Arthur Bennett was there!" she said, cutting William off.
Naruto scuffed his boot in the dirt. He knew Arthur was just as big of a threat. After all, that was the same man who had killed Iruka. So there was no way Naruto was going to let Arthur near Gaara.
"I get that I left," he said, his voice dropping. "But Gaara's more of a brother to me than you think."
Temari's shoulder lowered because of those sentimental words. It didn't take her long to understand that Gaara was still in someone else's hands right now.
"Seems like he's giving you two trouble," she said, shifting her stance to face Sasori. "So allow me to help you end things faster."
Naruto gave her a nod before extending his hand out. When she grabbed hold of it, red chakra boiled over her skin and enveloped her in the Nine-Tails cloak.
She stared at the bubbling energy covering her clothes, understanding that it was the same armour protecting William.
"How touching," Sasori said.
He then brought his hands up as one giant and thirty-five smaller puppets vaulted forward.
The three scattered, causing the battlefield to erupt once more.
"Wind scythe jutsu!"
As a gust of wind hurled its way toward Sasori, several puppets threw themselves into its trajectory and acted as a shield.
Her attack did nothing. But she wasn't attacking alone.
Naruto and William were already dropping above from the opposite side with Rasengans howling in their palms.
"Family Rasengan!"
Ka-bang!
Sasori was hit as wood shattered everywhere. But when they looked, it was just an empty shell. The real Sasori had substituted.
After Naruto landed, he saw a single puppet with a bladed scythe shoot through the air toward Temari's backside.
"Hey, look out!" he yelled.
Temari turned and crossed her arms defensively.
Shank!
The puppet slammed her into the dirt. Then it quickly sprang away just as William rushed to her side.
"See what we've been dealing with?" he said, keeping his eyes on the retreating puppet. Temari lay there with her arms still crossed. She didn't respond as the cloak continued bubbling over her. "Come on, Temari. Get up already so we can beat this guy!" That's when he noticed one of Naka's eyes slowly closing. "Izanagi? But when?"
After he turned back to Temari did he understand.
The red chakra cloak was gone, and there was a gaping hole through the center of her chest. Blood spilled over her bottom lip as her empty eyes stared straight ahead.
Temari had died!
Both Naruto and William stopped moving.
"You two look like you've lost the will to fight," Sasori mocked. "Or perhaps you're confused about when I killed her." Little did either of them know, he had triggered Izanagi right as Temari arrived. So when Naruto had reached out to share the chakra cloak, he never actually did, leaving her completely vulnerable. "You'll join her soon…"
"You…" Naruto said in anger. "You crazy monster!"
He then rushed in as more puppets flooded the space between them. A juke to the left, a duck to avoid a blade, and then, bang! He was tearing through the frontline with pure aggression.
William, however, didn't move; he couldn't even register the sounds of wood shattering in the background. All he could do was stare at Temari's lifeless face.
He had never seen someone die. Not like this. Not in person.
It made his heart beat loud.
Bum.
Again, it beat loud.
Bum.
His fingers began thickening into points as the skin along his forearms started to peel away, revealing red-and-black chakra boiling underneath.
"I didn't expect this from him," Sasori said.
Naruto risked a glance backward, only to see William's skin evaporating into ash. A sphere of pure black chakra then swallowed William's body.
"Oh no!" Naruto cried.
From the orb, William exploded outward, fully submerged in his Version Two form with four tails whipping around.
✟
Some years ago.
The afternoon sun cut through the blinds of Naruto's apartment.
"So," William said, leaning back in his chair. "Ya finally know just how important you are."
"Yeah, I..." Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "I never thought about it. I mean, I'm actually the reincarnation of the ninja who first spread chakra."
"Well, it's actually his son's chakra that reincarnated in you. Confusing, I know. But what's more important is your bond with Kurama."
Naruto traced the rim of an empty ramen cup.
Discovering the Nine-Tails' true name, learning what his father, Minato, had done the night he died, and the fact that he was destined to unify the other Tailed Beasts—all of that was very heavy on the twelve-year-old boy.
"You'll help me all the way, right, cuz?" he asked, looking up.
"Of course. I'm—"
"Seriously! You always seem to know everything, and there's no way I can handle any of this on my own!"
William reached across to put his hand over Naruto's shoulder. "You're not alone anymore. And I won't be going anywhere."
"What if we're separated? How're ya gonna be there for me when I need ya the most?"
William pulled his hand back to think about that. Sure, Jada had given Naruto a Flying raijin mark, but William himself didn't have a way to bridge the gap if Naruto was ever isolated.
"Why not share Kurama's chakra with me?" he asked.
"I can do that?"
"Not yet, but I know of a jutsu that can transfer some of it to me. And if it works, I'll be able to at least feel you out wherever you are."
"That's so cool!"
"Yeah." Then William rubbed the back of his neck. "But it's only a theory. I'm really just guessing this'll work."
"Won't that turn you into a Ginchūriki too?"
"It will, but I won't let its negativity influence me. Also..."
"Also what? Come on, say it!"
"It's pronounced 'Jinchūriki'."
"I knew that!"
"Promise me this one thing, though."
"What's that?"
"The others would definitely reject this sort of idea, so please keep this a secret from them. Okay?"
"O-okay, Will. I promise not to say anything."
"Good. And just remember: I'm doing this because I love you, cuz."
✟
In the present time, William tore a puppet in half as the wooden spine snapped under his chakra-coated claws. A giant swung its arms down, but he thrust his right arm upward, causing the black-and-red chakra to expand the limb until it dwarfed the giant.
Bang!
The puppet was smacked into the ground as its frame shattered.
"Hmph," Sasori murmured.
He then pulled his fingers tight, causing more hordes to encircle William. Each opened their mouths to unleash a barrage of combined elemental attacks.
But William sent spikes of dense chakra from his body, impaling the entire circle of puppets before they could spark their jutsu.
Then, he threw his head back and roared, causing blue and red orbs of chakra to gather in front of his jaws.
Naruto felt the air pressure drop as a Tailed Beast Bomb formed. So he quickly turned and sprinted toward the perimeter.
Sasori wasted no time sending three dozen puppets after him.
Once the Tailed Beast Bomb fully formed, Naka's final eye closed shut.
That's when William snapped his mouth over the Tailed Beast Bomb and swallowed it whole. His body bloated as he wrenched his neck to the side and exhaled, firing the concentrated blast.
But Izanagi was currently in affect, so the attack was instead fired into an empty part of the forest.
"Too bad for you," Sasori taunted. Suddenly, he felt the impact of a heavy blow from behind. "What?!"
"Super mini-tailed beast bomb!"
Ka-boom!
Naruto had slammed the black sphere directly into Sasori's back, causing an explosion to consume them both.
When it ended, Sasori lay broken in a massive crater. His core was cracked down the center, and two Narutos currently stood on the field.
The one Naruto that seemingly fled was just a clone summoned when Sasori was unaware. So once Izanagi's effects ended, the real Naruto knew exactly when and where to attack.
"It's over," Naruto said, looking down at the dead Sasori.
Him and his clone eventually leapt from the crater to see the remaining puppets collapse into heaps of useless wood and steel.
A guttural roar from William shook the trees. It was as if he was claiming victory despite having been affected by the Izanagi.
Now, while the battle had ended, his rage had not.
Naruto looked toward the tree line, then at William. Gaara was slipping further away with every passing second, so Naruto had to make a choice.
"You go after Gaara," he told his clone.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'll try to help William revert. Summon more of me when you can."
"Got it."
The clone then bolted into the woods as Naruto turned to face William.
"I won't leave you, cuz!"
In response, William got lower on all fours. There was no doubt about it: he was going to attack Naruto.