Moonlight shimmered across the tempestuous sea as waves crashed against Kirigakure's battered shoreline. The Three-Tails loomed from the surf, its immense form dwarfing everything, while the Hokage's cloak fluttered in the spray.
Minato Namikaze stood on the wet sand, drenched but defiant. His hand was raised, blue eyes sharpened with sorrow and resolve.
At his flank, Mei Terumī knelt beside Ao and Chōjūrō, steadying their wounds. She met Minato's gaze. They were prepared, even if the storm ahead was anything but calm.
From the foaming surf stepped the enemy: a masked man, and two shadowed figures at his flanks.
Obito crouched front and center, his split mask—a black Rinnegan on one side, bleached Sharingan on the other—tilted toward Minato.
"You came," he said, voice low, distorted through the mask.
Minato reached for his kunai. "You're after the Three-Tails. I won't let you take it."
Obito chuckled. "Even as Hokage? Power for its own sake means nothing—fastest shinobi alive." He extended a hand. "Come prove it."
Behind him, Kabuto and Guren stepped forward. Guren's crystal threads danced like spider webs. Kabuto's eyes gleamed—he'd concealed Manda's summoning seal beneath his cloak.
The sea groaned.
The Three-Tails bellowed deep and loud, its glowing blue eyes locking briefly onto Minato.
A bond?
Then chaos exploded.
Mei & Ao vs. Kabuto & Guren
Mei surged forward, her mace whipping seawater into a spiral. "Ao—cover the flank!" She slammed the mace down, molten rock rippling toward Guren.
Ao activated his Byakugan. "Crystal jutsu... high-pressure precision. I'll break the threads."
He lashed out with Gentle Fist strikes, targeting the strands mid-air. Some shattered on contact—others retaliated. Guren flared her chakra, launching more threads that wrapped around Ao's limbs.
Ao growled, gathering water chakra in his palms. A blast of compressed air exploded outward, slicing free.
Mei didn't stop moving. She called on the Earth chakra, summoning a boulder that crashed down on Guren's flank. Shards of pink crystal shattered into the surf.
Guren grinned through the blood on her lip and answered with a barrage of crystal shards.
Kabuto slid into the opening, his kunai glowing with Mind-Transfer chakra. He lunged.
But Ao spun, letting the kunai strike the sand.
"Not today," Ao said, slamming Kabuto's wrist with a blade of water. His follow-up—Water Dragon Jutsu—surged like a spinning torrent, nearly consuming Kabuto.
Then came the roar.
Three-Tails Enters
The beach quaked. The Three-Tails barreled forward. Its tail sent Kabuto flying and tossed Guren aside like driftwood. A tsunami followed in its wake, water thundering onto shore.
Minato vs. Obito
Lightning split the sky.
Minato's kunai spun.
Obito vanished—appearing at Minato's side, fist cocked with obliterating chakra. Minato disappeared, then reappeared behind him—a kunai aimed at his back.
Obito smirked. "Predictable." A chakra pulse exploded from his sleeve, cracking Minato's ribs.
The Hokage grunted but didn't falter.
Obito phased into Kamui distortion, eyes burning. Minato vanished again—just before the attack connected—appearing a hundred meters away atop a jagged rock.
"Impressive," he muttered.
He sprang skyward—a streak of gold against storm clouds.
Obito tensed. "Summoning?"
Minato answered with light: Manda surged from the sea, summoned mid-air. The legendary serpent coiled, venom glinting from fangs. The Three-Tails roared in kind.
"Snake and turtle parting ways," Obito muttered, and summoned clones—perfect illusions flickering through Kamui space.
Minato hurled marked kunai in every direction. Yellow flashes erupted.
Manda's coils crushed several illusions. Obito burst free, launching Six Paths-infused shadow clones.
Minato danced through them—a storm of teleportation and death.
Bodies dropped. Clones vanished like smoke. Then—
Obito's real hand clamped Minato's wrist. "Still relying on these budget tricks?"
Minato blinked out of his grip, reappearing on the water's surface.
Splash.
Manda joined him, a buffer of scales and teeth.
The Beast Awakens
The Three-Tails howled again. Lightning flashed across its shell.
Minato turned. "Ao, Mei—hold the beast. If it's lost, so is Kirigakure!"
Ao responded instantly, summoning clawed hydra-shaped water constructs to grip the monster's limbs. Mei hurled salt bombs; they exploded in concussive chakra pulses, disrupting Obito's illusions.
Minato went for Obito, cloaked in gold light, his chakra near its peak.
But Obito raised his hand. Rinnegan and Byakugan flared.
A wave of black chakra engulfed Minato. He staggered.
The Three-Tails charged Obito. Its massive body crashed forward.
The battlefield trembled.
Obito caught Minato mid-collapse with a chakra tether. "This is your limit."
Minato whispered something, g—then released a surge. A burst of thunder sent both flying.
Manda wrapped around Minato, shielding him from a glowing sphere that detonated from above, blowing open a crater in the surf.
Obito emerged from the mist. "The clones don't matter. They're all me."
Minato's voice was calm steel. "I'm the Fourth Hokage. Let me show you why."
He moved.
Minato's Final Gambit
A series of Flying Thunder God kunai ripped through the air, spinning like falling stars. Obito's clones fell one by one, strings severed, until—
One struck home.
The kunai is embedded in Obito's chest. Chakra flared. His mask cracked. He gasped.
The Three-Tails snarled, its wrath hammering the coast. The island shuddered.
"You…" Obito choked, blood seeping from his lips. "You ruined everything."
Then, Kabuto and Guren appeared.
Guren grinned wickedly. "Show's over."
Kabuto grabbed Obito. They started retreating.
Minato took one step—
Flying Thunder God: Spiral Vacuum
He teleported beneath Obito, unleashing a perfect storm.
The vortex swallowed everything. Crystal webs shattered. Kabuto's summon was buried under Manda's crushing coils.
Minato struck Obito with a chakra-infused kunai. Salt and blood mixed.
Then—Storm Release: Heaven's Nova
Lightning detonated.
Obito flew backward, crashing through shattered trees and crystal. The bolt lit up the entire beach.
Obito fell.
Aftershock
The storm faded. Rain swept the battlefield.
Mei ran to Ao—both bleeding, both breathing. Alive.
Minato approached Obito. The mask was gone. One Rinnegan flickered faintly.
Obito groaned. "It's... not over."
Minato looked down, his eyes steady. "It ends tonight."
The moon broke through the clouds. Its pale light cast long, broken shadows.