The hillside was devastated by recent explosions. Dust and chakra still danced in the air like ghosts of previous battles. In the middle of the open field, two titans stared each other down.
Naruto Uzumaki. Killer Bee.
There was no more diplomacy.
The eyes of the Kage were all there — fixed, tense.
Tsunade clenched her fists. Deep down, she saw flashes of the blond boy saying with that silly smile that he would become Hokage. And of Jiraiya, once beside her, smiling proudly.
— You've really grown… Naruto… — she murmured, a lump in her throat.
Jiraiya echoed in her memory:
"This boy will change everything, Tsunade. Even with that reckless way… he'll surprise the world."
She thought:
"Sasuke… was that what moved you this far, Naruto?"
The Raikage, on the other hand, remained still as a mountain.
— Bee doesn't lose. Not even to this brat — he growled, eyes narrowed. — He is my spear.
Mei, Gaara, and Ōnoki watched in silence. It was more than a fight. It was a clash between two futures.
In the center of the field, Naruto spoke loudly:
— The Leaf never wanted to dominate anyone! — his voice carried conviction. The orange aura vibrated around him, tails flickering like fire about to consume everything. — These accusations against Jin-Woo are just fear disguised as justice!
Killer Bee didn't respond with rhyme. He only narrowed his eyes. He was serious. Silent.
Inside him, the Hachibi roared:
"This boy… has fire in his chest. But words don't heal the wounds of the ninja world."
On the other side, Kurama growled deep within Naruto:
"The Eight-Tails is strong. But you're not going to lose, brat. Because you've got something he doesn't: my will."
Naruto moved forward. The ground exploded.
Bee responded the next instant. Seven swords appeared, dancing around him. His movements were almost hypnotic — a lethal tornado of steel and chakra.
— Yo, blondie, get ready for the show!
I'll bring you thunder, then horror, you know! — he said, spinning in the air and slicing the space with his blades.
But Naruto, with the Nine -Tails' chakra blazing around him, leapt through the strikes, dodging with surgical precision. Then, with a roar, he landed a direct punch to Bee's abdomen, launching him like a projectile.
Bee spun in the air, landed on his feet, and spat blood.
— You're fast, alright! But I rhyme and fight!
Now feel the storm, from the fury's bite!
He slammed his fists together. The Hachibi roared.
Black and purple chakra exploded, forming a partial armor with horns, a tail, and glowing eyes.
Bee gritted his teeth. From his mouth, he began forming a Bijūdama.
Naruto responded without hesitation.
— Rasenshuriken!
The air snapped.
Two colossal forces collided: the Eight-Tails' black beast sphere versus the spiraling energy of Naruto's perfected chakra.
Explosion.
The earth shook. The sky opened. Trees vanished. Rocks were reduced to dust.
Both were blown in opposite directions, hitting the edges of the smoldering crater that formed.
The battlefield almost stopped, and all eyes turned to Naruto and Bee's fight.
"Go Naruto!" cheered Sakura, while the other ninjas watched the battle in awe.
Naruto fell to his knees. Blood dripped from his mouth. His chest heaved.
"Kurama… he's coming to kill."
"And you'll let him? If you stop now, he crushes you. Fight."
On the other side, Bee limped, but his eyes were still sharp.
— You're fierce, no doubt, Naruto. But that don't clear your shadow.
Reputation weighs heavy, and your village brings sorrow.
Naruto growled. His eyes now belonged to the Fox.
— I don't need your approval. I fight for the truth. And for what I saw in Jin-Woo's eyes.
With a roar, four tails emerged. His flesh burned. Bones creaked.
Kurama roared within him.
— GO!!!
Naruto ran, breaking the ground with every step.
Bee answered, releasing the full mantle of the Eight-Tails. Horns gleamed. Chakra limbs surrounded his real body. His eyes now belonged to a demon ready for war.
Collision.
Fists clashed. The leaking chakra was so intense it warped the air.
Lightning struck the sky. The earth cracked open another crater.
In the middle of the impact…
Naruto saw flashes. The Hachibi's pain. Bee's fight for the Cloud. A loneliness he knew too well.
Bee saw too.
The blond boy fighting as if the world depended on it.
"He's like me…"
"But that doesn't mean I can back down!"
Bee spun midair and launched chakra orbs, floating like living bombs.
Naruto responded: clones. Lots of clones.
Twenty. Forty. All with Rasengans.
Total clash.
Explosions filled the field. Chunks of earth flew like giant shurikens.
Bee tried to cut the real Naruto with one of his swords. Naruto ducked at the exact time, spun, and landed a chakra-imbued kick to Bee's chin, launching him skyward.
Bee smashed through rocks. Fell into a distant lake.
Naruto dropped to his knees once more.
Kurama muttered:
— One well-placed hit and it's over.
Naruto stood, staggering.
From the lake, Bee emerged. Blood on his face. Eyes still burning.
They stared each other down.
They charged again.
Naruto moved first.
His chakra exploded in a golden cascade — Kurama Mode, full fusion with the Nine-Tailed Beast. Each step left a crater, his speed a blur, his eyes ablaze.
Bee responded in kind. Hachibi roared inside him, releasing Full Chakra Cloak, taking on the muscular, monstrous form with swaying tentacles. They collided like meteors.
BOOM!
The impact sent seismic waves for miles, uprooting trees, cracking the ground, and halting even the ninjas fighting nearby. Kankuro, from afar, watched in terror:
— This is… inhuman.
Naruto spun in the air, summoning two clones, one on each side, both with flaming Rasengans. They attacked in sync.
Bee spun his tentacles, destroying the clones, but didn't see the real Naruto appear beneath with a Rasenshuriken wrapped in blazing chakra.
— This is for Konoha!!
BZZZZZZZZZ!!
Bee was blasted back, demolishing an entire hill. Dust rose, rocks flew. The ground trembled.
But he got up, bloody… and laughing.
— He's a monster… like me. — he spat blood. — Let's see if your Leaf can handle a death rap!
With a hand seal, Bee spat a blast of Black Ink that spread like a curtain, hiding his movement. Naruto tried to retreat, but three tentacles emerged from the fog, grabbing his arms.
From above, Bee descended with a Bijuu Spear, a dark and deadly chakra concentrate.
— DIEEEE!!
But Naruto smiled. A clone appeared behind Bee with a giant Rasengan the size of a house.
— I don't fight alone, idiot.
KA-BOOOOOM!!!
Both were thrown far. Silence. Dust. The muffled sound of thunder.
Naruto rose first. Staggering, exhausted. Kurama's light flickering across his body.
— Damn… if I fall here, the Leaf turns to ash.
Kurama grumbled:
— You're not falling. I gave you my chakra. Now show me why I chose you.
Naruto growled and charged again, punching Bee as he tried to stand. Each punch was an earthquake. Each kick, an avalanche. The field became ruins, craters forming with every traded blow.
Both were at their limit.
Naruto with his last condensed chakra sphere. Bee with his final breaths from the Hachibi.
They went all in.
The air was torn.
The energy exploded.
And then...
— ENOUGH!!! — like a divine spear, the Raikage fell from the sky like a bolt of lightning, hitting the ground between Bee and Naruto. The thunder scorched the earth around.
— This ends now!!
But before his fist could strike Naruto, a flash appeared, and Jiraiya appeared with a grave smile and deadly eyes.
— Gonna hit one of my students without permission? Then you'll have to face me, Lightning Boy.
Thunder cracked in the air.
The ground shattered as four monstrous presences entered the scene, one from each side, like ancient gods judging the battle of mortals.
Tsunade, wrapped in her regeneration seal, jumped in front of Naruto, fists clenched.
Mizukage, cloaked in boiling mist, charged toward her with hatred in her eyes.
— Your village is behind all this!
— Then you'll have to get through me, princess! — Tsunade roared.
On the other side, Gaara landed softly, his eyes meeting the old man descending by levitation: Ōnoki.
— You will not touch Naruto. Nor the name of the Leaf.
— Your boy… has grown. — murmured Ōnoki. — Then let's see if you can endure.
The war... had restarted. But now, it was between Kage.