The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Roots split apart. Ice cracked. The air smelled of ozone and blood—sharp, electric, violent.
In the dim tunnel, Naruto stood between Fū and Menma, his body coiled like a drawn blade. Beside him, Haku was bloodied but unwavering, her senbon glinting in her fingers like falling stars. Fū, pressed against the wall, shook with a chakra not entirely her own—caught between the grip of fear and the rise of fury.
Another rumble echoed above them. Dust fell like snow from the ceiling.
The battle on the surface raged on. Crow and Wraith were still fighting—holding the line against Hidan and Kakuzu.
"You went this far to protect a Jinchūriki?" Menma sneered, idly spinning a kunai between his fingers. His eyes, bright with hunger and darkness, locked onto Naruto. "You don't even have a bijū, brother. And yet here you are—playing hero."
Naruto drew his kunai slowly, storm-charged chakra bubbling around his hand. His voice was low, but it cut deep.
"I'm not pretending," he said. "And I'm not your brother anymore."
Menma flinched. Barely. But the words dug deep—beyond bitterness, past indoctrination, past even Danzo and Orochimaru.
Haku stepped forward, her breath shallow but steady. "We don't have time for your speeches, Menma. You're outnumbered."
"I'm never outmatched," he replied coldly—and his hands blurred through seals.
A sudden detonation of wind slammed through the tunnel.
Naruto lunged toward Fū, shielding her with his body as debris filled the air. Through the chaos, Haku slipped like mist, her mirrors blinking into place just as Menma dove in.
He hit the rock wall hard, gasping. But his fury only deepened.
"You're fast," he growled at Haku. "But you bleed like everyone else."
"And you talk too much," she countered, sharp and cold.
Naruto helped Fū to her feet. "We need to move. Now. Haku—get her to the fallback line."
"No," Fū snapped.
Her eyes flared. Her chakra pulsed. She stepped forward, not back.
"I'm done running."
The wings of the Seven-Tails shimmered behind her—chakra wild, vibrant, and alive. Not malevolent. Just untamed. Beautiful, even.
"You're all fighting for me," she said. "So I'll fight too."
Naruto frowned. "Don't give in to anger. That's what they want."
"I'm not giving in," Fū said, a smile blooming like spring. "I'm taking control."
From her hands, chakra flowed in soft green waves. Spores, vines, and glowing motes burst from the ground beneath her. Her wings unfolded—six of them now. A carapace glinted along her back.
Menma's smirk faltered. "She's stabilizing her cloak already?"
The pressure in the tunnel changed. Before another word could be spoken, the world cracked again.
This time, it wasn't from underground.
Above—boom.
A massive crater where Hidan once stood. His body was shredded—scattered like a broken doll. Yet still, he laughed, even torn apart.
Kakuzu stood beside him, battered, three masks torn from his body and floating ominously in the air.
"They're retreating?!" Crow's voice crackled through the comms.
"No," Wraith growled. "They're regrouping. Another one's coming."
And then—it appeared.
Zetsu emerged from a hollow tree trunk. Half white. Half black. A whisper and a growl at once.
"They didn't get Fū," Black Zetsu hissed.
White Zetsu chuckled. "But it's okay. Tobi said to begin Phase Two anyway."
They vanished into the forest.
Kirigakure, shoreline.
Winds howled across jagged cliffs as waves crashed against the rocks.
Minato Namikaze stood knee-deep in seawater, cloak billowing. His gaze was locked onto the monstrous form emerging from the ocean depths.
The Three-Tails.
Massive. Coral-encrusted. Eyes like distant moons.
Across from him, Tobi floated, arms crossed, masked and motionless.
"I figured you'd show, Namikaze," Tobi said calmly.
Behind Minato, Mei Terumī and her team moved into formation.
"You've got nerve showing up here," Ao snapped.
"I'm not here to fight," Tobi replied. "Not yet. This is a warning."
On the horizon, more masked figures surfaced—Akatsuki's high command, scattered like shadows.
Minato's jaw clenched. "We're not surrendering the Three-Tails."
Tobi tilted his head. "It's not up to you."
The Three-Tails roared. The sea rose like a summoned god.
Underground.
Naruto moved first, chakra lashing outward. He feinted left—then slammed into Menma with a charged uppercut, Storm Release sparking through the air.
Menma parried, and both were launched into the air—a blur of fists, kunai, and flying chakra.
Haku sealed off Menma's escape with ice mirrors. Fū filled the tunnel with thick, glowing spores that masked their chakra signatures and dulled Menma's edge.
"You're not strong enough to stop me," Menma grunted.
Naruto grinned. "Then why do you keep losing?"
Their fists collided—boom—and chakra erupted like a second sun.
The ceiling cracked. Light poured in.
Moonlight.
Crow's voice echoed in their comms. "Extraction zone's clear. Hidan's down. We need you out—now!"
Naruto, bloodied, nodded. "We're on the way."
But Menma stood still.
He looked at his own bleeding hand. Then at Naruto.
And smiled.
"Next time," he said, "I won't hold back."
He vanished into the wind.
Akatsuki Hideout.
Pain stood before the Gedo Mazo, its eyes glowing dimly.
The Two-Tails was sealed.
Kisame arrived, smirking. "Too late for the Seven-Tails. But something's stirring in Kiri."
Pain nodded. "Then we accelerate."
Konan stepped forward. "And the boy?"
"The abandoned one?" Pain's Rinnegan narrowed. "We'll use him. When the time comes."
Later, in Takigakure.
Fū sat quietly in the room Shibuki had offered. Her hands trembled slightly, but her heart felt... steady.
Naruto leaned against the wall, mask off. Tired. Silent.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm alive," Fū whispered.
"That's more than they were counting on."
She turned to him. "Why do you always put everything on the line for someone like me?"
Naruto looked out the window, at the moonlight glinting off shattered rooftops.
"Because someone left me once," he said. "And I swore I'd never leave someone else behind like that."
Haku appeared in the doorway, her arms crossed, lips tugging upward faintly.
Fū didn't answer. She just reached out—and took Naruto's hand.