This fight was just… beyond words.
Young Obito was completely stunned. In his head, only one thought kept looping.
Did anyone even remember?
Right now, Sasuke and Naruto were still just genin of Konoha.
And come to think of it… in that other parallel world, the version of him who died never even made it past Chūnin, did he?
He rubbed his face and stared at the crazed Sasuke across from him, now wielding the power of nine tailed beasts. Inside Naruto Uzumaki, the Uchiha could all tell Naruto wasn't just brute-forcing it with a Nine-Tails shadow clone.
Long ago, without Sasuke realizing it, Naruto had split off a shadow clone and hidden it away, letting it gather natural energy, quietly preparing Sage Mode.
And this Sage Mode wasn't ordinary.
If Sasuke could think of using Susanoo as armor and tapping into the tailed beasts' power, then Naruto could just as well think of using Kurama to convert natural energy and enter Nine-Tails Sage Mode.
"Ready, Kurama?"
"Yeah. Ready! Might be a bit… too much, though."
Because make no mistake—senjutsu was no weaker than the power Kaguya Ōtsutsuki brought from beyond the planet.
If chakra was an external power system…
Then senjutsu and jujutsu were the essence of this world itself, the primal force rooted in this planet.
Even the Rikudō Sennin had learned senjutsu at Mount Myōboku to defeat Kaguya. How could it possibly be inferior to chakra?
The Kurama clone vanished.
All of its chakra, experience, and memories poured back into Naruto Uzumaki at once.
The Uchiha and Naruto felt it together—that terrifying, surging power. When it all gathered into him, they almost forgot to breathe.
Once again, they couldn't help but marvel at the Shadow Clone Technique developed by the Second Hokage. One jutsu that could be used like countless jutsu—substitution, clones, training like a cheat…
And now even stockpiling chakra could be made this frightening.
Sasuke's power had grown beyond what Susanoo could contain, turning Susanoo into nothing but a shell, with tailed beast power as its core.
Naruto's power had grown beyond what even the Nine-Tails could contain, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed Kurama.
The Uchiha stood there dazed, feeling Naruto's strength, watching Sasuke inside Susanoo across from them, and thinking the same thing.
In this whole world, only these two could truly understand each other.
Child Sasuke searched through his tiny vocabulary for the right word. After thinking and thinking, he finally blurted out one that felt a little strange, but he couldn't come up with anything else.
Made for each other.
If Fugaku Uchiha, as a father, knew what his son was thinking, he might have passed out on the spot.
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the mission scroll was dripping cold sweat, fully aware of everyone's thoughts.
The final Indra's Arrow.
The final Yin–Yang Release: Rasenshuriken.
One clash drained every last bit of strength from both of them.
The sky split. Thunder raged. Wind howled. Even the statues of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju were obliterated.
'They… who won…?'
'Even the weather changed.'
'Were they really trying to kill each other?!'
They said that, but the Uchiha inside Naruto Uzumaki could all sense Naruto's true intent.
Sasuke really did mean to kill him.
But Naruto didn't.
From beginning to end, all he'd wanted was to pull Sasuke back to his side.
'Naruto…'
Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke could feel Naruto's state of mind, could feel the pain in his heart and the pain in his body.
'Why won't you give up on me… you idiot…'
Even the Nine-Tails kept reminding him that he really did want Naruto dead, and yet… why…?
Outside their consciousness, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha no longer had the strength to maintain Tailed Beast Mode or Susanoo.
Fist to flesh, the taijutsu exchange dragged Naruto Uzumaki back to their childhood at the Ninja Academy, back to those fights with Sasuke.
It was so familiar that even Child Sasuke couldn't let go of it.
And for Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke, the bleakness he felt from Naruto's heart was even worse.
"Again, again, again! Over and over!! Over and over!!! Over and over!!! Why won't you just hurry up and let me kill you?!"
"I can't… because I'm the one who can make peace with you…"
"The only one…"
!!!!
Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke's pitch-black eyes were full of grief.
Soon…
This would be the end.
After that, he didn't know what would happen.
That bastard Orochimaru had said Naruto became the Seventh Hokage, and that he himself was still alive.
But…
He could feel the hand on his left arm, a prosthetic patched together from White Zetsu matter and Hashirama's cells.
From then on, he would meet the conditions to awaken Wood Release and even a dual Rinnegan.
And out of selfishness, when he got those things from future Orochimaru, he used his Sharingan to copy Orochimaru's scientific techniques in that field perfectly.
If he really made it back, and that idiot was still alive, then let the two of them keep matching each other like mirrors.
And if that idiot was dead… then let that symmetry continue anyway. Let the souls of Indra and Ashura carry Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju's regrets, carry his and Naruto's regrets, and keep reincarnating through the cycle.
Chidori. Rasengan.
How much did each of them carry…?
Back then, Sasuke Uchiha only understood how sharp his Chidori was.
Now, he finally understood the weight of Naruto Uzumaki's Rasengan too.
This final clash—Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, young Itachi Uchiha, young Sasuke Uchiha, Obito Uchiha from other parallel worlds, and all the Uchiha from that parallel world on the eve of the clan's annihilation…
All of them held their breath, feeling the resolve in the two boys' hearts, and the tragic weight of fate bearing down on them.
"..."
The collision of Chidori and Rasengan made no sound at all. It swallowed everything in a wash of white daylight.
When that light faded, they found themselves scattered across Konoha—appearing one place after another.
Only then did everyone realize what this was.
'A life-flashing-before-your-eyes…?'
The kind people said only appeared in the instant before death.
'Right… Naruto Uzumaki once said that if he ever fought Sasuke, the ending would probably be only one thing—both of them dying together.'
'So that means…'
'They both died?!'
They saw it again.
The three posts at Training Ground Seven. The Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals on the bridge in the Land of Waves. The inn corridor shattered by Chidori. The rooftop of Konoha Hospital.
"You are the Nine-Tails. I am Uchiha."
Sasuke's words forced the agitated Uchiha to calm down.
"Because we were both pushed out by the village, you said we're brothers who share the same fate."
"That's not why! You really don't understand anything at all!!"
Back then, Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke hadn't understood. But now, inside Naruto's heart, he felt like he finally did.
It wasn't about two outcasts clinging together because they were pitiful.
It was…
No matter how far apart they were, whenever they had a quiet moment, the only person on their mind was each other. And when they met again, their eyes would lock onto each other and refuse to let go.
A bond that surpassed everything else. That was probably what he and Naruto were.
"I'm sorry, Grandma Tsunade. I promised you I wouldn't die before becoming Hokage."
Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke still remembered. That idiot was always making a racket in front of him, so when he heard Naruto apologizing to the Fifth Hokage, saying he couldn't keep chasing his dream anymore…
He suddenly understood that feeling.
He wanted Naruto to get what he wished for. He wanted him to be safe.
Only now, he understood.
But was it already too late…?
"Wait! Infinite Tsukuyomi!! If we all die, what happens to the Infinite Tsukuyomi?!"
Obito: Right! What about the Infinite Tsukuyomi?!
Even if my other self said they could count on Kakashi to carry the future, if it's only Kakashi and Sakura Haruno left… how could they possibly hold it up?!
Just imagining Kakashi growing old, with only Sakura left to handle his funeral someday, made Obito's chest ache like it was being crushed.
Right then, he wanted nothing more than to rush out, grab Sasuke by the collar, and slap him hard, see if he still wanted to destroy the world. If he still did, then the slap clearly wasn't enough. Give him three more.
Naruto suddenly vanished from the space where only the two of them had been.
Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke remembered—it was at this exact moment that Naruto arrived in the mission scroll world.
Now, following Naruto, his consciousness slowly surfaced.
They weren't dead. Just as Orochimaru had said, each of them had lost an arm.
Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke could accept it. But the Uchiha clan members couldn't.
Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, and young Itachi Uchiha all felt the pain radiating from Naruto—intense blood loss, the numbness in his right hand, and the searing agony where his right arm should've been.
Then they looked to the side, at Sasuke, still unconscious.
His arms were… gone. Both sleeves were empty. Blood pooled and dripped, drop after drop, the sound making their eyes go wide and their pupils shrink.
"!!!!"
Naruto and Sasuke… these two kids…
Each of them had lost an arm.
When they'd met Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke before, he wore a black glove on his left hand, so they'd never noticed that his left arm was a prosthetic.
Child Sasuke clenched his teeth. It hurt too much. He was still so young that pain swallowed everything whole. With grief choking him, all he could do was scream inside Naruto's consciousness, sucking in sharp breaths.
And when they thought about how Naruto had taken on even deeper despair and loneliness—how he'd lost an arm just to stop Sasuke from walking the wrong path—the Uchiha felt, for one dizzy moment, like they could believe in love again.
Sasuke woke up.
Seeing their condition, he turned his head and asked, "Why would you pay that kind of price just to be tied to me?"
It was exactly what Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke desperately wanted to know too.
But…
Right now, he wasn't Sasuke Uchiha.
He was Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto's thoughts didn't need to be heard with ears. All he had to do was feel them.
Naruto's true feelings…
His true feelings were…
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