Inside the Konoha finals arena.
Ninja from the Hidden Sand, the Hidden Sound, and Konoha were locked in a full-scale brawl. The clang of metal, the splatter of blood, screams, cries of pain, and roars of fury rose without end.
The most terrifying sight of all was at the center of the arena: a colossal tanuki rearing back with a howl, its body inscribed with blue-white patterns, assembled from vast quantities of churning sand.
Shukaku, the One-Tail!
"ROAR!"
Shukaku bellowed and whipped its tail, forcing Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto back, then began gathering intense Wind Release chakra in its mouth, the airflow swirling with tremendous violence.
Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!
Boom!
Shukaku launched a massive ball of highly compressed chakra from its jaws. The target was not the ninja in front of it, but the spectator stands behind them.
Kakashi's heart lurched at the sight. "Sakura! Naruto! Genma! Protect the civilians!"
"Right!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Leaf Hurricane Dragon Roar!"
The words had barely left his mouth before all four released their techniques simultaneously, meeting the enormous compressed air projectile head-on and stopping Shukaku's attack cold.
"Damn it!"
Naruto's jaw was tight. They'd had more than a few clean openings to land hits on this monster since it appeared, but the arena layout was working against them.
With the civilians in the stands still present, they were forced to spend a tremendous amount of effort protecting them, leaving all of them constantly restricted in what they could do.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Glorious! It's been so long since I've been let out. Let me have some real fun!"
Shukaku erupted into frenzied laughter, its murky, pale yellow eyes even more unsettling up close.
In its mouth, tiny points of chakra compressed to their absolute limit, rapidly condensing into a single enormous black sphere.
Tailed Beast Ball!
A technique formed by compressing Yin and Yang chakra in a ratio of two to eight, shaped into a sphere. Capable of collapsing mountains and splitting the earth.
"That's..." Kakashi went still, his expression shifting into something close to alarm.
They could hold against Shukaku's Drilling Air Bullet, but a Tailed Beast Ball was a different matter entirely.
"Get ready to give everything you have!"
"Understood, Teacher Kakashi!"
Sensing the danger radiating from that black sphere, even the normally carefree Naruto's face turned serious. A massive surge of chakra erupted from his body. He was going to open the Eight Inner Gates.
"Little one. You can use my power."
Just as Naruto was about to activate the Eight Inner Gates, a low, seductive whisper rose from somewhere deep within his mind.
Naruto's brow furrowed. He didn't respond.
"With the strength you have right now, you can't protect the Konoha behind you. Come. Use my power. Just a little. You can beat this tanuki senseless, just like you did back in the Hidden Waterfall Village."
The Nine-Tails, finding no response, did not give up. Its voice grew more insistent and persuasive.
"You're the Nine-Tails, aren't you?" Naruto replied in his mind, neither warmly nor coldly. That sudden unexplained surge of chakra back in the Hidden Waterfall Village had felt off to him even then.
Afterward, through conversations with Jiraiya, and putting it together with everything the village had whispered about him over the years, the identity of the monster fox within him.
He wasn't so slow that he couldn't figure out where that power had come from, given enough time.
"I don't need your power. I'm a taijutsu ninja. My teacher told me to trust in my own strength, to hold firm in my own conviction, and never rely on something outside myself."
"You..."
The Nine-Tails went silent for a moment. Across a thousand years of the shinobi world, countless ninja had dreamed of obtaining its power.
This brat was turning down something it was offering freely?
How infuriating.
"Hmph. Fine. Ungrateful little runt."
After that, the Nine-Tails fell completely silent. It said nothing further. It hadn't been offering its power out of generosity, of course.
The sight of Shukaku's gleeful "the air of freedom tastes so sweet" attitude had irritated it deeply.
It had wanted to use Naruto to give its old rival a serious thrashing.
"Gate of Opening, open! Gate of Healing, open! Gate of Life, open! Gate of Pain, open!"
Naruto opened four Gates in rapid succession. He could already feel himself brushing up against the threshold of the fifth, the Gate of Limit. He was just about to push through it when someone beat him to the punch by a considerable margin.
Boom!
"Guy!"
A figure launched itself at Shukaku at a speed that seemed to make the very air tremble around it, and drove a single punch straight into the beast.
In an instant, the force compressed into a high-pressure air projectile shaped like a tiger.
Boom!
A thunderous impact rang out. Shukaku, still in the middle of forming its Tailed Beast Ball, let out a pained roar.
Its mountain-like body was sent flying dozens of meters, crashing down onto an open area of ground, sending clouds of dust erupting in every direction. The earth shook and shuddered without stopping.
"Guy!?"
Kakashi blinked, then quickly broke into a look of genuine relief.
"Well, Kakashi, looks like I get another point on you!"
After landing, Guy gave a thumbs-up, his teeth gleaming brightly. He had entered the Seventh Gate. His face was strained and fierce, veins pressing hard against his skin.
Kakashi gave a nod, not bothering to argue. He looked toward where Guy had been fighting a moment ago.
Baki, the Hidden Sand jonin, lay on the ground in a state that could have been either unconscious or dead.
Kankuro and Temari sat nearby looking as though they had genuinely begun questioning the nature of existence, bound thoroughly by Guy's three students.
Kakashi let out a quiet breath of relief.
"Your talent for taijutsu is really something, Naruto."
Guy glanced over at Naruto, who had opened four Gates, and laughed. "We should explore the spirit of youth together sometime!"
"Let's save that conversation for later." Kakashi stepped forward and looked toward Shukaku, which was slowly pushing itself back up in the distance. His voice dropped. "Right now, we finish with Shukaku first."
"Right!"
"Sakura!"
Kakashi called out sharply, pulling Sakura's attention away. She had been distracted, glancing around with obvious unease.
He said in a firm, low voice, "Sasuke will be fine. Focus on the fight."
"I understand, Teacher Kakashi!"
Sakura's eyes steadied. She nodded.
From a rooftop some distance away, Sasuke took in the scene. Shukaku, being ground down under the combined pressure of Kakashi and Might Guy, was barely holding on.
He turned his gaze toward the Four Violet Flames Formation. But the lush canopy of trees and the dense growth of wood filling the sealed space blocked his view, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
He watched in silence for a moment. Then he turned and headed toward the Hokage Tower.
He moved through the building with practiced ease, neutralizing every surveillance device at each corner with a quick jutsu as he went. Eventually he reached a room adjacent to the Hokage's office.
This room was usually under the protection of ANBU operatives, with barrier seals inscribed throughout. It housed various important documents and records, along with the Scroll of Seals.
Right now, the entire village of Konoha had erupted into open combat. Everyone with any fighting ability had rushed to support the battle. Even the administrative staff were doing what they could to help. The Hokage Tower was completely empty. That suited Sasuke perfectly.
A flicker of black flame rose. The fire that burned through anything and everything carved an opening through the barrier before him. Sasuke pushed the door open and stepped inside.
He found everything inside perfectly intact and undisturbed, and allowed himself a small measure of relief.
He had no real understanding of barrier techniques. Bypassing this one had been a minor issue from his perspective.
What he had genuinely worried about was whether the barrier might automatically destroy everything inside if it detected a forcible breach. That would have left him with nothing.
He walked forward, opened the massive Scroll of Seals at its center, and skimmed through it carefully. Once he had confirmed it was the genuine article, he sealed it into a storage scroll.
He rose and pulled a few books from the shelf nearby, glanced through them, and found them to be largely what amounted to classified records pertaining to Konoha and the Land of Fire. His interest faded.
He set them down, shook his head, and walked out.
Summer. The afternoon sun was blinding and fierce.
At the same moment Sasuke had stepped into the Hokage Tower, the grand confrontation between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage reached its end.
The Third Hokage fell. Orochimaru's arms were sealed, his soul shattered.
Sasuke had just stepped back out of the Hokage Tower when he saw the Four Violet Flames Formation collapse in the distance.
Several figures rushed away, shielding the gravely injured Orochimaru as they fled.
On the other side, a large number of Konoha ninja were converging quickly on the site of the battle, moving to check on the Third Hokage's condition.
Sasuke swept his gaze slowly across Konoha spread out before him. Something moved through his eyes, unreadable and brief. He stood in silence for a long moment, then said quietly:
"Goodbye, Konoha."
The moment the words left his lips, his figure was gone from where he stood.
On the sixth of August, in the sixty-first year of Konoha's founding, the rogue ninja Orochimaru joined forces with the Hidden Sand to strike Konoha during the Chunin Exam, triggering the Konoha Crush.
The aftermath was devastating. Konoha suffered severe casualties, with heavy losses among both civilians and ninja, and enormous material destruction.
Most significant of all, the Third Hokage, who had protected Konoha for decades, died in battle. When the news spread, the shinobi world was shaken.
But what the world did not know was that the Third Hokage was not the only important figure to perish in that invasion.
This was a day when both light and shadow passed from the world.
___
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