The air itself seemed to vibrate with malevolent energy as the massive golem continued its ominous ritual. Standing atop the Nine-Tails' materialized chakra form, Naruto felt every hair on his body stand on end. The creature before them was no longer just a vessel—it was becoming something far more terrifying.
"Then we should interrupt the movement of that guy before his chakra is fully condensed!" Naruto shouted over the deafening hum of gathering power, his voice carrying both determination and underlying fear.
The pressure in the air was suffocating. Even from this distance, Naruto could feel the raw malice radiating from the golem as it drew upon the chakra of five different tailed beasts. Each beast's unique signature was distinct yet horrifyingly unified under Madara's control—a symphony of destruction that made Naruto's very soul recoil.
If that monstrosity successfully completed its technique and unleashed a Tailed Beast Ball powered by five different bijuu, the devastation would be beyond imagination. The Iron Country would be wiped from existence, and the shockwaves alone could reach the other hidden villages.
"You can try..." Nine-Tails paused mid-sentence, its usually confident tone carrying an uncharacteristic hesitation that immediately caught Naruto's attention.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, his eyes never leaving the golem but his concern evident. In all their time together, he'd rarely heard such uncertainty from the mighty Kyuubi.
The Nine-Tails' response came slowly, each word weighted with grim knowledge. "Right now, Madara is using the Rinnegan to control the chakra of the golem and the tailed beasts sealed within it. The process requires precise manipulation of five different chakra natures simultaneously. If we forcibly interrupt it during the condensation phase, the resulting chakra backlash will cause a violent explosion inside the golem itself."
Naruto's eyes widened. "What does that mean for—"
"It will hurt both the golem and the tailed beasts trapped inside," Kyuubi continued, its mental voice heavy with the weight of experience. "The bijuu aren't just power sources to that thing—they're living beings, conscious and suffering. An internal explosion could cause them agonizing pain, possibly even temporary dissolution of their chakra forms."
The moral weight of the situation crashed down on Naruto like a physical blow. His hands clenched into fists atop the Nine-Tails' head, knuckles white with tension. The other tailed beasts were his friends now. The thought of causing them pain, even to save countless lives, made his stomach churn.
"But this is the only method available at the moment," Kyuubi urged, its voice growing more urgent as the golem's chakra continued to intensify. "Go ahead, Naruto! Time is running out!"
The Nine-Tails had been under Madara's control before, subjugated by those accursed Sharingan eyes. It knew intimately how the man operated, how he manipulated tailed beast chakra with cold efficiency. If Madara had been given enough time to properly synchronize the chakra of five tailed beasts, even the Nine-Tails at full power would struggle against such a technique.
The window of opportunity was rapidly closing. Every second they hesitated, Madara's control grew stronger, the technique more stable. Even if they acted now, the probability of successfully disrupting the process was painfully small.
But after learning about these cruel realities, Naruto found himself paralyzed by indecision. His entire being rebelled against the idea of causing his friends pain, even inadvertently.
"If that's the case, we can only use other methods," Naruto said, his voice tight with conflict.
"Don't waste any more time!" the Nine-Tails snapped, its frustration bleeding through their mental link. "The tailed beasts are immortal beings of chakra, Naruto. Even if they suffer injury, they will recover given time. But if we fail here, if that technique completes, there won't be anything left to recover!"
The logic was sound, the urgency undeniable. But Naruto's heart refused to accept such cold calculation.
"I know the practical reasons," Naruto replied, his blue eyes blazing with unwavering resolve, "but I won't let my friends get hurt easily. There has to be another way."
Deep in his heart, Naruto felt a familiar warmth—the presence of his parents, always there in moments of greatest need. Their love, their sacrifice, their unwavering belief in his ability to find solutions others couldn't see. Drawing strength from that connection, he whispered internally, Mom and Dad, I'm going to use that forbidden technique you taught me. Please lend me your strength.
In front of them, the golem had dropped to all fours, its massive form trembling with barely contained power. The creature's mouth began to glow with an ominous light as rich, dense chakra gathered at an alarming rate. The very air around its maw distorted from the sheer concentration of energy.
Suddenly, Naruto's eyes snapped open with new determination. His body moved with fluid precision, and the Nine-Tails beneath him responded instantly to his intent. The great fox raised its massive head skyward and opened its jaws wide, revealing gleaming fangs as long as telephone poles.
Buzz!
Concentrated chakra began forming in front of the Nine-Tails' mouth, but this wasn't just any ordinary Tailed Beast Ball. Naruto was pouring everything into this technique—every lesson from Minato, every moment of training, every ounce of his determination to protect those he cared about.
"Naruto..." Kushina's voice reached him through their chakra link, her spiritual presence trembling with maternal worry. "Do you really intend to match the golem's power directly? A Tailed Beast Ball clash at this scale..."
Her concern was justified and born from experience. "But if we fail, if your technique falters even slightly, the backlash could kill you instantly."
Even Kushina, who had achieved perfect synchronization with the Nine-Tails during her time as its jinchuuriki, had never successfully formed a complete Tailed Beast Ball while in the chakra manifestation mode. The technique required absolute unity between human and bijuu consciousness, a level of trust and coordination that few had ever achieved.
Minato had taught the theoretical framework to Naruto during their brief reunion, explaining the precise chakra ratios and mental discipline required. But theory and practice were vastly different things. So far, Naruto had only succeeded once, and that had been under much less pressure.
But something was different this time. As chakra began gathering in front of Naruto's palm—simultaneously appearing before the Nine-Tails' mouth—the condensation speed far exceeded anything the golem was achieving. The energy came together with startling efficiency, forming a perfect sphere of destructive black chakra that continued to expand with each passing second.
In an impossibly short timeframe, Naruto had condensed the Nine-Tails' remaining chakra reserves into a massive Tailed Beast Ball that measured nearly two-thirds the size of the great fox itself. The technique was flawless, its construction stable and devastating.
"It actually succeeded?" both Kyuubi and Kushina exclaimed in unison, their voices filled with shocked disbelief.
Even the Nine-Tails, ancient and experienced as it was, had never seen such rapid mastery of such an advanced technique. The level of chakra control and mental discipline required should have taken years to develop, yet Naruto had achieved it in moments of desperate need.
"I won't give you the chance to use your full strength!" Naruto declared, his eyes blazing with fierce determination as he locked gazes with the distant figure of Madara.
He understood the tactical situation perfectly. The Nine-Tails, depleted from their previous battles, couldn't match the golem's raw power in a prolonged engagement. Their only hope lay in speed and precision—striking before Madara could fully harness the chakra of five tailed beasts.
"Fire!"
The Tailed Beast Ball, containing every ounce of the Nine-Tails' remaining chakra, erupted forward like a miniature black sun. The very air screamed as it passed, leaving a trail of distorted space in its wake. The ground beneath cracked from the mere pressure of its passing.
"Impossible! How can his condensation speed exceed mine?" Even Madara, legendary as he was, felt genuine surprise. His centuries of experience told him that what he'd just witnessed shouldn't be possible.
With no time for complex strategies, Madara was forced into a desperate gambit. The golem's own Tailed Beast Ball, though only partially formed and unstable, was launched forward to intercept Naruto's attack. The creature's massive jaws stretched wide as the incomplete technique roared forth.
BOOM!
The collision was apocalyptic. Two spheres of concentrated destruction, each containing enough chakra to level mountains, met in midair above the battlefield. The impact created a massive crater in the earth below, the ground simply unable to withstand the gravitational forces generated by their clash.
For a moment, the techniques seemed evenly matched, swirling around each other in a deadly dance of annihilation. But gradually, Naruto's fully-formed Tailed Beast Ball began to gain the upper hand, its superior construction and complete chakra integration allowing it to push against Madara's hastily-prepared technique.
The two spheres of destruction rose higher into the sky, their continued collision creating ripples of force that even the massive combatants below couldn't ignore. Sasuke's Susanoo, Madara's own chakra construct, and the golem itself all had to raise defensive measures as waves of raw energy washed over the battlefield.
The diffused chakra light painted everything in stark, unnatural colors—first illuminating Naruto and the golem in ghostly radiance, then spreading outward to bathe the entire landscape in otherworldly illumination.
"This power... the Namikaze family truly is extraordinary," Sasuke murmured from within his Susanoo, his Sharingan barely able to track the energy patterns swirling above. He'd known Naruto was strong, but witnessing this level of raw power still left him shaken.
BOOM!
The explosion, when it finally came, was beyond description. The two Tailed Beast Balls, having reached critical instability, detonated simultaneously in a burst of light that temporarily turned night into day. The shockwave that followed was strong enough to reach the southeastern coast of the Iron Country, creating massive tsunamis that would be felt for hundreds of miles.
The residual energy, formed from nearly all of the Nine-Tails' chakra and a significant portion of the golem's accumulated power, created a dome of destruction that enveloped most of the Iron Country. Even nations bordering the battlefield would feel tremors from the explosion.
At the Allied Forces Headquarters, the sensory division was in chaos. Shikaku, coordinating the intelligence network, felt his blood run cold as the readings came in.
"This chakra signature... it's definitely Naruto and the Nine-Tails," he reported, his usually calm voice tight with concern. "But the scale of this technique is beyond anything we anticipated."
The joint forces' sensory networks, spread across multiple battlefields, all registered the same impossible reading. Chakra levels that should have been theoretical maximums were being casually exceeded by a sixteen-year-old boy.
"That child possesses such devastating power?" The question rippled through command centers across the ninja world as the readings were transmitted to various battle groups.
On distant battlefields, ninjas paused in their own conflicts to stare at the crimson light painting the horizon. The explosion had been visible for hundreds of miles, a stark reminder of the stakes involved in this war.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered, her Byakugan active despite the distance. Her pure white eyes reflected the distant explosion, and her innocent face showed a complex mixture of awe, worry, and deep admiration. She pressed her hands to her chest, feeling her heart race with concern for the boy who had always inspired her to be stronger.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, a small figure with bright blonde hair and determined eyes watched the distant light show with obvious pride.
"I knew it! Big brother really is the most amazing ninja in the world!" Chiharu exclaimed, her delicate features glowing with sisterly pride. Despite her young age, she understood the significance of what she was witnessing. Her brother wasn't just fighting—he was standing against legends and holding his own.
Throughout the various battlefields, ninjas from all the hidden villages began to take notice of the two young men who had stood beside the Fourth Hokage during the joint forces assembly. The sons of the Yellow Flash were proving themselves worthy of their legendary father's legacy.
The explosion continued to paint the sky in shades of crimson and gold for what felt like an eternity before gradually beginning to dissipate. As the light faded, the true scope of the devastation became apparent.
On the primary battlefield, Uchiha Madara's expression had grown thunderous. His legendary pride, built over decades of being considered the pinnacle of shinobi power, was taking blow after blow. First, he'd been unable to quickly defeat Minato, the current generation's Hokage. Now, he'd actually been matched in a technique clash by Minato's son—a mere teenager who should have been utterly outclassed.
But victory often came at a price, and this exchange was no exception.
The Nine-Tails' chakra manifestation was flickering like a candle in the wind, its form becoming increasingly translucent as the energy that maintained it dissipated. Simultaneously, the golden chakra cloak surrounding Naruto began to fade, its brilliant light dimming to nothing more than faint wisps.
"Hehe... I've completely run out of chakra," Naruto admitted with a rueful smile, though his eyes still blazed with undefeated spirit. The Tailed Beast Ball clash had been successful in preventing the golem from using its full power, but the technique had consumed literally every reserve of chakra the Nine-Tails possessed.
The golem, by contrast, still radiated menacing energy despite having expended considerable power. Though damaged and somewhat depleted, it remained a formidable threat with enough chakra for continued battle.
ROAR!
The creature's bellow shook the very foundations of the earth as it instinctively recognized Naruto as a significant threat. From its gaping maw, a massive dragon of transparent chakra erupted—a technique born of pure instinct and rage rather than Madara's calculated control. The dragon's translucent form twisted through the air with predatory grace, its ethereal jaws opening wide enough to swallow Naruto whole.
In his current state, completely drained of chakra, Naruto had no means of defense or escape. His body felt like lead, every muscle screaming from the exertion of the previous technique. Even basic movement seemed impossible.
Yet despite the mortal danger, Naruto's expression remained calm, almost serene. There was no panic in his eyes, no desperate scrambling for a solution that didn't exist.
Swish!
Just as the transparent dragon was about to engulf its target, a streak of black lightning flashed across the battlefield at impossible speed. The massive chakra construct was bisected cleanly, its two halves dissolving into harmless wisps of energy before they could touch the ground.
When the motion ceased, Naruto found himself safely relocated several dozen yards from his previous position, cradled in the arms of a familiar figure.
"Sensei Shisui," Naruto said, looking up at the black-haired man with a smile that mixed relief, gratitude, and just a touch of his old mischievous humor. "If you had arrived just a few seconds later, I would have become dragon food."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~