It was supposed to be a normal day.
Roku had finished his morning training with Mifune, eaten lunch with Ayame at Ichiraku, and was walking through the village with Samehada humming contentedly on his back. Sparky floated beside him in her human form, her presence a warm crackle of lightning that had become as familiar as his own heartbeat.
The sun was shining. Birds were singing. Children were playing in the streets.
It was, by all accounts, a perfect afternoon.
And then the world exploded.
The attack came without warning. One moment, Roku was waving at a group of Academy students who had recognized him. The next, a swirling vortex of dimensional energy tore through the air, and a figure in an orange mask emerged directly in front of Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto, who had been walking toward Roku with a grin on his face.
Naruto, who had no time to react.
Naruto, who was grabbed by the throat and lifted off the ground before anyone could process what was happening.
"So this is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki," the masked figure said, his voice carrying an unsettling calm. "You'll be coming with me."
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed from somewhere nearby.
Sasuke was already moving, his Sharingan spinning to life, but the masked man simply phased through his attack like it was nothing. The kunai passed through his body without resistance, and Sasuke stumbled past, off-balance and confused.
"Interesting," the mask said. "But irrelevant."
His grip tightened on Naruto's throat.
Naruto's face was turning blue.
And Roku watched his friend dying.
Something changed.
It wasn't visible at first. Wasn't dramatic or flashy. It was more like a shift in pressure, a change in the fundamental nature of the air itself.
Sparky felt it immediately. Her lightning form flickered, responding to something vast and terrible awakening beside her.
"Roku—"
But Roku wasn't listening.
Roku was looking at the masked man with an expression that none of them had ever seen before.
He wasn't smiling.
For the first time since anyone could remember, Roku Tanaka was not smiling.
His face was blank. Empty. A void where warmth should have been.
And his eyes...
His eyes were wrong.
They had always been honey-brown, warm and inviting. Now they were darker. Deeper. Containing something that made Sparky—a primordial goddess who had witnessed the birth of stars—take an involuntary step backward.
"Let go of my friend."
The words were quiet. Calm. Completely without inflection.
They were the most terrifying thing anyone present had ever heard.
Obito turned to look at the speaker.
He had done his research. He knew about Roku Tanaka. The failed Academy student. The anomaly. The one who befriended cosmic entities through sheer kindness.
He had expected cheerful naivety. Confused power. Something he could manipulate or overwhelm.
He had not expected THIS.
The young man standing before him radiated nothing. No killing intent. No chakra flare. No visible threat.
And yet every instinct Obito had developed in decades of combat was screaming at him to RUN.
"You must be Roku Tanaka," Obito said, keeping his voice steady through sheer willpower. "I've heard interesting things about you."
"Let go of my friend."
The same words. The same tone. The same absolute emptiness.
"I don't think I will. The Nine-Tails is essential to my plans."
"I won't ask again."
"You're welcome to try and stop me. But I should warn you—I am Madara Uchiha. There is no one more powerful than—"
Roku moved.
Obito had fought the Fourth Hokage.
He had survived encounters with the most dangerous ninja in history.
He had honed his reflexes to superhuman levels through decades of training and combat.
He didn't see Roku move.
One instant, the young man was standing ten meters away. The next, Samehada was descending toward Obito's arm—the arm holding Naruto—with speed that shouldn't have been possible.
Obito activated Kamui instinctively, phasing out of reality to let the attack pass through him.
But Samehada didn't pass through.
Samehada HIT.
The legendary blade screamed with joy as it connected. Scales rippled with ecstasy. The sword had been waiting for this—a chance to truly fight, to truly CONSUME, alongside a wielder who had finally stopped holding back.
Obito's arm came off at the elbow.
Not cut cleanly—SHREDDED. Samehada didn't slice, it DEVOURED. The blade's scales ripped through flesh and bone like they were paper, drinking the chakra even as it destroyed the limb.
Obito screamed.
Naruto fell.
Roku caught him with his free hand, setting his friend gently on the ground before turning back to the masked man.
"You hurt my friend."
Obito was clutching the stump of his arm, his regenerative abilities already working to stem the bleeding. White Zetsu material was reforming the limb, but slowly. Too slowly.
"How—my intangibility—nothing can touch me when I'm phased—"
"Samehada doesn't care about your intangibility."
The sword hummed in agreement. It existed partially outside normal reality. Dimensional tricks meant nothing to a weapon that had been forged in the spaces between worlds.
"And neither do I."
Obito's survival instincts finally overrode his arrogance.
He had to retreat. Regroup. Understand what he was dealing with.
He activated Kamui, the swirling vortex beginning to form around him—
And stopped.
Because Roku was standing in front of him again. Somehow. Impossibly. Moving faster than the dimensional technique could activate.
"You're not leaving."
"I am Madara Uchiha. I will not be—"
"You're not Madara."
Obito froze.
"Madara is in the Pure Land. He sent me a letter. Very polite. He apologized for his plans and said he was wrong about everything."
"That's—that's impossible—"
"He told me to keep being myself. That kindness was more powerful than any technique he'd ever devised." Roku's empty expression didn't change. "I try to follow that advice. I try to be kind to everyone. I try to see the good in people."
He raised Samehada.
"But you hurt my friend."
The Akatsuki responded.
They had been waiting in the shadows, ready to support Tobi's extraction of the Nine-Tails. Kisame, who had been observing from a rooftop. Deidara, who had clay birds circling overhead. Sasori, hidden in his puppet armor. Kakuzu and Hidan, lurking in an alley.
They moved as one, converging on the scene with the coordination of experienced killers.
And they all stopped when they felt it.
A pressure.
A weight.
Something vast and ancient and ANGRY, pressing down on reality itself.
"What is that?" Deidara whispered.
Kisame's face had gone pale. "No. No, that's not possible. That's—"
The sky tore open.
Roku hadn't meant to summon the Ten-Tails.
He had simply wanted help. Wanted his friend. Wanted something powerful enough to protect everyone he cared about.
And Jūbi had answered.
The primordial entity emerged from the dimensional tear like a nightmare given form. Massive. Ancient. Radiating power that made the combined might of the Akatsuki seem like candles before a sun.
But it wasn't attacking.
It was waiting.
"You called."
The Ten-Tails' voice resonated through reality, shaking buildings and cracking the ground.
"I felt your anger. Your pain. Your need."
"They hurt Naruto."
"Then they will suffer."
The entity turned its single massive eye toward the assembled Akatsuki members.
"These insects threatened your friend?"
"Yes."
"They are already dead. They simply don't know it yet."
Hidan laughed.
It was the nervous laugh of a man who didn't understand fear but was beginning to learn.
"Big deal! So you've got a pet monster! Lord Jashin protects me! I'm immortal! I can't—"
Jūbi looked at him.
Just looked.
And Hidan stopped being immortal.
It wasn't an attack. It wasn't a technique. The Ten-Tails simply DECIDED that Hidan's immortality no longer applied, and reality agreed.
Hidan felt his connection to Jashin sever. Felt his body become mortal again. Felt, for the first time in years, the cold touch of vulnerability.
"What—what did you DO?!"
"I reminded reality that your 'immortality' was merely a loan. I have reclaimed it."
Hidan ran.
Nobody stopped him.
Kakuzu was next to break.
He had five hearts. Five lives. Centuries of experience.
None of it mattered.
When the Ten-Tails focused on him, he felt all five of his hearts stop simultaneously. Not destroyed—STOPPED. Held in perfect stillness by a will that transcended any technique.
"I surrender," he gasped. "I surrender. Please."
"Your surrender is noted. It is also irrelevant. The choice is not yours."
Kakuzu looked at Roku.
The young man stood in the center of the chaos, Samehada in hand, that terrible empty expression still on his face.
"Please," Kakuzu begged. "I'll tell you everything. The Akatsuki. The plans. Whatever you want."
Roku was silent for a long moment.
"You were going to help him take Naruto."
"I was following orders—"
"Following orders to kidnap my friend. To rip the Nine-Tails from his body. To KILL him."
"I didn't know—"
"You knew enough."
Deidara made his move.
He was an artist. He would go out with a bang.
His hands shaped clay with desperate speed, creating his ultimate sculpture—the C0, the technique that would transform his own body into a bomb powerful enough to destroy a small country.
"If I'm going to die, I'll take all of you with me! This is art! TRUE ART!"
He began the detonation.
And Roku looked at him.
Just looked.
And the clay became inert.
Not destroyed. Not defused. Simply... stopped. The explosive properties vanished as if they had never existed.
"Wha—my art—MY ART—"
"Your art hurts people."
"Art is supposed to be fleeting! Explosive! BEAUTIFUL!"
"Art is supposed to make people feel something. Joy. Wonder. Connection." Roku's voice was still that terrible calm. "You make people feel fear. That's not art. That's cruelty."
Deidara had no response.
Sasori hadn't moved.
He had evaluated the situation with the cold logic that had kept him alive for decades. The Ten-Tails was beyond any of their abilities to fight. The strange young man had disabled Obito—OBITO, who was supposed to be untouchable—with a single swing. Hidan was mortal again. Kakuzu was paralyzed. Deidara was disarmed.
And Kisame...
Kisame was crying.
"Samehada," the shark-man whispered, looking at his former partner. "You look so HAPPY."
The sword was humming with pleasure, its scales rippling with contentment. It had never been this satisfied. Never been wielded by someone who used it with such purpose, such power, such INTENT.
"You never purred like that for me."
Samehada made a noise that might have been an apology.
"I understand. I always knew you were meant for something greater."
Kisame sat down on the rooftop.
"I surrender too. Whatever happens, I'm done."
Obito's arm had finally regenerated.
He stood in the center of the destruction, his mask cracked from Samehada's initial impact, facing the most terrifying scene he had ever witnessed.
The Ten-Tails loomed over the village like a god of destruction. Its wielder—because that's what Roku was, a WIELDER, commanding the primordial entity through bonds of friendship rather than force—stood before him with that empty expression.
Most of his forces had surrendered or fled. The plan was in ruins. Everything he had worked for was crumbling.
"This changes nothing," Obito said, his voice shaking despite his best efforts. "I am the true Madara Uchiha. The Moon's Eye Plan will—"
"You're Obito Uchiha."
Obito went rigid.
"You were on Kakashi's team. You were thought to have died during the Third War. But you survived, and Madara found you, and he convinced you that the world was broken beyond repair."
"How do you know—"
"Kakashi-sensei talks about you. About how much you meant to him. About how much he regretted what happened."
"Kakashi LEFT ME TO DIE—"
"He thought you WERE dead. He's carried that guilt for years."
Obito's hands were shaking.
"It doesn't matter. The world is still broken. The Infinite Tsukuyomi is still the only answer—"
"Madara gave up on that plan."
"You're LYING—"
"I'm not. He sent me a message from the Pure Land. He said he was wrong. He said humanity isn't as broken as he believed."
"That's IMPOSSIBLE. Madara would never—"
"People change, Obito. Even ancient legendary villains. Even people who have spent centuries planning to control the world."
Roku took a step forward.
"You could change too."
Obito wanted to laugh.
He wanted to dismiss the words as naive nonsense. To cling to his hatred. To remember Rin's death and the pain that had driven him to embrace Madara's vision.
But looking at Roku Tanaka—at this young man who had just summoned a primordial entity to protect his friends, who had dismantled the Akatsuki in minutes, who could probably destroy him without effort—and seeing not rage or triumph but something that might have been CONCERN...
"You don't know what I've done," Obito whispered.
"No. But I know what you COULD do. You could stop. Right now. You could choose differently."
"After everything—all the deaths—the destruction—"
"The past can't be changed. But the future can. That's the whole point."
Jūbi spoke.
"Roku. Do you want me to destroy him?"
It was a genuine question. The Ten-Tails had no attachment to Obito one way or the other. It would annihilate him if Roku wished, or let him go. The choice was not its to make.
Roku was quiet for a long moment.
The emptiness in his expression flickered. Something warmer trying to break through.
"No."
"No?"
"He's hurt. He's been hurt for a long time. And hurting him more won't fix anything."
Roku lowered Samehada.
The sword made a disappointed noise but accepted its wielder's decision.
"I don't forgive you," Roku said to Obito. "I don't know if I CAN forgive you. You tried to take my friend. You've hurt a lot of people."
"Then why—"
"Because someone has to choose differently. Someone has to break the cycle. And if I kill you here, I become part of that cycle. I become another person who chose violence over understanding."
Roku's expression finally changed.
Not quite a smile. Not quite warmth.
But something that wasn't that terrible emptiness.
"Madara chose differently. You could too."
Obito fell to his knees.
He didn't know why. His body simply gave out, the weight of decades crashing down on him all at once.
Rin's death. Madara's manipulation. The years of planning and killing and convincing himself it was all for a greater good.
And now this.
A failed Academy student, offering him mercy.
"I don't understand," Obito whispered. "Why aren't you killing me?"
"Because killing is easy. Understanding is hard. And the hard choice is usually the right one."
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know. Most of what I do doesn't make sense. But it seems to work out anyway."
Sparky appeared beside Roku, her lightning form crackling with residual tension.
"Are you certain about this? He is dangerous. He will remain dangerous."
"I know."
"He could try again. Hurt more people. Continue his plans."
"He could. Or he could change. I have to believe that change is possible. Otherwise, what's the point of anything?"
Sparky was silent for a moment.
"You are either the wisest being I have ever met or the most foolish."
"Probably both."
"Yes. Probably both."
The immediate crisis was over.
ANBU had arrived—far too late to be useful, but present for the aftermath. The Hokage was on his way. Medical ninja were checking on Naruto, who was already recovering, because jinchūriki were resilient like that.
The Akatsuki members who hadn't fled were in custody. Sasori had surrendered without resistance. Kakuzu's hearts had resumed beating once the Ten-Tails released its hold. Kisame was actively helping with the cleanup, apparently having decided that switching sides was his new life plan.
And Obito...
Obito was sitting in the center of the street, his mask discarded, his face exposed for the first time in years.
Kakashi was standing over him.
Neither of them was speaking.
Roku watched from a distance, Samehada still in his hand but no longer raised.
The anger was fading now. The terrible coldness that had seized him when he saw Naruto in danger was retreating, leaving behind exhaustion and a vague sense of unease.
He didn't like that version of himself.
He didn't like how easily he had accessed that emptiness. How natural it had felt. How POWERFUL.
"You're disturbed," Mifune said quietly, appearing beside him.
"Yeah."
"By what you did?"
"By what I FELT. Or didn't feel. When I saw Naruto being hurt, everything just... went away. The kindness. The patience. Everything that makes me ME."
"And what replaced it?"
"Nothing. That's what scared me. There was nothing inside. Just purpose."
Mifune nodded slowly.
"You discovered your killing state."
"My what?"
"Every true warrior has one. A place inside where emotion doesn't exist. Where only the objective matters. It is useful. It is also dangerous."
"I don't want to be someone who can feel that. Who can be that cold."
"And that reluctance is what makes you trustworthy. The warriors who enjoy that state, who seek it out—they are the ones who become monsters. You touched it because you had to. Because your friend was in danger. And you stepped back from it the moment the danger passed."
Roku looked at his hands.
"I could have killed them. All of them. Without hesitation."
"Yes."
"And part of me wanted to."
"Also yes."
"Is that bad?"
Mifune considered the question carefully.
"It is human. The desire to protect, to punish those who harm what we love—that is as fundamental as breathing. What matters is not whether we feel that desire, but what we CHOOSE to do with it."
"I chose mercy."
"You did. Even after summoning a primordial entity, even after dismantling an organization of S-rank criminals, even after proving that you could destroy anyone who threatened you—you chose mercy."
The old swordsman smiled.
"That is not weakness, Roku. That is the greatest strength of all."
Above them, Jūbi still hovered over the village.
The Ten-Tails had not returned to its dimensional prison. It was waiting, its single eye fixed on Roku, its massive form a constant reminder of the power he could access.
"You could have destroyed them all," it said. "I would have helped."
"I know."
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Roku looked up at his friend—because that's what Jūbi was, a friend, despite being a cosmic entity of apocalyptic power.
"Because destruction is easy. Anyone can destroy. What I want is harder. I want to BUILD. I want to create a world where people like Obito don't get so broken that they try to control reality itself."
"And you believe that's possible?"
"I have to believe it's possible. Otherwise, what was the point of everything? The training? The growth? The connections I've made?"
Jūbi was silent for a long moment.
"The Sage of Six Paths split me into nine pieces because he believed I could not be trusted. Could not change. Was eternally fixed in my nature as a destroyer."
"I know."
"But I am changing. Because of you. Because you showed me that kindness exists. That connection is possible. That even a being of my nature can choose to be something other than what I was created to be."
The Ten-Tails began to shrink, condensing its form, reducing its presence.
"If I can change, perhaps they can too. The ones who hurt your friend. The ones who planned to unmake the world. Perhaps even they can find a different path."
Roku smiled.
It was a small smile. Tired. But genuine.
"Thanks, Jūbi."
"For what?"
"For understanding. For being here. For believing that change is possible even when it seems impossible."
"You taught me to believe it. I am simply returning the lesson."
The Ten-Tails faded back to its dimensional space, leaving behind only a lingering sense of power and the memory of its presence.
And Roku Tanaka, failed Academy student and accidental hero, sat down in the middle of the destroyed street and started to cry.
Sparky was beside him immediately.
"Roku? What's wrong?"
"I don't know." The tears kept coming, confusing him even as they fell. "I just—I was so ANGRY. I've never been that angry. And I could have—I almost—"
"You didn't. You stopped."
"But I wanted to. Part of me WANTED to destroy them all. And that part of me was so COLD. So empty. I didn't recognize myself."
Sparky sat down beside him, her lightning form warm against his side.
"That part of you is protection. It exists to keep you alive, to keep your friends alive, when kindness is not enough. It is not evil. It is not wrong. It is simply survival."
"It felt wrong."
"Because you are not accustomed to it. Because your natural state is warmth and openness and trust. Accessing that cold part of yourself will always feel wrong to you. And that is GOOD, Roku. That discomfort is what keeps you human."
"But I'm scared of it. Scared of what I might become if I let that part of me take over."
"Then don't let it. Use it when you must, and release it when you can. That is what strength looks like. Not the absence of darkness, but the choice to reach for light anyway."
Roku leaned against her.
"Thanks, Sparky."
"Always, beloved. Always."
They sat together as the sun set over the damaged village.
Repair crews were already at work. ANBU had secured the prisoners. The Hokage was meeting with Kakashi and Obito in the tower, no doubt engaged in the longest, most complicated debriefing in Konoha history.
And Roku sat in the street, exhausted and confused and frightened of himself.
But alive.
And surrounded by people who cared about him.
"Roku!"
Naruto came running up, his neck still showing faint bruises from Obito's grip but his face split in a massive grin.
"That was AMAZING! You totally kicked their asses! And you summoned the Ten-Tails! And you—are you crying?"
"A little."
Naruto sat down beside him, his enthusiasm dimming to concern.
"What's wrong? You WON. You saved me."
"I know. I just... I scared myself."
"You? Scared?" Naruto laughed. "You're the least scary person I know!"
"I didn't feel like myself. When I saw you being hurt, I became someone else. Someone cold. Someone who could have killed them all without feeling anything."
Naruto was quiet for a moment.
"You know, when I tap into the Nine-Tails' power, I feel like that too sometimes. Like I'm becoming something else. Something that just wants to destroy."
"How do you handle it?"
"I think about my friends. About the people I want to protect. And I remind myself that destroying everything wouldn't actually protect them. It would just make me another monster."
Roku looked at his friend.
"That's really wise, Naruto."
"Don't sound so surprised! I can be smart sometimes!"
"I wasn't surprised. I was impressed."
Naruto grinned.
"Thanks. And hey, you DID stop. You had the power to destroy them all, and you chose not to. That's what makes you a hero."
"I don't feel like a hero."
"Heroes never do. That's what Kakashi-sensei says, anyway."
They sat together in the fading light.
And slowly, gradually, Roku's smile returned.
END CHAPTER 12