By the time Naruto realized what was happening, everything before his eyes had vanished.
The village, Uchiha Madara, the vast Forest Domain, the wooden colossus, the wooden dragon, his comrades—all of it was gone.
In its place stretched a colossal prison. Behind the bars, a pair of blood-red eyes glared down at him with an oppressive, feral intensity.
The Nine-Tailed Fox.
But this time, Naruto sensed no overwhelming killing intent, no venomous hatred radiating from it as before.
"Kurama…" Naruto muttered, voice low, uncertain why the beast had summoned him into this mental world at such a moment.
The two locked eyes. The Nine-Tails said nothing, letting a long silence stretch out.
Fortunately, time in the mindscape flowed differently from reality. The massive meteor hurtling toward the earth outside would not strike simply because Naruto lingered here.
At last, Kurama's rumbling voice broke the silence.
"With your strength alone… you cannot stop Madara as he is now."
Naruto froze.
Haruto wasn't in the village. Everyone else had already been crushed beneath Uchiha Madara's might. If Naruto fell as well, the Nine-Tails would inevitably fall back into Madara's hands.
Kurama loathed that prospect far more than he disliked Naruto himself.
"You need me."
The Nine-Tails rose from the cold stone floor of its cage, towering over Naruto with an air of inevitability.
"Don't even try it, Nine-Tails. No matter what you say, I'm not letting myself be tricked into your schemes." Naruto's voice was resolute as he turned, ready to leave the mindscape and hurl himself once more at Madara's descending meteor.
But the fox only shook its massive head.
"This time is different. I may dislike you and all shinobi, but I hate Madara more. If you can stop him, then I'll lend you all of my power."
Though it had been sealed inside him all these years, Kurama had watched Naruto's growth—his struggles, his determination. Little by little, Naruto had changed the beast's heart. Kurama had simply lacked the right moment to admit it.
"So what you're saying is… we've got a common enemy."
Naruto suddenly turned back. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Clapping his fists together, he released the seal that bound Kurama.
The abruptness of the gesture even made the fox pause.
"You… actually believe me?"
"Of course."
Naruto nodded firmly and extended his fist toward the towering beast.
For a moment, Kurama hesitated, taken aback by the boy's sincerity. But remembering the real threat still looming outside, the fox rumbled deep in its chest, closed its massive paw into a fist, and pressed it against Naruto's.
In the real world—
Naruto's eyes flew open. A torrent of chakra erupted from his body, sweeping outward like a tidal wave.
The Golden Cloak… evolved…
Into Nine-Tails Mode!
The sheer pressure of the chakra drew every eye on the battlefield. Even Madara, normally so composed, turned his gaze toward Naruto.
He saw at once that this was no forced domination. Naruto and the beast within him were united—mutual recognition, mutual trust.
"The Nine-Tails and a human… in harmony?"
Madara's brow furrowed, true surprise flickering across his face. To him, tailed beasts had always been nothing more than wild monsters. With enough power, they could be bent and chained. That was all.
Yet here stood a mere genin of Konoha, showing another path altogether.
"Very well… Show me, Naruto Uzumaki. Show me the strength of your so-called Nine-Tails Mode."
Madara's voice thundered with anticipation. He recognized now that Naruto had become a perfect jinchūriki. But he did not yet move to strike.
The falling meteor itself would be the test.
And all across Konoha, every shinobi turned their eyes skyward—then back to Naruto. He had become their only hope.
"Kurama… let's do this."
As their fists met, Naruto had learned the beast's true name. He raised his head toward the heavens, where the titanic meteor plunged closer. His blood surged, his spirit roared.
Power thrummed through him like never before. Even a jutsu of godlike scale… might not be beyond his reach now.
"Rrrrraugh!"
Kurama's thunderous cry resounded through him, along with a warning:
"This is our first time fusing our strength. You won't be able to maintain it for long—five minutes at most. To beat Madara, you'll have to end this fast."
"Five minutes, huh…" Naruto drew a deep breath. Chakra burst outward, shaping itself into the full form of the Nine-Tails around him.
He leapt. The fox mirrored his motion, massive clawed fist drawing back, then slamming upward toward the meteor.
BOOOOM!
The sky exploded with sound. Shockwaves rippled outward like waves across a lake. Cracks veined across the meteor's vast surface, spreading wider and wider.
But Naruto could not fly. After that one colossal strike, the fox's body began to sink, gravity dragging it down.
Madara watched calmly from below.
The fusion's aura was impressive, yes—but the boy's strength still fell short.
"It's over," Madara murmured.
No one could stop his meteor jutsu. Konoha would be annihilated, and the Nine-Tails would be his once again.
But just as Madara finished that thought—
A black shadow streaked across the sky. A figure landed on Kurama's massive shoulder, used it as a springboard, and vaulted upward again.
"Who…?"
Madara's eyes narrowed. The stranger's cloak—identical to Obito's.
Recognition dawned.
"Uchiha Itachi."
From the shadows at Madara's side, Zetsu hissed, stunned. "So he appears now of all times…"
To Zetsu, Itachi was no less a prodigy than Madara himself.
"Itachi?" Naruto's eyes widened, his expression twisting in shock.
In his mind, Itachi was Madara's ally. His sudden arrival could only mean trouble.
Almost without thinking, Naruto spread Kurama's chakra-cloaked hand and swung to crush the intruder.
But faster still, Itachi's eyes shifted—into the Mangekyō Sharingan. Chakra surged, solidifying around him.
The skeletal form of Susanoo erupted into being, shielding him from Naruto's strike.
In a single motion, Susanoo's arm lashed out, scattering the fox's chakra claw like dust.
Itachi glanced at Naruto only briefly.
"I am not your enemy. I came here to stop Madara."
Even as he spoke, Itachi unleashed his full power. Chakra blazed, and his Susanoo surged into its complete form.
Its spectral wings unfurled with a beat, suspending him in the sky. He raised one massive arm and braced it against the falling meteor—
"Every jutsu… has its weakness."