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Congratulations, Host, you have reached the check-in point! Check-in has officially begun! Leaving midway will count as a failure!
The familiar voice of his system companion echoed in Senju Haruto's mind. But his attention was no longer on the check-in process.
He surveyed his surroundings. What once was Konohagakure now lay in ruin—devastated, scarred, lifeless.
"What on earth happened here…?" Haruto muttered, brows furrowing in grim concern.
In this timeline, very few could unleash such destruction upon the village. Perhaps Nagato could have… but Nagato was dead.
Could it have been Obito? After seizing the Rinnegan, had he launched a direct assault on Konoha?
As Haruto's thoughts churned, the system chimed again.
Congratulations, Host, check-in complete! Reward acquired: Chakra of the Five-Tails.
"Another tailed beast's chakra…" Haruto whispered under his breath. "That leaves only the Six-Tails and Seven-Tails."
But before he could even settle, another notification came—this one different, urgent.
A Special Check-in Mission has been issued: Save Uzumaki Naruto.
Completion of this mission will yield a Special Check-in Reward.
Haruto's chest tightened. "Save Naruto?"
If the system had phrased it like that, then it could only mean one thing—Naruto was already at death's door.
Don't tell me… the Nine-Tails has already been extracted from him?
If so, the consequences were dire. Every shinobi knew: once a Jinchūriki's tailed beast was ripped out, death was inevitable.
In the original timeline, Naruto had been saved only because the Fourth Hokage had sealed half of Kurama inside his son's body. But here and now? The Fourth wasn't revived by Edo Tensei. Orochimaru wasn't even in the village.
Haruto clenched his fists. "Jiraiya-sensei, we need to move faster."
Without waiting for a reply, Haruto absorbed the natural energy around him, molding it into Sage Chakra. His body shifted into Sage Mode—the heightened perception instantly expanding his senses.
"This way," he murmured, and dashed ahead.
Jiraiya didn't understand the full situation yet, but he didn't hesitate. He sprinted after Haruto with long, powerful strides.
As they neared the village center, Haruto's eyes narrowed.
"Hashirama's… Flower Tree World Descent…"
Vast forests of flowering trees sprawled before him, their presence unmistakable.
Haruto wasn't just a time-traveler who had memorized the story of this world—he had personally mastered that very jutsu. One glance, and he knew it for what it was.
"There's no way Obito could've cast this," Haruto muttered. "Even with White Zetsu cells grafted into him, his Wood Release could never rival Yamato's, let alone reach this scale."
That left only one possibility—one that sent a chill through his veins.
"Uchiha Madara…"
At the mention of the name, Jiraiya faltered, eyes wide.
"Madara? You mean that Madara?" he said, disbelief lacing his voice. The legendary Uchiha—second only to the First Hokage himself.
"Was he… revived by Edo Tensei?"
But Haruto shook his head, sprinting as he explained.
"No. This isn't Edo Tensei. With the Rinnegan, there's more than the Six Paths—Deva, Human, Preta, Naraka, Animal, and Asura. There's a Seventh Path… the Outer Path. The Outer Path holds dominion over life and death itself. It allows the use of the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu—resurrecting the dead."
Jiraiya's breath caught. "So you're saying… before Nagato died, someone manipulated him into reviving the real Madara?"
Haruto's expression darkened. "Exactly."
The thought alone was terrifying. Jiraiya couldn't even form words for a moment.
Through Sage perception, Haruto pinpointed Naruto's chakra signature—faint, fading. The boy's life was hanging by a thread, sustained only by the tenacity of the Uzumaki bloodline.
Surrounding him were the others: Itachi, Kakashi, Guy, Karin, Sakura, Sasuke—all gathered desperately around Naruto's limp body.
When Haruto descended from the sky and landed before them, every eye widened in shock.
Especially Karin's. Her arms bore fresh bite marks—Naruto had been using her chakra to cling to life. But the damage of a Bijū extraction wasn't something even she could heal.
Haruto's gaze flickered past them, locking onto two looming presences: the swelling form of the Ten-Tails, and the unmistakable silhouette of Uchiha Madara.
But there was no time to deal with Madara now. Naruto came first.
"Step aside," Haruto commanded, his voice low and firm.
Without a word, Kakashi and the others moved back, their eyes locked on him with desperate hope. Even Madara's gaze narrowed, studying the newcomer intently.
"That chakra…" Madara murmured. His eyes widened slightly. "The same Sage Mode as Hashirama…"
So this was the one Black Zetsu had whispered about—the anomaly, Senju Haruto.
Madara smirked faintly. "Interesting. I can feel the power within him…"
But Haruto ignored the Uchiha entirely. Kneeling by Naruto's side, he pressed his hand to the boy's chest.
He drew upon his own reserves—then forced out one-third of Kurama's chakra from within himself, sealing it directly into Naruto's body.
Gasps echoed all around.
"That's… the Nine-Tails' chakra!" Kakashi exclaimed.
Madara's eyes widened, genuine confusion flashing across his face. "Impossible. I just extracted Kurama and sealed him in the Gedo Statue. How could this man… possess the Nine-Tails' chakra as well?!"
Two Jinchūriki? In one village? The thought rattled even Madara's iron composure.
Meanwhile, Obito had fully subdued the Ten-Tails, his form warping as he became its Jinchūriki.
But at Haruto's side, the miracle was already taking root.
Naruto's fading chakra flared, the ember of his life sparking back to flame. His eyes fluttered open, hazy, but alive.
The first thing he saw was Haruto's face.
"…Haruto…" he whispered faintly.
But there was no time for reunion.
"It's too late for pleasantries," Itachi said, his voice cold and heavy. "Haruto—the Akatsuki now have all the tailed beasts."
...
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