The Zero-Tails
By now, Hyūga Neji was certain.
Shinnō was connected to the Sky Ninja, and not as a disposable pawn. His position was high. Too high.
Which made the scene before him even more troubling.
Why fake his death? What kind of plan required vanishing at this exact moment?
As Neji weighed the possibilities, a sudden surge of malice crawled up from the pit of his chest.
"…This feeling?"
His eyes widened.
He'd felt something like this before.
For an instant, Neji assumed Naruto had drawn on the Nine-Tails again. That oppressive, hostile chakra carried a similar stench. He was already wondering why Naruto would unleash it now—
Then he realized his mistake.
The darkness was visible even without the Byakugan.
A pitch-black aura erupted violently from Ryūko's body.
In that moment, everything clicked.
Shinnō hadn't sacrificed himself to provoke Naruto's power. He'd done it to awaken the darkness sleeping inside Ryūko.
Was she… like Naruto?
A jinchūriki?
Neji stayed hidden. There was no need to interfere yet. Naruto could handle this.
In fact, Neji trusted Naruto's strength completely.
His judgment, on the other hand, was another matter entirely.
If Tōma hadn't ordered him to watch from the shadows, Neji was certain Naruto would've been sold out and thanked his betrayer on the way down.
…
"Ryūko! Can you hear me?!" Naruto shouted, staring at her in shock.
The black chakra wrapped around her, condensing into a long, serpentine shape. A grotesque creature formed, coiling around her body. Its face was covered by a mask carved with a single character.
Zero.
A voice echoed through the air, half Ryūko's, half something else entirely.
"I am the Zero-Tails. When war fills the world and darkness festers in human hearts, I awaken. I devour that darkness, am reborn through it, and grow without limit—until this world is claimed by shadow!"
The mask twisted into a chilling grin.
"What's going on?!" Sakura cried as she and Hinata rushed over.
Naruto quickly explained, then frowned. "Could this be another tailed beast?"
"No," a familiar voice snorted inside him. "It's not."
Kurama's tone was sharp with disgust.
"There is no tailed beast called the Zero-Tails. And that chakra… revolting. Kid, let me give you more power and crush this impostor."
Naruto barely had time to react before a flood of chakra surged through him. Red energy spilled outward, cloaking his body.
"W-Wait! That's enough!" Naruto yelled. "Any more and I can't control it!"
"Tch. Weak," Kurama muttered, cutting off the flow.
The Zero-Tails turned its gaze toward Naruto, greed blazing in its eyes. "So… you harbor something interesting. That power… it should be mine."
"Sorry," Naruto said, eyes blazing red as he stepped forward. "That power's taken. And you really ticked off the guy inside me."
Wind-shaped chakra formed a sleek armor around his body, sharper and more refined than before.
Hinata's face flushed. "…Naruto-kun."
"Huh," Sakura muttered, glancing at him. "He's kind of cool when he's serious."
"Let's fall back," she said, tugging Hinata away. "This is Naruto's fight."
The Zero-Tails lashed out, countless tendrils shooting toward them.
"Not happening!"
Naruto finished forming seals.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Dozens of Narutos burst into existence, grabbing the tendrils and tearing them apart with brute force.
"That's it?" Naruto scoffed, racing forward as his clones restrained the creature. A crimson Rasengan spun in his palm. "You're nothing special!"
"Rasengan!"
He slammed it into the Zero-Tails. Its body shattered instantly.
Naruto exhaled, thinking it was over—
The mask smiled again.
The body regenerated in an instant. New tendrils shot out, wrapping tightly around Naruto before he could react.
"Naruto!" Sakura and Hinata shouted.
The Zero-Tails opened its mouth wide, eyes locked on the red chakra surrounding him.
"Damn it…" Naruto strained, but every tendril was focused on restraining him. Breaking free alone was impossible.
Should he draw more power? Sage Mode took time. More Nine-Tails chakra risked losing control.
Then—
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"
A sharp voice rang out. Invisible shockwaves struck the tendrils, severing them cleanly.
Naruto dropped free and leapt back.
"Neji-niisan!" Hinata cried in relief.
"Nice timing!" Naruto grinned. "Why are you here?"
"The Hokage ordered me to observe," Neji replied, frowning. "And you were careless."
Naruto scratched his head. "Didn't expect it to regenerate that fast."
"When it appeared," Neji said calmly, "it spoke of being born from darkness in the heart."
He glanced at Ryūko. "This thing exists because of her despair. Destroying its body alone won't end it."
Naruto hesitated, looking at her pale face. Her teacher had just died before her eyes. That kind of grief didn't fade easily.
"…Shinnō isn't dead," Neji said suddenly.
"What?!" Naruto stared at him.
"I saw it with the Byakugan," Neji said. "Explain later. Tell Ryūko. You can do that, right?"
Naruto clenched his fist, then smiled. "Yeah. Leave it to me."
Now that he understood the Zero-Tails' trick, it wasn't scary anymore.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
More clones swarmed the creature, relentlessly smashing it apart each time it tried to reform.
Naruto dashed to Ryūko, gripping her shoulders.
"Ryūko! Wake up! Shinnō isn't dead!" he shouted. "Even if he were, you're his student! You still have to protect your village and your people! You can't give up here!"
"…Shinnō… sensei?"
Her eyes fluttered open.
As her consciousness returned, the Zero-Tails stopped regenerating. The remaining chakra dissolved, and Naruto's clones vanished one by one.
The darkness was finally fading.