The Fate of the Sky Ninja
Deep within the flying fortress, Naruto stared at the long, pitch-black mass writhing before him with a growing headache.
The Zero-Tails wasn't especially powerful. But no matter how many times Naruto blasted it apart, it rebuilt itself perfectly, as if nothing had happened.
Before, he'd been able to stop it by awakening Ryūko. Now there was no one nearby. And worse, Naruto could feel his chakra being steadily drained just by being here.
If the Nine-Tails hadn't been unusually cooperative out of sheer disgust for the Zero-Tails, Naruto would've run dry a long time ago.
"Rasengan!"
The Zero-Tails burst apart again… and immediately began reforming.
This wasn't going anywhere.
Naruto looked up as a platform descended from above.
Enemy. Had to be.
When it finally landed, Naruto froze.
Staring back at him was a withered, skeletal old man with a receding fringe of hair.
"Uh… sir?" Naruto asked honestly. "Who are you?"
"Damn you, Nine-Tails!" Shinnō roared, glaring at the half-formed Zero-Tails. "You reduced it to this state!"
"…Shinnō?" Naruto's eyes widened. "What happened to you?!"
"Your companion did this to me!" Shinnō screamed as he staggered toward the Zero-Tails.
"I mean, yeah, but… how did Neji even do that?" Naruto blurted out. "Can he make people age now?!"
"I don't have that kind of ability," Neji said flatly as he arrived. "He did this to himself."
"Oh! Neji!" Naruto brightened instantly.
"Report," Neji said.
Naruto quickly explained the Zero-Tails' regeneration and chakra drain, then looked at Neji expectantly.
"So what do we do?"
"As expected," Neji said gravely. "The imprisoned villagers are the key to its regeneration. But Hinata-sama and the others are already dealing with that. We just need to stall."
"They've got this," Naruto said confidently.
"Heh… too late!" Shinnō laughed hysterically. "I'll remove all restraints on the Zero-Tails. Even if I die, I'll take you with me!"
"Two Konoha prodigies and the Nine-Tails—worth it!"
The Zero-Tails reformed completely, this time sprouting countless tendrils.
The nearest one wrapped around Shinnō.
"I'll be waiting in hell!" he screamed as he was dragged inside, hatred burning in his eyes.
His plans. His revenge. All gone.
Why wasn't the Zero-Tails stronger? Why couldn't it even defeat a half-trained Nine-Tails jinchūriki?
What had he wasted his life for?
The tendrils swallowed him whole.
"…This is bad," Naruto muttered.
"This is its final outburst," Neji said sharply. "Don't engage it head-on. We're leaving."
They ran.
Tendrils lashed out wildly, devouring anything in reach. Sky Ninja were knocked aside by Naruto and Neji only to be swallowed seconds later.
"This way," Neji said, Byakugan locking onto familiar figures ahead.
They burst onto the outer platform.
Jūgo, Sakura, and Hinata were already there, surrounded by rescued villagers.
"You took your time!" Sakura said, relieved. "Hit the button and the airship will take us down."
"Naruto, shadow clone. Now," Neji ordered.
"On it!"
A clone slapped the control panel and gave a thumbs-up.
The platform tilted. Engines roared. The airship detached and glided away as the Zero-Tails smashed through the wall behind them.
"Should we destroy the fortress?" Naruto asked, watching it drift toward land. "If that thing crashes—"
"That's not our job," Neji said, glancing toward the coast.
Naruto followed his gaze.
Kakashi. Shikamaru. Ino.
And Fujimoto Tōma.
"Oh!" Naruto relaxed instantly. "Then it's fine."
"Neji-niisan, hold still," Hinata said, already healing him.
"I'm really okay—"
She didn't stop.
"…Alright."
"Good work," a familiar voice said.
"Tōma!" Naruto grinned as Fujimoto Tōma appeared beside them, as casually as ever.
"Leave the rest to me."
He stepped into midair, lightning dancing around him as he studied the fortress.
Impressive effort. Terrible idea. A flying target was still a target.
He raised his hand.
"Ninjutsu: Railgun."
A line of light vanished into the sky.
Then—
"Ninjutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone."
The beam split into thousands, piercing the fortress from end to end.
A monstrous scream echoed as the structure shattered, collapsing piece by piece into the sea.
The Konoha ninja barely reacted.
They were used to this.
"So… that's the Hokage," Ryūko whispered.
"Yeah!" Naruto said proudly. "He's crazy strong!"
Ryūko glanced at Naruto, then Hinata, and sighed softly.
Tōma reappeared beside Ino on the shore.
"Mission accomplished," Kakashi reported. "We recovered the Sky Ninja tech intact. Including the operator."
"Well done," Tōma said. "Send it to R&D."
The airship landed.
They arrived just in time to see Ryūko rise on her toes and kiss Naruto on the cheek.
Naruto froze, face burning red.
"That's my goodbye," Ryūko said with a smile. "Hinata… I wish you happiness."
Hinata's face went crimson.
Everyone stared at Naruto.
"…Lucky bastard," someone muttered.