This high up — or far out, depending on how you saw it —, the simple action of breathing was eating through their stamina.
Their bodies were constantly healing, trying to keep up with the ever-increasing levels of damage they were being submitted to.
Nagato was the least affected, of course.
"You know…" Naruto began as Nagato slowly flew down to meet them, golden cloak shimmering behind him still. Naruto's face was calm.
"Yeah…?" Sasuke asked, eyes fixed upon Nagato, looking tense.
"I sure hope you used that dagger I gave you."
"Hm."
"Is that a yes or a no? I'm not that good with Uchiha-isms." He was, in truth, but there was no need to encourage them.
"I'm practical… not foolish." Sasuke answered.
Naruto snorted. Yeah, right. He remembered how squeamish Sasuke had been.
"So… yes?" He asked again.
"Yeah. Now… If it was supposed to give me a Rinnegan or something like it, I'm definitely not seeing it. I feel… a bit stronger since then, though." He flexed his hand.
"Ah."
"You said something about a near-death experience, right…?" Sasuke chuckled lowly. "If that is what it is about, and not something else…"
"Yeah." Naruto smiled grimly. "We're about to get that." He finished for him.
Deep down, Naruto had the feeling that Sasuke wouldn't develop it at all. Why… he couldn't explain. But it had been the reason he hadn't pushed too hard in trying to convince Sasuke he had to stab him near his heart. That and the obvious.
But as he had said, Sasuke's chakra felt stronger, in a way Naruto couldn't really explain. More balanced. Maybe that was it…?
Nagato touched down. His jutsu spread around them again, preventing them from leaving.
"I see the others have… departed." He said evenly, none of his previous amusement to be seen. His chakra levels were lower, too. Impossibly high, instead of nearly inconceivable. "A wise decision, although they will meet the same fate in the end. This is but a delay."
"A delay, you say…?" Naruto asked.
"Yes. It makes no difference." Nagato said placidly. "You will simply be the first to die instead, Uzumaki Naruto. Then I shall take care of you, Uchiha Sasuke."
Naruto and Sasuke shared a look.
Both of them bore dark smiles. They nodded at each other, before starting to walk toward Nagato.
"Are you ready to face me, then…?" The man asked. "Shouldn't you try to run away as well, now…?"
"Why would we…?" Uzumaki Naruto shrugged. "You're going to burn the whole world down, one place at a time, if we do so. And well… that would give you more time to get used to all that power."
"Indeed." Nagato smiled.
"Besides… We can't kill you without coming closer." Uchiha Sasuke finished.
Nagato laughed.
"By all means, then."
Sasuke bore red pigmentation around his eyes, contrasting Naruto's blue one. His Mangekyo slowly became a golden color, as well.
"Oh…?" Nagato asked, humming. "Did the One-Tail decide to help you, then…?"
"I think even Shukaku can figure out what happens to him if we lose today." Sasuke retorted.
He focused, and blended in the three energy sources.
Sasuke's form danced with flames, an armor of white and pink flames flickering up and down across his body. A dome of heat exploded from him, rising high and turning the sparse, cold air around them bearable again.
Naruto's eyes closed.
A mantra, taught to him by Sarutobi.
'I am Fire, the all-consuming one. My light you cannot put out.'
When he opened them, the Storm Cloak shifted to its highest level again. Something that like Sasuke, he just could not afford to use with other people around.
Adding Fire to it made it much more unstable. A rogue bolt of fiery lightning shot toward his ally. But now… it was just him and Sasuke facing Nagato.
Flames wouldn't hurt Sasuke, and shielded as he was right now, neither would his other affinities.
Hopefully.
Naruto's form danced with lightning, wind and fire; a Tengu-like, purple construct shimmering around his body. Complete with wing-like chakra constructs floating behind him. Even up here, getting closer and closer to the void of space, he could smell ozone.
The pressure in the air increased around the two of them. Uzushio started to break apart on its own.
Sasuke squinted.
'I didn't ask earlier on, but is this…?'
'A Susanoo? Nah.'
'…That feels way too familiar.'
'That's strange… Do you see me currently wasting chakra on a gigantic, unwieldy armor?'
Sasuke just growled in answer. The chakra signature it gave off was almost identical to the Susanoo.
'Just answer me.'
'It's Yin chakra made physical with Yang. Close enough, I guess. No very special powers or anything like that, I'm afraid.'
'You can't just—'
'I can't… what? Copy your jutsu…?' Naruto snarked. 'I still remember how you learned to use a staff — and any other weapon I used, back then.'
'…'
Nagato waited for them to move.
"Well, then." Nagato invited, turning serious. "Let us begin, then."
Sasuke's arm lifted, and a wave of pale fire exploded from the ground, much faster than Naruto had ever seen him do.
Naruto used its cover to slip behind Nagato.
Unlike Sasuke, he didn't have the advantage of being able to use natural energy so freely. He himself could use a little of it to enhance a few of his jutsu more or less safely, but that was about it — there were other ways, though.
Even after a long while of training with the energy, Naruto hadn't managed to reach perfect sage mode. He assumed something about being Asura's reincarnation made it much easier for Sasuke. Or maybe Naruto was just terrible at it.
Nagato whirled around.
His arm twisted, and a long curved blade extended from his arm, still attached to it.
Bolstered by the Nine-Tails' chakra, Nagato was able to at least follow Naruto, even at his top speed.
Their blades clashed and Nagato's shoulder broke open, two additional arms splitting from his regular ones.
A cannon appeared at the end of each of them, and a beam of bright light shot toward Naruto, just as the other one shot toward Sasuke.
Naruto dodged it; Sasuke blocked it.
Naruto's skin and throat felt dry from being so close to Sasuke's scorching jutsu.
"Rising Sun Blade!" Sasuke roared.
When he slashed, fire — so hot it melted Uzushiogakure's floor — followed. Nagato didn't dare absorb it or let himself be hit by it.
Instead, he threw himself backward and dodged.
Naruto followed after him. Nagato's arm extended, sword in front of him to parry his strike.
There was a shimmer in the air.
"What?!" Nagato blinked.
Where Naruto previously had been… now was Sasuke.
One was much faster; the other's attacks were more dangerous to Nagato.
With their artifact's seamless switching, their strengths complemented each other's.
Sasuke completed Naruto's motion, and his long sword slashed down, contained flames dancing along his blade.
Nagato tried to parry it, but the White Fire cut right through his weapon and his arm. With a grunt, Nagato leaped backwards.
Metal erupted from his stump, twisted in front of it, and a new arm sprang from nothing.
Naruto was behind him again, left hand dragging a wave of roaring electricity.
Nagato shot a spike through himself.
Naruto barely saw it in time to react, obscured as it was by the older man's body. He threw himself to his left to dodge it.
Then he suddenly was higher up in the air, and he slammed into the floor with a grunt, shoulder first.
Sasuke had switched with him, a massive, fiery white Rasengan pushed forward by his left hand.
Four metal tubes erupted from Nagato's chest. They expelled steam with a strange sound, and pushed Nagato backward, away from the Rasengan. The floor under him looked like rosy ice. Or crystal, maybe. Whatever it was, he slid on it easily.
Naruto had recovered already.
Spectral swords shot forward with nothing more than a thought, flying toward Nagato with a whistling sound.
From the other side, Sasuke weaved hand seals with his left hand.
"Blaze Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A sea of pale flames exploded from where Sasuke had been standing, forcing Naruto to leap away.
There was a plume of smoke.
Then a massive sea dragon, covered in half-frozen scales twisted out of nowhere, wrapping around Nagato to shield him.
When the thickness of the chakra mists faded, there was no more sea dragon; no more flames.
Nagato was here, though.
His fist shot from his wrist like a rocket, barreling toward Sasuke and still linked to Nagato's arm by a cable. A wall of fire exploded in front of him.
"Storm Release: Faded Lightning!" Naruto called.
Nagato didn't have the time to absorb or react to the attack as he wished. He still threw himself back, and instead of piercing through his skull like Naruto had intended, it only bit his ear.
Naruto pursued.
Sasuke was gathering more chakra.
Nagato shot bursts of something toward Naruto. When the blasts hit the floor, the floor twisted, erupting in ways a solid marble floor definitely wasn't supposed to. One of the curving spires bit deep into his shoulder.
Naruto released a blast of unrefined Fire and Lightning in front of him, breaking the structures apart entirely.
Nagato leapt back toward him, Wind whistling with a familiar sound. He brought down a whole tornado upon Naruto.
And then Sasuke was here in his place.
White Fire exploded around him, and his superior control over the flames allowed him to usurp control of the inferno.
It shrouded him, hiding him from Nagato's sight entirely.
Naruto and the man engaged in furious, close-quarters combat. Nagato's wrist blade twisted around Naruto's sword, and when he pulled, he ripped it away from the younger Uzumaki's hands.
Nagato's left hand shot up, gleaming with five points of red light; like tracers.
Naruto threw himself backward, springing into a flip to avoid the five cutting lasers that left thin, deep gouges in the floor.
Light glinted in Naruto's left hand. A sword at first.
And then, Naruto's sword was shaping itself into an arrow. A heavy-looking one.
He jumped again, pushing off a platform of Wind.
Naruto summoned the Shield he had crafted during training — one that Nagato had dismissed so easily earlier on. It just bought him one more second, in which the lasers didn't dismember him.
But one second was a lot of time.
Naruto imbued his arrow with his gravitational power.
A bow appeared out of nowhere, and he shot the arrow the moment the Shield failed him.
At the same time, Sasuke fell upon Nagato from above.
"Ninja Art: Needle Hell!"
Stuck between the sage-mode enhanced spikes of hair and the arrow flying at him, Nagato fell back on his ultimate defense, close to full strength, and focused on Sasuke entirely.
The sphere was extremely compact.
Nagato's jutsu was all push.
Time seemed to stop for both Naruto and Sasuke.
Now…?
I know.
"Shinra Tensei!" Nagato called.
Sasuke didn't have to look at Naruto.
Nagato was focusing his full power on pushing.
Both Sasuke and Naruto noticed it. Shinra Tensei was an impossibly strong defense. Naruto was not nearly as good at using it as Nagato was, but he knew how it worked, by now.
And they had noticed during training that in doing so, — unless he paid specific care to it, which Nagato definitely wasn't doing now — the user exposed himself to one vulnerability.
Well, two.
And as good as Nagato was, he just had never faced anyone else who had the Rinnegan. Naruto had trained for this specific task.
He gathered chakra in his hand, until it was glowing.
It would work only once. Because then… Nagato would adapt.
And if he missed…
He could feel the strength of Nagato's push. Naruto stilled his thundering heart. One chance.
Naruto pictured his power into a path, as straight as he could make it. A thin line, no bigger than a coin.
'Shield… and pull. It's not so different from a tea cup, is it… Sakura?'
Naruto lifted his hand, index finger and thumb extended.
"Banshō Ten'in." He called and Nagato turned to face him.
Perfect.
Nagato thought Naruto was about to try to force him out of his impenetrable protection. He laughed and pushed.
It wasn't the case, though.
And that meant Nagato made a mistake. A costly one.
He held his body in place.
Naruto pulled.
And he ripped one of the man's precious eyes away from his skull.
Nagato screamed in pain, and was powerless to do anything about it.
Shinra Tensei fell away.
Sasuke didn't bother waiting any longer. His swords swung down, both of them, dragging scorching white fire behind them.
"Blaze Release: Pillar of Flame!"
Nagato was trapped into the raging inferno.
Naruto lifted his hand.
He wrapped the eye in a cocoon of black chakra, and used the soulflame to obscure any connection Nagato could trace, in case there was one.
The eye vanished.
The very next moment, Nagato stepped out of the flames, looking like a mangled mix of charred bone, burned skin; fat clinging to it stubbornly.
"I have underestimated you." Nagato croaked. "It won't happen again."
The King of Hell appeared out of thin air, and Naruto tried his best to prevent it from rising, exerting his own control over it. It wasn't to be.
It seemed as though both of them summoned a different creature. But that couldn't be… Unless the King of Hell was something entirely different from whatever Naruto had thought it was.
The jaw slammed shut around Nagato, and when he emerged, only one of his eyes held the Rinnegan, still. The other was dark purple.
Something that Naruto knew to be Nagato's real eye color. The frustration both Sasuke and Naruto could read in his eyes was just as real.
"I will take it back." Nagato finally said. There was no more amusement in him.
"We're waiting." Sasuke smiled darkly.
"They were not even yours to start with." Naruto finished.
"Then I shall take yours instead." Nagato grunted. "For irony's sake."
"I'm afraid you would be very disappointed, even if you managed." Naruto said softly. "But if you want them… come and take them."
They had never been able to duplicate any of Naruto's own eyes, when they had experimented with them, with Karin's help. And the moment he removed them from his skull, they turned to nothing but regular eyeballs.
The King of Hell had healed Naruto and restored his eyes anew every time, but the Rinnegan stayed manifested only when his eyes were in their rightful place; in his skull. Only one identical Rinnegan pair at a time, it seemed.
The golden aura around Nagato seemed to become denser, somehow, and his power even more cloying.
"Don't mind if I do." Nagato said coldly. "We have wasted enough time."
Naruto knew that his little eye-pulling trick wouldn't work a second time.
Nagato's clothes ripped apart, and innumerable metallic tubes burst from his skin.
Bad news.
"Assault Rain!"
A massive barrage of golden beams waved up in the air, raining down on Uzushiogakure with a rattling sound.
Rattling…?
They were projectiles, then. Naruto could absorb chakra all he wanted, something like this could still injure him, kill him. He cursed.
Naruto! Sasuke called to him, much louder than needed.
Naruto blurred next to Sasuke. A massive pink ribcage rose around them, before transforming further.
"Shield of Shukaku!"
The Susanoo had shaped itself into the One-Tail itself. Naruto extended his own chakra through it, reinforcing it as well as he could.
Nagato's barrage lasted for a long, long while.
Nagato was taking no risk, it seemed. He just wanted them exhausted, beaten down.
And it was working.
Sasuke kept his defenses up, feeding more and more chakra through his shield. Only now did Naruto notice that Sasuke was shivering from the exertion.
"Are you alright…?" Naruto asked him.
"…I'll manage." Sasuke answered. The hand he extended in front of him was trembling, though.
Shukaku was many things, but even the Beast's strength had limits. And when faced with the strongest of them, Sasuke had expended much more energy than he should have.
"How are you still fighting…?" Sasuke asked, some disbelief coloring his tone.
"Clones on Earth, pulling chakra slowly from the air through the Preta Path. They've been dispelling and sending it up to me." Naruto grunted.
As a jinchūriki and an Uzumaki, he was probably the only one who could really make use of it in combat without frying himself right away. Even then… he didn't have that many clones left, by now.
Sasuke snorted through the exertion. "Such a ludicrous trick. Abusing techniques like that…"
"Old habits." Naruto chuckled wearily.
Despite the banter, they were straining, both of them.
"Shukaku is almost at the end of his rope as well." Sasuke finally admitted. "And unlike you, I don't have any trick like that. Sage Mode is becoming riskier and riskier, the more this goes on."
"I know."
What was there to do…?
Naruto didn't trust in his ability to heal Sasuke through the King of Hell.
And physical wounds were one thing he could manage, with time, but chakra transfusion…? Whether he tried to do so through the Naraka or the Preta path, chances were he'd just end up killing Sasuke.
And without that… There was no way the Uchiha could continue fighting this battle. And he would soon become a liability.
And alone…
Nagato's jutsu stopped, and Sasuke almost fell to his knees, once he dispelled his Susanoo.
Naruto blurred in front of him, absorbing the chakra beam that followed.
Nagato was high above them again, and he summoned a three-headed dog.
Naruto got ready to push it away, but Sasuke held him back, panting.
"Blaze Release: Burning Phoenix!" Sasuke roared, shrouding himself in flames.
He pushed off the floor. Naruto kept his eyes trained on him.
Sasuke reached Nagato and—
His Sage Mode faded out. Of course.
Naruto cursed, focused on their bond and switched places with him.
He slashed horizontally with his left sword. Nagato dodged by twisting over it.
Naruto's right hand sword flew up, and in the same breath, the Spectral swords were summoned again, firing off at a rattling pace toward Nagato.
Nagato… who let them hit him. His hand extended toward Sasuke. He made a fist.
Naruto froze.
No!
"Sealing Art: Chibaku Tensei!"
Uzushiogakure's rubble began rocketing toward Sasuke. Tons and tons of marble-like material smashed against his half-formed Susanoo.
The sphere grew in size fast, and Naruto wondered how he was going to pull Sasuke out of it without injuring him.
He would switch places with him, but if Sasuke was as tired as he seemed to be—
A roar.
"Susanoo: Spiralling Sun!"
The perfect Susanoo exploded out of Pain's jutsu, hand first, holding one of the most destructive jutsu Naruto had ever seen. If they could hit Nagato with this one or…
The Senjutsu-enhanced Rasengan faded away soon. So did Sasuke's Sage Mode. And so did his Susanoo.
Sasuke was panting, blood dripping from both his eyes and his mouth. He was getting closer to his limit, now. Or had gone past it long ago.
"…You two truly are strong. Incredibly so." Nagato admitted. "More so than any jinchūriki or man I have faced before."
"Thanks." Naruto said, very dryly.
Nagato shook his head.
"So why…? Why must you be so foolish?" Nagato asked.
"Are you kidding?" Sasuke panted, almost laughing. "How many times have you asked already…? We're not fucking joining you."
"I would find a way to let you live past the extraction, of course." Nagato offered. "It would be your one way out of death."
"I think he might have some other ideas." Naruto answered for Sasuke.
"Confident, aren't you…?"
Naruto said nothing in answer.
"You still think you can win, then." Nagato said flatly.
Sasuke just chuckled wearily.
"Did you realize I have only been using the Nine-Tails' power until now?" Nagato finally asked.
They had realized, yes.
But there was something else. Naruto furrowed his brow. If the Gedō Mazō was not around and the Bijū truly were sealed in it, and not in Nagato… That could only mean one thing.
"In any case… I thank you for this." Nagato continued. "Because I think this will be the last time I get a good fight in the foreseeable future."
Five other chakra, all of them similar in their nature, began pooling inside Nagato.
Finally!
Nagato hadn't been lying, then. He had access to the rest of them as well. But it had to be harder to control.
And despite what Nagato wanted to let them believe, you could not simply stack Bijū on top of each other.
No matter how much power he could draw from all of them in this imperfect way, it would be a far cry from the real Ten-Tails.
And not just because three were missing.
They were getting closer to their objective.
Sasuke! Get ready!
…I am.
Nagato disappeared.
Something tripped Sasuke, and a pink ribcage began building around him. Too slow, though. Nagato's hand was already inside it.
Naruto switched places with him, extending his sword to stab the hand.
Nagato pulled it back, and his arm split at the elbow. The additional hand pulled Naruto by his arm, slamming him into the floor.
He caught himself with his hand, and Nagato slammed a violent elbow in his gut.
Naruto crashed down to the floor, sword clattering out of his hand.
A wave of pale fire rushed toward them. Nagato backed away, without even realizing there was no natural energy coursing through it, this time.
Sasuke switched places with Naruto again, letting the fire cover him harmlessly. He tried to gather natural energy.
Naruto threw his sword at Nagato, and he dodged easily. He pulled himself to the weapon.
'Revolving Thunder: Grounding!'
He thrust forward—
Nagato's palm slapped him in the face, and extra limbs shot forward to hold him in place.
Sasuke switched positions with him again.
The white flames burned Nagato's hands, but he didn't relent.
Something shot out of the floor. Silver chains that Naruto knew belonged to the Outer Path.
Bad news.
Naruto summoned a plume of smoke, and from there, created five clones. He threw his swords to one of them.
The Naruto holding them switched places with Sasuke.
Nagato's hand dispelled the chains and flew to Naruto's eyes instead. He hadn't noticed, then.
The Storm clone exploded in Nagato's face.
Naruto rushed to Sasuke, and the clones rushed to Nagato, sealing tags in hand. On his way there, Naruto summoned more of them.
The clones used the same tags he had used against Indra. Or rather, a refined version.
One of the clones reached.
Nagato's chakra turned inward, folded upon itself and detonated in a burst of bright light.
Naruto winced. This was not going to buy them a lot of time.
"Can you manage one more time…?" Naruto asked him, knowing exactly how much it was going to take from Sasuke. "Let's go for it now."
"…Tch." Sasuke grunted, trying to look… awake. "Who do you think I am…?"
Naruto fed him some chakra, and noticed Sasuke's pained wince. That was the first and last time Naruto would do so, then.
Sasuke pulled the last remnants of natural energy from around him. Something that was getting harder and harder the higher they flew; the more his chakra dwindled.
"…Is that… Is that going to be enough…?" Sasuke muttered.
"It will have to be."
Chakra coalesced into their hands; Sasuke's left and Naruto's right.
They joined fingers, shaping it one step beyond that.
A wave of Fire and Wind mixed with a bolt of Lightning and Wind.
"…Now…?" Sasuke rasped out, barely holding on to the natural energy.
"No."
Nagato got rid of another clone easily—
The clone stuck to him, shifting into yet another sealing tag.
Nagato's fist smashed through his chest, and there was a hiss. It was something else, and he realized it.
"Shinra Tensei." Nagato called out before it exploded.
He didn't hold the barrier up for long. That gave them a short window of opportunity.
"Now!"
"Firestorm Release: Shiranui!" They echoed.
A wave of white, electrical fire shaped into a gigantic wolf, one that exuded a long, pure white mane of flowing energy.
Compared to the Spiralling Sun from before, this was two steps higher, in terms of power.
Nagato saw it, too.
With a crash of brilliant, blinding light, it fell upon him; unrestrained fury, disintegrating everything in its path.
…Almost everything.
Naruto cursed and grabbed Sasuke.
He ran away.
None of the two stayed behind to watch, simply throwing themselves away, barely out of the way of the annihilating wave… and toward the lower levels.
They reached one room with two large statues again.
Naruto laid Sasuke down against a pillar.
Naruto sat close to one of them, in the half-destroyed — but reforming, although slowly — fortress. Nagato's anti-summoning barrier didn't affect them, right now. He was too far.
Sasuke was shivering.
"…Do you think he absorbed it…?" Sasuke asked, rasping. His face was matted with cold sweat and wounds. "Despite the Senjutsu…?"
"I have no idea, but…"
Nagato was alive, this much was clear. Even through the chakra-laden walls, he could feel his presence.
Naruto wanted to howl in frustration. What would it take…?
…He knew what it would take.
There was no time to waste.
"What are you going to do…?" Naruto asked Sasuke.
"…What do you mean?" Sasuke blinked through his exhaustion.
"You won't be able to fight much longer."
"Well, it's not like I have a choice. Nagato needs to go." Sasuke said dryly, sweat pouring down his face.
He was strong, incredibly so. Just like Asura had been. Or Hashirama had been.
But he wasn't there yet.
Once Sasuke's body became strong enough to handle all of the chakra accumulated over reincarnations, there would be only one person who could rival him.
Sasuke hadn't grown into his full power. And Naruto hadn't either.
They would surpass their previous incarnations, all of them, if given time…
But time was something they didn't have that much of.
Naruto stared at Sasuke for a time.
Considering… everything.
Yes.
The least he could do for his spiritual brother was to give him a chance to live.
"You also happen to have a very pregnant partner, I believe." Naruto said, just as dryly.
He had had a few absent dads, through his lifetimes, and there simply was no way he was going to let two more kids go through it when it could be avoided.
"If you stay here, you will die. And considering the state you're in, I think you won't be able to do anything at all."
Sasuke glared at him. Then he looked away, conflicted.
"…Go home to Hinata." Naruto finally said. "I'll take it from here."
"What—… I can't — You can't manage alone. We have to finish this." Sasuke shook his head vehemently.
'Hanabi.'
"You're right." Naruto nodded and Sasuke took it as assent. "But you've done more than enough."
He placed something in Sasuke's hand, using this as a distraction to seal something else within him, with a single touch to the back of his wrist. The fact that Sasuke didn't even notice told him everything there was to know.
Sasuke crushed the receiver with a glare.
"Do you think I don't know exactly what you're trying to pull—"
Naruto stabbed another rod through his hand. Sasuke screamed in pain.
"Sorry. Maybe you should've done more speed drills." Naruto chuckled. "Come on, now. Don't look at me like this. You know me, don't you…? You should have seen it coming, really."
His eyes turned soft.
"Goodbye, Sasuke."
Sasuke raged.
"Why do you always have to—"
He was gone.
'Thank you, Hanabi.'
Hanabi had no words for him. That was fine, too.
Most of the room blew apart, as Nagato decided he didn't want to bother looking for them. With him came his barrier.
'Too late, Nagato.'
He noticed right away that Sasuke was gone.
"No matter." Nagato said, keeping a tight lid on his anger. "I will get his whereabouts… and the others' from you, anyway. When I take your eyes."
Nagato's power kept on growing, as he drew more of the Bijū chakra from the Gedō Mazō.
Naruto still couldn't figure out where it was, exactly.
Which meant that his hunch was likely right. Now, he just had to go on.
Nagato roared, extending his anti-summoning field further, covering the entire fortress, this time. It was a pretty large waste of chakra. And one he could still afford, right now.
Nagato's overconfidence had cost him Sasuke, even though he saw it as a temporary thing.
It didn't matter, since Naruto had no intention of leaving.
There was one last thing Naruto had to do.
The very task he had trained so hard for, over the last years.
And he knew that there was only one way he could even try to keep up with Nagato's seemingly unstoppable might.
Deep down, Naruto had always known it would come to this.
He reached down deep inside, for the small remnant of the mighty Nine-Tails chakra.
If he was about to die either way, there was no reason to hold anything back.
He had Created one last weapon for that, too.
Naruto let go.
The inhuman chakra of the strongest of the Nine raced through him; painful ecstasy.
His runes burned. All of them. Begging to be released.
So he did. Naruto felt them change.
Gold and purple chakra exploded around him.
Naruto howled in primal rage.
The golden light of the chakra that erupted around him was seen from Earth.
The Storm called for its child; Lightning and Wind and change on the horizon.
Naruto answered its call.