Author's Note:

Hello everyone! Unfortunately, we are coming to the end of NARUSASUNARU MONTH! Good thing we can still read and celebrate them year-round! Also, I would like to apologize for the ending of Chapter 80. I wanted to finish it so bad that I pushed myself to the point where I was writing the end while going in and out of sleep. The good news is I plan to go through and edit both the chapters of this story and all my previous ones.

Yes! I finally decided to take a temporary break (after this story is completed, of course) and go through the editing process. I even plan on publishing on another platform (i.e., AO3) for people who can't or don't want to get on Fanfiction. It'll be an exciting transition considering I have been publishing here since I was about 12 years old. Oh, I just checked my age there. Anyway, I will give you a reminder when I officially begin this process. In the meantime, my main goal is to complete this story, hopefully by the end of 2022. Wish me luck!

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Chapter 81: The Beginning of the End

Normal P.O.V.

After teleporting back to where Minato and Sasuke stood, Tobirama and Naruto painted their bodies from the attack's strain.

"Do you think we got him?" Naruto asked.

"From what I can see, I say you did. Way to go, Sochi* (1) and Lord Second," Minato smiled as he gave a thumbs-up symbol with his remaining hand.

"Well, Minato, that boy of yours seems to have grown into a fine shinobi, wouldn't you say?" the darker half of Kurama smirked from within Minato's subconscious, "No wonder he could sweet talk my softer half into collaborating with him. Along with that, Uchiha brat into being his omega mate? Hn. He possesses your talent of making alliances wherever he goes,"

Minato inwardly chuckled before he answered, "It would seem so. Keep watching. He still has many surprises up his sleeve for us,"

"So, my hypothesis was correct. Ninjutsu attacks may not work against him, but Sage attacks, because of their natural elements, will do," Tobirama smirked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't seem that we're out of trouble yet. Look over there," Sasuke said as he pointed towards Obito's body.

Across the battlefield, Obito panted as he struggled to push himself up and onto his knees, "Hn. How could the Ten-Tails have such a weakness like that? And, because of the Ten-Tails, I can't phase through objects or people either. Damn, being the Jinchūriki of this beast is annoying as hell,"

Obito growled as he stood up. At the same time, red flames and a red orb formed on the ends of his spikes, and the opening of the wound Naruto's Sage attack created. Within seconds, the wound closed, and the outer layer of skin thickened.

"Damnit. You Uchihas can never make anything easy, can you," Tobirama tsked and ignored the side glare from Sasuke. "Pay attention, everyone! Our opponent has healed his back and is now guarding it," he shouted before turning his head towards the part of the battlefield where Madara and Hashirama were still fighting, "Hn. Madara seems to be keeping my niisan busy still, so we may have to finish him off on our own,"

"I don't have much time until I have to activate the Tsukuyomi," Obito said as he kneeled onto the ground. "Let's tidy things up a bit,"

Obito added some of his chakras to the ground through his fingertips. Suddenly, a large tree trunk with red flower bulbs appeared out of the earth. Screams from shinobis echoed across the field can be heard throughout the battlefield. Most of the shinobi didn't know what was going on, despite having the revived Hokages and other shinobi leaders guide them. Suddenly, a Hashirama clone appeared besides Minato, Tobirama, Sasuke, and Naruto.

"Niisan? I thought you were still fighting Madara?" Tobirama asked.

"The real Hashirama is. I am but one of the clones he created to assist the others," the clone explained before turning towards the other shinobi. Together, with the other dispersed clones, they gave out commands. "Everyone! Listen to me! Do not be afraid of what lies before you! It is a part of their ultimate attack: The Tsukuyomi! All we simply must do is disperse its attacks when they come! The other Hokages and other more powerful shinobi will manage that. The rest of you, I need you to assist in building the Earth Style Wall! Then, I will use the Deep Forest Emergence jutsu to launch them towards the ocean!"

"I won't allow you to do that," Obito glared as he held his hand out and shot out six black rods, "Six Crimson Ray Formation!"

Red flames surrounded each rod. They shot upward and connected until they formed a surrounding barrier.

"Fuck, man. Now he's trapped us inside his barrier. Great, just what we needed," Naruto groaned with his hand over his face.

"Don't lose hope, Sochi. We'll think of a way out of here," Minato encouraged.

As his father said this, Naruto got an idea, "Otousan," he called Minato. The older blond fox turned towards his son to let him know that he was listening, "I'm not sure if this will work or not, but I need you to bump fists with me,"

Without asking any questions, Minato did as he was asked and bumped his fist with Naruto. Then, both blond-haired foxes closed their eyes and entered their subconsciousness.

Inside their subconsciouses, the two halves of Kurama's essences had a conversation.

"Eh? What is going on?" Evil Kurama asked as he looked around.

"It's good to see my other half is still an asshole," Kurama chuckled. Kurama's comment caused Evil Kurama to turn towards his other half and look at him in irritation, "Yo, other me. What's up? How ya been?"

"This… is beyond strange…."

"You're telling me. Now then, do you mind sharing your chakra with me again?" Kurama asked with his fist outstretched.

"Asking a favor of your other half is crossing into another realm of strange," Evil Kurama chuckled before he bumped his fist with Kurama.

Once both halves of Kurama's fists were connected, Naruto's chakra reserves were replenished and increased, and a chakra cloak and outfit formed around him.

"Otousan, let's go!" Naruto yelled.

"Right!" Minato nodded.

Around the battlefield, Naruto's protective chakra formed around his comrades again. Everyone gasped in amazement at Naruto's power and ability to do this. From behind Naruto and Minato, Sasuke stared in awe at his mate's power.

Even without Kurama, Naruto has demonstrated that he can strategize and hold his own. Despite their many hard-fought battles, Naruto managed to overcome them at every turn, no matter how difficult the odds seemed. To think that the underdog of their class would grow into the man that will bring peace to their nation is unreal. What is even more unreal was that he, Sasuke Uchiha, would be by his side the entire way. As Sasuke stared at his mate and shuuto* (2), Suigetsu and Jugo appeared.

"Sasuke," Jugo called out.

"What are you two doing here? I thought I told you to assist down there with the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces?" he glared as his tail flicked in irritation. "And where is Karin? Did she perish already?"

"Last I checked, she was helping Sakura. However, that was ages ago. So who knows if she's still running around here somewhere," Suigetsu shrugged. "Anyway, the big guy over here was worried about you. So I tagged along to make sure you weren't dead too," Suigetsu said as he gestured towards Jugo.

"Sasuke, things are getting dangerous. We should retreat," Jugo warned.

"You can retreat if you choose to. However, there is no safer place than where we are right now," Sasuke replied as he turned his back towards them.

As they talked, Naruto through a look over his shoulder and spoke to them, "Sasuke, I'm going to use Kurama's, my fathers, and my power to teleport everyone out of there safely,"

"That's too dangerous. You'll use up too much of your chakra reserves, dobe,"

Naruto just smiled, "I'll be all right. I know you'll be here to help me if I do. Besides, us Uzumakis are known for our massive chakra supplies," and with that, he turned to face forward with determination, "Alright! Let's do this!"

"If you think that little trick of yours will withstand the shockwave of four Tailed-Beast Bombs exploding at once, then think again," Obito said as he closed his eyes, "Begone!"

Suddenly, the four red Tailed-Beast Bombs shot at the center of the barrier and engulfed it in flames. The sounds of fire, explosions, and screams rung increasingly loud as this horrific took place. As the fire exploded, they rose upward until steamed seeped out of the top. Safely, in the distance and with his black shield around him, Obito floated above and watched in irritation and surprise at what he saw before him.

"How in the hell~."

Outside the barrier, every Allied Shinobi stood, covered in the safety of Naruto and Kurama's chakra.

"Woah! Naruto saved us again!" Choji, Lee, and Kiba cheered.

"Look! We're outside of the barrier too! Naruto-Kun is amazing!" Hinata and Ino cheered.

Across the battlefield, loud cheers honoring Naruto and the Fourth Hokage's efforts rung true.

"Minato Namikaze, Naruto Uzumaki, once again, your amazing prowess has saved us all. Thank you," Tobirama nodded.

"It was nothing, Lord Second," Minato panted as he faked a smile.

"Woah, man. That was some impressive shit. Good one on ya," Suigetsu smirked.

"Yes, quite impressive for the two of you. How did you manage such an impressive feat?" Jugo asked.

"Simple, Otousan teleported everyone connected by my chakra out of the barrier. If my chakra covers our teammates, even without them touching, then everyone would be teleported outside of the barrier together," Naruto explained with a smile as he turned towards his dad, "I know that took a lot out of you. Why don't you rest for a while. Sasuke and I got it from here, right?" Sasuke nodded.

Naruto summoned more of Kurama's chakra, causing Kurama's body to manifest in the form of yellow chakra. Once completed, Sasuke and him jumped towards the front lines.

"Let's go Sasuke!"

"Right!"

As the two boys landed, Tobirama shouted, "Naruto! Don't be a showoff, baka! Don't tell me you forgot that nothing other than Sage chakra will work against them!"

The two stood in silence, mainly because Sasuke waited to make sure that Naruto wasn't that big of an idiot to~

"Oh shit! I forgot that fast! There go all of my plans to defeat them!" he shouted as he fell to the floor like a deflated, animated balloon. At the same time, everyone within earshot range smacked their faces with their hands.

"You're as much of a baka as my niisan!" Tobirama scolded.

"Dobe, how could you," Sasuke groaned.

"Looks like you surpassed the previous Hokage, alright, in stupidity!" Kurama laughed.

"I can't believe I passed that trait down to him too," Kushina groaned as she facepalmed too.

"Don't worry, Kit, just go into Sage Mode while you're in that mood too," Kurama suggested.

"Well, duh, I was going to do that. But won't the limits of both those moods be too short for this war?"

"Not necessarily. Remember, I'm the other half of your Kurama. With our combined, along with your fathers, you'll have powerful support," Evil Kurama explained.

"Alright then, sounds good to me! So give all you got!" Naruto cheered.

"Right!"

Minato used his combined chakra to form his own chakra manifested body before jumping next to Naruto. Naruto felt a powerful surge of chakra course throughout his body with all three of their powers combined. Both blond-haired foxes held out their hands and formed a giant Rasengan chakra ball known to man.

"Naruto! Add your Sage Chakra!" Minato commanded.

"Right!" Naruto did as commanded before throwing a look over his shoulder, "Old Man Second, are you ready?"

Tobirama jumped towards the center of the Sage Chakra ball and placed both hands on it, and announced, "Ready!"

The two significant chakras Kurama forms leaped towards Obito. The Ten-Tails Jinchūriki shot red flames from his back as a defense. Both Kurama forms used their free hands to disable his defense before they struck with the Rasengan.

"Rasengan!" "Rasengan!"

Minato and Naruto screamed as they forced the powerful attack onto their enemy. However, the harder they pushed, the more Obito fought back. Finally, Obito thrust his hand forward and summoned a long, sharp rod to pierce through the center. This caused their Rasengans to disperse and caused Minato, Naruto, and chakra Kurama forms to be thrown backward until they landed on the ground.

"Damnit, he stopped our attack," Naruto cursed as he got up.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Otousan! Now, get ready for our next attack!" Naruto yelled as he held his hands in front of him.

"What did you have in mind?" Minato asked.

"How about I add some of my Sage chakras to our Tailed-Beast Bombs," Naruto smirked.

Minato, with the thought of Kushina on his mind, replied, "Sounds good to me!" Minato and Naruto summoned their dark energy balls from the center of their Kurama forms' mouths. Afterward, Naruto used both hands to add his Sage Chakra to each ball for its needed, added effect. With a glance, Minato couldn't help his smile as he pictured Kushina standing next to their son, "It's as if it were old times, eh Kushina?"

As they readied their attack, Obito shot himself upwards until he was as tall as the thick tree trunk of his Infinite Tsukuyomi.

"Looks like I need to speed things up a bit," Obito said as he slammed his hands together.

Suddenly, the ground shook as the Ten-Tails' tails and the roots of the Infinite Tsukuyomi shot up from the ground. As the land split apart and their battle was disrupted, Hashirama used this moment to escape to where the main frontline party stood.

"Damn him. He's too impatient. He must be in serious trouble to start the Infinite Tsukuyomi Genjutsu this early," Madara cursed as he looked up at Obito.

During all this, a sizeable plantlike bulb sprouted on the Ten-Tails' back as more of the Infinite Tsukuyomi's roots shot up and embedded themselves into the ground. Everyone screamed and tried to run as the roots expanded towards them. The sources caught some people. They called in agony as the roots tightened around their bodies and sucked out all their chakra.

"Run for your lives! If it touches you, it'll drain all your chakra and lifeforce!" they screamed.

Some tried to fight the roots off. Others just ran for their lives. But, unfortunately, it wasn't enough. The roots hunted the Allied Shinobi Forces as if they were its prey. Even Naruto's protective chakra wasn't enough to save them from their fate. Shinobi, like Killer B, had multiple roots that hunted him down. This was because they could sense the more significant reserves of chakra within their bodies. The more chakra a person stored, the more roots hunted them down. Quickly, everyone started to realize that, even with Naruto's extra chakra, it all was meaningless. Even Naruto was no match for the tree's roots. Finally, one of the roots grabbed him and hoisted him upwards.

"Naruto!" Sasuke screamed as he climbed after it, careful not to get caught by the roots.

Naruto struggled against the root. He clawed, bit, and punched. He did whatever he had to do to free himself, but nothing worked. As the root tightened around his body, more roots shot up.

"Let go of me!" he screamed and struggled.

Tobirama, Minato, Hashirama, and Sasuke did their best to try and reach him. They tried every jutsu and weapon they had to cut the roots down, but he was still too high up. It didn't matter anyway. Every time the roots would get cut, they would grow back from both ends. However, they continued to fight, but Naruto continued to suffer.

Higher and higher the roots took Naruto until he was out of his comrades' reach. Soon his entire body was covered in the roots until he was barely visible. It didn't take long for him to feel his chakra drain from his body. He felt weary. He felt weak. He even started to feel defeated.

With his last breath, Naruto struggled until the last root covered his body, "Let… go… of… me…."

But, just when all hope was lost, Sasuke and Hiruzen and sliced the roots from Naruto's body, "Hang on, dobe. We got you,"

Hiruzen carried Naruto's limp body until they reached the bottom of the tree's trunk. Once there, the late four Hokages and Sasuke were teleported to safety by Tobirama before any more roots could get them.

It didn't take long before they were back on solid ground. Naruto opened his eyes and gasped when he saw several of his friends and most of the Allied Shinobi Forces either dead from lack of chakra or seriously injured.

"What… what happened to them?" Naruto asked in a panic.

"Almost what happened to you," Sasuke answered as he helped Naruto stand.

"Those roots took back all their chakra," Minato said in a depressing voice.

"But… why…"

"When our world was first created, we took chakra from that tree: The Divine Chakra Tree. That is how every one of us, including the Tailed-Beasts, gets their powers and abilities to perform jutsus," Hashirama added.

"Now it seems that it intends to take it back from us," Hiruzen finished with a stern look.

"What… what are we going to do…." Naruto mumbled to himself as he allowed his body to go limp.

His dead weight was too much for Sasuke to manage now, so he helped his mate to his knees.

In the distance, Madara began to chuckle at the devastation around him, "Are all of you watching? Then, when the Divine Tree's bubs finally bloom, the moon will reflect the eye in the flower's center above. And the Infinite Tsukuyomi will be activated!"

Murmurs and gasps of terror could be heard on everyone's lips. Everything they worked hard for will be lost soon after all their hard work, determination, exhaustion, and ambition. What was the point of this? What was the reason for them to fight this war if there wasn't a way to win? It shouldn't have been hard. There were only two prominent people as their opponents. So how could they lose? How could they fail against these two people? They had the numbers, the power, the prowess, the ambition, the strength; so why… Why did things have to end up this way?

As he watched the people below him sink further in their despair, Obito was ready to give them what they wanted… relief.

"Do not worry… You have endured long enough… Allow me to ease the pain… and relieve you of your suffering…."

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Footnotes:

sochi= son

shuuto= father-in-law