AN: Chapter 26 is here. As you can see the chapter title changed, but regardless here it is. The fight between Naruto and Sasuke is finally at an end. I hope I did it justice. Let's get into it.

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XXX

One Last Dance III ~ New Dawn

Naruto slid beneath the tip of Sasuke's sword as a shadow clone appeared at his side. It lifted a hand, activating Bansho Tenin as Sasuke attempted to jump away. The Uchiha was pulled forward, coughing viciously when Naruto's fist plunged into his stomach. And then he was gone.

Naruto was now locking eyes with his clone. Sasuke's foot connected with his jaw, and he was sent spiraling across the valley. Sasuke took a deep breath, only for Naruto's clone to explode. He stumbled back a few feet, having not been entirely surprised by the clone being an explosive one. His eyes widened when Naruto came barreling out of the smoke from the explosion, a first flying toward Sasuke's face.

The Uchiha just barely tilted his head out of the way before stepping in, swinging his sword at Naruto's midsection. Without missing a beat, Naruto materialized a short staff in his free hand and blocked the strike. Sasuke thrust his other hand forward, the appendage already sparking with electricity. Naruto brought the arm he'd missed the punch with down, ending in an elbow on Sasuke's shoulder that forced him to miss. And then, with Naruto's hands occupied, Sasuke activated Amaterasu and set his friend ablaze.

Naruto fell backwards as he burned to death, only for him to appear unscathed before Sasuke once more, his fist catching the Uchiha in the chin. With a crunch, Sasuke flew off like a rocket. The Uchiha clipped the top of the valley's walls as he continued to fly away, and Naruto took that moment to catch his breath. Even though he wasn't suffering from it anymore, feeling his flesh catch fire was an experience he never wanted to go through again.

He had only a second more to himself before Sasuke landed in front of him again. He was rubbing at his jaw and glaring daggers at Naruto. Naruto himself caught a faint green light as it ebbed on Sasuke's hand. He narrowed his eyes, guessing that one of his advantages over the Uchiha had just been equalized.

"You broke my jaw," Sasuke grunted. Naruto just smiled back at him.

"Told you I would all the way back in Remnant, remember?" Naruto replied. Sasuke's eyes widened before his glare did the impossible and became fiercer. "Was that some sort of healing Shinjutsu?" Naruto asked.

"Couldn't lag behind in the healing department now, could I?" Sasuke replied. Naruto huffed, knowing his fight had just become more difficult. Sasuke smirked back at him and as he vanished right before Naruto's eyes, Naruto followed suit to block an attack. Only one thought was running through his mind. I think we're getting stronger…

Away from the battling shinobi, now safely at the outskirts of the Valley, Weiss watched their fight unfold. At least, she tried to. Weiss only ever saw them appear when they were stationary due to a landed blow or crossing weapons. Outside of those moments, it was almost as if she was staring into empty space. If not for the sounds of battle going on around her, she never would have assumed anyway was even in her line of sight.

Worried, Weiss couldn't help but turn to Hinata and try and get some information. "Is… Naruto winning?" Hinata was quiet for some time. The veins around her eyes were engorged with blood, clearly visible beneath her fair skin. With her Byakugan active, Weiss assumed Hinata would be able to see the finer details of the fight, but the way her eyes moved gave her pause. Hinata's eyes bounced about in every conceivable angle. Yet her brow was furrowed, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth was set in a scowl of concentration.

"Hinata?" Weiss tried again.

"I… I can't see them. Even with my Byakugan… it's just blurs. Kakashi-sensei can you—"

"No. Just blurs. They weren't this fast earlier…" Kakashi replied.

"They're getting faster?" questioned Winter. Kakashi nodded.

"And… stronger too, I think. As the fight drags on it seems as though their strength only grows," said Kakashi.

"Were the Otsutsuki like this?" Yang asked. If that was the case, she couldn't fathom how her boyfriend and Sasuke had beaten one, let alone three of them.

"No. No they weren't," Kakashi replied. Sharp as Kakashi was, it took him little to no time at all to conclude that this trait of theirs—this ever-growing power—was unique to them. They weren't Otsutsuki. Naruto and Sasuke were something else entirely. Something more.

"Sasuke healed himself just a moment ago too. I'm not sure how. That wasn't iryo ninjutsu," Sakura added.

"If… if Sasuke can heal himself… and he's just getting stronger as the fight goes on… will he ever be weak enough to finish off if he does kill Naruto?" Yang asked. Much to Weiss's dismay, her friend did not receive a response.

"Suzaku!" Sasuke's yell caught their attention just as an intense, skin sizzling heat settled upon them. Their skin felt as though all the liquid had been sucked right out of it as the valley was illuminated from above. They looked up and bore witness to a fireball roughly the size of Sasuke's Kirin technique. It rapidly changed shape, forming into the burning visage of a phoenix.

With a casual wave of his hand, the bird tore through the sky merely to be stopped dead by a horde of Naruto absorbing the technique. Only for Sasuke to appear behind them all and raise both his hands. In the next moment, all of Naruto's copies were catapulted away, either flying through the air or crashing into the walls of the valley. The real Naruto pulled himself from out of the cliff-face and glared up at the approaching Uchiha, his clones having long since popped. Naruto slammed his hands into the cliff-face, forcing his own nature chakra to mingle with the ever-present nature chakra. A moment later, thousands of chains shot out of the cliff, rattling toward Sasuke in a blink.

Sasuke tried to dodge them, but there were just too many. With a grunt, he activated Shinra Tensei and pushed as many of them away from them as he could. His success was short lived. The chains quickly corrected their course and soon wrapped around him. With a glance, Naruto directed his technique and the chains quickly crashed into the ground below before dragging along the ground, kicking up dust and tearing a furrow into the rocky floor of the valley.

Naruto placed a hand on the chains and a violent spark of electricity traveled from them to the point where Sasuke was held. Before the electricity reached his foe, however, the chains faded. Sasuke had absorbed the chakra that had created them.

"Byakko," Sasuke growled. The cliff-face seemed to come alive, and Naruto jumped away when he felt the slightest movement. He turned about midair, coming face to face with yet another huge construct of chakra. This time, it was a tiger made of rock. He dodged the swipe of its claws, breathed in, and exhaled a bullet of wind that bore into its head. From inside, the bullet expanded and created ripples of wind as it traveled from head to tail. Byakko was destroyed from the inside out and Naruto narrowed his eyes.

Kirin, Suzaku, and Byakko… what are my chances that he doesn't have a Seiryu and Genbu too?

Ha! Not likely, said Kurama.

As if reading his thoughts, Sasuke spoke once more.

"Seiryu!" The wind picked up, forming a massive tornado that twisted and curled around itself. Eventually, Naruto made out the snarling head of a dragon right before it lunged at him. He flew away from it, climbing higher into the sky as his mind raced. He knew Kirin always required prep from Sasuke, and yet here he was, throwing out jutsu of comparable power in an instant.

These are all Shinjutsu. Kirin was undoubtedly transformed into one too then. I can't keep climbing. Even I won't be able to dodge or block a point-blank Kirin if he casts it now, Naruto thought. Immediately, the Uzumaki let himself fall as he turned to face the chasing dragon. He lined his hand up with the approaching threat and scowled.

"Shiroi Taiyo," said Naruto. From the palm of his hand, a mote of blindingly white light the size of an apple seed floated down to meet Sasuke's Seiryu. The moment the two techniques touched Naruto shut his eyes. And then the night became day. The explosion was accompanied by a heat that superheated the very top of the valley's cliffs, melting them. Naruto was glad he'd activated the technique so high in the sky or he likely would have killed all of his friends. After all, even he wasn't safe from his own technique.

He let himself die once more and then found himself materializing right behind Sasuke, his assumptions correct. Naruto had guessed as he got used to his Jiko Gisei, he'd be able to influence the spatial position of his body while he was returning from death. Space and time couldn't ever truly be separated, after all. Striking swiftly, he buried a fist into Sasuke's side. The Uchiha let loose a strangled grunt before being launched into the cliff and bringing the whole thing down on top of him. Between all their attacks, the valley wasn't looking much like a valley any longer. Only one high cliff remained, and Naruto doubted that would remain true for too much longer.

Naruto took a deep breath, counting the seconds until he could use Jiko Gisei again. He still had seven left. Sasuke wouldn't put them to waste, Naruto was sure. As if reading his mind, the Uchiha exploded out of the rubble, sending rock flying at Naruto just as he did. A chain shot out of Naruto's palm and batted many of the rocks away, except for a tiny pebble that passed Naruto's face.

Sasuke was instantly at his side, replacing himself with the pebble. Naruto still had six seconds left. A chidori screeched against a hastily erected shield of chains. Naruto was thrown toward the water regardless of his defense, such was the force behind Sasuke's strike. As soon as he was landing upon the waves, Sasuke spoke.

"Genbu!" A massive head of liquid appeared beneath Naruto's feet and swallowed him whole before the rest of the turtle's body emerged from the water. The liquid shell on its back quickly hardened into ice and Naruto was forced to dodge as the spiky ridges of the shell retracted from the outside and assaulted him within Genbu's body. He felt more sluggish than he should be. The water of Genbu's body was enhanced in some way.

Naruto wondered if it was a poison of some sort but shook the thought away to focus. He still had four seconds before he could use Jiko Gisei again. Though muffled, the sound Naruto heard next made him panic. His eyes locked onto Sasuke's form and Naruto held his hands out to begin absorbing Genbu only to be assaulted by the icy spikes of its shell. It was then that Naruto realized how precarious his position truly was. Sasuke's sparking hand fell as Naruto formed four clones above him, their arms over their heads.

"Kirin…" Sasuke's Kirin roared to earth in an instant, colliding with Genbu and punching through the technique. Steam exploded outward from the point of impact and Weiss could do little more than cover her mouth with her hands, horrified. And then Naruto burst out of the steam, flying at Sasuke.

"How!?" Sasuke roared, blocking Naruto's fist with his forearm. Naruto just grinned as his four clones burst from the steam after him. The four of them moved in and the Uchiha backpedaled as the five Naruto's struck at him, keeping him from casting any further jutsu. Every time he tried to make a move, they were aware of it and countered almost instantly. It didn't take him long to realize Naruto was seeing everything they saw.

"What? Didn't think my clones could use Jiko Gisei, too?" Naruto replied.

You wouldn't have thought of it if Kokuo hadn't said anything. Don't act like it was your idea, Kurama snorted. Naruto wisely chose not to dignify that with a response as his clones gave him an opening to land a strong blow into Sasuke's abdomen. He coughed even as he activated Shinra Tensei and pushed all of them away, popping the clones in the process.

The two of them caught their footing, breathing raggedly as they stared one another down. Even now, they could feel it. Their power grew with each exchange. It was bizarre, really. Sasuke wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth as some burns from the Kirin on Naruto's face healed.

"Jutsu seem futile at this point," Sasuke grunted.

"So we settle this with our fists then? I'm all for beating in your face. You won't get any complaints from me," Naruto replied. Sasuke actually chuckled.

"Of course you wouldn't… this is it, Naruto," said Sasuke.

"Yeah… yeah, it is."

To the onlookers, the two of them vanished in that instant. And then the earth shook. Naruto and Sasuke's clashing fists caused that reaction alone. And the next connecting blows were no better. They struck and blocked one another as the air around them began to shiver. They didn't move from their spot, their limbs a blur of motion. And it was as they continued to trade blows that Hinata noticed something peculiar. The scenery around them was shifting.

Everything around them was almost wispy; ethereal. The once tangible scenery was no longer so. Their world faded away before their eyes and they found themselves over a vast ocean, below them a ship with an oddly designed flag—depicting a skull and bones with a straw hat—sailed along. Alone for it to be pushed off course roughly by the sudden and massive wave formed by Naruto and Sasuke' clashing again.

A moment later they were gone again, back in the valley.

"What… was that?" Hinata wondered aloud.

"I think… I believe that was yet another alternate world," Winter replied. Before anyone could say something else, the scenery shifted again as Sasuke received a knee to the face. This time, they found themselves on the edges of a sprawling city, and just a few hundred feet away, a line of towering, skinless giants marched toward them. Sasuke recovered from his blow and viciously repaid Naruto with a punch to the jaw that had him flying into one of the giant creature's ankle. It toppled over, falling into the one behind it as Naruto launched himself back at Sasuke where the two once again traded blows.

When the group vanished this time, they didn't return to the valley. Instead, they found themselves in what seemed to be another city. Below them, Weiss spotted a woman with pale skin, light blue hair, and oddly colored eyes. She was looking up, but she didn't think she'd been staring at them. Taking a look up for herself, she saw a man. At least, she thought it was a man. His body seemed to have been heavily modified with robotics He was falling, but his path led him directly into a punch from Naruto that tore his head from his shoulders. Sasuke took that chance to spin into a kick that collided with Naruto's forearm. They all faded out of that world and were once again in the valley.

Weiss could tell immediately that this was not their valley, however. Many of the cliffs were still intact. They were pristine, in fact. Just above them, she saw Naruto and Sasuke attacking. But not their Naruto and Sasuke. These two were younger. Many chains protruded from Naruto's back and he had a sword in hand. The younger Sasuke also had a sword and from what Weiss could tell, both of his eyes were Sharingan still. The two were swinging their blades upon a woman who was between the two of them, a Naginata in one of her hands. Her eyes were closed and she had an easy smile upon her face right up until their Naruto and Sasuke traded another blow. The force of it threw their alternate selves and the woman into the cliffs.

"Futon: Rasengan!" Naruto yelled, his Rasengan forming as a spinning, bladed mass of chakra and wind.

"Chidori!" Sasuke replied in kind, his chidori a deep black color instead of the usual blue. The two techniques collided just as they all faded out of this dimension and reappeared back in their valley. The explosion of the two techniques connecting knocked Naruto and Sasuke away from each other and they landed at opposite ends of the valley. For a while, neither of them got up. They just breathed. And then, slowly, the two of them got to their feet.

The arms they'd used to perform their attacks were bruised and broken, but neither of them seemed to care. And Weiss understood why. Right before her eyes she saw them appendages heal, heard the bones snapping back together, and watched as the bruising vanished from their skin. It was surreal and Weiss couldn't help but wonder how this fight could possibly come to an end.

"This could go on forever…" Naruto grunted.

"I'll find a way to kill you before then, don't worry," Sasuke replied. Naruto snorted and closed his eyes.

"Yeah… I'm sure you would have. Good thing I took some precautions…" Naruto replied, opening his eyes as he finished speaking. And then Weiss heard Hinata gasp, but she didn't need to ask why. She could see it for herself. The color had drained out of Naruto's Rinnegan, turning the once blue eyes a deep black. The previously black rings in his eyes now white as the veins around his eyes bulged. He dropped into a stance that was startlingly similar to what Hinata had shown them all just earlier that day and grinned viciously at Sasuke.

"A Rinne Byakugan?" Sasuke questioned, his eyes narrowing.

"Amazing what a sparring session with Hinata can produce. Just a bit of mental training with the biju after that and well… the results will speak for themselves," Naruto replied.

"We'll see," Sasuke spat. The two of them moved in again.

Ruby groaned as she sat up in her bed. It was her first real night of sleep in what felt like weeks. She wasn't actually sure how long it had been, of course. All of the fighting and evacuating she'd been doing had just blurred the days together after a while. Next to her, her bed partner stirred with a grumble.

"Go back to sleep, Ruby…" Blake mumbled.

"I'll try… just… I had a bad dream," Ruby replied. It was silent for a little longer until she heard Blake shuffling the sheets as she sat up herself.

"About your dad again?" Blake asked.

Shaking her head, Ruby replied. "No. This one was about you. When you almost died yesterday…"

"I'm fine, Ruby… just a little sore, don't worry. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere," Blake responded as she wrapped the younger girl up in a hug that Ruby eagerly returned.

"I don't want to lose anyone else, Blake."

"I know." Blake lifted Ruby's head to look the girl in her eyes. She saw the tears threatening to spill and preemptively wiped them away with a thumb. "It'll be okay… I'm right here. And just you wait, Yang will be back in no time… I'm sure of it. And even then… I'll still be right here," Blake continued. The younger girl nodded with a sniff and after a bit more coaxing, Blake got her to lie back down and the two tried to get back to sleep.

Sasuke blocked a strike from Naruto even as another one landed on his right leg. He felt the tenketsu shot down only to reignite with the use of his Shinjutsu healing technique. Naruto was proving to be proficient enough at blending Jyuken and his own fighting style together. This was nothing that Sasuke was used to from him and it had forced him securely onto the backfoot. But there was a saving grace. Naruto wasn't fast enough to shut down all his tenketsu at once. They were too evenly matched.

Sasuke blocked another strike and headbutted his friend only to deliver a vicious kick into his side. Naruto stumbled and then Sasuke swept him off his feet. Naruto's hand touched the ground and a spike of earth launched up at Sasuke's face, forcing him to stop his forward momentum. That was all the time Naruto needed to get back to his feet and slam an open palm into Sasuke's stomach, followed by another to his chin. A moment later he felt the stabbing pain of having all the tenketsu in his arms forcefully shut down.

With gritted teeth, he activated his Shinjutsu again and rose his arms just in time to block another stab. He grabbed Naruto's outstretched arm and turned, flipping him over his back and slamming him into the ground as he inhaled. Naruto wasn't stupid, though. He saw Sasuke's inhale for what it was and pushed him away with Shinra Tensei just before he could exhale. Sasuke let the fire lose regardless, bathing the ground in heat and blocking Naruto's vision of him.

Naruto got to his feet just as Sasuke's katana came spearing at him from out of the flames. He tilted his head to dodge and Sasuke appeared from the flames next only for Naruto to immediately gut check him with an open palm. And then Sasuke' smirked.

"Took one from your books, Naruto!" Eyes widening as Sasuke grabbed onto his arm, Naruto was forced to endure death once more As Sasuke exploded. His Jiko Gisei activated and as he stepped out of the smoke to confront his foe, Sasuke's Katana pierced through his back, then his heart, and burst out of his chest.

"It's over, Naruto… rest," Sasuke said as Naruto coughed up blood onto his blade.

"Yeah… it… is." Naruto burst into smoke as two more Naruto exploded out of the ground below and latched firmly onto his arms. Before Sasuke could attempt using his legs for anything, a third Naruto along with his chains burst from the ground as well. The chains wrapped themselves around his legs and Sasuke screamed in fury as that third Naruto rushed him. In a blink, they'd swapped places and Naruto found himself restrained. A chidori screamed to life in Sasuke's hand and he plunged it forward. Naruto just smiled at him and then spoke.

"Shinjutsu: Chinmoku." With the Rinnegan, Sasuke saw the buildup of chakra that originated from Naruto's eyes. But it was too late. He was mid technique, and his forward momentum wouldn't allow him dodge whatever this was in time. His eyes darted about, but Naruto had made planned this. Sasuke knew he had to have. Their observers were behind him, after all. He didn't have the time to turn around and swap with any of them. And somehow, Sasuke doubted swapping with one of Naruto's clones would save him from this.

The chakra buildup expanded outwards and slammed into Sasuke, knocking him back and shutting off every tenketsu in his body all at once. He only had enough time to widen his eyes in disbelief before Naruto blurred and his fist obscured Sasuke's vision. And then, the Uchiha only knew darkness.

Sasuke awoke. He blinked away his blurred vision and tried lifting his arms. He couldn't. His tenketsu were still inactive and his entire body felt numb.

"I guess you win, Naruto," said Sasuke. He heard his friend scoff and turned his head to seem him lying on the ground as well. He looked worse for wear. His skin was sizzling as Kurama healed him.

"Even as I knocked you out you still managed to plunge your sword through my chest. And after my Jiko Gisei activated I caught on fire. How'd you even do that?"

"Combined Shinjutsu with Amaterasu. Let me set when the jutsu would go off. I set it up after I used Amenotejikara because I didn't trust you to die from the chidori or my sword. I was right," Sasuke replied. Naruto chuckled.

"If not for the fact that I have more than one biju healing me I would have died before I could use Jiko Gisei again… you really suck, Sasuke."

"You can come back from the dead."

"Fair."

"How long have I been out?" Sasuke asked as his ears picked up movement. It wasn't Naruto though. He was sure of that.

"Five minutes at the most," Naruto replied.

"I see… you were right, by the way. I… my way wouldn't have worked. Every time I killed you it was just…" Sasuke looked away and sighed before he continued. "I felt correct in the moment. That my path was the only way. That you were in my way… but I don't think I would have been able to live with myself… not in the end."

"Good… cuz I'm not up for a round two," Naruto replied. Sasuke could hear the smile in his voice and shook his head.

"Naruto!" Yelled Yang. As Sasuke listened to Naruto's women fret over him he tried his best to ignore the looming figures of Sakura and Kakashi above him. They'd walked over with the others, but they came to him.

Sakura knelt next to him, her tears splashing onto his cheek.

"Sakura…" Sasuke began.

"Don't. Just—just don't," Sakura interjected. Sasuke continued anyway.

"I'm sorry." He watched her face contort in rage only for all of the emotion to drain out of her countenance, leaving her looking exhausted.

"You can't keep doing this…"

"I won't… this—it's over."

"Good," Sakura sniffed. And thus, as the sun rose, a new era dawned with it.

XXX

Shinjutsu – Divine Techniques

Shiroi Taiyo - White Sun

Chinmoku - Silence

Tenketsu - Chakra Points

And that's the chapter. The fight is over. As I said above, I really hope I did it justice. I think it's hard to top the canon fight and I can't particularly say I'm trying to, but I hope it was at least comparable.

Only two chapters left. Once again, I'll leave you with the title. And this time I'm sure it won't change. Chapter 27 shall be:

Wipe Away the Ink

If there are any questions you all have, feel free to leave a review. If you want some sort of more in-depth discussion, then go ahead join the discord. Anyway, that's it. Peace out.

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