The forest stretched endlessly, a blur of green and shadow.
Naruto bounded across branches, his breath ragged, his body burning with urgency. Behind him, Konoha was a war zone—the air thick with smoke and screams—but all Naruto could hear now was the monstrous pulse of chakra ahead.
The chakra was oppressive, suffocating, and alien. It wasn't just killing intent; it was hunger, gnawing at everything around it. Naruto's Perfect Copy stirred, instinctively reaching to echo the patterns of what it sensed. But Naruto forced it down, shaking his head violently.
No. If I let this ability take over, I'll just become a reflection. I need to fight this as myself.
Up ahead, Sasuke was already engaged, his Sharingan spinning, his body darting in blurs of speed. He was faster—much faster—than Naruto remembered, every strike sharp, every dodge precise.
He skidded along a tree trunk, lightning shrieking in his palm. "Chidori!"
He launched forward like a spear of thunder. His strike pierced through Gaara's sand shield, drawing blood. For a moment, Naruto thought it was over.
But Gaara's laughter erupted, high-pitched and cracked. His wound sealed almost instantly with swirling sand. His face twisted in rage.
"You hurt Mother! You'll pay!"
The ground erupted as a tidal wave of sand smashed Sasuke aside. He slammed into a tree, coughing blood, his Sharingan flickering weakly.
"Naruto," Sasuke rasped, forcing himself upright though his knees shook. "This… this is my fight."
Naruto landed beside him, eyes blazing. "No, teme. It's our fight. You can't win this alone—and neither can I."
Sasuke's lips curled in frustration, but his body gave out, leaving Naruto to face Gaara alone.
Gaara convulsed, sand pouring from his body in waves. His laughter turned guttural, broken.
"More blood… Mother wants more blood!"
A cocoon of sand wrapped around him, pulsing with grotesque chakra. The forest trembled as trees snapped under the pressure. Cracks spread across the cocoon until it burst, revealing a monstrous figure: Shukaku the One-Tail, sand and chakra forming jagged claws and a gaping mouth.
Naruto froze. For an instant, he wasn't looking at Gaara. He was looking at himself. At the Kyuubi. At what he might become.
Is this what I am? A monster waiting to break loose?
The fox stirred inside him, its deep voice slithering through his mind.
Yes, brat. We are the same. You will lose yourself… just like him.
Naruto's fists shook.
No. I'm not like you. I won't be.
His ability surged within him, throwing up visions: Lee's relentless speed, Shikamaru's patient traps, Kakashi's subtle counters, Sasuke's precise fire and lightning. He could copy them all, string them together, overwhelm Gaara with stolen brilliance.
But it felt… hollow.
I don't want to win just by being everyone else. If I only copy… then who is Naruto Uzumaki?
His chest burned. He remembered Zabuza's tears, Haku's sacrifice, the villagers screaming as the invasion tore Konoha apart. He remembered Iruka's hand on his shoulder, Kakashi's rare words of encouragement, and the stubborn fire in Sasuke's eyes.
That was the Will of Fire.
He couldn't just mirror it. He had to carry it.
Naruto slammed his hands together.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Dozens of clones burst into the clearing, each moving differently. Some copied techniques he had memorized—katas from Lee, fireballs from Sasuke, trap strategies from Shikamaru. Others used Naruto's own tricks: henged clones, transformed shuriken, reckless charges that shouldn't work but somehow did.
But all of them were still Naruto.
At the center, the real Naruto dug deep. His stomach twisted as he tugged at the seal, pulling at the well of red chakra that seared his skin. The fox's power spilled over him, crimson and wild, coating his body. His whiskers thickened, his eyes burned gold, his roar split the forest.
"I'm not just a copy… I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I'll stop you, Gaara!"
Shukaku's massive claw came crashing down, shattering trees like matchsticks. Naruto's clones surged forward, intercepting. Dozens were obliterated instantly, but others countered—wind gusts to slow the sand, fireballs to harden and crack it, explosive tags detonating in blinding flashes.
Naruto himself shot upward, propelled by a wave of clones that flung him like a slingshot. Red chakra flared around his fists as he smashed down onto Shukaku's arm. The impact exploded, scattering sand in every direction.
Gaara's eyes widened inside the beast. For the first time, he felt resistance—not against the Leaf's hatred, not against his siblings' silence, but against someone who refused to let go.
Naruto landed hard, panting, but he grinned through blood and sweat.
"I won't run away. I won't let you hurt them. You're not alone, Gaara. I know what it feels like… but I won't let that be the end for us!"
Shukaku roared, sand twisting into another massive claw. Naruto and his clones charged again, crimson chakra blazing.
The clearing became a battlefield of sand and fire, of mirrored genius and reckless heart.
For the first time in Gaara's life, someone was fighting not just to kill him… but to reach him.