"That's a name I haven't heard for quite a long time, indeed."

The masked man answered Kakashi in a surprisingly carefree tone. The cyclops narrowed his eyes.

"So you're not trying to deny it?"

"Denying or admitting, it's not important now," the masked man laughed; a dry, empty laughter which chill Kakashi's hair at the nape. "I am never anyone important; just someone with the mission to clean up this rotten shinobi world."

"Those are the words of someone who is afraid of showing their true face to the world," Kakashi pointed out, hoping to be able to provoke his enemy. But the masked man just gave him a mirthful chuckle.

"You are too naïve if you think those words are enough to provoke me, Kakashi."

Welp, so much for that...

"Then why don't you just show me what is under that hideous swirly orange mask?" the cyclops challenged. The masked man just answered impassively.

"If you want to see what is under it, you will have to take it off by yourself."

"Oh, trust me, I will."

And with that declaration, Kakashi charged forward.

A gigantic tsunami suddenly crashed down on the heads of everyone in the clearing without a warning, drowning the whole island, including every person standing on it, in a sea of water. Even the Byakuren, anchored very carefully far away from the shore, was shaken back and forth dangerously because of the sheer force of the wave.

Even with the enhanced power the Tailed Beast Chakra Mode had given him, Naruto was not invincible. He could block almost all attacks with the Truth-Seeking shield, and the chakra cloak itself made his body incredibly tough against physical attack, but it couldn't save him from asphyxiation under a gazillion ton of water.

'Son of a bitch! Isobu, can't you do something?! You are a turtle, for fuck's sake!'

'I can't! Healing is one thing, but to modify his body, Naruto has to be able to think consciously! I can't do anything from the inside; it might destroy his body!'

He heard the Tailed Beasts inside him bickering in panic, but everything was beginning to fade away... He couldn't think properly anymore... He needed air... but... the very last bit of it was leaving him...

Things were starting to fade away from his vision...

Then he felt fresh air rushing into his lungs. The fresh air, filled with oxygen, revitalized him in a second. Oddly, the air also smelled like menthol.

He opened his eyes, and saw himself...

...locking lips passionately with Haku, the person who was giving him her own air while pulling him to the surface.

He wanted to breathe out in relief and cry at the same time, but then he realized that it would just make the kiss even more passionate. So he just let his body go slack until she managed to get him and herself back to the surface.

When the light finally came back into his vision, the two separated, much to Naruto's relief. Then he remembered...

"Wait, what about Fuu-chan and the others...?"

"Here they are," said Shiro Ichigaki right next to him, plopping up from underwater with Fuu and Kosuke. Both of them seemed to be out of breath, just like Naruto, and he shuddered when thinking about the image of Shiro's mouth locking with the old man's, just like Haku had just done with him a minute ago.

And then he looked up. Now he understood what it meant to be terrified.

Even though he had been with Isobu for quite a while, he had never seen him angry. Usually, the turtle, while a little bit too carefree and lazy for his own good, was very friendly and kind.

But right now, staring down at him was an Isobu in beast form, who was utterly furious. He snarled in a gruff, difficult-to-hear tone, but somehow, every single person there could understand clearly what he meant, and their necks all froze in place due to the fear his loud, angry voice brought to them.

"Humans... I have tried my best to avoid you since I returned to this world. I have wanted to get away to somewhere you wouldn't tried to find me, to make me your weapon of mass destruction. But nevertheless, you followed me even to this place... to bend me under your will again..."

"No!" Understanding what was going to happen, Naruto desperately cried. "We're not here for that! We just..."

"... so this time... I will... STRIKE BACK!"

Then he fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at the squad. At this close distance, no one would be able to dodge it. The only way to protect all of them from it was...

Jumping in front of the squad, Naruto deployed his last Truth-Seeking Orb. A barrier made of the black substance spread out and covered the whole squad right before the Tailed Beast Bomb landed on them. The massively destructive technique exploded, drowning the team in fire and intense heat, but the shield had already protected them from the worst effects of the attack. However...

"Urgh!"

Naruto collapsed on his knee, breathing heavily. The Truth-Seeking Shield was very powerful, indeed, but tanking a fully powered Tailed Beast Bomb head on at point blank with it was still not something a smart person would even think about doing. Just one shot and he had already felt his own reserve almost drained. And Naruto feeling himself drained was never a good thing.

"You... You are different," he heard Isobu growling. "You were able to take on my fully powered Tailed Beast Bomb without dying. I can feel the power of our Father inside you. But..."

Naruto suddenly had a dreadful feeling. Is he going to...?!

"... let's see what you can do about THIS!"

Then he fired another Tailed Beast Bomb, but not at the team in front of him, but rather... at the KPN Byakuren full of shinobi.

"No!"

Everyone yelled and moved to stop him, but it was too late; the deadly technique had already been fired, and there's no way to stop it...

And Naruto knew the one thing he needed to do, and must do. He didn't have enough chakra on his Chakra Mode to move with enough momentum to deflect a Tailed Beast Bomb of that scale like he had done during the Fourth War, so...

Pulling at the last bit of energy from the Tailed Beast Sage Mode that he had, he rushed after the Tailed Beast Bomb.

'Naruto! Are you trying to...?!'

'Don't worry. I'm not going to commit suicide. But I'm going to need everything you have, Kurama! Get ready to deploy the Mirror!'

Kurama's eyes widened in realization. The Mirror of Yata is her and Naruto's Regalia of the Soul, which is their ultimate defensive technique. If they utilized that, there's no doubt that they would be able to stop the Tailed Beast Bomb... but...

'But that would drain all of your remaining energy! You won't have enough power to handle Isobu after that!'

'I know, but,' Naruto answered Kurama with utmost confidence, 'we still have Fuu-chan over there. I believe that she can handle everything even without me.'

And he disappeared in an orange flash.

The shinobi on the KPN Byakuren were freaking out.

No matter how powerful the ship could be, there's no way she could withstand a hit from a Tailed Beast Bomb firing straight at her like this. Of course, she could maneuver around the attack, but that was when they're all ready and everything. Right now, the ship was just sitting there like a nice, cute target for the Tailed Beast to use to practice shooting.

The giant black ball of death was coming closer and closer, and the sails of the ship still hadn't been raised up properly. Panic was breaking out all around the ship; some sailors had already jumped over the port. There's nothing that could stop the flagship of Kirigakure People's Navy from being destroyed in a horrible, horrible way...

Except for a streak of orange light which had just suddenly appeared on the rail of the starboard of the ship.

"I already said I would not let anyone I knew die a meaningless death again," Naruto yelled, "AND I NEVER GO BACK ON MY WORD! REGALIA OF THE SOUL, 9TH TAIL: MIRROR OF YATA!"

From Naruto's spread fingers, the golden mirror of legend appeared in a blinding light and stood between the ship and the Tailed Beast Bomb. The black sphere crashed against the mirror, but true to its name, the Regalia stood firm before the devastating attack and wouldn't budge even when it exploded, shielding the ship and everyone on board from being evaporated. And then, even the explosion was gradually erased from existence.

The air became completely silent for a few seconds. No one could even expect someone to be able to nullify an attack like a Tailed Beast Bomb just like that. But the period of stupor passed as quickly as it came, and the ship crew immediately went back to their work, raising the sails and preparing the cannons, ready to get out of the danger zone and to strike back if necessary.

Right at that time...

THUD

Naruto's back hit the floor of the shipboard.

"Naruto-kun's powerful chakra signal has just disappeared!"

Fuu's eyes widened when she heard the declaration from the Mizukage. She immediately reached out her Sage sense, and was horrified when finding out that Naruto's life force was only flickering feebly onboard the Byakuren.

"He must have used the Mirror of Yata..." she muttered.

Having been with Naruto for three years, she knew what Naruto's Regalia of the Soul was, and what it could do; after all, he was the one who taught her how to use that ultimate technique. Naruto's Regalia has unlimited defensive power; it could stop even a Tailed Beast Bomb firing by Chomei at him at point blank. Nothing can get past it, even the most powerful attack ever, as long as Naruto is still able to maintain its form.

But that is exactly the problem.

To compensate for that immovable defense, the Mirror of Yata would consume all of its owner's stamina upon the completion of its mission. Stamina, not chakra. Even if Naruto's chakra storage was nearly infinite thanks to the nine Tailed Beasts inside him, his stamina was still just that of his human body, albeit enhanced quite a lot thanks to all his trainings. Therefore, Naruto would be left exhausted after each and any use of the Regalia. That was one of the reasons why Naruto was unconscious for quite some time after the battle with Pain; not only because he had starved himself for a few days, but also due to the fact that the Mirror of Yata, deployed for the first time ever in battle, had drained him to the core. Even by now, it would still take him a few hours of rest before he could even move again.

"What should we do now?" she heard Chojuro asking. "Naruto-san is down for the count; how can we stop the Three-Tails from rampaging all his way to Kirigakure?"

Of course the Tailed Beast wasn't stupid. After the two failed attacks, he had realized that staying here longer with those insects wouldn't be a good idea. So he had decided to change his target, and he was now moving... towards the direction of Kirigakure.

"We cannot let him move away from here!" Mei yelled. "If he manages to get close enough to fire another Tailed Beast Bomb at the village, there won't be anything left we can do!"

Fuu's face paled. "You mean we have to..."

The Mizukage answered her without turning back to face her."...I'm sorry, Fuu. This is the only way."

Then she, together with the three Swordsmen, started moving towards the Byakuren, leaving the Konoha shinobi back on the island where the water was gradually draining down.

Is this really the only way? Fuu clenched her fist around Hyperia in anger. We have come all the way here, fighting to the death to protect him, and now we have to accept this result?

"No."

Fuu nearly jumped when the voice of Chomei rose from the staff in her hand.

"This is not the time for you to give up, Fuu-chan," the staff said in a firm voice she never heard her saying before. "All those years I've been with you, I've never seen you giving up on anything. Why are you starting it now? That's not like you at all."

"But..."

"As difficult to believe as it is, I have to say that your staff is correct, Fuu."

She turned, and saw old man Kosuke standing next to her.

"This is not the time for you to think of giving up," the old man continued. "At the moment, you are the only one with enough power to take over Captain Naruto's role. Aren't you looking forward to becoming a jonin after this? If that so, you have to understand that letting yourself be overwhelmed by fear and self-doubt is something you must never let happen. If you do... sooner or later, you will not only bring forth your own demise, but at the same time, you will put your own teammates and subordinates in danger."

Those harsh words were like a slap on Fuu's face. She didn't think that someone as nice as Kosuke-san could say something so... so... blunt, so... cruel.

"Hey old coot, I never said that!" Chomei retorted angrily at the old man's back, but Fuu stopped her by cutting in in a sad, low tone.

"How did you know that? Could it be...?"

The veteran shinobi answered her without turning back.

"Just consider it a personal experience."

"Ready the cannons! We cannot let him get in range!"

Mei and her team had returned to the Byakuren, and now she was barking orders to the crew of the ship. With all the sails raised, the ship was now dashing on the water surface in her top speed, racing with the Three-Tails who, after failing to destroy the ship, decided to move towards a new target, which was Kirigakure at the horizon. Even though the village was quite far away from where they were right now, if he managed to get into the range of about ten kilometers to fire a fully charged Tailed Beast Bomb...

The Tailed Beast was getting closer to the ship... any time now...

"Haku! Do it now!"

"I got it!"

Upon the Ice Style master's command, the water under Isobu's feet was spontaneously frozen, trapping his (relatively) short legs inside the ice and rendering him unable to move. The Three-Tails roared in annoyance and thrashed his tails around, trying to break free from the cuffs made of ice in vain.

"Broadside cannons! FIRE!"

All forty-eight cannons on the side of the ship opened fire at the same time, and Isobu was hit with a rain of cannonballs made of cast iron. He roared in pain, and started charging another Tailed Beast Bomb in retaliation.

"Chojuro! NOW!"

"Yes ma'am! Hiramekarei Release! Gigant Form!"

From the fish-like sword, chakra poured out and formed the gigantic hammer just like in the preliminary battle of Naruto's first Chuunin Exam in this timeline. But this time, Chojuro had gotten complete control of the technique.

'HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

With a loud cry, the chakra hammer was brought down on Isobu's head. The force of the strike was so great it forced the Tailed Beast's mouth to close down... right on the Tailed Beast Bomb he was charging. The attack exploded violently inside his mouth; even the most stupid person would have to say that it hurt. The sudden shock from the backfired technique briefly stunned Isobu, and the Mizukage didn't miss that opportunity.

"Lava Style: Sticky Net!"

A net made of some kind of hot, sticky substance created from Mei's chakra burst out of her mouth and covered Isobu's whole body. The turtle roared in pain from the heat searing on his skin, and struggled like mad trying to get out of the net.

"We got him! There is no way he is going to escape from Mei-sama's Sticky Net!" Chojuro cheered when the Tailed Beast seemed to give up and stopped struggling. His left eye closed down, as if the turtle had lost consciousness.

"Wait a minute," Mei suddenly said. "Something doesn't seem right..."

Then Isobu's visible eye snapped open again, full of rage. He opened his mouth, and a blast of water, sharp and powerful like a bullet from a gun, shot out and cut the center mast of the Byakuren cleanly in half. All the rigging of the ship was pulled together with the broken mast when it collapsed... right on top of the Mizukage and the three swordsmen's heads.

"No!" Everyone screamed, but only Shiro Ichigaki managed to react in time. With an almost instantaneous movement, he tossed his pair of swords at the cables that held the middle mast against the two other masts, cutting them and at the same time, stopping the falling mast from pulling down the other two with it.

"Get out of the way!" he yelled, and everyone below quickly scrambled away when the center mast broke into pieces and rained down the shipboard a shower of splinters and broken pieces of wood.

"No! The ship!" a person screamed in dismay when he saw the Byakuren being bombarded by the wood fragments. Too busy to mourn the ship, the poor man didn't even notice that one of the biggest pieces was falling on him.

"Look out!"

Only when he heard Haku's voice did he raise his head and see the incoming debris. His eyes widened; it was too late for him to move away...

FLASH!

A beam of orange light suddenly cut through the air from nowhere, evaporating the falling debris in a blink of an eye, saving the man's life. Everyone on the ship turned their heads at the same time towards the source of the new attack, and their eyes all widened at what they saw.

Hovering in front of the ship, facing the Three-Tails was a giant beetle with seven huge, transparent orange wings spreading out at the tip of its belly.

"Isobu-nii-chan," it said in a feminine voice, "please stop. This has gone too far already."

"Chomei..." the giant turtle snarled, annoyed when he realized who had just intervened. "So you chose to side with humans, against your own siblings?"

"I'm not trying to fight you!" the beetle insisted. "But please, stop with the prejudice that every human is bad! Even though a lot of them might have done wrong things, there are still people who care about others, and they actually want to talk to you! You cannot judge all of them based on what some individuals did to you!"

The Three-Tails didn't say anything in a few seconds. Then, when he opened his mouth again...

"I see. Those humans have already managed to brainwash you."

Chomei was horrified. "No! They didn't..."

"Even more reason for me to kill all of them!"

Then he shot another gigantic blast of water at the ship. But Fuu and Chomei had already anticipated it and jumped in the way, blocking the attack before it could reach the target. The blast hit the beetle, but she shrugged it away as if it was nothing.

"If you don't want to listen to me..." she said with a calm tone, "then I will have to show you what a bond between us Tailed Beasts and humans can do!"

Then the Seven-Tails Beetle charged.

"We need to go help Fuu-chan!" Haku said urgently, looking at the two Tailed Beasts brawling with a dreadful feeling continuously rising inside her.

"That's right!" Chojuro also agreed. "We cannot let Fuu-san risk her life for us like that! There must be something we can do!"

Mei bit