A violent gale swept across the landscape, causing Guy's face to distort with shock. Standing inside her Susanoo, Kanon looked toward the dead center of the battlefield with complete composure.
Both Kakashi and Guy were so blinded by the sudden, incandescent light that they could barely keep their eyes open.
Within that brilliant gold radiance, Kakashi thought he saw a flash of his late master, Minato Namikaze, specifically, the distinct silhouette of the coat with the words Fourth Hokage embroidered on the back.
"Sensei!" Kakashi gasped in sheer disbelief.
"Is that Naruto?!" Guy roared over the wind.
Sure enough, at that definitive moment, Naruto stood cloaked in a flowing golden overcoat, having officially entered the Kurama Link!
The surrounding terrain erupted into a series of terrifying explosions as five massive mushroom clouds and blinding flashes of light tore through the earth.
"Even the mountains were..."
"Is this the true power of the Tailed Beasts?!"
Kakashi and Guy were completely paralyzed with awe.
With a few swift leaps, Kanon retreated to the masked man's side. The two of them stood in absolute silence, staring down the spectacle.
"He's finally reconciled with the Nine-Tails?" Kanon's voice was deathly cold. This development was, without a doubt, highly problematic.
"He actually deflected all of them? In that case..."
As the masked man spoke, he raised his hand. The five Tailed Beasts grew restless, charging directly toward Naruto, Killer B, and the others. Sensing the shift, Guy and Kakashi hastily fell back to Naruto's position.
"Let's go, Kurama!"
"Oh!"
Instantly, a colossal, golden Nine-Tails manifested, charging forward to intercept the five enemy Tailed Beasts head-on.
The Two-Tails and Six-Tails were violently thrown backward by the impact. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Guy found themselves safely enveloped within the massive protective shroud of the golden Tailed Beast chakra.
"Naruto, you can finally undergo Tailed Beast Transformation!"
"That damn Nine-Tails..." the Eight-Tails muttered in genuine surprise.
"What is this place?" Guy asked, looking around at the golden interior.
"Are we inside the Nine-Tails' chakra?" Kakashi deduced instantly.
Right beside the real Naruto, a shadow clone materialized.
"First, go pinpoint the exact locations of the stakes on all of them," Naruto instructed his duplicate.
Deep within his subconscious world, Kurama spoke in a low, warning tone: "Let's get one thing straight, you don't have much time."
"This first Kurama Link transformation is far from perfect."
"For now, assume you only have a five-minute limit in this state."
"And in these five minutes, we have a hell of a lot to do. We need to take down that masked man and Kanon Uchiha, not to mention those five Tailed Beasts!"
"That's plenty of time!" Naruto replied confidently. "Let's start with the Tailed Beasts. There are too many of them, so I'll have to be a bit rougher than I was with Son."
"You guys better hang on tight!" Naruto bellowed.
Kurama instantly threw himself into a brutal melee against the other Tailed Beasts, with the Eight-Tails joining the fray to assist.
The offensive coordination between the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails was blistering. Thanks to the distraction, the shadow clone standing by Naruto's side quickly identified the targets.
"Found them!"
"Right!" Naruto nodded.
"This is insane... it's a total monster free-for-all!" Guy yelled.
The masked man's expression turned grim. Weaving a one-handed sign, he turned to Kanon and said, "I didn't expect things to play out like this. It seems lethal force is the only appropriate response."
"Agreed. I'm moving in," Kanon said flatly. Taking a decisive step forward, she charged into the chaos.
"I will back you up with a Tailed Beast Bomb," the masked man replied, manipulating the five beasts to begin charging their ultimate attacks.
"OK," Kanon gave a slight nod. The armored second form of her Susanoo surged into existence around her, while a stark pink pigmentation manifested around the margins of her eyes.
This Sage Mode was the absolute strongest technique her current shadow clone could muster.
"Kanon is coming!" Kakashi warned.
"I see her!" Naruto shouted back.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Kakashi, look over there!" Might Guy bellowed, pointing toward the masked man. The five Tailed Beasts had gathered their energy into a single focal point, manifesting a catastrophic, hyper-condensed Tailed Beast Bomb.
"That thing is way too big!" Guy screamed.
"I'll handle Kanon Uchiha!" Killer B roared, steering the Eight-Tails to intercept her directly.
Still shielded within Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra, Kakashi and Might Guy began preparing their own respective jutsu to provide support.
However, the moment the Eight-Tails made contact with Kanon, he was violently blown back.
The combined devastation of Sage Mode and Susanoo was something the Eight-Tails simply couldn't withstand on his own. The only reason they had managed to defeat Kanon's shadow clone in their previous encounter was through the combined, synchronized efforts of Naruto, B, and the two Kage.
Now facing Kanon completely alone, Killer B finally experienced the true terror of her strength. With a single, casual sweep of her Susanoo's blade, several of his octopus tentacles were cleanly severed.
Worse still, Kanon could freely channel Sage Jutsu through her construct.
Just as the Eight-Tails ducked his head to evade another lethal swing of the Susanoo blade, he realized the ground beneath him was rising at an impossible speed, hoisting his massive frame into the air—it was Inorganic Reincarnation!
Immediately following the setup, a brutal slash from the Susanoo connected, sending the Eight-Tails stumbling backward through the dirt.
As the massive beast staggered, Kanon suddenly leaped clean out of her rose-red Susanoo, holding a spinning sphere of pure kinetic energy in her palm: Sage Art: Super-Big Ball Rasengan!
BOOM!
The cataclysmic Rasengan slammed directly into the Eight-Tails' flank, sending him rolling violently across the terrain. When it came to a straightforward, front-facing duel, Kanon was entirely in her element.
As the Eight-Tails skidded backward, he looked over and saw Naruto charging his own Tailed Beast Bomb, aiming to collide directly with the incoming blast from the enemy beasts. The Eight-Tails gasped in panic:
"He wants to neutralize it using equal force? But Naruto hasn't even—"
"He pulled it off a few times during training, so he can definitely do it now," B interrupted, his voice steady.
Sure enough, the two titanic spheres of condensed chakra collided. A single Tailed Beast Bomb, packing enough raw power to destabilize the tectonic plates of the entire region, detonated.
CRASH!
A blinding, sky-rending flash erupted over the entire geographical sector, completely illuminating the dark midnight sky like high noon.
"He aimed for the lower half of the blast, intentionally redirection the trajectory of the Tailed Beast Bomb into the upper atmosphere to keep the local battlefield intact?" Kanon mused, a subtle smirk playing on her lips.
The rose-red Susanoo materialized behind her once more, acting as a flawless shield against the resulting shockwaves.
"The sheer scale of that is ridiculous! The Nine-Tails really is on another level!" the Eight-Tails marveled.
As the smoke and dust began to settle, five massive hands made of pure chakra clamped firmly onto the bodies of the five enemy Tailed Beasts. Inside each chakra hand stood one of Naruto's shadow clones.
"I'm going to set them free and save every single one of them!" Naruto roared.
Suddenly, his consciousness shifted violently, pulling him directly into the collective subconscious world of the five Tailed Beasts. Because Naruto had achieved a flawless link with Kurama, he had successfully gained access to the absolute deepest recesses of the Tailed Beasts' psyche.
"I'm not entirely sure how this works, but anyway, it's great to see everyone here. No chains, either, this is way more comfortable than before," Naruto noted, turning to look at the other beasts after listening to Kurama's brief explanation.
"That masked guy can't access this space," Kurama noted casually. "And as for Kanon, she's just a shadow clone, so she can't get in here either."
Yagura, the Three-Tails, stood with his arms crossed, peering down at Naruto. "You came at just the right time. On behalf of the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beasts, I want to thank you. I've wanted to meet you for a long time, Naruto Uzumaki."
"Actually..."
Yagura opened his mouth to continue, but paused when he noticed that Naruto had suddenly burst into fat tears.
"You're shorter and younger than me, and you look so frail... yet you had to shoulder the massive burden of being a Jinchuriki all by yourself..." Naruto sobbed, crying out of sheer sympathy for Yagura's plight. "You died without knowing anything, without experiencing anything, without even knowing what it feels like to kiss a girl..." Naruto blubbered, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Hey! It's not like you've ever kissed a girl either!" Kurama bellowed from the side, completely ruining the tragic mood.
Yagura, visibly annoyed, immediately started asserting his credentials. "Hey! I am the Fourth Mizukage! I was incredibly powerful, and I am a full-grown adult!"
But Naruto ignored him, his mind completely hyper-focused on Kurama's roast.
"Come to think of it, Naruto, you really haven't ever kissed a girl, have you? Back in the day, I used to watch you agonize over photos of Sakura and Kanon all the time. I honestly thought your first kiss was going to go to Kanon."
Hearing those words, Naruto lowered his head, a profound wave of melancholy washing over him. He recalled his childhood, how incredibly kind Kanon had always been to him, how she had constantly encouraged him, helped him with chores, and cooked delicious meals for him when he had no one else.
"Sigh..." Naruto hung his head, utterly consumed by regret.
If only he had paid a little more attention to Kanon back then, if only he had taken the time to truly understand her... she would probably be standing right by his side, fighting as his partner today.
While Naruto was wallowing in his brooding thoughts, Kurama decided to twist the knife a little deeper.
"Besides, didn't you technically kiss Sasuke way back when?"
The moment those words left the fox's mouth, Naruto looked like he was about to vomit.
"Ahhhh! Gross! Don't make me remember that!"
"Blegh!"
"You're reacting way too dramatically," Yagura chimed in, clearly enjoying the entertainment. "What did a kiss with Sasuke even taste like anyway?"
As Naruto dry-heaved, Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, finally spoke up. "Naruto Uzumaki... that friend of yours is terrifyingly strong."
Naruto looked up at Han, blinking in confusion.
"I was captured by that very friend of yours, Kanon Uchiha."
"Me too!" Yugito Nii raised her hand, chiming in.
"If that stubborn bastard Shukaku were here, he'd definitely be taking the opportunity to mock you right now, Naruto," Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, added with a wry smile.
Naruto's face turned completely pale. Looking at the assembled Jinchuriki, he opened his mouth to profusely apologize on Kanon's behalf, but Han suddenly let out a booming laugh.
"Hahaha! I don't harbor any regrets about losing to her. She was only about eleven or twelve years old at the time, yet she managed to completely dismantle me. The Uchiha who awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan really are a breed apart," Han stated calmly.
"No kidding. I was almost electrocuted to death myself," Yugito said, patting her chest as she fully commiserated with Han.
"Electrocuted? She almost roasted me alive," Han grunted.
"You don't get it. Kanon Uchiha brought that group called 'Team Hana' to capture me. Every single person in Team Hana was incredibly capable. I almost went down right then and there," Yugito explained, throwing her hands up.
"Team Hana? I thought there was only Akatsuki and Sasuke's Team Taka. What exactly is Team Hana?" Naruto asked, thoroughly bewildered.
"You don't even know about Team Hana? Those four are elite operatives," Yugito noted, recalling her brutal skirmish against Tayuya, Jirobo, Kidomaru, and Sakon/Ukon. She had nearly lost to them, though she hadn't known their individual names at the time.
"How come that squad wasn't around when she came to capture me? I distinctly remember her slamming my head straight into the dirt!" Han grumbled.
"That was the Lotus!" Naruto blurted out instantly.
"Yes, exactly! That was the technique! It was incredibly dangerous!" Han grumbled in annoyance.
"I met Kanon Uchiha once as well," Fuu said, blinking as she addressed the group. "She almost killed me on the spot, mostly because I think I managed to accidentally infuriate her."
Following the lighthearted banter, the five Tailed Beasts formally introduced themselves by their true names, passing along the message that Son Goku had entrusted to them. Watching Naruto bump fists with all five beasts simultaneously, Kurama found his mind drifting back to the ancient teachings of the Sage of the Six Paths.
In that fleeting moment, looking at Naruto's broad shoulders, Kurama could perfectly see the lingering silhouette of the Sage of the Six Paths standing behind him.