The forest before Konoha was no longer an oasis of life.
The trees were nothing more than dead, withered husks.
The animals lay as rotting carcasses between the roots, and even the earth itself seemed as though it had lost every last breath.
Konoha's ninja fought with all their strength against a monster larger than even the Nine-Tails.
But it was pointless.
Anyone who came too close died instantly and crumbled to dust.
Every attack unraveled before it could even touch the creature.
Even ninja blades and tools could not leave so much as a scratch on it.
Kakashi Hatake stood in the forest with the last remaining shinobi, forming the final resistance against a force of nature they could not stop.
"Hey!" Guy suddenly shouted. "Everyone, fall back! I'm going to open the Eighth Gate. That has to be enough to stop this Twelve-Tails!"
A tremendous aura of red chakra erupted from Might Guy.
Eight Gates opened.
Gate of Death.
A scream tore through the air as Guy unlocked the final gate.
His body began to glow.
His veins stood out darkly beneath his skin, while even the air around him began to shimmer.
Then he moved.
"Night Guy!"
He charged forward with his strongest attack.
Even time itself seemed to warp beneath the force of his assault.
Kakashi stared at his friend.
And for a single moment, his father's words echoed inside him.
"Kakashi… one day, if he keeps going like this, he will become stronger than you."
Kakashi's Sharingan trembled.
"Yes, Father," he murmured tonelessly. "Guy truly surpassed me."
Then Guy struck.
The collision tore a trench into the earth nearly two kilometers long.
Stone burst apart.
The forest was ripped away.
The shockwave hurled even the remaining shinobi to the ground.
But when the dust settled, the gigantic monster was still standing.
Unharmed.
Then it laughed.
"How cute."
Its voice sounded like the grinding of dead worlds.
"You are my food… and yet you believe you can kill a god."
Slowly, it stretched out its ten arms.
Amid the screams of Konoha's shinobi and the refugees desperately trying to flee the village, souls, chakra, and life itself were ripped from their bodies by brute force and devoured.
Kakashi dropped to one knee.
His vision blurred.
"No… Guy… your sacrifice…"
They were his last words.
For a moment, the monster closed its eyes, as though savoring the taste.
"How delicious," it murmured.
Then its many eyes opened once more.
"Now all I still lack is my second son… and the second half of Kurama."
A dark smile spread across its twisted face.
"Then I will finally be able to fight her."
In the halls where the Kage Summit was taking place, there had not been a moment of peace for an entire day.
Already yesterday, scarcely after the talks had begun, something had happened that shattered the mood within moments.
Four jinchūriki had been present — as guards and as demonstrations of their villages' power.
But then their bijū had been torn out of them by brutal force.
Right before the eyes of the gathered Kage and their attendants.
For more than half an hour, the halls had been filled with the screams of Killer Bee, Yagura Karatachi, Yugito Nii, and Utakata.
Their faces, as they slowly crumbled to dust, had burned themselves deeply into the memories of the remaining Kage.
Terror.
Helplessness.
And naked fear.
On this day, Danzō was the first to reopen the discussion.
"What about your remaining jinchūriki?"
The answer from the other three Kage was the same.
None of them had a bijū left.
Danzō's visible eye narrowed.
"Then we must deal with this woman. She has abducted all the bijū and is striking directly at the power base of our villages. We cannot allow that."
The Raikage slammed his fist down with such force that the wood beneath it cracked.
"I will not let my brother's murder go unpunished!" he roared. "I want her head — even if we all have to die for it. She has destroyed the reputation of our villages before the whole world!"
Ōnoki watched the spectacle with narrowed eyes.
Then he spoke slowly.
"And exactly how do you intend to defeat someone like her?"
His voice was dry.
Almost tired.
"I have no answer to that. I saw the First Hokage with my own eyes. And that woman…"
He paused for a moment.
"…plays in the same league."
Danzō had just been about to answer when a Konoha ninja burst into the hall.
"Lord Hokage! We have bad news from Konoha!"
Danzō's voice turned sharp.
"Can't you see that we are in the middle of an important meeting?"
The ninja swallowed hard.
"Lord Hokage… Konoha is currently under attack by a Twelve-Tails. We can't stop it."
Before anyone could truly process the words, a second ninja stormed inside.
His face was ash-white.
"Konoha…"
He struggled for breath.
"Konoha has been completely destroyed!"
The entire room fell into a silence heavier than any scream.
As Avalon slowly began to move, Artoria turned to the group.
"Come," she said calmly. "We should take a look at our new home."
As she turned toward them, her gaze drifted over Naruto, Kaguya, and Kurumi.
"Kaguya was actually the first one to say that she wanted to share a room with Naruto-ne."
Kaguya looked up at Naruto with large, quiet eyes, as though that were the most natural thing in the world.
Kurumi immediately lifted her head.
Several of her tails were still wrapped tightly around Naruto's legs.
"Me too!" she cried indignantly.
Artoria and Tsunade shook their heads at the same time.
"No, Kaguya," Artoria said calmly. "You will have your own room."
Then her gaze fell on Kurumi.
"And you, Kurumi…"
That look alone made the little vixen flinch.
"…you know exactly where you belong."
Kurumi's ears drooped.
In a soft, defeated voice, she muttered,
"In Master's bed… as a cuddle toy."
Artoria's lips lifted slightly.
"Exactly. You have learned well."
Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, and even Naruto could not hold back their laughter.
But before they fully reached Camelot, Artoria suddenly stopped.
Her gaze lifted in a certain direction.
The lightness vanished from her eyes at once.
"Oh," she said quietly.
Everyone fell silent.
"It seems someone is hungry."
A cold wind brushed across the floating realm.
Artoria's voice remained calm, yet now there was something heavy within it.
"We should change course so that we can meet him sooner."
She paused briefly.
"Otherwise, this world will soon hold no life at all."