User:TheUltimate3/Naruto Part II

Kazekage Rescue Mission
When Naruto returned to Konoha, the remaining members of Team 7 were reorganised into Team Kakashi. As their first order of business, Kakashi gave them another bell test, this time the only goal being to take a bell, and that he would use his Sharingan against them. Although their abilities had improved, Naruto and Sakura were still unable to beat Kakashi, and it was only by threatening to spoil the end of the latest Icha Icha novel that they distracted Kakashi long enough to take the bells. Naruto reconnected with his old friends, who had all advanced to chūnin-rank or higher, and then heard that Gaara, the new Kazekage, had been kidnapped by Akatsuki. Naruto and Team Kakashi set out for Sunagakure to save him.

Upon arrival in Sunagakure, Chiyo was added to Team Kakashi as an adviser, and they followed Akatsuki's trail. Along the way, they encountered a body-double of Itachi Uchiha, which engaged them in battle. Kakashi and Naruto teamed up in order to defeat the lookalike, before continuing onto the Akatsuki lair. There, they found Gaara's body in the possession of Deidara and Sasori. When Deidara flew off with Gaara, Naruto and Kakashi pursued him, leaving Sasori to Chiyo and Sakura. While initially unable to catch Deidara, Kakashi was able to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to distract Deidara, giving Naruto an opportunity to attack him and retrieve Gaara. Deidara escaped, and Naruto and Kakashi reunited with Sakura and Chiyo.

Although Sakura tried to heal Gaara, he had already died, a casualty of Akatsuki's tailed beast extraction-process. Angered that Gaara had died because he was a jinchūriki, something he had never asked for and had suffered because of his whole life, Naruto lashed out at Chiyo, the one who had sealed Shukaku into Gaara in the first place. To make up for what she had done, Chiyo, with the help of Naruto, restored Gaara back to life, at the cost of her own. Gaara awakened surrounded by his rescue party and the ninja from Sunagakure. After Chiyo's funeral, Naruto and Gaara finally shake hands (Gaara insisting), as a sign to their close relationship. Afterwards, Team Kakashi and Team Guy returned to Konoha.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission
During Sakura's battle with Sasori, she learned of a spy in Orochimaru's inner circle, an opportunity for them to find Sasuke after his years of absence. Kakashi was left hospitalised from overuse of the Mangekyō Sharingan, so Yamato was assigned to lead Team Kakashi in his place. Sai was also added to the team as Sasuke's replacement, but neither Naruto nor Sakura were able to accept him as such. In route to the meeting place with the spy, Yamato tried to get the team to work together, although Sai's personality and disdain for his predecessor caused only conflict amongst the team. When they arrived at the meeting spot, they found that the spy was Kabuto. Yamato, disguised as Sasori, spoke with him, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Orochimaru. Kabuto, in turn, turned against Yamato, who was forced to call Naruto and the others for back-up.

Surprised to see Naruto, Orochimaru wondered aloud if Naruto had become as strong as "his Sasuke". Enraged that Orochimaru had spoken as if Sasuke belonged to him, Naruto entered his three-tailed form, and attacked him. While a fair match, Orochimaru was able to evade Naruto's attacks. Further provoked by his inability to land a debilitating blow, Naruto advanced to his four-tailed form, losing his sense of self in his anger. Now a danger to Orochimaru, Naruto was forced back so that he could switch targets, his first being Sakura. Yamato restrained him before he could do any real harm, and forced the Nine-Tails' influence to recede. When he woke up, they found that Sai had joined up with Orochimaru. They followed him in the hopes that he would lead them to Sasuke, and to see what he was up to. During a break, Yamato took Naruto aside, and told him of how he had attacked Sakura, encouraging him not to rely on the Nine-Tails if he really wanted to protect those close to him.

When they arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, they infiltrated the lair, and captured Sai. Exposed, Sai revealed that his superiors had sent him to help organise another invasion of Konoha. He was restrained for his treachery, while the others went looking for Sasuke. Sai, having earlier met Sasuke, asked why Naruto was so determined to bring him back. Naruto explained that the two had a bond that couldn't be broken, and that he would risk his life to protect this bond. Intrigued, Sai switched sides, helping them to capture Kabuto and then scouring the base in order to reunite Sasuke with Naruto. He succeeded, but was attacked by Sasuke, the magnitude of which drew the rest of Team Yamato to their location.

Together again, Naruto and Sakura tried to convince Sasuke to come home. Still determined to gain power, he refused, prompting the team to use force. Their efforts were unsuccessful, and Naruto, who was exhausted from his fight with Orochimaru in his four-tailed form, wasn't able to compete with Sasuke's growth. Within his subconscious, the Nine-Tails began to offer Naruto its chakra, but he firmly rejected its assistance. The Nine-Tails became contemptuous at Naruto, mocking him that if it wasn't for its power, he would be nothing. It then tempted Naruto to break the seal so it can "grant" him all of its power, but he still refused. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, Sasuke with his Sharingan activated, suddenly appeared within Naruto's subconscious, which surprised both Naruto and the Nine-Tails. As the Nine-Tails stated that Sasuke had similar chakra to Madara Uchiha, Sasuke used his Sharingan to suppress the beast's residual chakra. The Nine-Tails concluded that this was probably its last meeting with Sasuke, so it warned him not to kill Naruto, for he would only end up regretting it. Back in the real world, Sasuke tried to finish off his former team-mates, but he was stopped by Orochimaru and they retreated, leaving Team Yamato to return home.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
Kakashi, hoping to make Naruto better prepared for his next encounter with Sasuke, trained him to create a new wind-based technique. In the anime, this training began before, and continued throughout, the arc of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, with Naruto seeking assistance from Asuma and Sora, two other wind chakra users. Kakashi had Naruto train with shadow clones to master wind manipulation in only a fraction of the time. When he did this, Kakashi left him with the task of combining what he had learned with the Rasengan. He explained that infusing one's chakra nature with the Rasengan was what Minato had intended to do when he created the Rasengan, but had not been able to do so before he died. Kakashi believed Naruto would prove successful where his father could not, inspiring Naruto to do his best.

While he struggled to create his new Rasengan, the rest of Konoha mobilised to deal with the Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu. When the two managed to kill Asuma, Kakashi left Yamato in charge of overseeing Naruto's training so that he could help Team 10 avenge Asuma. Once he achieved a usable technique, Naruto and Team Yamato went to provide assistance, arriving in time to save Kakashi and Team 10 from Kakuzu. Naruto engaged Kakuzu by himself with his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, created with the help of shadow clones. Once striking Kakuzu with the attack, two of his hearts were destroyed, and his final heart was left on the brink of failure. Tired out by the ordeal, Naruto's injuries were healed while Kakashi finished off Kakuzu.

Upon returning to Konoha, Naruto was forbidden by Tsunade to use the Rasenshuriken again. While it was devastating to his opponents, it caused minor injuries to Naruto's arm as well. Even though they weren't as bad as his opponent's injuries, it was harmful enough to cause the arm to be beyond medical repair if performed again with contact of his hand and the opponent, endangering him and his hopes of remaining a ninja. Naruto said that he realised this, but claimed he understood his own body better than anyone else.

Itachi Pursuit Mission
After news of Orochimaru's defeat at the hands of Sasuke, Team Kakashi decided to make another attempt to find him. Knowing that Sasuke was going after his older brother, Itachi, they teamed up with the members of Team 8 to find either of the Uchiha brothers. They scoured the landscape, and eventually encountered Kabuto, who had absorbed some of Orochimaru's remains into his body. As his thanks to Naruto for "inspiring" him to overcome Orochimaru, Kabuto gave him a book containing some information on Akatsuki, while making an escape to avoid capture.

Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant
After regrouping and Kiba picked up on Sasuke's trail, Naruto used a number of shadow clones to search the area faster. When one of his clones neared what he thought was Sasuke's location, he found Itachi there instead. Itachi repelled all of Naruto's attempts to attack him, insisting that he only wanted to talk. He trapped Naruto in a genjutsu and, as was later revealed, questioned Naruto on his dedication to Sasuke and to Konoha. When Naruto insisted that he would protect both at any cost, Itachi gave Naruto some of his power sealed inside a crow in case he ever needed it. Itachi left, and Naruto continued his search, eventually finding Sasuke.

When the real Naruto and the rest of the team moved to intercept him, they were stopped by Tobi. Despite their efforts to quickly dispose of Tobi, none of their attacks worked, and it was only after word reached them that Sasuke had killed Itachi that they were allowed to continue. Tobi, however, reached Sasuke first, and having lost the trail, the Konoha-nin were forced to give up on the search.

Pain's Assault
When he returned to Konoha, Naruto learned that Jiraiya had died in his battle with the leader of Akatsuki, Pain. Grief stricken, Naruto spent the rest of the day mourning the loss of his teacher, musing over the fact he had wanted Jiraiya to be there when he became Hokage. After being comforted by Iruka and Shikamaru, Naruto helped to decipher Jiraiya's dying message. When the code was broken, Naruto decided to go to train with the toads to learn senjutsu, knowing that Pain was coming for him and deciding to make the most of the time Jiraiya had bought for him. To learn senjutsu, Naruto trained to harmonise with nature, a process he sped up by using a limited amount of shadow clones. He rapidly progressed through the introductory stages and attained a perfect Sage Mode, something Jiraiya had never been able to do. When news of Pain's attack on Konoha reached them, they began to mobilise for battle.

As Naruto, Fukasaku, Gamaken, Gamahiro, Gamabunta, and Gamakichi were summoned to the center of Konoha, the group was confronted by the Six Paths of Pain, whom had just destroyed the village. After destroying the Asura Path before it could attack Tsunade, Naruto told the Hokage to make sure everyone left left the battle to him. After a brief scrimish with Animal Path, Naruto and the toads defeated the Animal and the Preta and Human Paths before running out of senjutsu chakra. Naruto reveals that he had two shadow clones waiting back at Mount Myōboku to revitalise him with natural energy. Naruto went back on the offensive, dispatching the healed Preta and Naraka Path, before the Deva Path regained it's full power. Pain killed Fukasaku and used the opportunity to capture Naruto, pinning him down to the ground.

With Naruto restrained, Pain opened up his reasons for Akatsuki, their plan for the tailed beasts, and the peaceful world he wants to create. Though Naruto rejects his notion that using a weapon to force peace, he could offer no alternative. Before Pain could depart with Naruto, he was attacked by Hinata Hyūga. Declaring her love for Naruto and vowing to protect him, she attacked Pain before ultimately being subdued and critically wounded. Believing Hinata to have been slain, an enraged Naruto erupted into his six-tailed form. Resisting the First Hokage's Necklace's attempts to quell the transformation and destroying it, the Nine-Tails attacked Pain, forcing him out of the village to get close enough to his actual body to use the Chibaku Tensei, trapping Naruto within the small satellite. This was not enough to stop the Nine-Tails however, as it simply progressed to eight-tailed form to force it's way out of the satellite. Meanwhile within is subconscious, Naruto is tempted by the Nine-Tails to open its seal to save him from the pain of not having Pain's answer. However, before Naruto could Minato, whom left some of his chakra within the seal in case of an emergency appeared to protect his son. Overjoyed at meeting his father, but angered that he would condemn him to life as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto listened to his father encourage him, confident that he would find a way to break the cycle of hatred. After repairing the seal, Minato disappeared and the newly inspired Naruto prepared to resume his battle with Pain.

Confidence restored, Naruto was relieved to learn that not only had Hinata survived but nobody was injured during his rampage. After clever use of shadow clones, Naruto was able to destroy the Deva Path with a Rasengan, defeating the last of Pain's Six Paths. Using one of Pain's Black Receivers, Naruto followed the chakra signal to Nagato and Konan's positions. Confronting Nagato, Naruto listened to Nagato's story that turned him into Pain and came to understand why he made the actions he did. Despite not forgiving him, he told Nagato he would not kill him and would instead try to create the better world that their teacher wished for. Moved by Naruto's determination to create a better world, Nagato decided to put his trust in Naruto and used the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive all the people he had killed in Konoha, at the cost of his own life. With this, Naruto helped Konan retrieve Nagato and Yahiko's bodies for burial in Amegakure. Konan left Naruto a bouquet of paper flowers for him, symbolising their new alliance.

He then created a memorial for Jiraiya and left the flowers and a copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by a rock with the kanji for.

Five Kage Summit
While the exhausted Naruto made his way back to the village, he was found by Kakashi who carried him the rest of the way. Upon arrival, Naurto was greeted as a hero. Sometime later, he learned that Tsunade has fallen into a coma from overuse of her abilities and that Danzō Shimura had not only replaced her as Hokage but as ordered that the Sasuke be executed for abandoning the village. As Naruto, Sakura, and Sai tried thinking of a way to change his mind, they were interupted by the Kumo-nin Karui and Omoi who demanded to know how to find Sasuke, after his affiliation with Akatsuki had resulted in their mentor, Killer B's capture. Instead of turning on Sasuke, Naruto offered to let the Kumo-nin take their anger on him, to which Karui obliged, beating him until being stopped by Sai. Later, he asked Yamato and Kakashi to take him to the Land of Iron so that he could ask Fourth Raikage, to pardon Sasuke. Yamato and Kakashi agreed, but when they arrived and spoke with A, the Raikage refused his request and berated Naruto for standing up for a criminal. Naruto went to a local inn to consider what to do next, where he was soon confronted by Tobi, who asked Naruto on how he got Nagato to change his mind. Naruto ignored the question and demanded to know about his plans with Sasuke. Tobi told him about the Sage of the Six Paths, the Uchiha clan, and the truth about the Uchiha Clan Downfall, all of which now drove Sasuke along a path of vengeance. Naruto insisted that that he could still get through to Sasuke, but Tobi laughed and left, saying that Naruto and Sasuke are fated to fight again.

While Naruto was practicing his Sage Mode sensory abilities in the hopes of finding Sasuke, Sakura, who had come to the Land of Iron with Rock Lee, Kiba and Sai, attempted to dissuade Naruto in his attempts to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, telling him that she loved him over Sasuke. However, Naruto knew this to be a lie and rejected her confession and her proposal to abandon Sasuke, stating it had nothing to do with his promise to her. After Sakura's party left, an ink clone from Sai reveals that the rest of the Konoha 11 have decided to kill Sasuke themselves to prevent another war. Gaara, whom attended the Five Kage Summit revealed Tobi's declaration of the Fourth Shinobi World War, telling Naruto over Sasuke's involvement at the summit and how they will be fighting Sasuke to protect Naruto. After hearing most of his friends have turned against Sasuke, Naruto started to hyperventilate and lost consciousnesses. When he awoke, he was told by Yamato that Kakashi went to stop Sakura from dealing with Sasuke.

Using a shadow clone as a decoy, Naruto escaped from the inn and followed Kakashi. He arrived just in time to save Sakura from being killed by Sasuke. Making one more attempt to reason with Sasuke, commiserating with his pain and acknowledging Itachi's sacrifice. However, Sasuke was unmoved and made his resolve to destroy Konoha clear. At this, Naruto and Sasuke battled each other head on; clashing with their signature techniques with Naruto realizing that everything in his life he could have easily gone down the same path of Sasuke, and despite his jelousy towards the Uchiha he had come to like Sasuke and was glad to have met him. Sasuke, despite believing his words, told Naruto nothing would change his mind and Naruto could either kill him or watch as he killed everything he loved. Shortly after, Tobi and Zetsu arrived, coming to Sasuke's aid. As they prepared to depart, Naruto resolved that if he and Sasuke were to battle again, they'd kill each other, but he was willing accept this as he would shoulder Sasuke's hatred alone. Sasuke vowing he would kill Naruto first left with Tobi and Zetsu, and Naruto and his teammates returned to Konoha, with the captive Karin. In the anime, Naruto, Karin, and the rest of Sakura's team rest while Kakashi sent his ninken to the other villages. Upon returning to Konoha, Naruto explained the situation to his friends, determined to get stronger so he could properly battle Sasuke.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
As Naruto was about to eat at Ichiraku, he was suddenly summoned back to Mount Myōboku by Fukasaku where he learns from the Great Toad Sage's fortune that he will meet an "octopus" and would battle a "young man with powerful eyes". When Gerotora is summoned to give Naruto the "key" to the Eight Trigrams Seal, Naruto knew he would need the Nine-Tails' power for the battles to come and accepted the key. From there, Naruto is sent back to Ichiraku where some of the villagers asked for his autograph. Naruto was unaware of that the five Kage are planning to keep him from the upcoming Fourth Shinobi World War for his safety on a remote island in the Land of Lightning with Yamato, Might Guy, Aoba Yamashiro, and several other Konoha-nin as security.

Once at the island, Naruto meets his fellow jinchūriki Killer B, requesting to be his student after being marvelled at B's mastery with his tailed beast. B refused the offer on the grounds that he is on vacation, with Naruto worsening it when he accidently insulted B while pulling off a capable rap and his Harem Technique having no effect. However, when word of him bumping fists with B reached Motoi, Naruto is taken to Falls of Truth, where B began his training to control the Eight-Tails. Motoi instructed Naruto to sit on the platform in front of the waterfall and close his eyes, and he would see his true self. While doing this, Naruto was greeted by another version of himself, who berated Naruto on how quickly the people from Konoha changed their opinions of him. Both he and Dark Naruto began to fight and were evenly matched both physically and chakra level wise as both were able to produce the exact same number of shadow clones. It was revealed that the entire battle occurred within Naruto's mind, as Yamato observed Naruto still meditating near the waterfall. Somehow able to break out of the meditation, Naruto questioned Motoi about B's history in order to figure out how to conquer his inner darkness.

After that, Naruto reminisced about how B and Gaara changed everyone's opinions about them, he begins to doubt if the villagers of Konoha truly trusted him. After witnessing B save Motoi from giant squid and resume their friendship, an inspired Naruto returns to the Falls of Truth and confronts Dark Naruto again. With Naruto now having faith in himself, it started to weaken Dark Naruto as he asks what his reason for existing is. Answering his question, Naruto accepts Dark Naruto as a part of him while thanking him for pushing him to become who is now. He then hugged a struggling Dark Naruto, who finally relents and fades. After awaking and celebrating, Naruto and Yamato is led by B to a special room within the secret temple behind the Falls of Truth where Naruto is prepared to fight the Nine-Tails for its chakra. Within his subconscious, after unlocking the seal, Naruto (in Sage Mode) appeared to have the upper hand after he weakened the Nine-Tails with the Rasenshuriken and drained out its chakra, but the Nine-Tails instantly planted its own hatred within its chakra with the absorbed energy consuming Naruto as it begins to use his body to give Yamato and B trouble.

Just before Naruto was completely succumbed, the spirit of his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, appeared. Naruto believed that Kushina was the Nine-Tails in disguise before she clobbered him on the head before she apologises and hopes he did not inherit her short-temper. Picking up on this and realising Kushina was his mother as he hugged her while crying, the love-filled reunion causes the Nine-Tails's hatred to be purged from the drained chakra, much to Yamato and B's surprise. With Kushina holding the Nine-Tails at bay, Naruto quickly made a large number of shadow clones, entered Sage Mode, and bombarded the Nine-Tails with the combination of Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres and the Rasenshuriken, weakening the Nine-Tails further and completely separate it from its chakra. When its chakra merged into Naruto, an enraged and emaciated Nine-Tails attempted to fire a much larger Tailed Beast Ball, but its attack ultimately dissipated as Naruto used a new, stronger seal to imprison the weakened tailed beast once again. After that, when Naruto learned from Kushina about his heritage, the truth behind the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, and how his parents gave their lives to protect him. Naruto then told Kushina that he was glad to know that he was filled with their love before the Nine-Tails was sealed within him, and he was happy to be their son. Before she completely faded away, Kushina tearfully hugged Naruto, and thanked him for letting her and Minato be his parents.

Once out of his subconscious, Naruto shows off his new form to B and Yamato before sensing Kisame hidden inside his Samehada by detecting his negative emotions. When the surprised Kisame attempted to escape, Naruto used his blinding speed to quickly smash Kisame into the wall with a powerful punch. Naruto's foot got stuck in the wall, allowing Kisame to escape with B in pursuit as Yamato stays behind to help Naruto out of the wall. Naruto and Yamato then caught up with the others as they watched Guy and Kisame's fight from a distance. After the battle, the Konoha and Kumo-nin restrained Kisame and attempted to interrogate him before the Akatsuki member commits suicide before they could get any more information out of him. Shocked by this action, Naruto realised that even the shinobi in Akatsuki fought for their comrades before being trapped in one of Kisame's booby trap water prisons and occupied with summoned sharks as one of the sharks takes the information scroll on Kisame to Akatsuki's base.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
After Motoi sent his summoned owl to inform the Allied Shinobi Forces about the situation, Naruto and Killer B started evacuating the giant animals into the Island Turtle's shell for their safety in case an attack came. Naruto was trying to log the island's ecology as part of his "official" S-rank mission, but did not realise that it was a ploy to keep him away from the war. After he was done, B instructed Naruto back into the temple within the Falls of Truth and started to train on how to utilise his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode properly. However, during his training, Naruto suddenly sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra within the rampaging six-tailed Kinkaku far away from the temple. Wanting to investigate, Naruto was able to trick B into letting him out, but was stopped by Iruka Umino, Shibi Aburame, and a handful of Konoha-nin, which confirmed his earlier suspicions that something was wrong. Iruka tried to trick Naruto into believing that he had a second mission on the island, but Naruto used Sage Mode to barge through the guards, losing his forehead protector in the process. With Naruto out the chakra isolation chamber and sensing the war going on around him, Iruka finally told Naruto the truth. Naruto refused Iruka's order to remain, vowing to end the war and endure whatever pain and anguish is there by himself. When Iruka returned Naruto his fallen forehead protector, he immediately trapped Naruto within a barrier, but Naruto easily broke free while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

On his way to battle, he found a note from Iruka in his forehead protector, in which Iruka told him that in the event he could not stop Naruto from leaving, he asked Naruto to come back alive. Naruto then proceeded to eat the note after reading it. Naruto and B, who had been asked by Iruka to watch over Naruto and finally caught up with him, both broke through a barrier that surrounded the Island Turtle and continued their way to the battlefield. Shortly after that, the Nine-Tails pulled Naruto into his subconscious, berating him for squandering its chakra. Calling Naruto naive for thinking he could stop the war by himself, the Nine-Tails tried to tempt him again with power, but to no avail, earning Naruto some recognition. When the Nine-Tails claimed that his attempt to put an end to hatred was futile, using the boy's history with Sasuke as proof, Naruto pinned the fox down with a torii in retaliation and tells it that he will find a way to deal with both Sasuke and the war. Though Nine-Tails then condescendingly complimented him for standing up for him, Naruto unnerved the tailed beast with the promise to someday resolve the fox's own hatred.

Some time later, A and Tsunade showed up at Naruto and B's location to prevent them from going another step further. After Naruto failed to argue his way through with A, Naruto tried to bypass them with his speed, but the Raikage, in his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, matched his speed and punched him back. Naruto pleaded with Tsunade to allow him to pass, but Tsunade stated she had to follow through on her role as a leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Understanding Tsunade's position, Naruto made another attempt to bypass them, only to be intercepted by A once more. A then declared to Naruto that he will kill him if he refuses to comply; believing he would buy the Allied Shinobi Forces some time before the Nine-Tails could revive, which would delay Madara's plan. However, B blocked A's attack and defeated his brother in a Lightning Release: Lariat clash while explaining that his and Naruto's strength come from both their tailed beasts and those who cared about them. To test Naruto's resolve, A fully powered up his Lightning Release Chakra Mode and attacked Naruto with his fastest punch, but when he was able to dodge it, A allowed Naruto and B to pass. While on their way, Naruto and B were contacted by Shikaku Nara (with the help of Inoichi Yamanaka's telepathy) that the former is the only one who can sense the White Zetsu Army. When their path was blocked by a group of White Zetsu disguising as shinobi, Naruto quickly takes them all out with his new techniques and he then deploys his shadow clones to the other battlefields.

After that, Naruto and B find themselves facing reincarnated Itachi Uchiha and Nagato. While Naruto sparred with Itachi, Naruto revealed to him about Sasuke's plight, but reassured him that he still had a plan to do something about him. After Nagato summoned his giant dog and bird, Itachi then activated his Mangekyō Sharingan in order to use Amaterasu on Naruto, but the crow Itachi placed inside Naruto before his death suddenly emerged from Naruto's mouth and locked eyes with Itachi, causing him to use Amaterasu on Nagato and his summons instead. Itachi explained that the crow used Kotoamatsukami, thus releasing him from Kabuto's control. Nagato, having his personality completely removed by Kabuto, used his Asura Path ability to restrain both Naruto and B respectively. Before Nagato could remove Naruto's soul, he and B were subsequently rescued by Itachi with his Susanoo. After Nagato used Chibaku Tensei as an attempt to trap them, Naruto used his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, along with Itachi's Yasaka Magatama and B's Tailed Beast Ball, to attack the centre of Nagato's technique, effectively destroying it. After Itachi sealed Nagato with his Sword of Totsuka, he told Naruto that he would help end Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation while Naruto would focus on fighting Tobi. Naruto insisted that Itachi should come and see Sasuke again, but he declined, saying that he should leave his brother to his friends. After Itachi left, Naruto and B continued heading towards an unknown destination.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
One of Naruto's shadow clones arrived at the Fourth Division's location at the battlefield to fight against the reincarnation Mū and the Third Raikage. Although he was able to defeat Mū, none of Naruto's attacks had much effect against the Third Raikage, as Dodai explained that the Third's physical endurance could withstand almost any kind of technique, along with the relative invulnerability of Impure World Reincarnation. When Naruto's clone noticed a scar on the Third's chest, Dodai stated that the Third got it during his past fight with the Eight-Tails. Believing that only a tailed beast was capable of harming the Third, Naruto's clone attempted to form the Tailed Beast Ball, only for it to dissipate, and was then forced out of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode due to chakra overuse. After learning from the Eight-Tails that both it and the Third only collapsed after their prolonged battle with their techniques still in their hands, Naruto's clone entered Sage Mode and charged toward the Third with a Rasengan in hand. Using Sage Mode's sensory ability, he dodged the Third's Hell Stab at the last second and aimed the Rasengan at the Raikage's arm. The attack knocked the Third's arm into his chest, impaling him long enough for him to be sealed away. Naruto's clone then went towards where Gaara was fighting the Second Mizukage, arriving just in time to see the sealing take place.

In the anime, one of Naruto's clones senses an immense source of hatred. Then, realising that he couldn't sense Shikamaru, Neji, Chōji, and Kiba's presence any more, Naruto's clone quickly rushes to their aid. Along the way, eliminating more White Zetsu clones in disguise, Naruto's clone finds a member of the communications team, contacting HQ for help. He learns from Inoichi that his missing friends have been affected by a strange technique. By locking in on the reincarnated Sound Four's malice, Naruto was able to find and destroy the barrier, letting Inoichi dispel the technique and save Shikamaru and the others. Jumping in to face the Sound Four, with their souls no longer bound to the world, Naruto quickly destroyed them as well. Meanwhile, another Naruto clone finds Karui and her division being attacked by former reincarnated samurai named Tatewaki. As the division is quickly overwhelmed by Tatewaki's swordsmanship, Naruto is shocked to meet the man again after three years. Remembering Naruto, he asks Naruto what became of the two children he was guardian. After Naruto assured him that the children were safely brought to their destination, the relieved samurai was able to let go of his past pains, breaking the summoning contract and returned to the afterlife.

Later in the anime, Naruto noticed three unusual weather patterns near each other, one of strong rain, one of snow, and one of lightning. While searching for the source, he found to his shock a reincarnated Yota, who began attacking him with powerful wind blasts. While at first unable to remember the child, Naruto gradually began recalling the events that led to Yota's death. As Naruto continued evading the attacks, he received word from his allies that Yota was currently fighting in three other locations. It was then deduced that at least three of the Yota were White Zetsu disguised and using Yota's power from a distance. While the three fake Yota were quickly defeated, Naruto found himself unable to attack Yota. Suddenly, despite being controlled, Yota was able to contact Naruto and his friends telepathically, revealing that he in fact died long before meeting them. Coming from a wandering clan with the same powers as him, Yota was a test subject by Orochimaru to refine the Impure World Reincarnation technique and as such was soon reanimated after "dying" while with Naruto and the others. Happy to see how well his friends grew up, Yota was able to break the summoning contract and destroyed his body with a bolt of lightning. When Omoi is reported to have left his post on the battlefield to find the Thundercloud Unit, the Allied Shinobi Forces' Headquarters asks Naruto to assist. He arrives and saves Omoi from a vast army of White Zetsu, stating he believes him. With his help, they manage to defeat a large number of them. Naruto's time at the battle comes to an end when Omoi accidentally slices through the shadow clone when striking a White Zetsu clone.

While Naruto's clones arrived at the other division's locations to help find and fight off the remaining White Zetsu within the areas, the one clone with Gaara and his unit was alerted to someone's presence by a sensor. They spotted Mū on a cliff above them and Ōnoki informed them that he must have split in half. They were even more shocked when Ōnoki told them that the person beside him was none other than Madara Uchiha. Gaara pointed out that Madara was reincarnated, and they all wondered who the masked man claiming to be Madara really was. As Madara began his assault, Naruto's clone made more clones to fight and stall him for time to enter Sage Mode. He and Gaara attack simultaneously, but their attack failed when Madara revealed his Rinnegan and used its power to summon a large meteorite to finish everyone within the area off. After the meteorite was stopped by Ōnoki and Gaara, a second one was sent crashing into it, which made a landfall and devastated the division. When Madara attempted to summon the Nine-Tails, Naruto could feel his stomach burning and the fox angrily recognised his chakra calling for it. As the Nine-Tails resolved to lend Naruto its chakra, he first thought that it was going to attempt to take over his body like it used to, but the fox said it would rather help Naruto than be manipulated by Madara again.

Using its chakra, Naruto's clone was able to create more clones and countered Madara's Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees with a series of Big Ball Rasengan. After that assault, the clone was left severely weakened to the point where he felt like that he could disappear at any moment. As Madara and Mū moved to attack, Tsunade, A, and Mei Terumī suddenly appeared and were able to keep them at bay. Naruto's clone pleaded with Tsunade to heal him as he didn't want to disappear yet or have Tsunade to use her forehead seal. However, she refused and Ōnoki explained to him that the war was about protecting everyone, not just him. Tsunade also told Naruto's clone that the Kage would handle the real Madara, while he should focus on defeating the imposter. Elsewhere in a dense forest area, the real Naruto received the dispersed clone's information and vowed to win. Naruto noticed Tobi approaching and immediately head-butted him, causing both of them to recoil from the impact.

When Naruto questioned him about his true identity, Tobi simply replied that he was a nobody and that only completing the Eye of the Moon Plan and fixing the worthless world mattered to him. Though Tobi claimed he and B understand misery as jinchūriki, Naruto argued that having tailed beasts sealed inside them is not that bad while stating he is not going to fall for his lies. Tobi then had his jinchūriki paths enter the early stages of their tailed beast transformations to attack the gravely disadvantaged Naruto and B. After narrowly escaping from the jinchūriki, Naruto, B, and the Eight-Tails began to formulate a counter measure against them. After being informed by B that he had seen a black rod embedded into Yugito's chest, Naruto battles Rōshi to destroy the receiver in his chest with a Rasengan before being sent flying by Han's kick. Clutching onto B as he transformed into the Eight-Tails and devastated a large area of the forest, Naruto watched on as B used his ink clones to try and seal the jinchūriki, but the technique was cancelled when they all entered into their Version 2 forms at the last second. As Naruto was fending off the jinchūriki, he eventually became overwhelmed and was weighed down, thus allowing Tobi the opportunity to try and capture Naruto. However, Naruto was saved by the timely arrival of Kakashi and Guy. After Guy destroyed the coral that was restricting his movement, Naruto began assisting them in battling Tobi's Six Paths of Pain. Suddenly, Tobi had both Utakata and Rōshi fully transform into the Six-Tails and the Four-Tails respectively, throwing him off onto the Eight-Tails, and he fell out of the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. With Kakashi and Guy cut off from him, the Four-Tails tossed the Eight-Tails and Naruto quickly re-entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode when he was right between the giant ape's teeth.

As he struggled to free himself, Naruto was eventually swallowed by the Four-Tails and, to his surprise, ended up inside of Rōshi's subconscious and found the Four-Tails in chains. After denying that he had come to steal the beast's power, Naruto was chastised by the ape as it demands to be called by its proper name: Son Gokū. Learning the Nine-Tails' true name is Kurama, talking from experience, Naruto expressed his wish to be friends with it in the same manner that B was with the Eight-Tails. Hearing the resolve in Naruto's words, Son Gokū decided to help Naruto defeat it but explained to the boy not to expect it as his ally until he wins the tailed beast's trust. Using his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to force the transformed Rōshi to vomit him out while leaving one clone in Sage Mode behind, Naruto staged a two-fold attack on the chakra receiver that was located on the side of the neck. Though Naruto succeeded in removing it, he learns that he only severed Tobi's control over Rōshi while Son Gokū's being is still held by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Regardless, Naruto earned the Four-Tails' trust as he gave the boy some of its chakra before being sealed back into the statue. Drained of chakra, finding out about his actions also earned the Nine-Tails' trust while thanking it for aiding his clone against Madara, Naruto accepts Kurama's offer to meld their chakra. Noting that Kurama was no longer the monster fox that attacked Konoha, but the village's ally and his team-mate, Naruto unlocked the seal's gate as he and a released Kurama prepared to face the five remaining, fully-transformed jinchūriki in their new form.

Wasting no time, Naruto intervened to save Guy and Kakashi from the jinchūriki's Tailed Beast Balls, with the latter mistaking him for his own former teacher. As the beasts rallied again and prepared to attack the shinobi, Naruto transformed into Kurama — seemingly "absorbing" Guy and Kakashi into the beast's chakra for safe-keeping. After creating a Sage Mode clone to help locate the other chakra receivers, Kurama warned Naruto that they only had five minutes to maintain the form because it was his first transformation. With this, he grabbed the Seven-Tails in mid-flight, intending to pile-drive the beast into the Three-Tails, but the giant turtle rolled out of the way. Right after that, the Six-Tails quickly swallowed Kurama's hand, rendering it immobile and allowing the Three-Tails to attack, but was stopped by the Eight-Tails. The Two-Tails attempted to pounce on Naruto and Kurama from behind, but they fiercely swung the Six-Tails right into the monster cat, throwing the two away from a distance while B dealt with the Five-Tails. As the other tailed beasts gathered and performed a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, Naruto and Kurama preformed one of their own, intending to counter the attack by aiming slightly below his opponents', which sent them both flying upwards in a massive explosion.

Then, as the massive dust cloud was clearing, Naruto used Kurama's tails, transforming them into chakra hands, to grab his opponents by their throats. He then used Nine-Tails Chakra Mode clones to pull out the receivers, while silently promising to free all the tailed beasts. Suddenly, Naruto found that his subconscious had been pulled into a space so that the remaining beasts and their jinchūriki could converse with him. Yagura and the other jinchūriki explained that Son Gokū insisted that they wait for Naruto and try to help him. After both the jinchūriki and tailed beasts introduced themselves and offered Naruto some of their power, Naruto, back in the real world, successfully managed to pull the Black Receiver from the beasts, just before his time in the new form ran out. Forcing to seal all of the tailed beasts back into the Demonic Statue, Tobi was left incredulous about these turn of events, but remained convinced that this still changed nothing. Naruto, though, disagreed, stating that he just learned a bunch of difficult names all at once, and teased Tobi for not knowing any of them. Later, when Naruto saw the end to Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation as the corpses of the jinchūriki began to deconstruct, he silently thanked Itachi and continued battling Tobi and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

As Naruto taunted his opponent on taking off his mask, Tobi summoned both the Benihisago and the Kohaku no Jōhei that contained the reincarnated Gold and Silver Brothers, who possessed a portion of Kurama's chakra, and tossed them into the Demonic Statue's mouth. That, along with the chakra from one of Gyūki's tentacles that was cut from B's last fight with Sasuke, the Demonic Statue began its transformation into the Ten-Tails. When Tobi exclaimed that the world no longer needed the concept of heroes, hopes, or future, Naruto argued that his own heroes were the reason why he was able to keep moving forward without faltering and would make his dream to become Hokage a reality. With that, Naruto resolved to first crush Tobi's mask, to which the masked man responded that he would not allow them to touch the Demonic Statue.

Formulating their strategy as Naruto produced a shadow clone, the shinobi agreed that the use of feint attacks would be crucial in this battle because of Tobi's abilities. Moving directly toward Tobi, Naruto used the Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball to attack Tobi. However, becoming intangible, Naruto passed through him. Guy then leaped in with his Sōshūga to join battle. Using his nunchaku to counter Tobi's gunbai, Guy was able to send the masked man throttling toward Naruto and his Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball. As Naruto's attack was about to make contact, Tobi teleported which Naruto had the idea to sense him out to anticipate Tobi emerging from the ground in a surprise attack. Dodging the attack, Naruto now has a harder time blocking Tobi's gunbai. Kakashi then appeared to join in the fight with his Lightning Release infused kunai. As Kakashi launched the kunai, Tobi became intangible once again and kicked the kunai toward Naruto. Telling Naruto to ignore it, Kakashi used Kamui to warp away the kunai. As Naruto made his last attempt to land a blow on Tobi, he became intangible.

Regrouping as the last attack seemingly failed to land, the shinobi wondered how they were going to defeat Tobi. Just then, a tiny crack appeared on Tobi's mask. Noticing the crack Guy believed Naruto's attack caused the damage, but Kakashi disagreed, noting that the crack was not consistent with a punch. Naruto agreed to confirm Kakashi's hypothesis and climbed aboard Gyūki's hand and was then launched across the battlefield toward Tobi. He allowed Guy to initiate the first attack, breaking the rocks before him and force Tobi to phase through them, but Guy continues his assault even as the masked man was still intangible forcing him to absorb his nunchaku. This allowed Naruto to attack Tobi with a Rasengan during this vulnerable period and injure his left arm. Naruto later listened in surprise as Kakashi explained the mechanisms behind Tobi's technique. Confused as to why the kunai made a mark but his punch didn't, Kakashi explained causing Naruto to realise that this was what his Rasengan did as well.

As Tobi chastised Kakashi, Naruto interjected stating that he would not give up on his dreams no matter what. When Tobi began to chastise Naruto as well, the young man switched places with Kurama who told Tobi in Naruto's stead that he would not lose, no matter what. With that they entered the Tailed Beast Mode and charged at Tobi. After Tobi evaded Naruto's attack, and chided him for attacking alone, Naruto rebutted that he was not alone, in that he had his friends and teachers with him, getting Kakashi out of his slump and moving to attack again as a group. Using a shadow clone, Naruto had B cover him while he had the clone charge at Tobi with a Rasengan while the real Naruto charged a Tailed Beast Ball. Tobi thought he destroyed the clone when Kakashi's Kamui failed to warp the Rasengan, and then phased through the Tailed Beast Ball. Once in the other dimension however, he discovered that Kakashi had instead sent the entire clone over and before he could react, Naruto hit him in the face with a Rasengan, breaking his mask.

He was later seen expressing alarm that Tobi's identity was revealed to be Obito Uchiha, a former comrade Kakashi and Guy were acquainted with. After his question about who was standing, unmasked before them was answered, Naruto tried to rally his sensei, telling him that for now, they had to focus on stopping his plans. When Obito attacked Guy and Kakashi, Naruto manifested Kurama's tails and used them as a blockade — dispelling the flames before Madara made an appearance on the battlefield. With Madara's appearance, Naruto demanded to know what happened to the five Kage while the two Uchiha casually discussed the current situation, but Madara noted that the Naruto in front of them was a clone, and informed him that the Kage were not doing well. Further angered by his casual disregard of Nagato, Naruto launched an attack on Madara, first releasing B from the chakra stakes, then throwing them at Madara, who blocked them, and then attacking with a mini Tailed Beast Ball. However, Madara sent the force back with his gunbai, destroying the clone before moving to deal with the jinchūriki.

Naruto, Killer B, and Guy all engaged Madara in combat after that point. Madara overwhelmed B and Guy, and Naruto rose to challenge him and announced that he was the Fourth Hokage's son. In response, Madara created a gigantic wood dragon to attack him after remarking he won't take it easy on Naruto any more. In response, Naruto countered with his full Tailed Beast Mode, smashing and biting the dragon. However, the dragon eventually gained the upper-hand in their struggle and began to absorb Kurama's chakra, causing the beast's shroud to falter. Hearing Obito and Madara's ideals once again, Naruto noted that they annoyed him to no end before creating a shadow clone to intercept Obito's attack on Kakashi while he protected Guy and B from Madara. He noted that he was not trash and that he would never become trash and that he would protect his comrades. After Kakashi rallied to his side, he and Naruto stand to face their opponents head-on. As Obito began to attack, he bound Naruto's clone with a Wood Release technique, and tried to send Kakashi to the other dimension, however, Naruto head-butted him, boldly denying Obito's claim that Kakashi was trash.

As Obito regained his composure and charged at a visibly exhausted Kakashi, planning to send him to the other dimension to keep him from stopping his plans, Kurama asked that Naruto switch with him. As Naruto did so, Kurama grabbed Kakashi's hand and hurled him at Obito, letting Kakashi get absorbed — much to Naruto's shock — to which Kurama simply stated that Naruto could now fight without hesitation. Without much time to discuss the matter as he was set upon by Obito once again, Naruto used his chakra arms to fend off his would-be attacker. As his attacks phased through him, Obito showed signs of being attacked much to Naruto's shock; there it was revealed that Kurama had actually given Kakashi some of its chakra so he could attack Obito in the other dimension and also return to the real world using Kamui. Meanwhile, the original Naruto entered the full Tailed Beast Mode to create a giant Tailed Beast Ball with B and Gyūki and fired it at the Demonic Statue. This was all done in vain however, as after the resulting explosion, the Ten-Tails had been revived.

Naruto and the others quickly regroup while Kurama restored Kakashi and Guy's respective chakra, but the Ten-Tails, under the control of Obito and Madara, quickly overwhelmed them before they could finish devising a strategy. Kurama and Gyūki then fired a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls at the Ten-Tails, who easily deflected them with a single blast of its own. Naruto and Kurama were able to withstand the attack (losing six of its tails in exchange) and threw Kakashi and Naruto's Sage Mode shadow clone above the Ten-Tails, where Kakashi teleported Gyūki and B who prepared to launch a Tailed Beast Ball from the beast's blind-spot. However, the Ten-Tails simply flicked the attack back at Gyūki, leaving Naruto's shadow clone, and Kakashi open for an attack. After the clone successfully pushed Kakashi out of the way, and gets dispelled by the tail himself, Naruto and Kurama were able to rescue Kakashi, Gyūki, and B before the Tailed Beast Mode was deactivated, which Kurama noted to Naruto that it needed time to generate more chakra.

As Obito and Madara had the Ten-Tails fire another Tailed Beast Ball at Naruto's group, the shinobi were shocked to realise that the attack had missed. Just then, from above, Ino, Hinata, Hiashi and a few others arrived and it is revealed that Ino was able to shift the blast after taking control of the beast for a split second. Shrouding the battlefield in mist and releasing kikaichū to stop them from being sensed, the entire Allied Shinobi Forces arrive at the battlefield, and Naruto announces that they were no longer a disorderly crowd before announcing that the "Ninja Alliance Technique" could stop the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As the Allied Shinobi Forces seemingly managed to trap the Ten-Tails with their battle strategy, Naruto entered Sage Mode and prepared to attack the two Uchiha with a Rasenshuriken. He throws the Rasenshuriken like planned as he and the other Allied Shinobi attack only to be repelled by the beast emerging in its matured form, sending Naruto and several others flying backwards, only to be left in shock at the beast's transformation, also leaving Naruto with a dislocated shoulder.

After the Ten-Tails launched several Tailed Beast Balls at nearby locations and the Allied Shinobi Headquarters (not before Shikaku and Inoichi relay their final battle strategy), Naruto questioned what happened to them, but suddenly Neji and Hiashi defended him from an incoming attack and told him not to get distracted in the battlefield. After reminding Naruto that he was the key to their strategy, the two of them, plus Hinata, declared that they will protect him. The Ten-Tails then started firing a barrage of wooden spears that proved difficult to defend against. Naruto entered Sage Mode and launched a few Rasenshuriken at the projectiles, but exhausted his senjutsu chakra. Soon the Ten-Tails launched a pinpoint attack at Naruto that the Hyūga were unable to deflect in time. Hinata prepares to defend Naruto as a human shield, only for Neji to take the fatal blow instead. In his final moments, Neji reminded Naruto that Hinata, as well as everyone else, was willing to die for him. When Naruto pleaded to know why he'd sacrifice himself for him, Neji replied it was because he was called a genius, reminding him of their first battle. Devastated, Naruto and Hinata tearfully mourn as Neji passed away.

Capitalising on Naruto's grief, Obito mocked Naruto about his earlier statement that he wouldn't let any of his comrades to die by reminding him of many shinobi that were already killed. Naruto was then left in a bewildered and depressed state as Obito lashed out at his beliefs, telling him that they would only lead to more of the same. As Obito tried to tempt Naruto into joining his plan, Hinata managed to snap Naruto out of his rut. She told him that if his life was connected to everyone who shared his beliefs and were willing to sacrifice their lives for him like Neji had, that he shouldn't give up and let their deaths be for nothing. Kurama also joined in, telling Naruto of his parents' similar sacrifice to protect him. With his confidence restored and his beliefs reaffirmed, Naruto took Hinata's hand and he thanked her for staying by his side. As he re-entered Tailed Beast Mode, Naruto transferred some of Kurama's chakra to Hinata, and created three shadow clones to swiftly transfer more of its chakra to many of the still alive across the battlefield, in particular Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji, whose clans' Ino–Shika–Chō Formation figured in Shikaku's last strategy.

When Naruto finished distributing chakra to the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he lead a charge attack with two Rasenshuriken prepared. One of them he used in front as they cut right through a couple of the Ten-Tails' tails. He prepared to throw the second one at Obito, but his dislocated shoulder got in the way. Hinata quickly fixed it with her Gentle Fist, allowing him to throw his technique, successfully cutting Obito's connection to the beast, alongside Lee cutting Madara's. The Uchiha duo quickly recollect themselves and began attacking the Allied Shinobi Forces directly with collaborated techniques. Naruto's chakra shrouds were able protected everyone from being killed by the barrage, but Kurama warned Naruto to be careful about micro-managing all of the chakra he had given them, as it was exhausting him and causing him to revert to his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Obito confronted Naruto, telling him he was contradicting himself by saying he was closest to his friend after they died but still wished to protect them. Naruto rejected Obito's words completely, telling him that his words were meaningless and that a loner like him wouldn't understand. Suddenly, the Ten-Tails started going berserk, completely distorting the weather around the area into powerful storms. As Kakashi attempted to stop the beast with Kamui, Obito intervened. As Naruto called to his sensei in concern, Kakashi told Naruto to take care of things here while the two former friends teleport back to the alternate dimension.

Naruto once again protected everyone from the Ten-Tails' Tenpenchii, but doing so drained him all of Kurama's chakra to maintain the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and the chakra forming the Alliance disappeared. Despite that, however, members of the Alliance protected the exhausted Naruto as Sakura healed Naruto. Soon, the Ten-Tails prepared a giant Tailed Beast Ball, only for it to be stopped by the arrival of Naruto's reincarnated father. After sending the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball to the sea, Minato thanked Sakura for healing Naruto, then asked him if she was his girlfriend, to which Naruto responded "more or less". Sakura hit him in anger because of his response and told him to focus on the current situation; the action reminded Minato of Kushina and her own short temper. Naruto stated that he had felt their chakra in Tailed Beast Mode, just as the other Hokage arrived. Minato donned a chakra cloak, much to the others' shock, and led Naruto to brag about his father once again to Kurama. After sealing the Ten-Tails in a barrier, Sasuke and Jūgo arrived on the battlefield. After some dispute between the original Rookie Nine and Sasuke declaring to everyone that he would change the village and become Hokage, Naruto, finally healed, stood beside Sasuke and said that it was he who would actually become Hokage. Naruto and Sasuke moved to the battlefield, followed by Sakura, and the reborn Team 7 prepared to face the Ten-Tails.

The rest of the Rookie Nine rallied them, and they set out. The Hokage used the barrier to contain the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball, and Hashirama created an opening in the barrier for them to get it. As Sakura began to lay waste of the miniature Ten-Tails clones, a shocked Naruto made a mental note to never tease her again. When she momentarily let her guard down, he and Sasuke protected her. Sakura praised Sasuke, but not Naruto, causing him to complain about it. Naruto was annoyed when she declared that if Sasuke and Naruto begin fighting again, she'd snatch the Hokage seat from under their noses. As the trio stood together, back to back, Naruto examined Sasuke's Amaterasu and his Mangekyō Sharingan, while Sasuke examined Naruto's tailed beast form. After he got into a short scuffle with Kiba, Naruto proceeded to save Sai from his failed aerial attack on the Ten-Tails' main body. Sai asked Naruto if he could give chakra to the Alliance, but he explained he couldn't since Kurama was still moulding more chakra. Sai suggested that it would be best to defeat the largest of the clones, and slip close enough to beat the Ten-Tails itself, but it would be too far to jump at one go. He explained, however, that if they were to suffer severe wounds, the medical group would not be able to make it up front. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke simultaneously used the Summoning Technique, saying that they fortunately have a solution to the problem. Naruto summoned Gamakichi, while Sasuke and Sakura summoned Aoda and Katsuyu, as each the solution to one problem.

Naruto wondered who his summonning was, but after realising it was Gamakichi, he was shocked at his rapid growth. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, due to their summonings were noted by onlookers to be the new Three-Way Deadlock as each used their summoning for a purpose. Gamakichi leaped high into the air and used his tantō to protect him and Naruto from the attacks of the guards. Naruto created an Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken, and threw it at the Ten-Tails. As he and Sasuke attacked the Ten-Tails, they were cheered on by the rest of the Rookie Nine, including Sakura, who shed some tears. Naruto's technique merged with Sasuke's Blaze Release: Susanoo Kagutsuchi arrow, creating a shuriken-shaped mass of black flames, which hit the Ten-Tails. Naruto then asked Sasuke to extinguish the flames so he and Kurama could pull the other tailed beasts out of the Ten-Tails' body. Wanting to end the twisted system, Sasuke refused to do so, which angered Naruto. When Obito returned from the other dimension and Madara began to control him, he let out a scream as Naruto looked on in shock.

Mobilising after being instructed by Hashirama to stop Obito, Naruto called out to Sasuke as he rushed towards their target. However both young men are bested by Minato who created a clone and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to where Obito was. Still making his way to where Sasuke and now his father were, Naruto is shocked to see the beast begin to disappear. Using chakra arms to grab his father and Sasuke, Naruto noted that this was Obito's plan all along. Noting that he sensed the beast's chakra being absorbed by Obito, and having seen the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique once before, he realised that the seals were entirely different.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
He later watched on as Hashirama attempted to restrain Obito to no avail and then later looked on in shock as Obito effortlessly destroyed portions of both Hashirama and Tobirama's bodies. As Naruto worries about protecting the Hokage, Sasuke notes that they were using their immortal bodies to gain a sense of Obito's abilities so they could find a way to defeat him which led Sasuke to tell Naruto to stop worrying about them. Minato, while noting Sasuke's intelligence, notes that their bodies took a while to reconstruct so he would have to create an opening for them. While Minato prepares to use the Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three, Obito makes a play to attack Naruto, but is blocked by Sasuke's Susanoo. As Sasuke attempts to attack Obito, however, he takes both him and Naruto by surprise, breaking through Susanoo's defence and attacking the two.

With Minato unable to teleport to their aid, Naruto, remembering his father's words about how the Flying Thunder God Technique worked, created two chakra arms and grabbed onto Sasuke and attached the other to his father allowing Minato to teleport them to safety. Watching on as the scene unfolded on the battlefield, on his father's command, Naruto prepared to launch a collaborative strike on Obito after his father had attacked the Uchiha. Watching on as Obito attacked himself, and later as Minato himself is attacked by Obito, a worried Naruto is reprimanded by Sasuke who reminded him that they needed to prepare to strike. When his father is able to seemingly narrowly avoid Obito's attack and teleport back to them, Naruto and the others looked on in shock as a ball of the mysterious substance that had been attached to Minato started to glow and expand.

Saved by Tobirama who teleported the orb away from them, Naruto thanked him, but Tobirama reprimanded the young man for the way he addressed him. He and Sasuke later launched their counter-attack against Obito forming another Kagutsuchi-infused Rasenshuriken. As they charged, Minato teleported in front of them taking the blow of the technique, his father then used the Flying Thunder God Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique to land a surprise attack on the new jinchūriki. Though they believed the attack to have worked initially, they are all shocked to see Obito emerge from the attack unscathed. As they rushed forward, Naruto noted that Obito was much like the perfect jinchūriki he had imagined himself as in his dreams.

As they readjusted their strategy, Naruto informed Sasuke that he was going to go all out again and asked if he would be able to keep up. Attempting to go into Tailed Beast Mode, Naruto's mantle disappeared entirely. As he asked Kurama to give him more chakra, Naruto is shocked to see Gamakichi attack Obito with the Starch Syrup Gun. Questioning his intentions, Naruto thanked Gamakichi for helping out after the toad told him that he could not stay any longer. Watching as Obito attempted to deflect the attack, Naruto initiated his strategy and upon hearing Obito not only decry the position of Hokage, but his father as well. Forming a Rasengan, Naruto told Obito that even more than looking down on a position he never attained, Obito should not bad mouth his father. With this, Tobirama teleported Naruto to Obito's location and the young man sent the senjutsu-enhanced Rasengan crashing into the Uchiha. When he retreated to his comrade's side, Naruto explained to Sasuke how senjutsu worked and then noted that he was then going to use Frog Kata to fight the jinchūriki. He later watched on as Obito created an enormous tree which he used to prepare four Tailed Beast Balls to attack the Alliance with. As they prepared to deflect the attacks, Obito trapped them within a barrier and continued to berate his father, Naruto noted that it would be his birthday the following day and declared that the world would not end because he was in it.

Bumping fists with his father, he called to him to get ready as he donned the Tailed Beast Mode, Naruto matched his father's chakra signature, recombining the two halves of Kurama's chakra reforming and strengthening the chakra shrouds on the rest of the Shinobi Alliance, just before Obito fired the Tailed Beast Balls. By linking his chakra with his father's, Minato was able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport everyone outside of Obito's barrier and to safety. When Minato noted that he had wanted to speak to Naruto, the young man dismissed this, noting that men could say all they wanted to each other with a simple look, and that both his, and his mother's feelings had already been conveyed to him. Entering his full Tailed Beast Mode with renewed vigour, Naruto's charge towards Obito was halted by Tobirama, who reminded the young man that only Sage Mode techniques were going to be effective against their opponent. While he had completely forgotten this already, Naruto chased off Yang-Kurama, mocking his stupidity before being reminded of the time he had entered Sage Mode while utilising the fox's power as well. Entering Sage Mode, Naruto is soon joined by his father in Tailed Beast Mode as well, and together, both men create an enormous senjutsu-enhanced Rasengan and are teleported to Obito's location by Tobirama. This attack, however, is anticipated by their target, leading them to readjust their strategy by creating a Tailed Beast Ball enhanced with natural energy. Before they can launch the attack, Naruto and his team are soon face-to-face with the Ten-Tails once again as Obito continued his Eye of the Moon Plan.

As Obito's assault using the Ten-Tails' tree form began claiming the life of the Allied Forces, Obito took advantage of their despair, insisting that they surrender. Hashirama's clone has Ino telepathically connect him to everyone via the Mind Body Transmission Technique so that he could inform them about the Eye of the Moon Plan and to try and rally them to continue fighting. While Hashirama's words failed to inspire them, Naruto's emotions and memories are conveyed to them via Ino's technique. Shocked at Naruto's refusal to give up despite of his hard life, the Allied Forces quickly begin to regain their will to fight. Naruto then joined the Susanoo-clad-Sasuke who had already begun to cut down the tree into battle once again. As Naruto prepared to attack, he and his father connected to one another so that Yin-Kurama could supply them with more chakra. With this, the two senjutsu-enhanced young men leaped into battle once again.

While pressing on with his attack, subconsciously still thinking about saving his allies, Naruto's chakra responded to his will and formed the Version 1 shroud around Shikamaru in an attempt to aid his recovery. With a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, as well as Sasuke firing a senjutsu-enhanced arrow with his Susanoo Bow, they cracked the sphere Obito had wrapped around himself as he pushes forward. The battle continued resulting in Sasuke's Susanoo and Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode form being destroyed. However, Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet again, their resolves untouched.

Obito once again tried to instil doubt into Naruto to deter him from his path but Naruto refused to listen. Sasuke then claims to finish the battle with the next attack and manifested his final Susanoo which encased Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle. Using the telepathic link, Naruto called for his comrades who rallied to his side all donning Tailed Beast Mode mantles as they entered Yang-Kurama's tails. Using the Rasengan Naruto had created, they all attacked Obito's defences who had formed a shield to defend himself. They broke through the shield allowing himself and Sasuke to deliver a devastating blow against Obito and destroying the Sword of Nunoboko and forcing out the chakra of all the tailed beasts. Grabbing hold of the two through seven tailed beasts, Naruto, with the aid of the Shinobi Alliance began to pull the chakra from Obito's body, with Gaara and B pulling Shukaku and Gyūki's chakra respectively to reduce Obito to a shell of the tree form of the Ten-Tails and prevent the flower from blooming. As they pulled, Naruto and Obito entered a level of shared subconscious where Naruto told Obito he would break his true mask: the facade of being nobody.

Obito continued to deny his past identity, claiming to have ascended to the same realm as the Sage of the Six Paths. Naruto scoffed the remark, saying that he was still the same Obito Uchiha of Konoha, and like him, they both grew up alone and wanted to become Hokage, originally to be acknowledged by others and ultimately to help the village. Naruto went on to say that Obito's warped views were just a desperate means to escape his personal pain. Obito admitted that there was an undeniable likeness between Naruto and him as a child, but still insisted that the Eye of the Moon Plan was to help the world as a whole. Naruto strongly asked Obito if he really believed that; unable to look Naruto in the eye, Obito said he does. In response, Naruto angrily denied that choice, stating that there are no short-cuts to achieving peace, dreams, or changing yourself, and pointed out to Obito that when he was about to be subjugated by the Ten-Tails, he refused to give up his memories of his genin team and overcome the beast. While Naruto noted that Obito would still have to pay of his crimes, he still had a home in Konoha and insisted that Obito come back to his friends, shocking the older Uchiha with an outstretched hand of friendship.

However, instead of holding his hand, Obito tried to strangle Naruto, saying he had no regrets for his actions. Naruto immediately broke free and punched him, stating if Obito truly thought that then he should stop picturing himself as a Hokage. Obito then began to see Naruto as his younger self completely, insisting that Rin would hate what Obito had become and never watch over him. As Obito continued to tell himself he preferred to be alone, Naruto grabbed Obito and forcibly dragged him over, telling Obito it was time to rejoin his friends and not underestimate them. Finally, the Shinobi Alliance managed to separate all the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito, reverting him to his original state. Naruto and Sasuke then broke their chakra unison.

As Naruto is acknowledged and thanked by the freed tailed beasts, Sasuke quickly moved in to kill the collapsed Obito. Kakashi suddenly teleported in front of Sasuke, pinning down Obito; the same desire to finish his fallen friend. He was stopped at the last second by Minato, who notes that Naruto's persistent scolding has reached Obito. Minato told Naruto to go aid the First Hokage against Madara, to which Naruto quickly rushed to the scene. Once finding the legendary rivals, Naruto prepares his Big Ball Rasenshuriken. Ultimately, Madara was subdued by Hashirama, allowing Sai to come and seal Madara. Before the seal was complete, Madara succeeded in truly reviving himself through manipulating Obito, allowing the dangerous Uchiha to use the full might of his enhanced body and repel both Sai's seal and Hashirama's restraints.

Madara's revival deprived him of his dōjutsu powers and even his sight as he removed his eyes years before actually dying. Despite this handicap, Madara's skills and remaining senses allowed him to easily fend off Naruto and Sasuke's attacks, enhanced even further by siphoning Hashirama's senjutsu chakra. The recently freed tailed beasts then arrived to aid Naruto, and begin coordinating attacks against Madara, quickly overpowering him. Naruto watched on as Madara retreated to a safe distance and implanted one of his Rinnegan eyes he received from a White Zetsu clone. As Madara summoned forth the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, he stunned all the tailed beasts at once and proceeded to unleash chains from the Demonic Statue to restrain them. As he continued to struggle against the restraints, Naruto attempted to exit Tailed Beast Mode but when he found that he could not, he opted to continue fighting the restraints. Ultimately, as the beasts are all dragged towards Madara, Naruto was ejected from the mode and sent hurtling towards the ground. As Yang-Kurama was extracted from him, still alive but weak and unconscious, Naruto was caught by Gaara, who moved him away from the battlefield, promising not to let Naruto die. Gaara quickly took Naruto to Tsunade to recover. As she had already used up nearly all her chakra battling a Tobi and its massive Wood Release, Sakura instead joined Gaara as he continued to bring Naruto to their next location, though stated herself she was in no better shape than her master.

Gaara explained Sakura their next location was where Minato was. If they could reach him, Yin-Kurama could be sealed within Naruto to save his life. Sakura desperately tried to keep Naruto alive, even manually operating his heart to keep his blood flowing. They eventually reached Minato and Kakashi, who were fighting against the barely alive Obito being controlled by Black Zetsu. Once Gaara explained Yang-Kurama's plan to Minato, he prepared to transfer the Yin half to Naruto. However, as the former Hokage is about to seal Yin-Kurama within Naruto, Black Zetsu gets in the way and absorbs the Yin half instead, just before Madara; now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, arrived nearby the unconscious Naruto. During the confrontation, Kakashi sent Naruto and Sakura to Kamui's dimension. Obito, having chosen to side with the Allied Forces, arrived shortly after and transfers Yin-Kurama to Naruto under Sakura's sceptical eye.

Opening his eyes, Naruto found himself in a separate plane of existence, where he was greeted by the Sage of the Six Paths, who transcended time after his death to meet with Naruto. The Sage began to explain to Naruto about his family's history, noting that Naruto was in fact the reincarnation of the Sage's youngest son Asura. While surprised by this news, Naruto was easily able to accept it, having already realised it on some level. He also realised that Indra Ōtsutsuki, the sage's eldest son, was reincarnated into Sasuke. As Hagoromo asked Naruto to stop Madara for him, Naruto thanked the sage for his trust, to which he denied deserving such praise due to his failings as a father and leader. Naruto disagreed with the sage's views of his efforts, to which Gyūki and Shukaku appeared, along with Yin-Kurama, and agreed with Naruto. The tailed beasts explained that Obito chose to save Naruto by sealing them inside the young ninja. Turning their attention to Hagoromo to speak with him for the first time in ages, they deemed Naruto as the one of prophecy to save the world. The other six tailed beasts chakra manifested to join in the meeting. Trusting Naruto, Hagoromo passed on the Six Paths Yang Power, his chakra and the Six Paths Sage Mode to the young shinobi. After receiving Hagoromo's power, Naruto awakens and sits up.

Obito then sent Naruto back to the normal dimension. Once there, Naruto found Madara battling Guy with the power of the Eight Gates. Naruto arrived in time to save Guy from Madara's final attack on a dying Guy, shocking the Uchiha. With a new look in his eyes, Naruto placed his right hand on Guy's chest and somehow stabilised Guy's life-force, sparing the older ninja from certain death. As Madara notes Naruto being different from before, Naruto boldly states he feels like he can accomplish anything now. Using his newfound power, Naruto attacked Madara hard with a chakra-enhanced punch, forcing the Uchiha to block with his chakra orb. Naruto then followed up with assistance from Son Gokū to produce his Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken. Madara then attempted to retaliate with Limbo, but Naruto, having gained the ability to sense its presence, instinctively dodged the technique and fired his technique, slicing the Ten-Tails' tree form in two and almost slicing Madara in two as well. Realising the situation, Madara then proceeded to absorb the tree itself, fully regenerating him. Naruto then grabbed Guy and brought him over to Lee for safety. As Naruto picked up his father's kunai, Madara mocked Naruto's attempt to stop him, calling himself immortal. Naruto calmly said he didn't intend to defeat Madara alone. As if on cue, Sasuke then appeared, wielding the Yin half of Hagoromo's chakra and the Sage's dōjutsu powers, the latter manifested within Sasuke's left eye as a Rinnegan. Naruto then proceeded to transform into a new chakra mode. As Madara deduced that the two childhood friends had somehow obtained the power of the great Sage like he did, Madara became determined to prove his power unparalleled.

As Madara began unleashing various powerful techniques on the duo, Sasuke easily evaded them while Naruto countered them with his chakra staff. Each time Naruto attempted to strike Madara, his attack was somehow blocked before it even reached the Uchiha. With his new Rinnegan, Sasuke quickly saw through Madara's ability. He explained to Naruto that Madara was generating an invisible clone to aid him. After explaining the mechanics and weaknesses to Naruto, Sasuke was able to subdue the hidden threat. Following Sasuke's advice to immobilise Madara, Shukaku called upon Naruto, letting Naruto use its Magnet Release to generate a new Rasengan imbued with the tailed beast's natural cursed seal. Naruto managed to strike Madara with it, but the older ninja was able to have his clone take the effects for him. Realising the situation was turning against him, Madara decided to first regain his left eye. He stole Kakashi's Sharingan and used its Kamui to teleport to the other dimension where Obito was. After stopping Madara's shadow from moving with his chakra staffs and a shadow clone, he went to Kakashi and the returned Sakura and used his new powers to restore Kakashi's original left eye. At Kakashi's warning, Naruto was recalled of their first lesson as Team 7.

Madara soon returned with both his Rinnegan and was accompanied by Obito, who was now under the complete control of Black Zetsu. Sakura proceeded to attack Madara but failed and instead was impaled by him, but Naruto came just in time to rescue her. Madara produced four shadows to keep Naruto and his allies occupied while he performed the Chibaku Tensei. Naruto created four shadow clones to battle the shadows and while Sasuke entered his Complete Body — Susanoo form, Naruto created the Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken to counter and repel Madara's attack. As Madara initiated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Naruto fired multiple Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken at the numerous meteors coming down on them. While he carefully aimed to prevent them from hitting Sasuke and warned him not to come down so hastily, Sasuke told him to stay still and covered him and the others with his Susanoo to protect them from the genjutsu, as the Susanoo could block the technique's light. As everyone was tied up by the tree's vital energy, Naruto tried to dash to assist them, to which Sasuke stopped him and urged him to be patient.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
As everyone asked Sasuke the nature of this technique, Sasuke stubbornly told them to be quiet, insisting that he was in command. While Naruto was furious at Sasuke's still independent attitude, Kakashi solemnly admitted that with Sasuke's Rinnegan, he may be the only one able to save the world. As the light of Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi finally ended, Sasuke let down his Susanoo, noting that only a Rinnegan has a chance of cancelling the genjutsu. Madara then confronted the remaining free individuals, only for Black Zetsu to suddenly betray Madara and impale his hand through Madara's chest, shocking its audience. As Madara asked his own manifestation why he would do this, Black Zetsu boldly stated that it is actually a manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Black Zetsu then proceeded to expand its being into Madara. When Madara began to absorb a huge amount of chakra from those captured by the Infinite Tsukuyomi while swelling up to many times his normal size, Naruto and Sasuke attempted to stop him, before being caught by hair-like appendages. Madara eventually shrunk back down, but was replaced by Kaguya while Black Zetsu was completely absorbed in the process, leaving Obito free of his presence and unconscious. When questioned on her motives, Kaguya went to comment that she wanted no more fighting, before shifting them to another dimension.

Sasuke managed to save himself and Naruto by summoning his hawk. While Kakashi saved himself, Sakura and Obito. Sasuke pointed out that if either him or Naruto dies it's the end of the world, and they are mankind's last hope. Kaguya continued her attack on the pair injuring Sasuke's hawk's wing. Naruto saved everyone by using his chakra arms and the ability to fly. While Naruto clashed with Kaguya, he gave Sasuke an opening to attack Kaguya from above with his final Susanoo after being repelled by Kaguya's attack. After Sasuke's attack proved ineffective, Naruto and Sasuke were briefly rendered immobile when Kaguya materialised from behind and grabbed them, using Black Zetsu to drain the two of their chakra. After Black Zetsu explained further details of his role in resurrecting Kaguya, Naruto managed to rip it off himself and Sasuke before preparing for another attack.

Convincing Sasuke to use his plan to create an opening, the Uchiha attacked Kaguya with Amaterasu, allowing Naruto to get in close to use his Sexy: Reverse Harem Technique which successfully distracted Kaguya long enough for him to get a direct hit. Sasuke then warped the two of them around Kaguya to seal her, but the woman shifted the dimension to a frozen kingdom, encasing the three of them in ice which she effortlessly escaped from. She attempted to absorb their chakra, but the two were saved by Sasuke's Blaze Release. Taking Black Zetsu's advice, Kaguya warped Sasuke to another dimension, leaving Naruto to combat her alone. Kaguya then process to bombard Naruto with a powerful blast of ice, to which Naruto feigns being trapped in hopes of catching Kaguya off guard. Meanwhile, Naruto's clone succeeds in resuscitating Obito. The reformed Uchiha then deduces that Kaguya's space-time manipulation is akin to Kamui. He theorises that he should be able to synchronise his Kamui with both eyes to Kaguya's portal once it opens, giving them a chance to save Sasuke. As Obito notes however he is too weak to make the journey both ways, the Naruto-clone and Sakura offer their chakra. Seeing that Obito is determined to save Sasuke, Naruto-clone thanks Obito, who solemnly says he wishes to walk the right path even if it costs him his life.

As Kaguya approached the seemingly pinned Naruto, realising that the same trick wouldn't work twice, he called for Kokuō's aid, using his chakra to strongly boost his offensive strength, breaking free and quickly smashing through Kaguya's defences to launch her away. With Yin-Kurama granting Naruto even more chakra, Naruto then unleashed a massive army of shadow clones. As the assault quickly began to overwhelm Kaguya, the princess teleported away, giving Obito the chance to teleport with Sakura the Naruto-clone, followed also by the real Naruto. As the shadow clone quickly dispersed from the journey, Black Zetsu was shocked that the real Naruto was able to follow them to Kaguya's base dimension. The dark manifestation insisted that even if they must give up forever the massive chakra within Naruto, he must be stopped now. Not liking the idea but agreeing, Kaguya launched a powerful jagged bone barrage to skew Naruto. After returning to the previous dimension, Kaguya and Black Zetsu noticed that Naruto's clones didn't disappear where in reality. The Naruto that was impaled by Kaguya was, in fact, a clone that was accompanying Obito and Sakura. Naruto and his army of clones continued their battle with Kaguya and Black Zetsu, in which the real Naruto was identified by latter as the one attached with the Truth-Seeking Balls.

As Kaguya charged forward, intending to kill Naruto to prevent Sasuke's return, he used his clones to protect himself. Sasuke then suddenly returned, along with Sakura and Obito, distracting Naruto long enough for Kaguya to take the opportunity to stab him, but instead mistook a clone for the real one which Naruto passed his Truth-Seeking Balls to. Upon realising the situation, Kaguya shifted the dimension to another with extremely strong gravity to prevent Naruto and Sasuke from reacting to her attacks, along with stopping everyone, including herself, from moving by pinning them to a spiked terrain. She attempted to use the All-Killing Ash Bones to quickly kill Naruto and Sasuke, but missed due to a miscalculation. When she then attempted to rectify her mistake with another salvo, Kakashi and Obito managed to throw themselves in the way of the attack. While Kakashi was saved by Obito using Kamui, the latter was unable to protect himself, causing him to receive a direct hit from the attack. Upon Obito being skewered by the bone, Naruto tried to save Obito but to no avail. Following this, Obito spoke his final words to Naruto and told him to become Hokage at all costs before dying and crumbling into ashes. Black Zetsu then proceeded to insult Obito and tell Naruto that if he stood in their way, he would meet the same fate as Obito. Naruto angrily reacted by cutting off Kaguya's left arm, which the sleeve contained Black Zetsu, and saying that he thinks Obito is awesome.

As Naruto began to bombard Kaguya with multiple tailed beast chakra-infused attacks, the tailed beasts inside Kaguya began to react to Naruto, warping Kaguya's body into a random mass of all the tailed beasts with a demonic rabbit head. Soon regaining control of herself, Kaguya then shaped the tailed beast-mass into a giant Truth-Seeking Ball. Kakashi devised a plan and shared it with his students, telling them to be ready for what could be their last mission as a team. Quickly enacting this plan, Team 7 was able to coordinate their efforts, including Naruto using his shadow clones as diversions, and penetrate Kaguya's defences to land a decisive blow on her. Once Naruto and Sasuke make physical contact with Kaguya, their respective hand markings activate Six Paths — Chibaku Tensei and seals her physical form away in a forming moon; causing her to revert to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path before freeing the Tailed Beasts within along with Madara's body. As the earth starts flying into the air to form the moon, Naruto goes to where he trapped Black Zetsu and is told by the entity that he is a product of the Shinobi world he created. After thinking about his parents and various shinobi, he tells Black Zetsu that Shinobi history was created by the lives and deaths of many shinobi and that a brat like him who never leaves his mother's side would never understand any of that. With that said, Naruto hurls Black Zetsu into the moon before returning to his team and telling them that the seal is complete as Sakura brings up that they've no way to leave the dimension.

While Naruto is freaked out by this, he, his team-mates, the tailed beasts and Madara's body are transported back to the main land by Hagoromo's spirit, the Hokage, and each of the previous Kage, all of whom were summoned from the pure land by Hagoromo to assist in the summoning. Upon being greeted by Minato, Naruto and Team 7 are thanked by Hagoromo for saving the world. As Hagoromo then prepares to send the past Kage back to the afterlife, Naruto approaches his father, who wishes him a happy birthday. Naruto then gives his parting words to Minato as he finally leaves. Once all the Kage have departed, everyone begins making plans for what to do next, Hagoromo informs the tailed beast that because their chakra is within Naruto, they all meet and discuss within Naruto using that chakra, and for Kurama to return to Naruto, something the fox didn't object to and to Naruto's joy. The final step was to release the Infinite Tsukuyomi using Naruto's tailed beast chakra and Sasuke's Rinnegan. Sasuke however reveals his desire for revolution; executing the sitting Kage and taking control of all the tailed beasts, trapping them within Chibaku Tensei satellites. His time running out, Hagoromo places his trust in Naruto, who vowed to end the brothers' feud once and for all, though he urged Sasuke to at least free the tailed beasts, confident that they wouldn't be a problem anymore. After learning Sasuke was planning on using them to dispel the Infinite Tsukuyomi and then kill them, Naruto declared he wouldn't let that happen.

After Sasuke used genjutsu to prevent Sakura from following them, Naruto followed Sasuke to the Valley of the End where he told his rival he was confident he would not lose a second time. He then resolves to not hand over the title of Hokage to Sasuke, believing that he does not understand the meaning of the role. Sasuke replies and explains his reasoning behind his motivation for change in the shinobi world, much to Naruto's disapproval. After exchanging words, Naruto and Sasuke then charge at each other and begin their fight. Repelling against each other, Sasuke immediately fires a massive fireball at Naruto, who manages to deflect the attack by activating his Six Paths Sage Mode. Leaving Naruto little time to react, Sasuke shifts behind Naruto, activates his Chidori, and knocks Naruto into the water. As Naruto recovers, Sasuke activates his Susanoo and fires three arrows towards Naruto, though he manages to block Sasuke's attack by utilising three of his Truth-Seeking Balls, resulting in several small explosions. Sasuke activates his Complete Body — Susanoo and tries to slice down Naruto, only for his attack to be countered by Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode.

The two titans' fists clash together, as memories of the past are shared between the two. While Naruto forms a Tailed Beast Ball, Sasuke applies the Chidori to his Complete Body — Susanoo. The two techniques clash, resulting in a massive explosion, as Naruto and Sasuke enter their inner subconscious once again. Naruto tries once more to convince Sasuke to stop fighting, stating that his goal is pointless, however Sasuke is unfazed by Naruto's plea and determent to carry through with his revolution. Returning to the real world, Sasuke and Naruto are knocked back as a result of the explosion of their colliding attacks. Sasuke then brings forth the satellites encasing the tailed beasts and begins channelling their chakra into his Complete Body — Susanoo. As it changes into a more humanoid form, Kurama notes that Sasuke is on the level of Hagoromo. After Naruto summons three shadow clones, Sasuke immediately attacks him from behind, knocking one of his clones into the earth. The two battle in the sky, as Naruto tries to attack Sasuke, but fails as Sasuke uses a lightning-based senbon to counter Naruto's technique, resulting in a massive explosion.

Naruto combines his clones to form one powerful chakra avatar and throws two Rasenshuriken, while Sasuke fires a lighting-enhanced arrow. As the two attacks collide in the air, the explosion rattled the entire area, even destroying the heads of the Madara and Hashirama statues. After the two came crashing down, Sasuke used Amaterasu, which Naruto deflected with his Version 1 chakra shroud before following up with shadow clones, catching Sasuke in a Naruto Uzumaki Combo. Sasuke retaliated with shuriken, dispersing the shadow clones, but both ran out of chakra and resorted to basic taijutsu. Ultimately, the two collapsed into each other, neither willing to give up. Sensing that Naruto received chakra from Kurama, Sasuke used his Preta Path ability to absorb it all, giving him enough chakra to use his Chidori, aiming down on Naruto. Reflecting on his own words to Kurama about helping Sasuke, Naruto is able to counter with a punch, sending Sasuke reeling into the mountain side. Using the last of Yin-Kurama's chakra, he uses his Rasengan against Sasuke's Kagutsuchi-enhanced Chidori.

The two attacks resulted in destroying the valley and costing Naruto his right arm in exchange for Sasuke's left arm. Waking up some time later, Sasuke asks why Naruto would go through such lengths to save someone like him. Naruto's response was that he understood Sasuke's pain and couldn't let that stand. The two slept through the day to the following morning where Sasuke admitted defeat and was willing to let himself die and Naruto end the genjutsu using his Rinnegan. However, Naruto told Sasuke that as his friend, he wouldn't leave him behind, moving Sasuke to tears. After being noticed by the remainder of Team 7, Sakura rushed to their side and began healing both their wounds with a pleased Kakashi looking on. Naruto and Sasuke later dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi, releasing the Allied Shinobi Forces from the genjutsu and saving the world. Sasuke later freed the tailed beasts from their prisons in the Chibaku Tensei, much to Naruto's delight.