Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Redemption

There was a shift in Naruto’s chakra and Akashi watched as an orange layer, one which resembled that of a fox’s head, appeared over his body. Not a moment later, Naruto jumped forward and towards Obito. “I feel power welling up inside me!” He exclaimed. “Let’s go!”

Akashi felt Sasuke’s grip on his hand increase and he glanced at him. He was looking at Naruto with an unusual expression on his face. Akashi could sense it… The emotions within him…

Anger?

For what? For Naruto?

“Naruto! Letting out a shout and showing off is all well and good… but don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten… that nothing other than Sage Jutsu works on him?!” Tobirama called out to the blond. “I know you’re not an idiot!”

Ah… Not an idiot?

“Tobirama, I think you’re overestimating him”. Akashi separated from Sasuke and walked up to stand next to Tobirama.

Naruto landed on the ground and there was a brief moment of silence, before it was broken. “That’s right!” Naruto screamed out, grabbing his head in disbelief.

“I stand correct…”. Akashi sighed out, shaking his head. “That idiot…”. Tobirama grimaced from besides him.

“You’re a bigger idiot than my elder brother!” The white-haired man yelled.

This is priceless… I’m lucky I was stuck with you and not him! Kurama started laughing.

I feel sorry for your other half… Akashi told him. But, it seems he has figured something out, hasn’t he? Sage Jutsu along with your other half? That sounds like something which could actually work, huh…

Yes… It seems… What do you say? Shall we help him? Kurama offered, by which Akashi was taken aback.

Oh? What’s this? You fancy my little brother all of a sudden? Should I feel protective? Akashi grinned to himself at the offended expression Kurama made.

Not in a million years, little one… Not in a million years… Kurama shook his head at his words, practically disgusted by the idea of Naruto being his Jinchuriki.

Sure, sure… But, can I activate that form again? My chakra has almost been fully replenished…

You can, just do the same thing as last time, I think you can do it without my help.

Without his help, eh?

Akashi closed his eyes.

Just focus on reaching for it…

Wait until it is close…

Then, absorb it…

His body grew warmer and he stepped forward.

There…

A moment later, he opened his eyes and instead of them being violet, they were a darkened orange. The layer of chakra spread across his body and he breathed in a deep breath.

He didn’t notice it the first time, but everything felt clearer when it was activated.

Kurama, what should I call this? I don’t even know what it is.

My other half seems to be calling it the ‘Tailed Beast State’.

Really? That’s a long name…

Then shorten it?

Kurama Mode? Fox Mode? TBS?

Please don’t call it Fox Mode… It gives me shudders… TBS doesn’t sound too bad…

You’re so picky… Damn… TBS it is then.

Kurama stayed silent after that. As Akashi looked at Naruto ahead of himself, his eyes were drawn to the fox head which surrounded his body. Could he also do that?

Only one way to find out.

Closing his eyes once again, Akashi concentrated on the chakra which surrounded his body.

The TBS.

Should he just expand it? Was that what he was supposed to do?

Hmm…

Well… It’s all or nothing.

I think you’re using too mu-!

Kurama didn’t even get to finish his sentence as an enormous amount of chakra burst out of Akashi’s body. The ground beneath his feet broke apart, leaving cracks which lead away from him.

“What?!” Tobirama exclaimed from behind him as he slid back a few feet.

“Akashi?!” Minato yelled as he, too, was pushed back.

“What the hell?!” The redhead had never felt this much chakra inside of himself. What was this? This was something different… Was this how Naruto felt?

No…

This was different from Naruto’s chakra… Much different…

Kurama? What is this?

I don’t know, I’ve never felt anything like it… But why did it happen now? Is it because of my chakra?

Akashi didn’t know what to say.

“Akashi, are you all right?!” He heard Naruto’s voice from in front of him. The blond was looking back at him with wide eyes.

“I’m fine!” Akashi answered, taking a deep breath.

“Boy… You’ve got quite the chakra… Some would even say it rivalled that of my elder brother”. Tobirama commented from behind him, which made Akashi look back at him.

“Is that a compliment?” He asked and furrowed his brows when he noticed Tobirama was looking above him. Raising his head, it was only then, that he noticed what he was looking at.

The chakra had formed around him and it mirrored Naruto’s own. It was just darker.

“It worked”. Akashi turned to face Naruto and bent his legs, before he took off, jumping towards him. He landed besides him. “Are you ready?” He asked, receiving a grin in return.

“Ready as I’ll ever be”.

Akashi had already noticed Naruto’s chakra change. Seems like he had managed to combine TBS and Sage Mode. As expected… Nothing was ever impossible for Naruto…

From the corner of his eye, Akashi saw a fist be extended towards him. Knowing what Naruto meant, he reached his own and they connected at the knuckles.

As soon as that happened, Akashi knew what to do. He and Naruto didn’t even need to look at one another.

“That’s interesting…”. He commented and pulled his arm back. “And highly possible…”.

Kurama, you know what to do, right?

Of course, little one.

Grinning, Akashi prepared himself for Kurama’s chakra.

A brief moment passed and that was all it took for the chakra to expand even further. Akashi was raised up, the rest of the body joining the head that surrounded him.

Naruto’s form mirrored his own, with the addition of a giant Rasengan being created.

“Old Man Second!” Naruto called out to Tobirama, to which the man responded by placing his hands on the two of them.

“Let’s do it!” He said and teleported them to Obito.

Already knowing they were going to come, Obito turned around and spread the red chakra which was on his back. It was blocked by Kurama’s tails and Naruto slammed the Rasengan into him. “Rasengan!” The blond exclaimed.

The red chakra was pushed back by the Rasengan and Obito used one of the black orbs to create a shield to repel the attack. It was useless to try and to that, since Naruto had combined Sage Jutsu with the Rasengan.

The moment Akashi heard the shield start to crack, he summoned the chains. They wrapped around his form and fully covered the chakra around him. The only thing not covered were the eyes.

It was like a giant armour had been put on.

He grit his teeth and raised one arm in the air, willing the blade to appear. It did, and in a much larger scale. He gripped it tight with his right arm and brought it down upon the shield.

There was a brief moment of silence, before the Rasengan, along with the shield, exploded and all of them were thrown back.

“That black thing sure is solid! Damn it… He blocked us this time!” Naruto said as he got to his feet, the force of the blast had forced him down.

“He predicted our attack… Using only the Flying Thunder God in our strategy isn’t enough”. Tobirama said from within Naruto’s chakra.

“Our only option is to destroy that black thing!” Naruto exclaimed.

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Akashi asked, gripping the blade in his hand. “Only Sage Jutsu works on them and only you can use it”.

“All right, next up…”, Naruto pointed both palms at Obito, “… Let’s try adding Sage Jutsu to a Tailed Beast Bomb!” A giant purple orb was being made by smaller red and blue orbs.

Ah… Seeing it up close really brought back memories… Not very good ones…

A rampage…

An explosion…

Pain…

Blood…

A wish to d-!

“All right, excellent idea!” Tobirama commented.

That was in the past. That was in the past. That was in the past. That was in the past. That was in the past.

Akashi was snapped back to reality by a deep ground shake.

“What’s that?!” Naruto questioned, but Akashi had no answer.

It was then, that he saw what had happened.

Obito had released the Ten-Tails.

“What the hell…?” Those were the only words Akashi could muster out.

How could he just release the Ten-Tails like that? Wasn’t that lethal to a Jinchuriki? But… That was the Ten-Tails… It was different from regular Tailed Beasts.

“He spat out the Ten-Tails?” Naruto asked, staring at the sight before them.

“Something is wrong… He’s planning something”. Akashi mumbled out, narrowing his eyes in the direction of the Ten-Tails.

The ground around it started shaking and trembling, breaking at some points, before its back opened up and a giant, grotesque mass was released into the sky.

The barrier which surrounded them had disappeared.

Then, the ground gave out another rumble and a giant tree burst out of the Ten-Tails. It reached far into the sky and its roots embedded into the ground.

Out of nowhere, the roots burst out of the ground and came at them. “Naruto!” Akashi yelled out as they managed to wrap around the blond. For some reason, as soon as they wrapped around him, his TBS disappeared.

Of course! It was sucking the chakra out of him!

Deactivating his own TBS, Akashi broke off a part of his chain.

He just hoped his plan would work.

Gripping it in his hand, he pulled his arm back and whipped it forward a moment later. The chain sailed through the air and embedded into the tree right above Naruto. Akashi activated the Flying Thunder God and quickly grabbed Naruto, before he could kick off and go towards Tobirama, he saw someone he didn’t expect to see again.

“Third!” The old man grinned at him, but Akashi didn’t wish to waste any more time and handed Naruto to him. Sarutobi seemed to realise what was going on and he took the blond in his arms.

Akashi glanced down at Tobirama. “Go back to where Minato is! I got these two!” Tobirama listened to his words and disappeared a moment later. Akashi placed his palms on both Sarutobi and Naruto but, before he could teleport them, he felt something wrap around his leg and proceed to go higher and higher.

Ah… Damn it…

It really had to happen in that moment, eh?

How unlucky.

“Akashi!” Sarutobi prepared himself to move Naruto and help the redhead, but he was interrupted.

“I’ll catch up to you”. Sarutobi could only watch as Akashi grinned at him.

It was then, that the old man realised what the boy planned to do. “No!” He reached his arm towards him, but it only caught onto thin air.

He stood still and the only thing he could see was the giant tree far, far away from him with the moon ominously glowing a bright crimson above it.

Naruto’s heartbeat drummed against his shoulder.