The fist smashed steadily toward the Shuradō. In Tsunade's eyes, the speed of the fist was extremely slow, like a fluttering catkin.
But in Shuradō's eyes, the fist was incredibly fast, smashing toward him like a roaring thunderclap. He was horrified and wanted to dodge, but found that he couldn't move at all.
He had been locked on!
There was no escape—he could only endure it!
In Shuradō's vision, the fist grew larger and larger, eventually filling his entire field of view.
"Boom!"
At the moment of impact, a tremendous force instantly penetrated Shuradō. He had no time to react and was smashed into the ground by the blow.
Boom!
His heavily deformed head was driven into the ground, and the chakra-transmitting iron rods embedded in his body snapped one after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just after Naruto killed the Shuradō Path of Pain with one blow, three enormous figures, each wielding weapons, descended from above, shaking the earth and sending smoke and dust flying.
When the dust cleared, everyone could see three toads—each around 100 meters tall—standing protectively around the figure at their center.
Behind him stood the stunned Fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade. At his feet lay the deformed Shuradō. Surrounding him were three mighty summoned beasts.
At first glance, it was a towering sight—absolutely shocking.
"Naruto..."
The figure was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, now clad in the power of Sage Mode.
Behind Naruto, Tsunade stared at his fluttering orange cloak, a vision forming in her eyes.
Two silhouettes suddenly emerged in her mind, overlapping with Naruto: Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage—and Jiraiya.
Tsunade sighed deeply in her heart. The boy who once needed only one finger to be subdued had grown into such a formidable figure without her even noticing.
"Granny Tsunade, you go rest. Leave this to me!"
Naruto turned back and gave her a confident smile.
Tsunade was about to protest that she could still fight, but suddenly she noticed Naruto's golden pupils and orange-red pigmentation around his eyes.
"...Alright. Be careful."
Tsunade gave Naruto a long, thoughtful look. She knew—staying here would only hold him back.
This Naruto… was far stronger than her now.
Transmitting information to him through Katsuyu, she leapt back toward the surface.
---
!
!!
"Those eyes!"
In the Answer Space, Jiraiya's face was full of disbelief as he stared at Naruto's orange pigmentation and toad-like eyes.
He instantly recognized the state Naruto was in—and that made it all the more unbelievable.
Not only were Gamabunta and the other giant toads present behind Naruto, but Jiraiya could also clearly sense the natural energy running through Naruto's body—this was Sage Mode, inherited from Mount Myōboku.
What shocked Jiraiya wasn't just that Naruto had learned Sage Mode—it was that his aptitude far surpassed his own!
When Jiraiya used Sage Mode, he couldn't even absorb natural energy on his own. He needed Fukasaku and Shima to assist him and had to remain still. Even then, toad features would visibly appear on his face.
But Naruto—aside from his eyes and pigmentation—showed no toad transformation at all.
It was like he had a natural Sage Body!
Jiraiya licked his lips in excitement. He wanted to run back to Konoha, hug this kid, and kiss him twice.
He had searched the world, worn himself out looking for the Child of Prophecy foretold by the Great Toad Sage—and the child had been in Konoha the entire time!
"Minato, you really gave birth to an incredible son..."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto with emotion. If it weren't for the giant toads behind him, he might not have recognized the boy at all.
Turns out it wasn't Kushina's red hair, but Minato's genes—that powerful!
"So… he's the one who defeated me?"
Uzumaki Nagato watched the screen with curiosity. He was eager to see how this boy would overcome him.
As the video played, he mentally retraced every choice he had made in the battle. Yet, no matter how he analyzed it, he realized he would have made the exact same decisions as he had before.
Meanwhile, the other members of the Akatsuki had no time to focus on Jiraiya or their leader's expressions—they were still reeling from the previous scenes.
They had known the leader wasn't an ordinary person—but this... this was beyond anything they imagined!
"This is just insane!"
Compared to him, they felt embarrassed to even call themselves S-rank criminals.
Bizarre and powerful jutsu… the ability to regenerate almost infinitely…
Forget Konoha—even if the entire Akatsuki joined forces, they might still not be able to defeat him.
On the other side, Orochimaru was completely panicked. Cold sweat dripped down his face, soaking through the back of his robes.
He was extremely anxious now. Fully aware of how terrifying the leader truly was, Orochimaru began quietly plotting an escape route from the Answer Space.
After all—he was a defector of the Akatsuki.
---
"Handsome!"
"So damn cool!"
"Too cool!"
Naruto Uzumaki clenched his fists tightly, his eyes glued to the image of himself on the screen.
The flowing blond hair, the fluttering cloak, the colossal summoned beasts—all of it made his heart race with excitement.
This—this was the kind of future he wanted!
Naruto Uzumaki's eyes welled up with tears again. He wished with all his heart that he had that kind of strength right now.
So the people who looked down on him—those who mocked him—could see:
He was a hero.
A true hero who could smash a terrifying enemy to the ground with a single punch.
Watching his future self rush toward the enemy in the video, Naruto covered his mouth with both hands, trying to stifle a scream of excitement.
Part of him worried about facing five opponents at once. The other part was just thrilled to see how awesome he would become. The emotional conflict was driving him crazy.
---
"Why?! Why?!"
"How is the dead last this strong?!"
"What about me?! What about me?!"
"Uchiha Sasuke—get out here!!"
In the hospital room, Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan eyes glowed a deep crimson. He watched Naruto taking the spotlight, dealing a decisive blow to that monster of a man.
Sasuke's pride was burning.
He gritted his teeth and pushed through his body's weakness with sheer willpower.
"Please… don't embarrass the Uchiha name…!"
Elsewhere, Hinata Hyuga had returned home with her family. She found her father Hiashi and younger sister Hanabi watching the live broadcast while eating dinner.
"Father, I'm back."
"Good. Come sit."
"Sister, sister! Come here!"
Hinata respectfully greeted her parents, then knelt beside Hanabi.
Hiashi gave her a brief glance. Despite her manners, a trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes.
At such a young age, Hanabi already demonstrated excellent talent in the Gentle Fist. Hinata, on the other hand…
Hiashi's gaze softened slightly with hidden sorrow.
His eldest daughter might be destined for the Caged Bird Seal. Her temperament wasn't suited to being a ninja.
"Let's eat."
Shaking his head, Hiashi tried to push away those thoughts and turned to focus on the screen.
---
"Huh? Naruto-kun…?"
Hinata raised her head just in time to see Naruto appear on the screen, full of heroic presence…
"Sis, sis, why's your face so red?" Hanabi asked, eyes sparkling.
"Sis, there's steam coming from your head…"
"Ahh!"
"Father, father! Sis fainted!!"