The battlefield was a scene of utter devastation—crimson flames from the Young Red King crackled wildly, the Green King's towering lightning giant loomed ominously, and the Silver King stood at the center of it all, an immovable force whose mere presence warped time itself.
Toshiro, standing among his Uzumaki warriors, had strengthened the battlefield with his network of fuinjutsu, making every Uzumaki stronger with their collective presence. Yet even with this, the shinobi forces were struggling. Their strongest warriors had been wounded.
Laura (Storm) was barely standing, her body covered in burns and deep lacerations.
Kurotsuchi even after being the Son Goku's Jinchuuriki had exhausted her chakra, her breath ragged as she struggled to maintain her stance.
Smoker was coughing heavily, his smoke-based attacks proving useless against the Silver King's ability to control time.
Mei Terumi had burns along her arms and legs from her previous clash with the Young Red King, her lava unable to keep up with the ever-growing heat of the battlefield.
Only Luffy, Zoro, Inari, and Akuma remained in fighting condition, but even they were beginning to falter.
The Silver King stood before them, his cold silver eyes scanning the battlefield with detached amusement. His power over time had rendered most of their attacks useless.
The Green King roared in rage, his lightning giant surging with power, his fury only growing. Meanwhile, the Young Red King, who had become a supernova of raw destruction, continued to burn hotter than anything else on the battlefield. Her strength had already surpassed that of the late Red King, Suoh Mikoto, and even the other kings, aside from the Silver King.
Their situation was dire.
Then, in that moment of despair—
A flash of divine light illuminated the battlefield.
A radiant figure descended from the sky, her form wreathed in celestial energy, her presence undeniable—
Hinata Hyuga in her Tenseigan form.
Her eyes shimmered with cosmic power, her chakra cloak radiating a divine glow, making the battlefield tremble at her presence. The moon's energy surged through her, causing the winds to howl as if the very world was reacting to her arrival.
Behind her, moving with grace and unshakable confidence, was Ino Yamanaka, and following the two of them were the newly transformed Otsutsuki warriors.
Their presence was overwhelming.
The battlefield, once filled with the crushing despair of inevitable defeat, shifted entirely.
The shinobi forces felt hope return.
The Silver King, for the first time, narrowed his eyes.
The Green King's lightning wavered.
And the Young Red King, fueled by rage, let out an uncontained explosion of power.
But Hinata stood there, unfazed, her Tenseigan eyes piercing through all things.
She spoke softly, yet her voice carried across the battlefield.
"This battle is over."
The sky above the battlefield darkened as an overwhelming presence descended.
Hotaru had arrived.
She stood in the sky, her crimson eyes glowing with quiet amusement, yet beneath her calm demeanor was an unmistakable sense of superiority. She looked down on them as if they were nothing but insignificant insects, her expression cold and indifferent.
She sighed dramatically, shaking her head.
"I really didn't want to intervene. Why do you force my hand?"
Her voice was like silk, yet each word carried an edge—one that threatened absolute annihilation.
Hinata, standing tall despite the suffocating aura surrounding them, lifted her head with resolve.
"Why would we not intervene? This is our way, you should know that."
Her Tenseigan eyes gleamed, power pulsing through her body as she took her stance.
Hotaru's gaze sharpened.
"You will only make him sad, knowing that you died because of him."
She spoke with mocking pity, as if she were offering them a way out—a chance to walk away before the inevitable.
But Ino, standing beside Hinata, laughed bitterly.
"He is strong, and we are strong enough to survive."
Her golden energy flickered like a wildfire, her power surging as she rejected the manipulative words.
Hotaru's lips curled into a smirk of condescension.
"Heh, little puppies who don't know their place. That's what you are."
Her tone dripped with arrogance, as if they were nothing more than children playing at war.
Then, her face turned ice-cold, her aura exploding outward as her next words reverberated through the battlefield.
"Fine, have it your way. But remember this day."
Her eyes gleamed with something dark—something absolute.
"Do not regret this moment, when you denied my peaceful offer."
The air grew heavy, as if reality itself trembled at her power.
"You will all die."
A pulse of pure destruction rippled out from her, shaking the land, cracking the skies, and sending chills down the spines of even the strongest warriors present.
"And when Naruto comes back…"
She lifted her hand, and the sky turned blood-red.
"This world will enter a war that shall end with his death."
A storm of unfathomable power began to gather above, and the battlefield itself became the stage for a clash that would determine the fate of everything.
The battlefield erupted into chaos as Hotaru made her move.
A twist of her wrist, and space itself folded like paper—before anyone could react, Hinata, Ino, Gai, and Sai were ripped from reality.
With a blink, they were gone.
The four reappeared on an unfamiliar world.
The sky was a swirling void of dark purple clouds, and the ground was a wasteland of jagged black stone, stretching endlessly in every direction. The air was thick with unnatural energy, pulsating like a living entity.
A cold wind howled, carrying the weight of countless lost souls.
Hotaru stood ahead of them, her red eyes glowing with an eerie light.
She spread her arms. "Welcome to your grave."
Gai cracked his knuckles, the air booming with the power behind the simple motion.
"Hah! You think moving us here will make a difference?" His golden flames burned around him, his transformed body radiating overwhelming power.
Sai's face remained calm, but his aura shifted, his body glowing with divine markings. He drew his scroll, ready for battle.
"This is nothing more than another battlefield. It doesn't change our goal."
Ino's golden energy flickered wildly, her power still surging from her recent transformation.
She smirked. "If anything, this just makes things easier. No distractions. Just you and us."
Hinata floated slightly above the ground, her Tenseigan shining like twin celestial bodies.
Her voice was calm but filled with quiet fury.
"I will not let you harm him."
Hotaru chuckled, shaking her head. "Such faith. Such conviction."
Then, her aura exploded outward, the sheer pressure warping the ground beneath her.
"Come, then. Show me your resolve."
The battle began.
Hotaru stood, unshaken, her eyes glowing with an ethereal light. The air around her shimmered, bending to her will as if she were the very axis of this world.
She was not as strong as Naruto, but that did not matter. Her mastery over mental energy, psychic abilities, and Fuinjutsu placed her above mere mortals.
With a mere thought, she could destroy a planet—and yet, she now faced opponents who had long surpassed mortal limitations.
Hinata, standing firm, felt no fear.
Her time in the Immortal Domain had changed her.
The Tenseigan, the power of the Two-Tails, and the blood of Kana, the Immortal of Love, had transformed her into a being of immense power.
She had reached a level where she could effortlessly shatter planets—but more importantly, her power over the concept of love had grown, giving her a unique edge.
Yet, even with all of that, Hotaru was still a monstrous opponent.
Thankfully, she wasn't alone.
Gai vanished—no, he was still there, but his movements were so divine, so perfect, that his presence seemed like a mere illusion.
His golden flames blazed, and in an instant, he was already in front of Hotaru.
Gai's Divine Combat Instinct was passive, making him an untouchable warrior—he could not be hit, he could react to anything, and every attack he threw was executed with flawless precision.
He threw a single punch, and space itself shattered.
The very fabric of reality collapsed as the sheer force of the strike threatened to erase Hotaru from existence.
But—
Hotaru merely appeared elsewhere, as if she had never been in that spot to begin with.
With a thought, she unleashed an invisible psychic blow, a force so great that it did not just target her enemies—
It annihilated the entire planet beneath them.
A massive shockwave erupted, tearing through the atmosphere and scattering the fragments of the planet into space.
Gai effortlessly avoided the attack—his instincts ensured he could never be hit.
Sai lifted his brush and erased the incoming psychic energy, nullifying the attack before it could reach him.
Hinata and Ino manipulated space itself, becoming intangible to phase through the blast.
Hotaru's eyes flickered with mild amusement.
Then—
Sai's brush moved, and dragons emerged from nothingness, forming into colossal celestial beasts.
They roared, surging toward Hotaru with unrelenting force, their ink-covered fangs gleaming with destructive energy.
But Ino wasn't finished.
She turned to Sai. "Draw him."
Sai understood immediately.
His brush moved with divine precision, and before their eyes, a figure took shape—
Naruto.
Not just an image, not just a construct—but a Naruto that carried his very memories.
A Naruto who knew everything about Hotaru.
A Naruto who could fight alongside them.
And in that moment—
Hinata unleashed her Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, a beam of pure celestial energy that tore through space itself.
The attack was not flames—Naruto had already warned her that Hotaru was immune to fire.
Instead, she used a power that went beyond simple elements—
A celestial force capable of erasing anything in its path.
Hotaru's smile never faded as she teleported away from the attack, but there was a new glint in her eyes—curiosity mixed with the slightest trace of concern.
With a mere gesture, her hand extended outward, and a wave of Fuinjutsu symbols erupted into existence.
The space around them compressed, shrinking the battlefield to the size of a football field.
More importantly, the very fabric of reality was now locked—no one could teleport, phase through space, or escape.
It was a cage, a prison of absolute control.
Hotaru's power was undeniable.
She had completely eliminated one of the shinobi's most valuable tactics.
Or so she thought.
Hotaru had overlooked one thing—
Ino.
She was not the strongest.
She was not the fastest.
But in this battle, she was the most important.
Because Ino had done something no one else could—
She had created Naruto.
And not just any Naruto, but one with the current Naruto's memories.
This meant he carried all of Naruto's knowledge, battle experience, and techniques—
And, more importantly, the countermeasures against Hotaru.
The Naruto clone stood firm, eyes glowing with the same sharpness as the real one.
His expression was unreadable as he turned to his team.
"Focus on fighting. I'll handle her teleportation."
For the first time in this battle—
Hotaru's confidence wavered.
"You…?" She narrowed her eyes. "You're just a clone. A fake."
Naruto grinned. "A clone with everything I need to beat you."
Hotaru felt it immediately—
Her ability to teleport was gone.
She could not escape.
She was trapped with them now.