The transformation began.
Golden energy surged through Sakura's body, reshaping her very existence. Her skin shimmered with an ethereal glow, her chakra rising to heights she had never imagined. Two elegant, curved horns emerged from her head, a symbol of her new Otsutsuki lineage.
The change wasn't just physical—it was spiritual, cosmic, absolute.
When she opened her eyes, her emerald irises burned with celestial power.
Sakura took a deep breath, feeling the limitless flow of chakra within her.
This… this is beyond anything I've ever felt before.
She clenched her fist experimentally—the very air cracked under the pressure.
Naruto watched with an amused smile as he prepared a battlefield within his pocket dimension—an endless expanse of land and sky, removed from all prying eyes. Here, she could unleash herself without restraint.
To truly test her power, Naruto created a clone—one infused with only one percent of his total strength.
And yet… even at just one percent, he was still overwhelmingly strong.
Despite their new Otsutsuki forms, Kakashi and Sakura were still far from Naruto's level. If he was a star, then they were merely planets, orbiting in his light.
Even so, Sakura wasn't afraid.
She embraced her newfound strength.
"Come," she said, her voice firm. "Let's see what I can do."
Naruto's clone smirked.
"Try not to die too fast."
And then, he attacked.
Sakura moved—and in an instant, she was gone.
Her speed was beyond light, her body vanishing in a burst of cosmic radiance. She reappeared behind the clone, her fist already descending like the hammer of a immortal.
The shockwave alone shattered the land beneath them, sending titanic fissures miles wide across the battlefield.
But Naruto's clone vanished just before impact, narrowly avoiding a direct hit.
Sakura grinned.
Her instincts told her that her power was still growing—adapting to her desires.
She focused.
And then, as if on command, her true abilities began to manifest.
Sakura clenched her newly evolved fists, and a radiant green aura surged around them.
Each punch now carried the force of a planet.
She swung again, her fist colliding with the air—
BOOM!
A single strike obliterated everything in its path. Mountains crumbled, the sky tore open, and the very laws of nature bent under the weight of her power.
Naruto's clone barely dodged—but even the shockwave alone sent him skidding back for miles.
"Not bad," the clone muttered, rolling his shoulder. "You actually made me move."
Naruto stood with Kakashi, watching from a safe distance as Sakura took her first steps into divinity.
The air around her was already shifting, bending in ways that defied logic. Chakra itself reacted to her presence, as if recognizing her as its new master.
She opened her emerald eyes—but they no longer just reflected light. They radiated it, pulsating with an internal brilliance that flickered between life and something far beyond it.
Naruto's clone, standing a short distance away, cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, Sakura," the clone said with a smirk. "Show me what you've got."
Sakura exhaled.
Her transformation was still settling, but she could already feel it—the endless depth of her power, the fundamental shift in her existence.
She clenched her fist.
And the world trembled.
The clone didn't wait.
Naruto vanished, reappearing behind Sakura with a chakra-infused strike aimed at the base of her skull. A normal person wouldn't have been able to react.
Sakura didn't move.
She didn't have to.
Before the blow could land, her living chakra acted on its own.
A transparent barrier of raw energy flared around her, deflecting the attack effortlessly.
Then—
Naruto's fist blurred, striking her full force in the chest.
A shockwave rippled outward, tearing through the battlefield. The ground beneath them was obliterated, entire mountains in the distance crumbling from the sheer force of impact.
Sakura staggered slightly, looking down.
Naruto's fist had pierced through her torso, his arm embedded in her body.
Sakura blinked.
"Oh," she muttered.
Then—
The wound closed instantly, sealing around Naruto's arm like the flesh had never been pierced. Before he could pull away, her body adapted, absorbing the force of his attack and redirecting it back at him.
The clone grunted, instantly blown away, sent skidding across the battlefield before flipping back onto his feet.
Sakura touched her chest where the wound had been.
That was nothing... no pain, no damage.
She looked at Naruto, realization dawning.
Even if he had erased me down to a single cell... I still would have recovered instantly.
She clenched her fist, feeling the raw limitlessness of her new form.
Sakura focused, her senses expanding.
She could feel it—every strand of genetic code in the air, in the plants, in Naruto's clone standing across from her.
It was so clear, as if reality itself had become a living blueprint for her to rewrite.
Naruto's clone dashed forward again, aiming to test her.
Sakura smirked.
She raised her hand—and with a mere thought, she touched his genetic structure.
Rearrange.
The clone's movements froze.
His body shifted unnaturally, his chakra network warping as his genes were rewritten on a molecular level. For a brief moment, his very existence wavered as his DNA attempted to reshape itself into something else.
Sakura tilted her head.
I could turn him into anything... a different species, a different gender... even an Ōtsutsuki.
Instead, she released him, letting his form snap back to normal.
The clone stumbled back, staring at her.
"That was... weird," he admitted.
Sakura just smiled.
Now, it was time for something more dangerous.
Sakura raised her hand again, this time focusing on something... deeper.
A spark of chakra left her fingertips, dispersing into the air.
The clone frowned.
"What did you—"
Then he staggered.
He clutched his head, his body shaking violently. His chakra flared uncontrollably, his muscles bulging for a moment before shrinking back, his entire physiology shifting in an attempt to adapt.
It's not a normal virus, Sakura realized. It's forcing his body to evolve. But without control... it's mutating at random.
The clone gritted his teeth, sweat beading down his forehead as his body continued to change.
Then, with a sharp exhale, he forcefully stabilized himself, using his own power to halt the mutation.
Sakura grinned.
"You resisted it," she said. "Good."
The clone exhaled.
"Barely."
"Next time, I won't give you a choice."
Sakura shifted her focus.
She extended her chakra outward, letting it flow across the battlefield.
Immediately, Naruto's clone and Kakashi both felt it—a rush of raw power, as if their very souls had been strengthened.
Naruto clenched his fist.
"My power just doubled," he said, eyes narrowing.
Sakura smirked.
"I can go higher if I want."
She focused more, and Naruto's power doubled again.
Then again.
If I wanted to... I could make him a thousand times stronger in an instant.
The clone let out a low whistle.
"You're getting ridiculous."
"I know."
Sakura chuckled.
Without warning, Naruto's clone attacked again, this time launching a barrage of chakra blades toward her.
Sakura didn't move.
She didn't need to.
Her chakra moved for her, forming barriers, counterattacking with its own energy.
It was like having a second mind—no, an entire army of invisible guardians watching her back.
Even if I were unconscious... my chakra would fight for me.
She grinned.
Sakura exhaled.
Then, she raised her hand—and the world itself seemed to darken.
A pulse of invisible energy spread outward, something more terrifying than any jutsu.
Naruto's clone tensed.
For the first time, he didn't move.
"What did you do?"
Sakura smiled.
"I just released a virus that infects more than the body."
"It can infect chakra... even the soul."
The clone frowned.
Then, his chakra flickered strangely, as if something inside him was being erased.
His eyes widened.
"Wait. Are you saying—"
Sakura snapped her fingers.
The clone disintegrated, erased down to the very concept of his existence.
She turned toward the real Naruto, smirking.
"Your turn."
Just then Naruto moved and Sakura stiffened in surprise as Naruto's arms wrapped around her, his touch completely bypassing her unfathomable power. For all her new abilities—her ability to erase, rewrite, and dominate—she was utterly helpless in his embrace.
Her emerald eyes widened as he leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss against her lips. It wasn't aggressive or forceful, but soft, warm… grounding.
A shiver ran down her spine, but not from fear.
For a moment, the battlefield, the overwhelming energy crackling in the air, the sheer destruction they had caused—it all faded away.
Just the two of them remained.
Sakura blinked, her mind struggling to process the simple, human affection in contrast to the immortallike power surging through her.
"N-Naruto…" she murmured, her voice quieter now, uncertain.
He pulled back slightly, meeting her gaze with an amused yet knowing smile. His hands remained firm on her back, keeping her close.
"You were getting carried away," he said, tilting his head. "Power like this… it can change you. Make you forget what really matters."
Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the warmth in his gaze made her pause.
Had she really let the power take over so easily?
The way she had spoken… the way she had treated the clone, testing terrifying abilities on it with little concern—like she was above consequence.
She swallowed.
Naruto had always wielded unfathomable power, but he never lost himself in it. No matter how strong he became, he was still… Naruto.
She exhaled softly, leaning into his embrace.
"...I get it," she admitted. "I was being reckless."
Naruto chuckled, his fingers brushing against her lower back. "Just a little."
Sakura pouted but didn't pull away.
"Does this mean you're going to keep hugging me until I calm down?" she asked, raising a brow.
Naruto smirked. "Would that be so bad?"
Sakura huffed but smiled. "No. Not really."
And with that, she let herself relax in his arms, the overwhelming flood of her power finally settling.
Kakashi stood at a distance, watching the two with a quiet, knowing smile. The battlefield around them was still scarred from their overwhelming power, the land reshaped by Sakura's newfound abilities. But despite all the destruction, despite the sheer divinity they had both ascended to, in this moment, it wasn't about strength or power.
It was about them.
Naruto held Sakura close, grounding her, keeping her from losing herself in the intoxicating rush of her evolution. And Sakura, for all her pride and sharp wit, melted into his embrace, resting her head lightly against his chest as if she belonged there.
Kakashi felt a warmth in his chest that he hadn't experienced in a long time.
Happiness.
Not just for them, but for himself.
For years, he had watched over Naruto and Sakura, seeing them struggle, suffer, and grow. He had been their teacher, their guide, though in truth, he had always seen them as more than students. They were family.
And now, standing here, witnessing this moment between them, he felt something he hadn't realized he'd been longing for.
Peace.
It was strange. For so long, his life had been defined by loss. The deaths of his father, Obito, Rin, Minato, Kushina—so many precious people ripped away from him. Even as he continued forward, even as he carried their will and honored their memories, a part of him had always remained… empty.
But now, seeing the next generation—the students he had once guided—embracing a future filled with love, warmth, and hope, he realized something.
He wasn't alone anymore.
He didn't have to carry the weight of the past by himself.
Kakashi chuckled softly to himself, his visible eye crinkling with amusement as he crossed his arms. "Well, well… Never thought I'd live to see the day when Sakura let someone get the better of her."
Sakura pulled back slightly from Naruto, her face flushing as she turned to glare at her former teacher. "Kakashi-sensei!" she huffed, clearly flustered.
Naruto, on the other hand, just grinned. "You jealous, big brother?"
Kakashi waved a hand dismissively, still smiling. "Hardly. I'm just enjoying the rare sight of you two acting like normal human beings instead of powerhouses."
Despite his teasing tone, there was an undeniable warmth in his words.
Because in truth, he was proud of them.
Proud of how far they had come.
Proud that even after transcending human limits, they hadn't lost what made them them.
And above all…
He was happy to know that, this time, he wouldn't have to say goodbye to the people he cared about.
Not anymore.