Staring at the massive claw that was only a hand's breadth away from his nose, Sasuke was drenched in sweat, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, he could no longer hear any sound—only the thundering of his heart echoing in his chest.
Because of this.
He didn't notice the figure standing behind him.
Without a doubt, the shadowy figure was Uchiha Shinji, who had rushed to the scene.
In the midst of the swirling dust.
He stood atop the ruins, his eyes cold as he faced the Nine Tails.
With just a single look, he halted the Nine Tails' ferocious attack.
Although the Nine Tails was restrained by the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan's dojutsu, it hadn't completely lost its ability to resist.
The beast snarled ferociously, "Damn you!"
The overwhelming presence of the Tailed Beast, accompanied by a tremendous roar, swept in all directions.
Sasuke, who bore the brunt of the impact, was completely stunned.
"Hmph!"
Shinji snorted coldly in response.
The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes radiated an eerie glow once more!
Since he had already intervened, he couldn't afford to hesitate. Even if it meant consuming his ocular power, he had to overpower the Nine Tails quickly and seize control of the situation.
Before long.
Under the crushing force of Shinji's Mangekyō Sharingan's power, the Nine Tails' resistance grew weaker, and the beast's previously savage expression began to dull.
"This isn't enough. I need to wake Naruto!"
With a sharp glint in his eyes, Shinji pressed his advantage and channeled his dojutsu to invade the Nine Tails' consciousness.
Subduing the Nine Tails alone would have been sufficient, but to truly rescue Naruto, Shinji had to awaken Naruto's consciousness, allowing him, as the Jinchūriki, to regain control of his inner world.
In the blink of an eye, Shinji's consciousness entered a dark chamber.
"Why does Naruto's inner world look like this?"
Looking at the surroundings, he could barely recognize it as Naruto's mental space.
It was completely different from what he remembered—there were no water pools or cages. Instead, everything around him was filled with the foamy presence of the Nine Tails' orange-red chakra.
"Has the seal been broken?"
Shinji glanced around, frowning slightly.
The Fourth Hokage had sealed the Nine Tails inside Naruto using a double layer of protection.
In addition to the visible seal, both the Fourth Hokage and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina—Naruto's mother—had left behind chakra within Naruto to act as a safeguard.
Yet now, it seemed that safeguard hadn't been activated.
He wondered silently, Is it because Naruto has completely lost consciousness?
The chakra left behind by the Fourth Hokage and Kushina could only respond to external stimuli through Naruto's perception.
If Naruto had merely lost control, they would have been able to intervene in time.
But if Naruto had completely lost consciousness, their chakra would have been affected, becoming sluggish and slow to respond.
With no time to ponder further, Shinji marched toward the area where the Tailed Beast's chakra was most concentrated.
Perhaps sensing Shinji's intrusion, the Nine Tails' chakra in Naruto's mental world began to converge, rapidly forming a massive head of the Nine Tails.
It glared at Shinji angrily, "Damn those evil eyes again!"
"Get back into your cage!"
Shinji couldn't be bothered to waste words. He raised his palm and slapped it hard against the Nine Tails' face.
Boom!
The massive head of the Nine Tails, formed by its chakra, exploded like a balloon.
As the head blocking Shinji's path burst apart, a corroded, rusted door appeared before him.
No wonder the Fourth Hokage didn't react. The seal hasn't been completely destroyed yet.
Shinji immediately recognized the door as the Nine Tails' seal.
The door, though heavily corroded and seemingly on the verge of collapse, still maintained its sealing power. The Tailed Beast's chakra was leaking out from the gaps in the bars.
Just then, the scattered chakra of the Nine Tails began to gather again, reforming into the giant head.
The Nine Tails snarled, baring its teeth and claws, "This time, no one can stop me! I'll flatten your village to the ground!"
Shinji strode forward. "Say that after all the Uchiha are dead. Now, get back!"
Even though Shinji was in his own mental form and surrounded by the endless chakra of the Nine Tails, his Mangekyō Sharingan's power radiated like a lone moon in the sky, dispelling the darkness and pushing back the swirling chakra of the Tailed Beast.
With each step Shinji took, the chakra filling Naruto's inner world receded, retreating back behind the door.
"Damn Uchiha! I'll tear you apart!"
Before long, the only sound left in the mental world was the impotent, enraged roar of the Nine Tails, sealed once again behind the door!
Shinji reached the door and finally saw Naruto lying on the ground, battered and bruised.
"He's injured so badly… he must've been ambushed!"
Shinji sighed and approached, shaking Naruto.
In an instant.
Shinji's consciousness returned to his body, and he opened his eyes.
The surroundings were still in chaos, shrouded in dust like a battlefield, but the Nine Tails in front of him had lost all its ferocity. Instead, it began to dissolve like melting ice cream.
Knowing that Naruto's consciousness had recovered, Shinji wasted no time and quickly left the scene.
Even after Shinji left, Sasuke remained oblivious.
He continued to stare blankly at the Nine Tails, watching as its vertical pupils transformed into the pattern of the Sharingan, and as its body gradually disintegrated.
Swish, swish, swish.
Soon after, several Hidden Leaf shinobi arrived at the scene.
Among them was Kakashi, who had hurried over, his left eye—the Sharingan—already active, ready to face off against the Nine Tails.
Years ago, as a young boy, he had been barred from participating in the battle against the Nine Tails, forced to watch helplessly as his teacher, the Fourth Hokage, died. The guilt had haunted him ever since.
So this time, on his way to the battlefield, Kakashi had already resolved to sacrifice his own life if necessary to stop the Nine Tails.
However, the scene before him left Kakashi and the others utterly dumbfounded.
The fearsome Nine Tails had fallen before none other than the seven-year-old Uchiha Sasuke!
This giant beast, capable of annihilating entire nations, had been defeated by a mere child.
The shock of this sight was so overwhelming that the arriving shinobi forgot what they had come to do.
Kakashi then noticed the Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes—two red tomoe swirling prominently in his pupils.
This kid awakened the Sharingan? And it's already at the two-tomoe stage?
A wave of astonishment surged through Kakashi's heart.
As the Nine Tails continued to fade away, Naruto—the Jinchūriki—began to reappear.
The med-shinobis quickly rushed over to assess Naruto's condition.
One of them gave a nod toward Kakashi, indicating that while Naruto's injuries were severe, they weren't life-threatening and could be treated.
"Phew."
Kakashi exhaled a long sigh of relief.
"Did this Uchiha kid really subdue the Nine Tails?"
"Look at his eyes!"
"Whoa, he awakened the Sharingan at only seven years old? And it's already at two-tomoe?"
The surrounding shinobi whispered amongst themselves, trying to ease their own shock.
A Tailed Beast capable of destroying entire nations had been subdued by a seven-year-old—it left them all feeling deeply conflicted.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, still under everyone's gaze, hadn't snapped out of his daze. He continued to stare at the spot where the Nine Tails had stood, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
Kakashi, noticing this, glanced at Sasuke's pants and quickly shouted to the med-nin nearby, "Quick, get him a change of clothes!"