Chapter 95

The battle had reached a point where survival was uncertain, yet the ninja warriors stood their ground, driven by a singular hope—the knowledge that reinforcements would arrive soon.

Naruto was currently out of commission, but they still had Toneri and Hinata, warriors whose strength rivaled the heavens. And beyond them, there was another force waiting to step into the battlefield.

Gaara clenched his fists as he calmly assessed the situation, his golden-brown eyes flickering with an unshakable resolve. He was fully aware that the shinobi of Konoha had also undergone the Ōtsutsuki transformation, and unlike their own rushed evolution, Tsunade and Orochimaru's expertise would have ensured an even greater enhancement.

Knowing this, Gaara did not fear the future anymore.

The spirit of the ninja burned within him, an immortal flame that would never die.

"Naruto, you are not alone anymore. We can finally give you a helping hand, my brother."

A faint smile graced his lips as he stood before what was almost certain death.

"Stop those depressing thoughts, brat. No way we're gonna die. We're gonna crush them first, and soon we'll crush that damn fox too!"

Shukaku's voice roared inside his mind, filled with the same fiery determination.

Gaara let out a soft chuckle, his fingers twitching as sand swirled around him like a living entity.

"Haha, you're right. I want to see him bring his dream to fruition. It is a dream so beautiful… so divine."

Even as he spoke, his gaze remained locked onto a single target—the young girl dressed in red, standing motionless in the chaos of battle.

Anna.

She was like a delicate porcelain doll, her features eerily perfect, her long white hair flowing in the raging battlefield. There was no emotion on her face, no signs of hesitation or doubt. She stood there, quiet and motionless, while pillars of fire erupted around her, painting the land in an endless sea of crimson.

To the uninformed, she might have appeared to be an emotionless girl, empty and hollow, but Gaara saw something more.

Anna was naturally colorblind, only able to see red. It was only through her connection with chakra that she could perceive other colors, a strange condition that gave her a unique perception of the world.

Unlike her boisterous Red Group comrades, she was a silent enigma. However, beneath that quiet demeanor, she harbored an attachment so deep that it burned like an eternal flame.

And right now, that flame was directed at them.

Because of Mikoto.

Anna had witnessed the pain and suffering of her beloved comrade, the wounds inflicted by the very shinobi who now stood before her.

And for that reason—

She would show no mercy.

Smoker, the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, took a step forward, his gray eyes narrowing as he studied the girl. Unlike Akainu, Smoker was not a man of absolute justice. He was a soldier, yes, but he did not blindly follow orders.

He could compromise, adjust his beliefs based on the reality before him.

And right now, he saw a child standing before him.

"Little girl, would you consider surrendering?"

His voice was steady, neither aggressive nor condescending. He was offering her a chance—a way out.

But Anna did not waver.

Her blank eyes, devoid of color, locked onto Smoker's face, and when she spoke, her tone was cold and absolute.

"I am not a little girl. And there is no way I am allowing you to leave this place alive."

In that instant, the battlefield changed.

Flames erupted from Anna's body, not wild and uncontrolled, but refined, deliberate, like the slow and relentless spread of an unstoppable inferno.

Her red dress melted into fire, her entire being transcended into living flames, a manifestation of the Red King's will and his followers' undying loyalty.

The air itself ignited, turning into a suffocating cloud of fire, while the land melted into a sea of endless destruction.

Pillars of fire roared skyward, the temperature skyrocketed, and the very laws of nature seemed to bend under the intensity of her power.

Anna had become something more than human.

She had become the Eternal Flame.

And with a single word—

"Vanish."

—the world ignited.

Screams echoed across the battlefield as the ninja forces were engulfed in an inferno beyond comprehension.

Their bodies burst into flames, igniting from within as if their very existence had been cursed by fire itself.

Only two remained untouched.

Gaara and Smoker.

Not out of luck.

But because they were no longer human.

Having already merged with their respective Bijū, their new forms no longer contained the vulnerabilities of human flesh.

Their bodies, altered by the fusion, had shed their former weaknesses, allowing them to resist Anna's flames.

But their allies—

The mech riders who had come to battle alongside them—

Were not so lucky.

The moment Anna's flames erupted, consuming the land in a hellish inferno, Gaara and Smoker acted without hesitation.

"Move! Avoid the attack at all costs!" Gaara's voice rang out, his sand already sweeping across the battlefield to carry their forces away from the deadly heat.

The ninja knew the truth—none of them could survive a direct hit from Anna's flames. These were not ordinary fires. They were pure destruction incarnate, capable of erasing existence itself.

Reacting swiftly, the mech forces broke formation, dodging and weaving around the Red Group, launching an onslaught of chakra bullets—each one a colossal Rasengan designed to break apart the enemy lines.

Smoker took advantage of the chaos, unleashing a thick smoke across the battlefield, its gray tendrils spreading like an unnatural fog. But this wasn't just ordinary mist.

It was a hallucinogenic toxin, one that invaded the minds of the Red Group and distorted their senses. Their vision blurred, their thoughts twisted, and for a moment, confusion rippled through their ranks.

And Gaara was prepared.

"Roar of Confusion!"

Gaara's chakra surged, mixing with the mist as Shukaku's monstrous silhouette took shape from the sand. The great tanuki's jaws stretched open, unleashing a phantom roar that wasn't just sound—it was a mental attack, tearing into the psyches of the Red Group.

Their minds trembled.

Fear crept into their hearts, but Gaara was not finished.

"Gaze of Insanity!"

The sand around him twisted, morphing into thousands of watching eyes, each one radiating an eerie red glow.

The moment the enemy locked eyes with them, their thoughts became flooded with nightmares, their worst fears manifesting in the mist, monstrous figures emerging, whispering, clawing at their souls.

Even though the Uzumaki seals reinforced their minds, this technique was too much. It wore them down, shattering their concentration and lowering their morale.

And the one who suffered the most—

Was Anna.

Anna's small frame trembled, her usual detached expression faltering as her crimson eyes widened.

Her breathing grew erratic, her mind splitting apart under the relentless illusions.

Anna had never faced something like this before.

She was a child, pampered and protected by her clan, given the world on a silver platter. She had been taught to kill mercilessly, but she had never been taught how to endure fear.

Now, she saw things that weren't real, monstrous beings emerging from the mist, whispering her name, clawing at her skin, and for the first time—

She was afraid.

"No… no, no, no—STAY AWAY!"

Her panic exploded into raw destruction.

A wave of flames surged outward, an unfocused, uncontrolled inferno meant to burn away the illusions.

It was exactly what Gaara and Smoker were waiting for.

Smoker's eyes darkened, his chakra pulsating dangerously.

"Now!"

He activated his strongest technique, one so powerful that even he risked death from using it.

"Requiem of Death: Voice of Death."

The smoke deepened, taking on a strange, almost ethereal presence, no longer just mist but something otherworldly.

A whisper echoed through the battlefield.

It was a voice that did not belong to this world.

It was not human.

Not even divine.

It was Death itself.

"Do you hear it?"

The mist spread across the Red Group, and suddenly—they did hear it.

A voice, cold and eternal, whispered in their ears.

A voice that did not belong to the living.

It spoke of finality, of nothingness, of the end that awaited all things.

And those who heard it—

Felt their souls tremble.

Even Anna, in her burning wrath, froze for a single second as the voice wrapped around her mind, its deadly whispers creeping into her thoughts.

And in that moment—

"Now, Smoker! We end this!"

Gaara gathered the last of his remaining power, channeling it into the strongest attack he had ever unleashed.

"World-Excavating Claw Drill!"

The very minerals of the planet responded to his will, converging to form a colossal drill, infused with both raw planetary energy and forbidden curses.

The drill glowed with an ancient, devastating power, a weapon capable of piercing through the entire world itself.

With a final push, Gaara launched the drill toward the barrier surrounding the Red Group.

It collided with an ear-shattering crash, the very world shaking under the force of the impact.

The barrier cracked, its defenses overwhelmed by the sheer force of the attack.

Curses spread into the seals, corrupting the very foundation of the barrier's structure.

And at that moment—

"FIRE!"

The mechs unleashed their beams, massive energy cannons tearing through the air toward the now-exposed Red Group.

Victory was within reach.

But then—

The barrier reformed.

Anna stood there, her expression blank, her entire body flickering strangely, her flames now darker, more malevolent.

She no longer looked human.

She no longer looked alive.

Her entire form twisted, resembling something far beyond the limits of mortal beings.

And from the sky—

Chains descended.

Toshiro had finally moved.

Toshiro's presence alone sent a ripple of dread through the battlefield.

The chains dropped from the heavens, wrapping around Gaara, Smoker, and the remaining ninja forces, locking them down instantly.

The team had been so focused on Anna that they had forgotten—

Toshiro had been watching the battle from above.

From the very beginning, there had been no risk for the Uzumaki forces.

Because Toshiro could summon the full power of his entire clan at any moment.

"I will keep your friend safe for you."

Toshiro's voice was calm, but beneath it, there was an unshakable sadness.

He knew what was about to happen.

Anna was awakening.

Not just as the Second-in-Command of the Red Group.

But as the strongest warrior of their entire faction.

Even the clan head, their leader, did not match her in pure destructive power.

And once Anna's true strength was unleashed—

No one would survive.

Toshiro knew his grandson would hate him for this.

But for now—

He allowed Gaara to live.

And everyone else—

Would die.