Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

"Quickly escort all villagers to the shelter!"

"No, just the shelter isn't enough. Gather all villagers and all shinobi below jōnin rank—bring them to me immediately!"

Shrill alarms shattered the tranquility of the night. Dressed in standard flak vests, the jōnin immediately relayed directives to lower-ranked shinobi. But before other ninjas could carry out those orders, a higher command came from Uchiha Sasuke—who had already created a wood clone to teach Uzumaki Naruto the basics in another dimension.

"Yes, Sasuke-sama!"

Facing the second-in-command of Konoha, the other shinobi promptly obeyed.

Villagers, clan novices, retired and active shinobi swiftly converged on Sasuke.

Sasuke raised his hands; tears of blood trickled from the corners of his eyes. Two tiny black holes appeared in his palms, as if endowed with their own consciousness. They swiftly floated away from Sasuke's hands to hover on his left and right behind him, then expanded into two huge portal-like black holes.

"Everyone, go through. On the other side, you'll be safe," Sasuke said flatly.

"Understood."

Many of the shinobi, seeing Ohirei for the first time, were astonished, yet they trusted their second-in-command and marched into the black holes without a moment's hesitation. The villagers soon followed.

Watching Sasuke, now a mighty pillar supporting the village, Kakashi Hatake, standing nearby, flashed a gratified look.

Almost immediately, however, he turned a wary, nervous gaze toward Izayoi's residence. Kakashi knew that Obito was there now. He wanted to see Obito, to question why—if he had survived—hadn't he returned to Konoha, what had happened to make him harm the Fourth Hokage and Kushina?

Yet Kakashi couldn't bring himself to go. Over the past two years, he had pieced things together, realizing Obito likely knew who had actually killed Rin. And the fact remained that Kakashi had personally dealt the finishing blow. Rin's death by his own hand—coupled with Obito's last request to protect her—yet he had failed. He feared facing Obito.

Less than thirty minutes passed before Konoha's civilians and all subl-jōnin shinobi finished evacuating. Madara did not stop them. Because Sasuke was sending them to a city in the Land of Fire, rather than to an alternate dimension—so in Six Paths Sage Mode, Madara could easily locate them anywhere on the continent. Even if they fled to some island far offshore, he'd still sense them. Merely shipping them off to safety didn't remove them as hostages.

During this time, Izayoi was conversing with senior members from other villages:

"Izayoi-sama, we need your help."

"I am helping you," Izayoi said calmly, "Look at this."

He pointed at Madara across from him. Yūgao Uzuki turned the Chakra TV so its camera faced Madara. The four village elders on-screen instantly fell silent.

So that's why the Akatsuki leader commanded the operation yet Madara had not struck—each side was restraining the other.

"We appreciate your hard work, Izayoi-sama,"

The elders expressed their thanks and ended the call.

With a wave, Izayoi signaled Yūgao Uzuki to remove the Chakra TV, then studied Madara, who sat in silence. Izayoi smirked:

"If you have other business, feel free to leave."

"Unless it comes to that," Madara responded with a seemingly calm smile, "With your strength, besides… that person's, perhaps no one can match him."

"Not necessarily," Izayoi returned meaningfully.

Madara frowned, a vague sense of foreboding.

…

Three hours later, in some alternate dimension.

"So this is the Nine-Tails' chakra?"

"Mom, Dad… thank you…"

Uzumaki Naruto marveled at his body cloaked in golden chakra. Remembering the mental space reunion with his parents, his face lit with a gentle smile.

Moments earlier, he had learned the full truth of his parentage, and with Izayoi's Six Paths Sage Mode assistance, he had linked his own chakra with that of his parents—truly experiencing their feelings and unwavering love. He was now fully at peace.

The only victim was the "proud" Kurama, forcibly sealed and having its chakra siphoned. The fox might remain defiant, but for Naruto, merely controlling the Nine-Tails' power to don a golden cloak was enough.

Simultaneously, Naruto received parting words and knowledge from both parents, letting him quickly understand how to fuse nature transformations.

Within less than five hours, Naruto's power soared from "elite jōnin + Sage Mode" (Kage level) to an outright super-kage gatekeeper tier.

This is the protagonist's advantage—no need for the classic buildup.

Observing the newly radiant Naruto, Izayoi smirked:

"Naruto, thank me? This was trivial."

"No, without you, I'd still never know my birth story—nor gain such tremendous strength,"

Naruto insisted gratefully.

Recalling that mental-space meeting, reminiscent of parental love, he said, "Thanks a lot."

Izayoi gave a faint smile:

"Then, you'd better get ready. A war has erupted outside."

"Huh??"

Naruto blinked in confusion.

"The Akatsuki are collecting Tailed Beasts. The Gedo Statue can seal them to form an ultimate weapon," Izayoi explained, "My real self is currently held up by Madara. The Akatsuki leader—No one else can hold him in check, so your mission is to assist any village he targets—under no circumstances can you let him capture their Jinchūriki."

"Got it," Naruto said resolutely.

"Sasuke will back you up," Izayoi added, glancing at Sasuke's true body's wood clone. That clone nodded and opened a black portal with "Ohirei," taking Naruto to the outside world—specifically, the destroyed Kumogakure battlefield.

…

Kumogakure

Here, Nagato had personally arrived. Aside from Konoha, only Kumo or Iwa had enough combined power to repel them.

After two years, the Fourth Raikage left his village to Darui, training intensively with Bee in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning.

Haunted by nightmares of helplessness before either Ōtsutsuki Toneri or the Akatsuki leader, he'd refused to succumb, pushing himself to the limit day and night, until he finally overcame fate—reviving the Third Raikage's strongest spear and shield, ascending to top-tier Kage-level. With Killer Bee, the so-called "AB Combo" had managed to hold Nagato (wearing his Tobi armor) for hours.

If not for the puppet army's interference, Nagato would simply have summoned four reanimated Kage-level undead, used Four Red Yang Formations to trap the two, then poured out a wood-style sea to drown them.

But forced to fight both Edo Tensei and puppet armies—and with Toneri's puppet troops interfering— the swift capture he'd hoped for proved impossible.

All other Tailed Beasts, though, had been successfully seized.

The first to go down wasn't Gaara—it was Kirigakure. Facing Kisame plus the reanimated Second Mizukage, the Mist collapsed. Terumī Mei and Utakata both fell, with Utakata forcibly teleported to a dimension rather than left for Madara's or Toneri's side to exploit.

Second to fall: Gaara's Sunagakure. Deidara alone overpowered Gaara without losing an arm as he did in the original story.

Third to fall: Iwagakure. Nagato dispatched the reanimated Second Tsuchikage—Mu. Onoki, advanced in age and with limited chakra, soon lost the advantage. Meanwhile, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi got stuck battling Edo Tensei footsoldiers. Four-Tails and Five-Tails were promptly snatched by Hidan and Kakuzu.

Seconds after its revival, the Three-Tails fell to Obito's main body.

In under six hours, Shukaku, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei—six Tailed Beasts ended up in Akatsuki's hands. Only Kumo's Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, plus the Nine-Tails in Konoha, remained.

Hence Kumo became the war's final battleground.

Gathering all the freed squads, the puppet and Edo armies along with the remaining Akatsuki members poured into Kumo to aid Nagato. In turn—like an answer to these moves—two black holes appeared, from which Naruto and Sasuke emerged.

The moment they arrived, Madara sensed it from atop the moon, where he and Izayoi's main body were locked in a stalemate. Izayoi smiled:

"Quite fast indeed. But I'm curious—how do you plan on handling the Nine-Tails?" Madara retorted with the same casual air.

Then the two vanished from the vantage.

Meanwhile, the Cloud nin—caught in a three- or four-way brawl—looked on, overwhelmed. Bee, the Raikage, and a fraction of Cloud nin had no power to do more than watch events unfold.

And just then, Madara made his move…

~~~

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