I'm Inside Naruto Manga

This single sentence carried many meanings.

Rumbling echoed across the sky as white clouds drifted past, while exploding tags detonated at various points of conflict. The chaotic sounds that had persisted since the beginning continued, as the rising and falling buildings burned in black smoke.

In the distance, large snakes, once formidable, were falling like tiny black dots, and the Konoha's Ninja had gradually begun their counterattack.

"Sigh…"

However, this was the moment Logan chose to end his time as a Konoha's Ninja, "So, I guess this is goodbye."

Standing atop the last ruins, he carefully scanned each face, trying to commit them to memory: the ones he had taught briefly, Team 7, and Hyuga Aida. The warmth of their future interactions would now exist only in memories.

Logan turned away as lightning crackled and roared, climbing up his body. The electric current buzzed and hummed with power. He did not look back to see the expressions or feelings of those behind him, he only knew that this was a moment where one should not turn back.

In the summer of Konoha's Year 60, Logan gave an answer without denial. He was still a Ninja, and he would continue moving forward with even greater determination.

Sunlight slanted down, piercing through a hole in the roof, casting its light over countless corpses still holding kunai.

In a town farther away from the village, a pair of siblings from the Land of the Moon continued to move closer, searching for someone whose face was unclear, like a figure in a dream.

In a pavilion in the capital of the Land of Fire, a beautiful woman waited during moments of unhappiness, hoping for a promised return.

For now, Logan had to leave with regret, but this would not be the end.

…

In the forest outside Konoha Village, birds scattered.

Under a temporary mission issued by Kakashi, Naruto's team was dispatched to retrieve Sasuke, who had recklessly put himself in danger.

Unfortunately, several teams of Otogakure's Ninja targeted them, pursuing them from the arena. Shikamaru, usually complaining about trouble, stepped up at a critical moment to intercept the enemy, allowing Pakkun to successfully led the two students of Team 7 to regroup with their teammate.

The two Jinchuuriki met, having experienced similarly dark childhoods but growing up with very different beliefs. Gaara, finally succumbing to his accumulated rage and distortion, began transforming into his Biju Mode. Naruto, with his unbeatable spirit, summoned Gamabunta.

Although Naruto and the others were far away from the main battlefield within the village, outside without support, they were engaged in a similarly grueling battle, one that pushed them beyond their current capabilities.

"Cough, cough."

"Why… you..."

Trees toppled, foliage shattered. As far as the eye could see, massive trees were felled as if bulldozed, transforming this forest battlefield beyond recognition. The area was now pocked with holes and craters, marked with deep, alarming gouges and footprints.

Yet the owners of those enormous footprints, two giant creatures that had blotted out the sun just minutes earlier, had vanished, leaving only two exhausted, collapsed boys on the open ground.

Gaara had never felt so weak before; his chakra was completely depleted, making it difficult even to move a finger. He could smell the scent of grass clippings on the ground and looked toward the other fallen boy not far away, filled with confusion.

"Why would you go to such lengths?"

Naruto was covered in injuries, one eye swollen shut and bleeding. He strained to open his other eye, gritting his teeth and struggling to lift his head, moving by using his chin.

"You..." Naruto, who had used up every bit of his strength and was holding on with the last remnants of his will, unyieldingly crawled toward Gaara. As they met, the profound similarities and the abyssal loneliness they both carried flashed through their minds, resonating deeply with each other.

'Why is this guy so powerful?' Gaara stared in disbelief as the blond-haired boy slowly crawled closer. Gaara himself couldn't move at all, so he wondered how could Naruto still have strength left when there wasn't a trace of Chakra left in either of them...

The images flashed before his eyes: countless shadow clones bursting forth during his partial transformation, Naruto smashing through his Feigning Sleep Technique with a headbutt on top of Shukaku, and so many other moments. That unstoppable momentum, as if possessing limitless energy, left Gaara utterly bewildered.

His skewed worldview from the darkness resurfaced again, "Impossible… I won't disappear… I can never disappear! How could I disappear!"

Naruto raised his head, struggling forward, his strained expression pressing heavily into the dirt.

At that moment, both Jinchuriki recalled their childhoods, the deep gray backdrop devoid of any hope, the inexplicable rejection and ridicule, and the crowds of people like walls, blocking them from the sunlight. Words that cut like swords constantly pierced their hearts.

"That's him..."

"Don't talk to him..."

"Monster!"

These voices were the same, echoing endlessly, never fading away...

'There isn't a single person in this world who needs me.' Gaara, seeing Naruto getting closer, suddenly realized this and panicked: "No... you, don't come any closer!"

"It must be painful to be all alone, right?"

Gaara was stunned. He saw clearly the tired but sincere face approaching, "I don't know why, but I understand how you feel..."

For the first time, a different feeling stirred in Gaara's empty and monotonous heart. He understood why the person in front of him was struggling so desperately to get closer. Naruto just wanted to tell him…

"Why..." Gaara muttered softly.

Naruto's infectious, broad smile shone through. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting golden hues on the ruined ground like new life. Words that touched the heartstrings were slowly spoken in the sunlight, gradually melting the ice that surrounded Gaara.

On a large tree dozens of meters away, as the Chakra from the user dissipated, the sand that had bound Sakura to the tree trunk softened and fell away.

Sasuke, with the left side of his body covered in the black marks of the curse seal, leapt up and caught the falling Sakura.

"Did that guy win?"

Pakkun was crouching nearby. Sasuke glanced toward the battlefield and said to Pakkun, "I'll leave Sakura to you."

After that, without waiting for Pakkun's response, Sasuke rushed toward the fallen Naruto. A few leaps took him past the shattered trees and furrowed earth. He glanced around at the scattered destruction, caused by a force beyond human capability, with a complex expression on his face, "That dead last..."

It should have been a moment of victorious joy, but Sasuke felt a heavy, unrelieved weight.

"Naruto." Sasuke landed next to Naruto, glancing warily at the immobilized Gaara, "It's okay now. Sakura is safe."

"Really? That's great..." Despite his injuries, Naruto showed a pained smile.

Whoosh…

Two figures also landed beside Gaara. They are Temari and Kankuro, who had just recovered a bit from Shukaku's indiscriminate attacks.

Sasuke's gaze shifted cautiously to the pair, and they looked back with equal caution.

"Forget it, let's not fight anymore." Gaara said softly as he lay weakly on the ground.

Kankuro and Temari looked at Gaara, who actually said such thing, in surprise, then looked at each other and nodded.

Sasuke watched the three Sunagakure's Ninja leave, and Naruto finally lost his strength and passed out.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

On Kankuro's back, Gaara muttered that name, and somewhere in a corner of his heart, a small flame of hope had been kindled.