Naruto landed in the rubble hours later, cloaked in a new sage mantle, eyes sharp as flint. The question on every survivor’s lip— when did Naruto fight Pain? —had no simple answer. The battle began not with a punch, but with a whisper.
“I won’t kill you,” Naruto said. “I’ll end the cycle my own way.”
Naruto didn’t reply with words. He replied with a single, earth-shattering Rasengan .
And with a whisper of “Shinra Tensei” reversed into a prayer, he gave his life to resurrect every soul his war had claimed. Konoha’s dead opened their eyes again. The sun returned.