Konoha is in ruins and completely under Baby's control

The village of Konoha lay in smoking ruin as Naruto and Hinata breached its gates, the once-vibrant streets now a desolate wasteland of charred wood, crumbled rooftops, and jagged craters—echoes of Sasuke’s futile stand against Baby’s wrath. The air was thick with ash and the acrid stench of scorched earth, the silence oppressive as they stepped forward, only to freeze at the sight before them. Every surviving citizen and shinobi lined the path to the Hokage’s tower—hundreds of blank faces, from merchants to children to Anbu, standing shoulder to shoulder, their red-glowing eyes fixed on Naruto and Hinata. Each held a kunai pressed to their own throat, the blades glinting in the dim light of dawn, poised to slash at a whispered command. The tension crushed the air, their unblinking stares a grotesque gallery of soulless devotion tracking every step.

Hinata’s Byakugan flared, veins pulsing as she scanned the crowd, her breath hitching at the silvery tendrils warping their chakra, their life forces enslaved to Baby’s will. Naruto stopped dead, his body rigid with disbelief, his blue eyes blazing as he growled, “What the hell is this?” The silence was absolute, broken only by the faint crackle of smoldering debris, until they reached the tower—its cracked spire a jagged scar against the sky, still standing amidst the devastation. At its peak, atop the balcony, stood Baby in Sasuke’s body, transformed into his final Tuffle form. His frame was taller, leaner, his skin a pale sheen streaked with silver, his black hair now streaked white and wild. A whip-like tail swayed behind him, his Sharingan and Rinnegan glowing with molten intensity, and his smirk—cold, taunting, victorious—was a cruel mockery of Sasuke’s face.

“Welcome home, Naruto,” Baby purred, Sasuke’s voice a dark, velvety taunt that carried over the broken village, his arms spreading in mock hospitality. Behind him, Naruto’s friends formed a semicircle—Tsunade, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai, Ino, Kurenai, Temari, and the Anbu captains—each mirroring the villagers, a kunai pressed to their throats. Their red eyes locked onto Naruto, blank yet brimming with unshakable loyalty, Sakura’s hand trembling faintly as if a shred of her old self lingered, buried beneath Baby’s control.

“Look at your village,” Baby crooned, stepping forward, his tail flicking as he savored the moment, “all mine—ready to die for me. One word, and they slit their throats.” His grin widened, his crimson gaze indulgent and sadistic. “Or… you could join them.” Naruto’s chakra flared violently, the Nine-Tails’ heat simmering beneath his skin, his fists clenching as he took a slow step forward, his entire body shaking with barely restrained rage. “Let them go!” he roared, his voice cracking through the silence, raw with fury and desperation.

Hinata’s hands trembled, her breath ragged as she gripped her kunai, her Byakugan tracing the threads of Baby’s power threading through every soul around them. Baby tilted his head, his smirk deepening, his eyes glinting with sickening glee. “Oh, but they don’t want to go, Naruto. They’re exactly where they belong—and soon, you will be too.” The two stood defiant amidst the ruins, Naruto’s resolve a blazing counterpoint to Hinata’s quiet strength, facing a nightmare poised to drown their world in blood, the weight of their friends’ lives hanging on the edge of a blade.

Naruto’s fists clenched, his blue eyes blazing with a fury that ignited the Nine-Tails’ chakra, a fiery aura swirling violently around him as he launched forward, muscles coiled to strike Baby where he stood in Sasuke’s warped form. But as his foot struck the cracked stone, a sickening chorus pierced the stillness—every infected villager, every shinobi lining the path, pressed their kunai deeper into their throats. Thin scarlet lines welled up, trickling down their necks in perfect unison, a grotesque symphony of submission. Behind Baby, Naruto’s friends—Kakashi, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai, Ino, Kurenai—mirrored the motion, their red eyes unblinking, their blades glinting with fresh blood.

“Stop!” Hinata’s voice cut through, sharp with desperation, her Byakugan flaring as she traced the fragile threads of chakra holding them teetering on the edge of life. Naruto froze mid-stride, his chest heaving, his chakra faltering as his gaze darted from Sakura’s trembling hand—blood dripping down her collar—to Kakashi’s steady grip, the kunai’s edge biting deeper. His mind screamed to act, but one wrong move, and they’d all be gone. Baby tilted his head, his silvery-streaked hair swaying, his Sharingan and Rinnegan glowing with molten cruelty as a twisted smile curled Sasuke’s lips. “So predictable, Naruto,” he purred, Sasuke’s voice a velvet taunt laced with dark amusement, his tail flicking lazily behind him as he rested a hand on the balcony railing. “Always rushing in, fists swinging, ready to ‘save’ everyone. But look where that’s gotten you.”

Naruto trembled, his body locked in place, rage warring with the unbearable weight of the lives hanging by a thread. Baby’s smirk widened, sensing his hesitation, and he spread his arms wide, as if welcoming Naruto into his dominion. “You see, I could end it all right now—reduce your precious Konoha to a memory, a tragedy, with one word.” The infected pressed their kunai harder, blood flowing freely now, soft gasps rising as their devotion held them on the brink. “But I’m feeling merciful,” Baby continued, stepping forward, his tone smoothing into something dangerously tempting, a command wrapped in a caress. “Here’s my deal: come to me, Naruto. Surrender—let me in, let me take your chakra, your Nine-Tails, and join your Sakura, your Sasuke, under my will.”

His crimson eyes gleamed with indulgent malice as he gestured to the crowd, thousands of red gazes locked on Naruto. “Do it willingly, and I’ll spare them. They’ll live—serve me, worship me, but alive. Refuse…” He flicked Sasuke’s hand, and the kunai bit deeper still, more blood dripping down, a chilling chorus of compliance echoing his threat. “And they slit their throats right here, right now. A simple choice, hero—your village for you.” The air grew unbearably still, Naruto’s heart pounding violently as his jaw tightened, his eyes locked with Baby’s, while Hinata gripped his arm, her Byakugan searching desperately for a way out. The deal hung like a noose, tightening around their defiance amidst the wreckage of Konoha, the lives of everyone he loved teetering on the edge of his next move.

Naruto's breath came ragged, his fists trembling at his sides as the Nine-Tails’ chakra simmered beneath his skin, a fiery roar he couldn’t unleash. The scent of ash and blood hung thick, mingling with the pale moonlight that glinted off the kunai pressed to every throat—villagers, shinobi, children, and his closest friends, all poised in a grotesque tableau of submission. Their red eyes stared blankly, thin lines of crimson trickling down their necks, a silent threat teetering on his next move.

Baby loomed above, perched on the balcony in Sasuke’s warped form—silver-streaked hair swaying, Sharingan and Rinnegan glowing with predatory glee, his tail flicking lazily as he purred, “Tick-tock, Naruto—choose, or they bleed out.” The taunt slithered through the stillness, a velvet blade twisting in Naruto’s gut. His blue eyes darted to the semicircle of his family—Kakashi, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai, Ino, Kurenai—all holding kunai to their throats, Sakura’s hand trembling as blood slid down her collar, her devotion a twisted mockery of the woman he’d sworn to protect. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, his mind screaming for a way out, until his gaze shifted to Hinata.

She stood beside him, her lavender eyes wide and pleading, her Byakugan flaring as she scanned the crowd, tracing the silvery tendrils of Baby’s control with **** precision. “Naruto, no,” she whispered, her voice shaking but fierce, cutting through the tension like a lifeline. “Don’t do it. He’ll take you—the Nine-Tails, everything. We’ll lose you too. There has to be another way—please.” Her hand tightened on his arm, her resolve a fragile shield against the nightmare, tears welling as she fought to hold him back.

Naruto’s chest ached, his jaw clenching as he met her gaze, wishing with every fiber of his being that she was right. But his eyes drifted back to the sea of faces—innocents, comrades, friends—each ready to die at Baby’s whim. Sakura’s trembling hand, Kakashi’s steady grip, the villagers he’d vowed to protect—all teetering on the edge of oblivion. “I don’t see another way, Hinata,” he rasped, his voice breaking, raw with anguish as his shoulders sagged, his fists loosening. “If I don’t… they’re gone. Everyone. I can’t let them die.”

Hinata stiffened, a choked sound escaping her—a whisper of pain, of horror—as her Byakugan searched for an escape that wasn’t there. Naruto swallowed thickly, his heart a battlefield of love and sacrifice, and turned to Baby, his expression firm despite the tremor in his soul. “Fine,” he growled, stepping forward, his voice steady with resigned defiance. “Take me—but you spare them. That’s the deal.” Baby’s smirk widened, a dark triumph lighting Sasuke’s stolen face, his crimson eyes gleaming with sadistic delight. The infected eased their kunai slightly, blood still glistening as they awaited their Master’s command, the tower bearing silent witness to Naruto’s surrender and Hinata’s helpless, heartbroken stare, her hand falling limp as he walked toward his fate.