At first, Sentry was drowning in frustration.
Fear gnawed at the edges of his mind, whispering in his ear like a relentless phantom. The darkness inside him—the one that had haunted him for so long—kept repeating the same prophecy:
You will lose control.
You will kill them all.
You will become the monster you fear.
But then, Naruto's aura reached him.
It wasn't an attack.
It wasn't a trick.
It was simply presence—so vast, so monumental, that it swallowed the storm inside Sentry's mind like a black hole. The suffocating negativity that had shackled him for so long broke apart.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he could breathe.
At first, he didn't understand what had happened.
But then… something unexpected happened.
He smiled.
And then he laughed.
A real, genuine laugh.
Kurama had just thrown a mountain-sized fist at him, sending him hurtling through space like a ragdoll, but instead of rage or frustration—he felt exhilaration.
"Damn, Kurama!" Sentry coughed, shaking off the impact. "Do you throw planets at all your sparring partners, or am I just special?"
Kurama smirked, his massive vulpine form looming over the battlefield. "You should feel honored. I usually save this kind of punishment for my kids."
Sentry chuckled, brushing cosmic dust off his shoulders. "Good to know I rank up there with your problem children."
Kurama suddenly blurred out of existence, reappearing behind Sentry in a flicker of space-time distortion.
"And here I thought you weren't afraid of getting hit," Kurama teased before sending a tail whip that sent Sentry crashing through a distant moon.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then—
Laughter.
Sentry grinned wildly as he tore his way out of the debris. He hadn't felt this alive in so long. There was no fear of what if I lose control or what if I destroy everything—just the pure, primal joy of combat.
He charged forward with renewed energy, golden flames bursting from his body. He threw a punch that distorted the very fabric of space, forcing Kurama to block.
The impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield, distorting reality itself.
Sentry laughed again, eyes blazing. "I actually hit you! Holy crap!"
Kurama tilted his head. "Yeah? Want a trophy for that?"
"Damn right, I do!" Sentry shot back, still grinning. "Preferably something made of unbreakable cosmic metal with 'Sentry Punched Kurama' engraved on it."
Naruto, watching from a floating platform with the Avengers, chuckled at the banter. Even Rogue couldn't help but smirk at the sheer absurdity of it all.
"I think he's finally having fun," she muttered.
Hinata smiled softly. "Naruto's presence has that effect on people."
Back in the fight, Sentry dodged another massive blast, spinning through the void like a golden comet. He didn't even care that Kurama was still mostly dominating him, hurling planetary debris and firing beams that could erase entire solar systems.
Because for the first time in ages—
He wasn't just fighting to hold back the darkness.
He wasn't fighting to suppress his power.
He was fighting for the sheer joy of it.
For the first time—
He was free.
At the start, Tony Stark—billionaire, genius, and the man who had faced everything from immortals to alien invasions—was horrified.
"Okay… what the actual hell am I looking at?" Tony muttered, staring at the battlefield through his suit's enhanced optics.
From their observation platform, Tony, Steve Rogers, and Bruce Banner—better known as the Hulk—stood watching as Sentry and Kurama clashed like forces of nature.
Planets were obliterated in the crossfire.
Moons were used as projectiles.
The very fabric of space rippled and distorted with every collision.
This wasn't just a fight. It was a war between titans.
Tony's HUD was already flashing warnings—"WARNING: COSMIC-LEVEL ENERGY SURGES DETECTED. RECOMMENDED ACTION: EVACUATE SOLAR SYSTEM."
"Jesus," Steve muttered, his jaw tight as he took in the scene. "I knew Sentry was powerful, but… this?"
Bruce was deathly silent, his hands clenched into fists. The Hulk inside him was restless, growling at the sight. Even he—the so-called strongest Avenger—knew that if he stepped onto that battlefield, he'd be nothing more than a bug waiting to be crushed.
Then Kurama threw a planet at Sentry.
A planet.
"Yup. Okay. That just happened," Tony said, his voice a mixture of disbelief and absolute terror.
"Is… is he going to be okay?" Steve asked, concerned for their ally.
"Doubt it," Bruce muttered, his voice strained. "No one should be okay after getting hit with an entire freaking planet."
They all expected the worst. They expected Sentry to snap, to lose control, for the monster inside him to break loose and consume everything.
But then—
Instead of rage, instead of darkness…
Sentry laughed.
Laughed.
Like he was having the time of his life.
The Avengers exchanged stunned glances.
"Uh… is he… enjoying this?" Steve asked slowly, as if he wasn't sure his ears were working right.
Bruce's eyes narrowed. "That… that shouldn't be possible. His mental state was unstable. His powers were linked to his emotions. If he let go, he was supposed to spiral downward, not—"
"—Not start cracking jokes while getting thrown across the universe?" Tony finished, still trying to process the insanity unfolding before them.
Sentry wasn't just holding on anymore.
He was thriving.
His punches had started landing. His attacks were shaking Kurama now. His golden flames burned brighter, his energy was surging in a way they had never seen before—controlled, refined, joyful.
The same Sentry who had once been a walking time bomb was now laughing in the face of the strongest being they had ever seen.
"That's… impossible," Bruce muttered, his scientific brain struggling to process what he was seeing.
"You say 'impossible,'" Tony said, waving vaguely at the battlefield, "but what I'm seeing is a flying golden dude fighting a giant fox demon while throwing moons at each other—so I'm gonna go ahead and say 'impossible' was thrown out the airlock five minutes ago."
Steve was quiet for a moment before a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"I think he's free," Steve said, his voice almost reverent.
Bruce turned to him, confused. "What do you mean?"
Steve watched Sentry dodge, counter, and laugh in a way that they had never seen before.
"For the first time… I don't see fear in him," Steve said, crossing his arms. "I don't see him holding back. I don't see him drowning in his own power. I just see… a man enjoying the fight."
Bruce exhaled slowly. "That… actually makes sense. Maybe Naruto's aura—his power—helped stabilize him somehow. The energy around them isn't hostile. It's…"
"Encouraging," Steve finished.
Tony smirked, crossing his arms. "Well, isn't that just magical. Giant fox dude plays space therapist, and now Sentry's got his groove back."
"Does that mean he's gonna win?" Bruce asked.
Tony laughed dryly. "Hell no. He's still getting his golden ass handed to him every five seconds."
They turned back just in time to see Sentry get swatted through a gas giant like a baseball.
"...Yup," Tony muttered, shaking his head. "Still getting wrecked."
The battle raged on in the distance, a spectacle of immortallike power that even the most seasoned warriors struggled to comprehend. Planets were pulverized, moons shattered, and the very fabric of space seemed to tremble beneath the weight of their clash.
Sentry was laughing now, a man who had once been shackled by fear and doubt now reveling in the primal joy of combat. Every blow exchanged between him and Kurama sent shockwaves through the cosmos, and yet, somehow, he was getting stronger—not just physically, but mentally.
The Avengers, however, were not laughing.
They stood watching, uncertain and uneasy, their instincts screaming at them to intervene. But before they could act, a familiar voice interrupted them.
"You know, you guys are one of the reasons for his downfall."
The voice came from above and all around them, as if the wind itself carried it. They turned to see Naruto—or rather, one of his wind clones—floating lazily in the air, arms crossed, a knowing smirk on his face.
"Friends don't fear each other or doubt each other. They pull each other up and make them comfortable." Naruto's voice was calm, yet piercing. "You guys make each other uncomfortable—especially you, Tony."
The accusation hit like a hammer to the chest.
Tony stiffened immediately, his usual smug bravado vanishing for a split second as his eyes involuntarily flicked toward Bruce—toward Hulk.
Bruce didn't miss it.
Neither did Steve.
And suddenly, the weight of Naruto's words crashed down on all of them.
They had always called themselves a team. But time and time again, they had let fear dictate their choices.
Tony had built contingency plans for his own teammates, treating them like potential threats rather than allies.
Bruce had felt that fear firsthand, seen it in their eyes every time the Hulk came out.
Even Steve—Captain America, the man of unwavering faith—had doubted his teammates at times, had hesitated when they needed him to believe in them.
And Tony…
Tony had been one bad day away from throwing Hulk into space.
It had been an emergency measure, one he had justified a thousand different ways in his head. Too many civilians had died that day. If they hadn't removed Hulk from the battlefield, millions more would have perished.
But deep down, even Tony knew what he had been thinking.
It wasn't just about protecting people.
It was about control. About making sure nothing went wrong—even if it meant sacrificing one of their own.
And now here was Naruto, a man they had met barely a day ago, reading them like an open book and saying the words they had all refused to admit.
Steve clenched his fists.
Bruce looked away.
Tony… didn't move.
"You are speaking like you know us, Naruto," Tony finally said, his voice carefully controlled. "I thought we just met yesterday."
Naruto's smirk widened.
"Oh? Trying to keep yourself calm?" He tilted his head playfully. "Did it hurt? I thought you didn't have a heart in there, but I guess I was wrong."
Tony's eye twitched, but before he could respond, Naruto flew around them like a passing breeze, making himself impossible to pin down.
Steve stepped forward. "Naruto, what are you playing at? I'm happy that Sentry is doing better now, but we're still worried about things going wrong."
Naruto grinned, then suddenly shrunk down into a chibi version of himself and perched himself on Steve's shoulder.
"Relax, Steve. Do I look like a bad guy?" he said, batting his chibi eyes at him. "I'm the most innocent person you'll ever meet. I wouldn't even kill a fly!"
Tony snorted. "Yeah, sure. The guy who can blow up stars totally innocent."
Naruto ignored him and pointed at the ongoing battle, where Kurama's booming laughter echoed across space.
"Haha! I love this! How do you like me now? Feel the pain!"
Sentry was launched through a meteor field, crashing through dozens of massive asteroids like a bowling ball through pins. And yet, he was still smiling.
Naruto let out a carefree laugh. "Oh, sorry, what was I saying?" He waved a hand dismissively. "Right. This fight? It's for my brother and your friend. He's been drowning in negativity for so long that his own mind became his enemy. This battle? It's the outlet he needed. No restraints. No fear. Just pure release."
Steve's eyes softened slightly, his tension easing.
Bruce still looked uncertain. "And if something goes wrong?"
Naruto's eyes twinkled with amusement.
"Oh, come on. Do you really think I'd let anything happen?"
There was no arrogance in his tone.
No ego.
Just pure, unwavering confidence.
Then, his expression grew more serious.
"Or do you guys have some genius plan to help him?" Naruto's gaze swept over them. "Because you—all of you—made him worse by showing fear. It was only a matter of time before he broke from it."
Silence.
Because, as much as they hated to admit it…
He was right.
They hadn't just been afraid for Sentry.
They had been afraid of him.
Even now, standing on the sidelines, they had hesitated. They had doubted. They had failed.
But Naruto…
Naruto had done in one day what they had failed to do in years.
He had given Sentry something they never had.
Unwavering belief.
Steve took a deep breath. Then, finally, he looked up at the battle—this time with a new perspective.
Sentry wasn't losing.
Sentry wasn't breaking.
Sentry was thriving.
"…I see." Steve nodded. "Then, for once… maybe it's time we just let him fly."
Tony exhaled sharply. "You know, I really hate it when mystical people drop wisdom bombs on me."
Bruce let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah. Feels weird being the ones who are clueless for once."
Naruto beamed. "Don't worry, guys! You'll get used to it."
Then, before they could say anything else—
BOOOOM!!!
A shockwave exploded outward, and the Avengers turned to see Sentry launch Kurama into the depths of space.