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A thin black disc rose from underground, lifting a clump of soil and a very dazed-looking Black Zetsu.
Naruto, of course, had anticipated this he knew exactly what kind of escape artist he was dealing with.
Theoretically, the Four Red Yang Formation barrier couldn't be bypassed by digging underground. But if Black Zetsu started tunnelling, dragging him back out of the dirt would be a pain so Naruto had hidden a Truth-Seeking Orb beneath Obito in advance.
Looking at the slimy blob of goo, Naruto flipped his palm upward and curled his fingers into a claw: "Birdcage."
From the edge of the disc, black lines shot upward and arched inward, forming a dome-shaped cage.
Panicking, Black Zetsu tried to ooze through the gaps between the lines.
Naruto raised an eyebrow this guy clearly didn't get the message. So he sealed the openings completely, turning the birdcage into a dice cup.
Muffled curses echoed from within.
Naruto dug at his ear. For a thousand-year-old creature, your swearing vocabulary is disappointingly basic. Being uneducated really is terrifying.
"How do we deal with him?" Naruto pointed at Obito, not bothering to hide his disgust.
"Obito used that resurrection jutsu… he won't last much longer," Minato said heavily. As his teacher, he should be glad Obito had repented. But knowing he was about to die… it was hard to feel happy about anything.
And from a Hokage's perspective, after what Obito had done to Konoha, Minato didn't have the right to forgive him either.
"Cough… Naruto?" Obito weakly turned his head. "You really are just like Minato-sensei. About what I did…"
"If you're going to apologize don't bother." Naruto cut him off coldly. "I'm not planning to forgive you. Even now, I still kinda want to slice you in half."
"…Fair enough. I deserve it." Obito's voice was tinged with genuine regret. "I have no right to ask for forgiveness."
"Hang on a little longer," Naruto said. "There's someone you need to see."
He summoned Kakashi and handed him off to Obito, then grabbed the dice cup containing Black Zetsu and walked away. "You two talk. I'm gonna go dissect this thing."
"Mom, we're done here." Naruto waved to Kushina.
The red barrier dissipated. Kushina jogged over, curious about the dice cup that still echoed with Black Zetsu's cursing. "So? What's the situation?"
"Pretty much handled," Naruto said.
"And Obito?"
"Still alive… barely. If you want to speak to him, better do it now."
"I see…" Kushina looked a little down but still walked toward Obito slowly, hesitating as she went.
Naruto didn't follow. Instead, he teleported Gaara, Yagura, and Ōnoki back to headquarters. A few minutes later, a message echoed across the battlefield through Inoichi's telepathic network:
"To all units, the enemy leader has been defeated by the Hokage. Begin clean-up operations immediately!"
"Repeat the enemy leader has been defeated by the Hokage. Begin clean-up operations!"
The moment the ninja understood the message, cheers erupted across every battlefield.
"Commander-sama is so strong!"
"That's our Hokage!"
Fueled by this morale boost, even exhausted shinobi found their second wind. The army's collective spirit surged like wildfire.
Commanders across various fronts seized the moment to launch final offensives.
Swords flashed. Ninjutsu roared. The White Zetsu army fell back under the tide of the Allied Shinobi Forces.
Few noticed the green motes of light floating through the sky until fallen comrades began to stir.
Even those who had died were standing back up again.
But the most incredible scene unfolded in the rear medical camps.
Dozens of shinobi lay in rows some beyond saving, others have died in the chaos. There had never been enough top-level medics. Even Tsunade and Sakura had worked nonstop, but it wasn't enough.
The corpses had been carefully stored, ready to be sent home.
Now, shimmering green lights fell like a meteor shower from the sky.
And one by one, the "dead" began to sit up.
Some were overwhelmed with joy. Others embraced their comrades, crying tears of disbelief.
Sakura, just exiting a surgery tent, looked around in awe. "Tsunade-sensei… what's happening?"
Listening to the joyful shouts, Tsunade smiled faintly. "Looks like some kind of resurrection technique. Seems Minato didn't just defeat the enemy…"
"…So that means…"
"Yes. The war… is finally over."
....
"Are you… Right, Kakashi-sensei?"
When Naruto found Kakashi again, the older man's eyes were red. Saying goodbye to a longtime friend was never easy, and Naruto didn't know how to comfort him.
"I'm fine." Kakashi handed Naruto a scroll. "Obito left this for you."
"…For me?" Naruto took the scroll, puzzled.
"It contains the other Rinnegan's location," Kakashi said after composing himself. "He hid it somewhere safe."
"…The Rinnegan?" Naruto paused. "What the heck do I need that for? I'm not swapping out my eyes. That thing belonged to Uchiha Madara just looking at it gives me the creeps."
"Take it anyway. It's better than letting it fall into the wrong hands."
Naruto nodded and tucked the scroll away. He had an idea in mind for it.
"Send me back to Konoha," Kakashi said. "Jiraiya-sensei said he'd release his new book the day the war ended. I want to be first in line."
Naruto glanced at his blank expression and sighed, teleporting him near the memorial stone. He clearly wasn't in the mood to read, but maybe he just needed time alone.
Naruto then sent Guy over to the nearby training field. If anyone could cheer Kakashi up, it was him.
Obito was dead. Black Zetsu was captured. The war's outcome was no longer in question.
---
By noon the next day, the shinobi forces had gathered again at the same place they had assembled when the war began.
The Five Kage stood on the high platform, with the four supporting Kage flanking Minato.
Minato stepped forward, and the murmurs in the crowd gradually quieted then completely stopped. Everyone looked up at him.
This was the man who had united the Allied Shinobi Forces. The man who defeated the enemy's leader. The man who had brought this war to its conclusion.
Minato raised his voice:
"Thanks to your efforts… this war… is our victory!"
"The war is over!"
His voice rang across the plaza. The four Kage smiled first. Then came a beat of silence.
And then—
"YEAH!!!"
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