When the Totsuka Sword was withdrawn, Masashi had already cut off his chakra supply. As the sword was completely pulled out, the massive boulder in the sky disintegrated.
What came from the earth, returned to the earth.
The debris rained down, but most of it didn't even have time to fully crumble, it slammed directly into the ground.
No one caught in Chibaku Tensei survived.
It was a brutal method, but there was no other way. After all, Kiri ninjas weren't like Iwa or Kumo ninjas, they were just too scattered and too destructive.
Kiri's military organization was extremely efficient, but after decades of existence, some habits had inevitably formed like... Letting the Mizukage escape first, even if the Kage was on the verge of collapsing.
On the battlefield, once things escalated, distinguishing friend from foe was incredibly difficult. But if there was a Kage on the other side, and your own side had a commander who could coordinate well, then things became much simpler.
Even the rebellious Kiri ninjas, who were wild enough to occasionally assassinate their own Mizukage, were drawn to Yagura. Over the last decade, his leadership had made him the most respected Mizukage since the First. When the Kiri ninjas saw him, they instinctively rallied to his side.
In their eyes, the previous Mizukage had been a mess. Someone reliable like Yagura was rare.
Out of several thousand Kiri ninjas, ninety percent were left behind. Fewer than a hundred escaped.
Among those who got away was a jinchūriki. Masashi also sensed other familiar chakra signatures.
But with Konoha's forces stationed along the border, this remaining Kiri group no longer had the strength to stir up trouble in the Land of Fire's southern front, they could only regroup with the main force.
Even the infamous Seven Ninja Swordsmen, experts had perished. How their seven blades would be divided now was a matter for the clan council.
The Kiri ninjas were no longer a problem.
However, this battle had given him a clearer understanding of his makeshift Rinnegan.
Overall, the fact that he had easily defeated Yagura proved that he now truly had the power to resist Infinite Tsukuyomi in the final battle. He had earned the right to stand on the same stage as Madara.
His raw power had surpassed that of the current Kage, he was, essentially, on a godlike level. But his Rinnegan was different from Madara's.
Madara's Rinnegan had been created under the premise of possessing both Indra and Asura's chakra. By awakening his own Ōtsutsuki bloodline, he indirectly drew on the power of Hagoromo.
It was like siphoning a portion from Hagoromo, but because it was forcibly drawn, the amount was limited. As a result, his power was not as great as Sasuke's in the original timeline.
Sasuke's single eye likely held greater power than both of Madara's, at least in terms of functionality.
Take Chibaku Tensei as an example: Sasuke and Hagoromo could directly designate a gravity core. The latter could even grant that ability to others. Madara, on the other hand, couldn't. He had to create his own gravity cores. But he could create many at once, which was how he developed the Tengai Shinsei.
Masashi, however, drew power from the remnants of the Ten-Tails. Using tailed beast chakra to activate his eye, he was slightly weaker than Madara. He could only create one gravity core at a time.
In short, the functionality was there, but the output was lower.
Of course, it wasn't without advantages. He might be able to use this to seize control of the Gedo Statue, but that was just a theory. He wouldn't know unless he tried. Also, with the Rinnegan active, he didn't need Sage Mode to summon a Complete Body Susanoo.
Now that he understood the basics, all that was left was to master the eye through real combat.
He turned and headed toward the distant Konoha forces.
As he approached, cheers erupted from the Konoha ninjas below.
Fighting 4000 men with just a few hundred was vastly different from one-on-one duels. Uchiha and Hyūga working together was truly a fearsome sight.
The Hyūga ninjas said their fingers were sore from all the strikes today.
Not a single Kiri ninjas in the enemy ranks was a genin.
As he landed in their camp, Masashi dispelled Susanoo and descended.
"Masashi!" Fugaku stepped forward. "Well done!"
At the same time, he silently thought: The Sage of Six Paths' eyes really were something else... No wonder Ame stabilized after getting a pair of Rinnegan.
"Fugaku-sama, you've heard about what happened back at the clan compound, right?"
"Yes, everyone knows now," Fugaku nodded. "It couldn't be kept secret."
"Yeah..." Masashi agreed. "Since Madara's made his reappearance like this, he's not planning to hide anymore."
As for what Madara's real goal was, he still couldn't tell. He'd just take things one step at a time. At least he had prevented Shisui from using Kotoamatsukami.
In this era, the Mangekyō Sharingan had two particularly broken jutsu.
One was Kamui from Obito, the other was Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, both of which exceeded the usual definition of Mangekyō powers.
If Madara were to turn hostile suddenly, Kotoamatsukami would be the secret weapon. It didn't need to permanently alter his will, just influencing him briefly would be enough.
But the cooldown for this technique was ridiculously long. In the original timeline, it was about ten years. Here, even after one use, it took Shisui eight years to recover, and that was with Yang Release gradually restoring his eye power.
There wouldn't be another eight years.
"Oh, right," Fugaku suddenly said, "Shisui told me, you used the Fourth Mizukage to flatten that area in the south?"
Before Masashi could reply, Fugaku continued:
"Well, good. Saves money. And this way, we won't be debating whether to demolish it anymore."
He had no objections. He was on Team Demolish.
The opposition was a minority, mostly elders, led by Setsuna.
That southern area had been the site of the Uchiha clan's first relocation. The elders had grown up there and were attached to it. But the younger generation didn't want to live there, it was too far from the commercial district, the infrastructure was outdated, and it was too close to the prison.
The living conditions were poor.
Since the elders had moved in with their families, the whole area had been left mostly vacant, a total waste of space.
"I'll head to the west now."
"Mm, go ahead. I've got things covered here. I've already sent out the reinforcements."
Masashi nodded, rose into the air, and flew westward.
He spotted Matatabi resting on the ground. As he flew past, the big cat lazily lifted its head and glanced at him.
The look it gave seemed to say: How much longer was this going to take? It probably wanted to get back to playing with the Uchiha children. If it knew that Madara was currently at the clan grounds, it probably wouldn't be in such a hurry.
But Masashi figured he was probably overthinking it, no guarantee that every tailed beast had even met Madara.
The Light-Weight Rock Technique gave incredible speed. The only drawback was that it couldn't be used in combination with other jutsu at full speed. As he entered the western district, he realized, this might actually be the most critical front.
The Iwa ninjas were earth specialists. Though they weren't as numerous as the Kiri ninjas, their strength rendered defensive fortifications practically useless.
The west wall had already collapsed.
Sitting inside the Hokage Building, they really went all in... That was what he thought.
The strategy had gone well so far.
According to the folks inside the Hokage Building, even if it failed, no big deal, but if it worked, they'd eliminate a large number of elite enemy forces in one go, tipping the balance of the war in their favor.
Konoha knew better than anyone how much of a difference a single top-tier ninja could make on the battlefield.
As for demolishing buildings? Not a big deal. Just tweak the fourth wave of urban planning. Besides, construction projects in the Land of Fire had reached saturation these past few years, leaving many contractors idle, causing social issues.
Konoha had started evacuating civilians before the Chunin Exams even began. Everything had been done quietly and in phases. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many empty houses available.
The only hiccup had been Rasa acting out unexpectedly. The other key figures had entered the trap smoothly, just as planned.
When he arrived at what used to be the western wall, he saw a fierce clash between the allied ninja forces.
The Iwa-Kumo alliance was pushing hard. Konoha and Suna ninjas were fighting side by side.
Suna didn't have many troops, but their puppet techniques were seriously effective in warfare.
Masashi quickly spotted Ōnoki.
And Rasa.
Ōnoki really looked... old.
In the original timeline, he'd fought with his life on the line. But here and now, he wasn't quite at that point yet.
Masashi also spotted Gaara, and he looked pretty rough.
Who beat him up? he wondered, even as his actions didn't slow down.
In a flash, he shot into the thickest part of the enemy formation.
The moment he stabilized mid-air, a barrage of Storm Release beams rained down on him.
He raised his hand. A layer of chakra membrane formed in front of him. The blue energy beams hit it and dissolved on contact, absorbed and converted into chakra.
He was in the enemy's artillery zone, all the long-range units were here. Storm Release was just the opener. More elemental jutsu followed.
But he absorbed all of them.
The volume of jutsu being fired from below dropped dramatically. The enemy had noticed.
"Is that really the Rinnegan...?" Far away, Ōnoki, still locked in a stalemate with Rasa, frowned.
He had visited the Land of Rain before. Since then, Iwa had reduced its actions against Ame.
His waist was aching. He had been taking extra care of himself, but fights of this level were just too much for someone his age.
I really didn't want to grow old... He thought wistfully.
Once upon a time, he and Hiruzen were giants of the battlefield, frequent opponents. They'd both risen to Kage around the same time. Now, decades later, neither of them were what they once were.
As he sighed, he suddenly saw Masashi raise his palm toward the Kumo forces below.
He flinched, but didn't speak immediately.
The next moment, a massive repulsive force swept through the Kumo ninja's formation. Limbs and blood flew everywhere.
Taking a direct hit from Shinra Tensei usually meant your body was done for. The long-range firepower of the Iwa-Kumo alliance was drastically reduced in an instant.
Masashi then flew toward another direction and landed beside Rasa.
The man had been trying to bait Ōnoki into using Dust Release with his Gold Dust techniques, but the old man wasn't falling for it.
After landing, he asked casually, "What happened to your son?"
"Took a hit from a Tailed Beast Ball," Rasa replied, eyeing Masashi. "Don't know who did it, someone used space-time jutsu to drop one right beside him. Blew him clean out, but at least it knocked some sense back into him."
His tone didn't quite match the words.
"Oh, I know who did it. That was the Fourth Mizukage." Masashi spoke warmly. "Don't worry, I've already beaten him. Avenged your son."
"...Much obliged."
"No need. I'd gladly take a blade for an ally. It's just who I am."