"Alright, then fight for it."
Yami was speechless after listening to the two argue, so he quickly gave them a fair solution.
"After everything is settled, go to the Valley of the End and fight. Whoever wins gets Obito, and you can do whatever you want with him."
"Okay!"
Sasuke and Naruto answered in unison, while the others looked regretful.
Right now, Naruto and Sasuke were so strong that they were far ahead of everyone else. Even Shisui was no match for them.
"Yami-nii, are you sure Obito can live until then?"
Sasuke glanced at Obito lying on the ground, who looked no different from a corpse except for still breathing, and asked worriedly.
It would be frustrating if he put in the effort to defeat Naruto, only for Obito to die before then.
Yami injected a stream of Yang chakra into Obito's body. "Alright, now even if you both die, he won't die. Satisfied?"
Naruto and Sasuke's mouths twitched. They were speechless at Yami's choice of words, but they felt reassured and obediently led their teams away.
Year 67 of Konoha.
October 7th.
The Fourth Ninja World War had come to an end.
It began with Konoha's lightning strike against the Land of Iron and ended with Yami defeating the Sage of Six Paths brothers.
The entire war lasted only two and a half days.
According to statistics, 181 Konoha shinobi were killed, while over 10,000 shinobi from the Allied Shinobi Forces were dead.
This exaggerated casualty ratio was thanks to Shisui, Yuichi, and the others using Susanoo to hold the line, and later Hikari using the Eight Thousand Spears to make the Allied Shinobi Forces attack each other.
As for the shinobi stationed at the Allied Shinobi Forces' headquarters…
Gaara and Yami's Six Paths mode worked together from inside and out, with six or seven Kage-level fighters attacking at once. The reserve troops had no ability to resist at all.
It was only because Gaara pleaded with Yami and Konan not to kill too many people that they didn't wipe out everyone.
Mei finally understood why Yami had told her she would be the second to surrender when he was persuading her earlier.
We had a traitor among us!
But Mei was also secretly shocked by Gaara's ruthlessness.
Many Suna shinobi had been sent to the front lines, and Konoha had shown no mercy, making every move fatal to whomever they encountered.
What Mei didn't know was that Gaara had personally selected those people as a "suicide squad." He had little influence in Suna, and many of them were undisciplined troublemakers.
It was a perfect opportunity to use the war to clean house.
Whether the aftermath would alienate other Suna shinobi didn't matter to him at all.
The village was gone, and he would never be Kazekage again. People could hate him if they wanted, but he had completed his mission by ensuring most people survived. There would be no compensation or punishment for their defeat.
That was the limit of what Gaara could do for Suna.
Five days later, tens of thousands of prisoners were escorted back to Konoha and placed in the cells prepared for them.
The long delay was not due to resistance but because the split-off continent of the Land of Lightning had drifted too far away, with a strait hundreds of kilometers wide in between.
If it weren't for Yamato and Hashirama working hard with Wood Release to build ships, the army still wouldn't have returned.
After completing their assigned missions, Naruto and Sasuke could not wait to head to the Valley of the End to fight over… Uchiha Obito.
Although neither had gained Six Paths power during the war, their strength was already at the peak of Super Kage.
This fight would be no less intense than their final battle in the original events. Fighting for Obito was far more exciting than fighting for Sakura.
You could tell from Sasuke's little tricks.
He had always wanted to compete with Naruto, but this time he uncharacteristically invited Shisui, Yuichi, Yuji, and Yushi to help. He had a strong excuse.
"This is an important matter for the Uchiha clan, so of course the whole clan should be involved."
If he weren't afraid of being smacked by Yami, he might have even invited Uchiha Madara.
Sasuke's shamelessness made Naruto laugh, but it also made him happy.
In the past, Sasuke had carried too much hatred. Now that it was avenged and the ninja world was unified, his mindset had gradually relaxed.
That was a good thing.
But it didn't mean Naruto would give up on Obito. Avenging his parents was still his obsession and his motivation to grow stronger.
If Sasuke could gather help, then so could he.
So Minato was called over to join the fight.
Even without the Nine Tails, as long as he had the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato was still a dangerous opponent.
The battle in the Valley of the End nearly turned it into a giant crater. Sasuke and Naruto went all out, the Nine Tails' roars shaking the skies and Susanoo's sword strikes tearing the earth.
Using the complete Nine Tails form and ultimate Sage Mode, Naruto exhausted Shisui's chakra and fought Yuichi and the others until their eyes bled.
Finally, he had a one-on-one match with Sasuke and won by a narrow margin.
The two lay on the gravel, panting heavily. Sasuke pounded the ground in frustration, but he still smiled in relief. "Naruto, you win."
This not only decided who would take Obito, but also closed the chapter on their years of rivalry.
It was almost impossible for him to surpass Naruto now. Unless the Nine Tails were extracted or he reached Six Paths level, the physical gap could not be closed through training.
"Hehehe."
Naruto grinned like an idiot. Winning against Sasuke was more satisfying than eating a hundred bowls of free Ichiraku ramen.
After smiling for a while, Naruto spoke seriously. "Sasuke, I've been thinking… let's do it together. That bastard Uchiha Obito has committed so many crimes, even grinding him to dust wouldn't be enough."
"Yeah." Sasuke smiled.
"Count me in."
"And me!"
"Can I use Amaterasu?"
Shisui, lying nearby, shouted with a grin, followed by Yuichi and Yuji.
Minato watched the scene and smiled with relief.
Kushina, you can rest easy.
Naruto has good friends and good mentors. He will surely live a happy life in the future.
Konoha.
Hokage Rock.
Danzō waved his hand, pointing toward the new Konoha, which had expanded several times and was far more prosperous than in the Third Hokage's era, a sneer on his face.
"Hiruzen, tell me… who is the Hokage now?"
"Who should be regretting it?"
(To be continued.)
***
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