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A cluster of radiant shards hovered in Neji's consciousness each one like a fragment of a shattered portal, swirling around a dark blue vortex that spun faster and faster.
With a flash, the fragments shot forward, embedding themselves into the trunk of the colossal World Tree that existed within his inner system.
Lines of light streaked between the cracks, weaving across every seam until the glow sealed itself away.
The trembling fragments stilled. The dust and ash that once dulled their surface flaked off revealing color, life, and movement.
Leaves unfurled. The tree breathed again vivid, ancient, full of stories.
Its bark glowed with the weight of millennia, weathered yet alive.
Then the gray shell around the "portal" peeled away, unveiling its true form.
The vortex within brightened color bloomed like dawn breaking through fog.
When the final shade of gray vanished, a new Sub-Page manifested, and with it, new data flooded Neji's mind.
[Seria's Inn]
A multidimensional hub, its potential is beyond simple description, though for now only the basic modules were active: the Main Lodge and the Back Courtyard.
It was a pocket worldvsmall, self-contained. Sections for farming, racing, even festival-style mini-games lay locked behind future expansions, just like the DNF event zones it faintly mirrored.
Beside the inn's doorway stood another structure: a Dimensional Gate.
Its function made Neji's brows lift.
People from other worlds could enter the inn through itvbut only he could use the main door.
And while visitors could return to their own worlds, he could travel to any world he had already unlocked.
An inter-world tavern, he mused like that anime where heroes from different realms gathered to eat otherworldly cuisine.
Strange. Intriguing. Convenient.
He withdrew from the inner world.
Outside, the air was alive with chaos.
His hand slid free from the Ten-Tails' body as his gaze lifted toward the fading glow of the [Ultimate Chakra Aegis].
Beyond it, a titanic wooden Buddha towered arms stretching like a forest of divine hands, each crashing against Madara's Perfect Susanoo.
The giant samurai hacked through arm after arm, its chakra blades gleamingvbut every missed block drove a wooden fist into its chest, forcing it back.
Neji blinked. How long… was I inside?
He looked up. The sun was gone.
Moonlight washed the battlefield; cracks webbed across the orange barrier, its lightning dimming.
Information streamed into his mindvcompressed reports, sensory feeds, tactical updates. He skimmed them in a heartbeat.
Madara had failed to break through the Aegis, then turned his fury on the Allied Shinobi Forces.
The Five Kage, Killer Bee, Naruto, and even Jiraiya had joined forces to stop Madara and Obito.
Meanwhile, Sasuko faced Danzo.
Calling it a fight was generous considering Danzo once tried stabbing a Susanoo with a kunai.
The man was less "tactician" and more "legendary lunatic."
Elsewhere, Orochimaru, having reclaimed his hands and claimed a White Zetsu body, had turned on his former allies.
He'd deceived the Reaper Death Seal, eaten nothing but disappointment, and vomited up every trapped soul inside.
The result?
The Konoha F4, the Strongest Boy Band in History, is revived and ready for their encore performance.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to head for the battlefield after Kabuto's live broadcast revealed the chaos.
Orochimaru, ever the opportunist, didn't mind stirring things further so long as it served him.
Now, the war had devolved into complete absurdity:
Madara & Obito vs Konoha F4 + Five Kage + Jiraiya & Company.
And yet, the advantage wasn't clear.
Within the cracked Aegis, the Ten-Tails' power was being siphoned.
The thieves Madara and Obito grew stronger by the second.
Neji's eyes flicked to a shadow moving slyly among the chaos Black Zetsu.
So that's how they were drawing the energy. Typical.
"Different path, same destination," he murmured. "Almost poetic… but maybe it's time to change the ending."
His hand pressed once more to the Ten-Tails' body.
The siphon snapped shut severing the link to Madara and Obito.
On the battlefield, Madara's Susanoo froze mid-swing.
The moment of confusion cost him.
A storm of wooden palms swallowed him whole.
[Sage Art: Shin Myojin Gate]!
Hashirama's eyes blazed.
"This is it!" he shouted, slamming his hands together.
Scarlet torii-shaped seals rained from the sky, stacking atop each other in thunderous rhythm until Madara was buried beneath them.
Obito, locked in combat with Minato, felt the same surge vanish as the Ten-Tails' chakra flow was severed.
Panic flashed in his lone eye.
Not good.
"Ah-daa~!"
Guy spun into view, twin nunchaku whirling.
One swing crack! And Obito's mask shattered, exposing his face.
The impact left a bright red welt across his forehead.
He stumbled back, instinctively phasing through the follow-up hit.
Rubbing the swelling, Obito hissed between his teeth. "Tch—didn't see that coming."
Guy squinted, tilting his head. "Wait a sec… You look weirdly familiar."
Minato appeared beside him, hand on his student's shoulder.
"Well done, Guy," he said softly.
Then, his gaze met the unmasked face and his smile faltered.
"Obito… I prayed I'd never see this day."
Guy's eyes went wide.
"Hold up—this clown is that Obito? The dead-last Obito!?"
Obito's mouth twitched. For all his power, he still hadn't won a single exchange against Might Guy.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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