Leaving Obito alive was a decision Yuki Yoru had made after careful thought.
There weren't many Six Paths level combatants in the ninja world. Under his command, many could reach that stage—Mei Terumī, Yuki Kiri, Uzumaki Hiromi, Kimimaro, Uchiha Hikari… as long as Yoru revived them, they would be genuine Six Paths–class powers.
But as for Six Paths Realm–level lifeforms—there were none.
Perhaps Shisui in the past, or Nagato, who once wandered the shinobi world but eventually died by Obito's hand, could count as "half."
What Yoru needed was the power of a Six Paths-level lifeform, because such beings were not just stronger—they shared a special resonance with one another.
And besides, Obito had once awakened the Eye of the Moon and entered the higher state of Kekkei Mōra. Even though he had since fallen, his insight into space–time remained first-class.
So when Yoru infused him with spiritual power and stationed him on the moon as the first line of defense for Earth against the Ōtsutsuki, Obito would be the perfect choice.
Of course, Obito's identity was… sensitive. Yoru himself didn't mind, but the ruined state of the shinobi world was inseparable from him. In the eyes of the world, Uchiha Obito was undoubtedly the most heinous of criminals.
Placing him on the moon would also shield him from the condemning stares of the living. It was, in every way, the best solution.
"I understand."
Obito accepted Yoru's arrangement. As a failure, since Yoru was still willing to grant him a chance at atonement, he would not refuse.
Yet, gazing at the desolate ruins of Kirigakure before him, Obito hesitated. In the end, he could only sigh.
"Sorry. If not for me… Kirigakure, and this entire world, wouldn't have ended up like this."
He had ignited the Fourth Great Ninja War , ravaged the shinobi world, leveled Kirigakure into nothingness, and even shattered the moon—bringing catastrophic disaster to all.
Facing the man who had single-handedly pulled Kirigakure from the Blood Mist Era and built it into the leading village of the shinobi world, Obito didn't even know what words he could say.
"Growth always comes with lessons. The unfolding of events always comes with a price." Yoru shook his head. "Besides… none of this is beyond repair."
Not beyond repair?
In the next instant, Obito's eyes widened in disbelief.
Before him, Yoru slowly raised his hand. From within his body flowed an inky-black spiritual power—like a dark sun—spreading to cover all of Kirigakure.
The intensity of this spiritual power was overwhelming. After absorbing Kaguya's power, Yoru's current spiritual power had reached an absolute limit.
It was the very limit of Kekkei Mōra, a height even the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki could not reach!
As that unparalleled spiritual power erupted, tiny motes of starlight seemed to flicker around Yoru, like constellations orbiting a blazing sun.
The starlight fell to the earth, and in a blur, they took on human shapes.
"This is…"
Obito's expression froze.
The light-formed figures began to solidify. Their spiritual essence gradually broke apart into glowing motes, revealing their true appearances.
Who could they be but the people of the Kirigakure who had died at his hands?
"Haven't I already died? How…?"
"This spiritual power aura… It's Lord Yoru!"
"Is this… heaven?"
The first to manifest were Mei Terumī, Uzumaki Hiromi, Yuki Kiri, and Fuyuna Yukiko.
Behind them stood figures clad in captain's haori—the captains of the Gotei 13.
Not only that—more and more figures of light continued to appear, as countless people were resurrected one after another. Even ordinary folk who had once possessed spiritual power returned to this land.
Some looked at their own hands in confusion, while others, at the very instant of revival, instinctively assumed combat stances, spiritual power surging around them.
But soon, as waves of information poured into their minds, shock spread across everyone's faces.
"So that's… what happened…"
"It really was the Mizukage who acted! I knew Lord Mizukage would never abandon us!"
"Long live the Mizukage!"
One after another, they finished absorbing the knowledge Yoru had imparted into their minds, utterly stunned at what he had accomplished.
Their invincible Mizukage had not only defeated Uchiha Obito—an existence who rivaled the Sage of Six Paths himself—but had even resurrected all those who had fallen in battle!
And this was not Edo Tensei. This was true resurrection.
Not just the soul-state "Shinigami," but even the "Quincy" in human form had all been brought back to life.
Legends spoke of sages wielding the power to overturn life and death itself—and now, myth had become reality before their very eyes.
To reverse death, to restore the departed—their Mizukage, Yuki Yoru, had reached the very realm of the Sage of Six Paths.
No… he had surpassed it!
"Minato!"
Uzumaki Kushina cried out with uncontainable joy as she spotted the blond-haired man among the resurrected. Like a swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Namikaze Minato's arms.
Minato quickly caught her, scratching his head in bewilderment. In his memory, he had still been fighting desperately against the Ōtsutsuki, sacrificing his life to shatter the moon.
And yet now, in the blink of an eye, everything was already over.
"Yoru!"
Mei Terumī ran excitedly up to Yuki Yoru. "You bastard—how could you vanish for so long without a word?!"
"Lord Yoru, forgive us for troubling you." Fuyuna Yukiko spoke softly.
"I'm sorry, Lord Yoru." Kimimaro bowed his head, guilt clouding his face. "I failed to protect Kirigakure."
Everyone chattered noisily around Yoru. Their bonds with him had long since surpassed those of a mere Kage and his shinobi. It was precisely that bond that had united Kirigakure as one, carrying it to its present greatness.
They were eager to know: how exactly had Yoru defeated Uchiha Obito? Obito's power had been overwhelming. Even if all the captains and the royal guard had unleashed their full might together, they had been no match for him.
And just as eagerly, they wondered what Yoru had been doing all this time, and to what level his power had now ascended.
"Yuki Yoru…"
Among the crowd, Orochimaru—clad in the robes of the 12th Division Captain—wore a complicated expression. But soon his gaze fell on Uchiha Hikari.
After failing to devour Hikari, Orochimaru's consciousness had been suppressed by him. He knew nothing of what had transpired since, but from the fragments of conversation around him, he had pieced together the truth.
It seemed Yoru had resurrected everyone. Otherwise, a "traitor" like himself would never have been given the privilege of returning to life.
But then, his eyes shifted again—to a lone figure standing in the corner.
That man stood apart, his expression dazed, out of place among the passionate crowd of Kirigakure shinobi. Yet the captain's haori draped across his shoulders clearly marked him as a Shinigami captain.
"Interesting. I didn't expect even you to be resurrected."
A wicked smile curved across Orochimaru's lips as his long tongue flicked over them. "Captain of the Second Division—Uchiha Shisui."
Shisui, who had been surrounded by the excited crowd around Yuki Yoru, seemed to sense something. His dark eyes followed the gaze toward Orochimaru, calm and deep as a bottomless well.
"You really do have quite the sharp nose."
Orochimaru gave a soft chuckle, tongue slipping across his lips once more before withdrawing his gaze. His position now was precarious; until Yoru himself decided what to make of him, it was best not to act out of line.
"All right, that's enough."
Yuki Yoru pressed his hand down lightly, and the noisy crowd instantly fell silent.
The blood moon in the sky had already faded. Dawn's light pierced the mist hanging in the air, spilling across the scarred and desolate land below. The sun—symbol of hope and rebirth—slowly rose over the horizon, its warm, brilliant rays driving away the death and sorrow of the long, dark night.
A rainbow of seven colors stretched across the sky, breathtakingly beautiful—just like the reborn people gathered here. It was as if not only they, but the entire ninja world itself, had been given a new life.
"Everyone—the Fourth Great Ninja War is over!"
Yoru's voice was calm as he addressed the crowd before him.
This war, started by Obito Uchiha, had finally been brought to a complete conclusion by Yuki Yoru's power, after a series of campaigns involving Tailed Beast extractions, the revival of the dead, and the people of the Moon.
After a brief moment of silence, the people present erupted into deafening cheers. Everyone was shouting Yuki Yoru's name.
They had endured far too much in this war. Even the initial White Zetsu war had caused them considerable casualties, not to mention Obito Uchiha's subsequent major offensive that had completely flattened the entire Kirigakure.
In the end, even when all of Kirigakure's strongest united, they could not stand against him. That suffocating despair was beyond words, beyond description.
To die in hopelessness, only to awaken in victory—
The contrast was so immense that many present thought it must be an illusion. Some, overwhelmed, collapsed in tears on the spot.
"Everyone, though the war has ended, the revival and rebuilding of Kirigakure will still depend on you."
Yoru let his spiritual power wash outward, rich and nourishing like spring rain. To those gathered, it soothed both body and heart.
"Raise your spirits. It isn't just Kirigakure—the rest of the shinobi world needs our strength as well!"
"Yes, Lord Mizukage!"
…
The vast majority of Kirigakure's people had been resurrected by Yoru's power. Yet there were still a few who had not returned—those who had only just begun to touch spiritual power and had not fully converted it, or those too young or too old to endure.
But no one mentioned it. The sorrow and shadow of war had already been lessened to the minimum by Yoru's miracle.
If, in this moment, those given a second life still chose to wallow in grief, then how could a razed Kirigakure ever rise anew?
That was not the stance a victor should take.
Mei Terumī, Uzumaki Hiromi, Uchiha Hikari, and others came to stand at Yoru's side.
"Lord Yoru."
Yuki Kiri spoke softly, her beautiful eyes clouded with deep exhaustion.
She had borne far too much over this period—not only concealing Yuki Yoru's disappearance, but also drafting countless policies, dealing with the chaos wrought by White Zetsu and Uchiha Obito, and finally even stepping onto the battlefield herself to participate in the great war.
That relentless weight had nearly crushed her.
And now, the Kirigakure she had poured her heart and soul into had been razed to the ground—everything would have to begin again from nothing.
"Life is like this. None of us ever know whether tomorrow or misfortune will arrive first. But you—and all of you—have already done your very best."
Yoru gently pinched Kiri's delicate cheek, a gesture he rarely showed her. "Go and lead them in rebuilding Kirigakure. The people of the village, the people of the Land of Water, need your guidance. They shouldn't see their leaders with downcast faces at such a time."
"We are the ones who won this war!"
"…Yes, I understand!"
Yuki Kiri drew in a deep breath and nodded firmly. Taking the reluctant Mei Terumī with her, she turned and walked toward the people of Kirigakure.
"Lord Yoru."
As Yoru's gaze followed them, Uzumaki Hiromi spoke softly at his side. "We made use of your crystal. Now, I, Mei, Kiri, and Yukiko have all completed perfect spiritualization. We've also documented in detail the entire process of transformation and evolution."
"However, to complete true spiritualization—to merge the powers of Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincy into one—it still requires immense spiritual power. Without your spiritual seed as the core, the success rate remains very low."
Yoru nodded; this did not surprise him.
To completely fuse the powers of Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincy was the same as chakra returning to its purest form, a breakthrough to the Six Paths level. To mass-produce such a process was undoubtedly near-impossible.
But with Yuki Yoru's power as a gift, that breakthrough would become much simpler—just as the Sage of Six Paths had aided Naruto and Sasuke in reaching that realm. This was the allure of a higher lifeform.
"There's no need to rush perfect spiritualization. This was never meant to be achieved overnight. From here on, I will oversee it myself."
"Yes!"
Hiromi's eyes lit up. If Yoru himself was going to guide it, then this problem would no longer be a problem at all.
Once Uzumaki Hiromi finished her report, Uchiha Hikari mentioned Orochimaru's situation.
Yoru only smiled knowingly—he had already expected this—and in the next moment, he appeared before several division captains.
His gaze lingered briefly on Namikaze Minato and Orochimaru, before finally settling on the silent Uchiha Shisui.
"It's been a long time, Shisui-kun."
"Yuki Yoru…"