In the Hidden Mist Village, some Mist shinobi had stayed behind to guard the village instead of rushing to reinforce the front lines.
When they saw the gigantic creature suddenly appear several kilometers outside the village, they immediately triggered the village's alarm.
Sitting atop the Mizukage Tower, Hikaku Uchiha was idly swinging her legs.
The distinct patterns of her Mangekyō Sharingan were visible in her eyes as she clearly observed the horrifying first form of the Ten-Tails several kilometers away.
Beside her stood Jigen, hands clasped behind his back, as calm and indifferent as ever.
"Two full tailed beasts—more than we anticipated."
"Does this concern you?"
Hikaku turned her head toward the railing beside her, as if speaking to empty air, as if to herself.
"No matter how much power it has, if it can't be controlled properly, it's nothing but a beast... Care for a drink?"
Without any change in expression, Jigen raised his hand, suddenly holding a glass of dark crimson wine, like blood.
"I don't take food from strangers."
"Is that so? It seems we haven't established enough trust yet. But since you'll have immortality, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other slowly."
"...When are we going over?"
"We're not in a rush. The transformation will just take longer without sufficient chakra. You just need to ensure Kiri responds appropriately."
"Oh."
Hikaku waved at the Mist leadership behind her who were all wearing expressions of fanaticism.
No further words were spoken.
The remaining Mist shinobi quickly mobilized toward the Ten-Tails' location, joined by swarms of White Zetsu.
Inside an emergency shelter in Kiri's southwest corner,
Elder Mei heard the distant tremors and piercing alarms while gently patting the head of the terrified boy beside him, trying to soothe his fear.
Eleven-year-old Mei Terumi observed the scene with mild disinterest as the boy named Yūtaka continued trembling and crying, wiping tears from his eyes.
Honestly...
Would Elder Mei really make her comfort that crybaby later?!
"Senior, aren't we really going out? There are still many ordinary villagers who haven't managed to reach the shelter yet!"
Gonbee appeared deeply worried.
He despised war and detested those extremist Mist shinobi, but civilians were innocent.
Now their village was under unknown attack, yet they hid here...
This...
"The sky will brighten."
Elder Mei scanned across all the people looking toward him and raised his hand to silence everyone.
Ever since receiving that mysterious note yesterday, he had known.
This time, his guess was right!
Though the Fifth Mizukage, Hikaku Uchiha, might have her own agenda, after this turmoil, Hidden Mist would truly see the dawn that will illuminate the village!
————————————
On top of the Ten-Tails.
Madara Uchiha felt an instinctive urge in his eyes—an inner pull to absorb the Ten-Tails' power into his body—and scoffed inwardly.
Because the Uchiha and Senju bloodlines are directly connected to the Otsutsuki Clan.
And the Otsutsuki Clan grows stronger by devouring chakra.
After awakening the Ten-Tails to this degree, he, too, had felt the pull of that hunger.
However, having long ago been told the truth of the ninja world by Kei Yamanaka, how could he ever be controlled or affected by such desires?
The fruit of the God Tree had already been consumed by Kaguya Otsutsuki long ago.
Even if he absorbed the Ten-Tails into himself, it would offer nothing but false power—not true power of his own, which Kaguya could reclaim at any moment!
The God Tree...
He would one day claim his very own God Tree!
"Madara~ This form of the Ten-Tails is so hideous! Can't you make it look a bit nicer?"
Hashirama Senju's voice called out from the thick dust kicked up by the Ten-Tails.
"Shut up!"
Uchiha Madara's expression darkened. He knew exactly what Hashirama was worried about—that he might be tempted by the Ten-Tails' power.
Damn it, you melon-headed fool!
Just possessing one Six-Tails and one Seven-Tails, along with fragments of other tailed beasts' chakra—still power that wasn't truly his.
What kind of fool would he have to be to fall for this?
If it wasn't for the severely insufficient amount of chakra inside the Ten-Tails,
its transformation wouldn't be taking this long.
Was he really going to just stand there doing nothing otherwise?
"Transform!"
Uchiha Madara let out a low shout, his hands forming hand seals as the purple Rinnegan eyes in both his eyelids flickered with energy.
He forcefully forced the Ten-Tails to begin changing form once again!
Under the power of the Rinnegan, thick, shell-like sections of its torso began peeling away from the beast's main body.
It shrank down by more than half,
looking now like some bony, starved skeleton of a creature—the second transformed state of the Ten-Tails slowly appeared before everyone.
Uchiha Madara didn't stop for even a moment, continuing to accelerate the beast's metamorphosis.
And within just a short while,
a massive wave of Mist shinobi had arrived, accompanied by swarms of White Zetsu, surging forward like an unstoppable tide.
"Really... quite despicable."
Kei Yamanaka's eyes emitted a faint white glow as he surveyed the Mizukage Tower in the distance with Byakugan.
The first thing he saw was Hikaku Uchiha glancing toward someone beside him.
Yet through the Byakugan's vision,
there was no one standing beside Hikaku Uchiha!
Even pushing the Byakugan to its limits, all he could detect were wispy strands of chakra—far thinner than those of even the weakest clone technique.
Right now, the distance between him and the Mizukage Tower was still simply too great.
Neither his natural sensory abilities nor the Byakugan could provide that level of detail.
Still, he was certain—Jigen must be standing right beside Uchiha!
Firstly, Hikaku wasn't the type who constantly turned his head to face someone directly when speaking, showing politeness.
Secondly, considering Hikaku's personality, if there really was someone there, and after such a long time had passed without greeting them with Kagutsuchi's power, he certainly would have taken action by now!
"If we can't detect anyone from afar, yet Hikaku keeps looking in that direction every time, that probably means the Mangekyō must be allowing him to see that person."
Kei Yamanaka murmured thoughtfully, stroking his chin.
In the original storyline, Sasuke's Six-Tomoe Rinnegan could see Jigen's process of enlarging and shrinking, tracking his trail after shrinking.
The quality of his spiritual energy had already surpassed Sage Chakra by a large margin.
Powered by that Byakugan and sensory perception abilities, his close-range observation power was definitely not inferior to the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan!
Still, one must stay alert!
A shrunken enemy can exploit even the briefest lapse in focus!
"Quite a spectacle."
Onoki gazed at the endless waves of Mist shinobi and White Zetsu spilling out of Kirigakure like a tidal wave, rushing toward them.
"Hokage, care for a little contest?"
A, the Third Raikage, clenched his fist and threw down a challenge to Tsunade.
Last time, her speed had been slightly slower than his.
Against these grunts, as long as they moved quickly enough, he'd definitely kill more than Tsunade!
"Let's place a bet today... Nah, forget it. I'm done with gambling today!"
Tsunade audibly cracked her knuckles, originally planning to take this chance for a gamble.
But considering her luck, plus Kei Yamanaka's description of her "Reverse Gambling King" fate line, she pushed the urge aside before it fully took root.
Now was a crucial battle phase—losing wouldn't matter much,
but if she won...
"Come fight! You trash!"
Izuna Uchiha drew his blade without sparing a glance at Tsunade or the Raikage beside him before charging straight ahead!
Who dares interrupt his elder brother's mission? They all deserved to die!
"Three, two, one!"
As the Third Raikage finished speaking, his electrified form shot forward in a flash.
Beside him, nine white dragons coiled around her as she leapt forward, overtaking the Raikage mid-air and slamming a punch into the earth below!
Onoki watched those three charge forth.
He then turned his gaze toward Madara Uchiha perched atop the Ten-Tails' head, furiously accelerating its transformation, along with Hashirama Senju who had just jumped to Madara's side.
His eyes also drifted to Kei Yamanaka, who had gone to sit cross-legged atop the Ten-Tails with eyes closed, one hand pressed to its skull, sensing something unseen.
He let out a weary sigh.
Honestly.
Why was Kitsuchi so slow on the uptake? And why couldn't he ever grasp Dust Release?
At his age, still having to throw himself into battles!
Plus, whether it was osteoporosis or something similar, lately he twisted his waist twice daily on average.
Without Tsunade here, he might've had to fight from a wheelchair!
While grumbling inwardly, Onoki still obediently activated his Light-and-Heavy Rock Technique and flew toward the approaching Mist shinobi and White Zetsu.
Whether intentionally or not, he made sure never to stray far from Tsunade—always within a hundred meters.
At such a distance, even if he did twist his waist, getting close enough for Tsunade to land a slap would probably do half the trick!
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! Dammit! Who's cursing me?"
Kei Yamanaka sneezed thrice in succession, glaring toward Kirigakure as he lifted his head.
After silently marking Jigen down in his mind, he shut his eyes tightly again, extending his sensory perception to guard against sneak attacks from the shrunken Jigen, while engraving spatial formulae across the Ten-Tails with his spiritual energy!
Once the Ten-Tails had been completely wrapped in spatial formulae.
He once again activated the extraordinary spatial perception of [Multi-Dimensional World Traveler] to probe movements within the Pure Land.
Jigen had already emerged, the God Tree was being activated, and Kaguya Otsutsuki was about to break free—swarms of souls were flying into the Pure Land!
Sage of Six Paths, let's see just what you'll do now!
The cries of battle never ceased!
Ten minutes passed. Twenty. Half an hour!
The Ten-Tails, undisturbed by anyone the entire time and accelerating its transformation under Madara Uchiha's [Rinnegan], finally entered its Third Stage!
Immediately after reaching this Third Stage, having converted all chakra within its body, the Ten-Tails—controlled by Madara Uchiha—wasted no time and began transitioning directly into its Fourth Stage!
Kei Yamanaka sensed Hikaku Uchiha and 'grains of rice' rapidly approaching this location.
He curled his lips and smacked his palm against the Ten-Tails.
[Spatial Formula] unfolded.
In the next instant, the Ten-Tails' massive body had already appeared in a desolate wilderness over a hundred miles from Kirigakure!
Massive tree roots, thick as [Giant Serpents], erupted wildly across the Ten-Tails' body.
Breaking through earth and stone, crushing forests beneath their weight, they burrowed relentlessly into the ground.
Trunks extending straight upward twisted together at high speed as they grew, forming a colossal trunk like a heavenly pillar—the very trunk of the God Tree!
Dense layers of god tree roots surged toward Kei Yamanaka and Hashirama Senju, but were blocked outright by Madara Uchiha's [Rinnegan].
Purple flowers bloomed atop the God Tree.
Weng—
A powerful space ripple emanated from the top of the tree.
A jet-black, twisting spatial rift opened up, and Jigen—who had returned to normal size, entered '[Kāma: State One]', and was covered entirely in black seal markings—leapt out from the rift.
His cold, sinister gaze swept across Kei Yamanaka, who had suddenly used the [Flying Thunder God Technique] to relocate the God Tree.
That completely illogical move had thrown off his entire plan!
"Release!"
Jigen extended his right palm toward the flower atop the God Tree!
The flower bloomed, its disc-shaped stamen reflecting the pattern of a black eye. Using the God Tree's power, it projected that same pattern directly onto the moon!
Crack—
A crisp, glass-shattering sound rang out from the stamen.
Its black-eye pattern was violently pierced and utterly shattered by a pale, bloodless slender arm.
Jigen immediately leapt backward, vanishing decisively into the still-open spatial rift behind him!
[One-Style]!
A cool, clear female voice rang out.
Kaguya Otsutsuki slowly floated upward from the stamen!
"You chase him. This one is ours."
Madara Uchiha crossed his arms, and his complete [Susanoo] instantly formed around his body.
"Fighting alongside Madara, huh? Son-in-law, what do you think?"
Hashirama Senju wore the same eager expression, clenching his fists together as Sage Mode markings had already surfaced on his face.
"Just be careful. Even though there are still samples of your flesh back in my lab, resurrection is still a hassle."
As Kei Yamanaka finished speaking, he flicked his wrist and hurled forward the [Thousand Hands Manipulation Force: Thrust] created earlier by Hashirama Senju when they'd gone to Sunagakure.
"Don't underestimate me! I am Madara Uchiha!"
"As much as you care, son-in-law, I'm the man known as the Ninja God!"
Their voices rang out in unison.
Chakra surged with a mighty aura as Hashirama Senju activated the Thousand Hands Manipulation Force: Thrust!
Madara Uchiha's [Susanoo] swiftly intercepted it!
"For those keeping score, Indra and Ashura were biologically Kaguya Otsutsuki's grandsons. So much for grandsons duking it out—hah..."
The moment he finished speaking, Kei Yamanaka left neither Hashirama Senju nor Madara Uchiha a chance to protest.
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