Now.
Seeing Uchiha Madara unscathed thanks to Izanagi, Senju Hashirama's face held a mixture of surprise and grimness.
"Curious, aren't you?"
Uchiha Madara cracked his neck, bones popping.
Hashirama nodded directly, without a hint of embarrassment, looking thoroughly inquisitive.
If an outsider saw this, they would be stunned – the two had just been trying to kill each other.
"Sealing Technique Absorption – one of the Rinnegan's abilities. It can absorb chakra."
Uchiha Madara pointed to the Rinnegan in his eye socket and explained patiently.
"I see?"
"Similar to Yuto's ability. No – to be precise, your ability is inferior to his. At minimum, he can absorb more than just chakra."
A flash of understanding crossed Hashirama's eyes. He now grasped what had happened.
Clearly, during the attack, Uchiha Madara had used the Rinnegan to absorb the chakra within his strike.
That was why Hashirama's initial calculations had been wrong.
When powerhouses fought, victory was never determined by raw strength alone.
The outcome could change in an instant.
"I thought my odds were high, but now it looks like a reversal is possible."
Hashirama scratched his hair, sounding somewhat regretful.
"Until the very end, no one can be certain – right, Hashirama!"
Uchiha Madara clenched his fists, a terrifying aura erupting from his body.
"Then let's continue, Madara!" Hashirama's gaze sharpened again, a fierce aura surging from within.
The Konoha battlefield.
After Yuto returned from the forest dozens of kilometers away, he immediately assembled all high-ranking officials from both the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist forces.
On a flat plain barely a kilometer from Konoha's main gate, Yuto stood atop a boulder, arms crossed, his calm gaze sweeping over the gathered leaders of Iwagakure and Kirigakure.
With the two great villages allied and Uchiha Madara absent, Yuto had the authority to command the Stone's forces.
Furthermore, no one dared refuse.
At the forefront stood Uchiha Obito and Terumi Mei.
Terumi Mei gazed at Yuto atop the boulder, her eyes filled with fervent adoration.
As for Uchiha Obito, his mask concealed his expression, but the single visible eye gleamed with deep wariness.
Obito retained a degree of vigilance, though only a degree.
After all, their side had significant history with the Hidden Mist. But with their goals aligned, no one was foolish enough to bring up old grievances.
"I've gathered you all because you already understand the purpose."
Yuto's voice was cold and detached. The moment he spoke, every shinobi tensed.
"Only Konoha remains. Once it falls, one of the five great villages will become history."
His words continued to ring in everyone's ears, stirring excitement in every heart.
Destroying Konoha was an event the entire world would remember – and they were participants. How could they not feel exhilarated?
"So, launch the full assault!"
Yuto had no interest in lengthy speeches. His words were simple and powerful.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
A unified, thunderous roar split the sky.
In the next instant, every shinobi blurred and vanished.
Moments later, the entire Stone and Mist forces moved as one, advancing toward Konoha's main gate.
Konoha appeared to have been prepared.
As the allied forces advanced, massive barriers materialized, enveloping the entire village.
The allied forces had anticipated this. They dispatched elite squads to force a breakthrough.
Explosions and thunderous booms erupted across Konoha's sky.
Fierce and brutal combat had begun.
Yuto stood behind the Mist lines, gazing down at the battlefield.
Terumi Mei stood beside him, brow furrowed as she watched from afar.
"Konoha's resistance is quite stubborn."
"Facing the combined assault of two great villages and they can still hold."
Terumi Mei brushed a strand of auburn hair from her face, her tone reflective.
"It is Konoha's stronghold after all. If they crumbled immediately, they wouldn't have been top of the five great villages for so long."
Yuto showed no surprise, chuckling instead.
Terumi Mei nodded lightly. "True. But Konoha has nothing left but defense now. It's only a matter of time."
"Oh, should we use Tsunade to influence the battle?"
Terumi Mei suddenly turned to Yuto, remembering something.
They still held the Tsunade card.
Yuto gently shook his head, rejecting her suggestion.
"Some things are only effective by surprise. Konoha already knows we have Tsunade, and we've already used her once."
"Using her as leverage again would be barely better than nothing. Her purpose lies elsewhere."
Yuto smiled, then glanced up at the newly risen sun.
"Before dark, breach Konoha's main gate. Tonight, I rest inside the village."
As he said this, Yuto looked at Terumi Mei. Whether he had stressed the last two words intentionally was unclear.
Terumi Mei seemed to misinterpret something. Her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Lord Yuto's words are exactly my own thought."
Her cheeks rosy, she spoke softly.
Yuto blinked. Had he said something wrong?
At Konoha's main gate, several figures clashed fiercely.
Icy killing intent and powerful auras intertwined and collided in the air, forming an invisible pressure that spread outward.
Konoha's gate was the village's most critical defensive point, manned entirely by elites.
Ordinary shinobi were not even qualified to enter this battlefield.
Ringo Yugiri, Momochi Zabuza, and other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, along with Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, Uchiha Obito, and other powerhouses exuded fierce auras, their cold gazes fixed ahead.
Blocking their path were Konoha's elite jonin – Kakashi, Asuma, Yugito, and others.
"Red Secret Technique – Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
Sasori pulled a massive scroll from his robes and hurled it skyward.
In the next moment, amid puffs of white smoke, hundreds of puppets appeared overhead. Under Sasori's chakra threads, they formed a terrifying puppet army.
In an instant, the puppet army surged into battle, forcibly blocking the approaching Konoha shinobi.
"Leave the ordinary ones to me. The rest is up to you."
Sasori manipulated hundreds of puppets while speaking calmly to those present.
"No interruptions would be ideal."
Kisame Hoshigaki grinned, showing shark-like teeth.
Ringo Yugiri watched with a grave expression.
Controlling hundreds of puppets simultaneously – such ability was terrifying.
Her face remained impassive, but inwardly she had already marked Sasori as a potential opponent, considering how to counter his puppet technique.
Of course, not only Ringo Yugiri – aside from Kisame, who already knew Sasori's abilities well, the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen members were similarly assessing the situation.
They began mentally simulating how to fight an enemy like Sasori.
But simulations aside, everyone knew the true enemy before them was Konoha, not Sasori.
With Sasori holding off the ordinary Konoha shinobi, the group charged toward Kakashi and the others without hesitation.
In a blink, the two sides clashed, the sounds of battle erupting across the sky.
A chain whipped through the air, cracking toward Kakashi.
Kakashi dodged instantly, shifting left.
The chain smashed into the spot where he had stood, punching a rectangular crater into the ground.
"You again."
Kakashi's face was cold and tense as he faced Uchiha Obito.
They had clashed before, but Kakashi still felt a chill facing Obito.
"My, my, your reflexes are sharp."
"Is it the Sharingan's doing? That eye is wasted on you. Why not hand it over?"
Obito swung the heavy chains while sneering.
"Wasted? Perhaps."
"It was a gift from a dear friend. How could I give it to you?"
Kakashi looked at Obito, his voice frigid, as he produced a kunai.
"Dear friend?"
Obito let out a low laugh, laced with mockery and coldness.
They moved simultaneously!
The whistling chain coiled like a serpent, curving through the air toward Kakashi.
Kakashi's eyes flashed. He raised his kunai to block, producing a heavy thud.
Using that brief moment, he reached out with his other hand toward the chain.
As he did, lightning-natured chakra erupted from that hand.
The instant Kakashi grasped the chain, crackling current surged along it toward Uchiha Obito.
Facing Kakashi's instant counterattack, Obito's eyes held a flash of surprise. He entered intangibility immediately.
The chain fell naturally from his grasp.
Kakashi showed no surprise. Instead, he hurled his kunai toward Obito while seizing the chain and moving rapidly, his gaze locked on Obito.
As the kunai passed through Obito's body, Kakashi appeared before him with the chain.
He whipped the chain toward Obito's head.
The chain's tip screamed through the air, striking toward Obito's skull.
Facing this, Obito naturally remained intangible.
Just as expected!
Through multiple battles, Kakashi had long since grasped Obito's ability.
Previously, Kakashi would have focused on stalling rather than attacking.
Intangibility was simply too broken a power – without a specific counter, only delay was possible.
But recently, Kakashi's left eye had awakened Kamui.
Both space-time techniques – facing Obito, Kakashi now felt a degree of confidence!
Though he did not know if his Kamui could affect Obito's intangibility…
Both were space-time techniques. A confrontation between them would surely have some effect!
While Obito remained intangible…
Kakashi's left Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyo Sharingan. His eye widened, locked onto Obito.
Kamui!
At the focal point of Kakashi's pupil, space slowly warped.
At that moment, when Obito saw Kakashi's left eye evolve into the Mangekyo Sharingan, shock flooded his face. His pupils dilated instantly!
Without hesitation, Obito exited intangibility and produced a kunai, blocking it to the left side of his head.
The chain Kakashi whipped struck the kunai with a deafening crash.
Caught off guard, the kunai was knocked away. Obito's entire arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
The arm was clearly fractured!
But Obito ignored the searing pain.
He retreated rapidly, pulling away from Kakashi's Kamui range.
[
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