At the same time, a hooded man whose skin had largely turned scaly, golden serpent pupils gleaming in his eyes, appeared before the spiral-masked Obito.
Even without Orochimaru's death, he had still chosen to assimilate Orochimaru's cells—the one who claimed to have inherited all of Orochimaru's power: Orochi-Kabuto took the stage.
Orochimaru's true body, however, had vanished as if evaporated, leaving not a trace anywhere in the shinobi world.
"Akatsuki's traitor… Kabuto!" The moment he saw him, Obito attacked without hesitation.
"Edo Tensei!" But Kabuto not only evaded Obito's strike—he unleashed the forbidden Impure World Reincarnation.
Several coffins rose before Obito, each holding a powerful shinobi of bygone villages: Kinkaku and Ginkaku, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, even familiar Akatsuki faces—a man who once fought the First Hokage—Kakuzu. And… Nagato Uzumaki!!!!
So Nagato had died after all. No doubt Konan had met a bad end too, and those Rinnegan had returned to Obito's hands. Oddly, among these Edo Tensei powerhouses, Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand were absent.
There were also former Kage from the Five Great Villages—everyone but Konoha's—such as the Second Mizukage, Second Tsuchikage, Third Raikage, Fourth Kazekage, and so on.
And in the last coffin lay the man hailed as a demon god by the shinobi world—Uchiha Madara!
"Where did you get him? …Still, in that case, you do qualify to join my plan." Seeing that coffin, the spiral-masked "Madara" finally agreed to Kabuto's proposal.
Akatsuki's high-end combat force had gathered for the decisive battle.
Obito then showed Kabuto his army: a sky-darkening horde of White Zetsu.
"About a hundred thousand of them," Obito said.
As time passed, the other great nations' shinobi also mustered their armies. Konoha's shinobi, as expected, proved the most capable: even now, more than half of the coalition's unit leaders were from Konoha.
For the moment, the acting Hokage post remained in Musashi's hands. The former Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade, still showed no sign of waking.
That, of course, was Musashi's doing from the shadows—a biotoxin developed by the Chimera Ant research division. It would not kill, but it prevented waking and slowly degraded the body's functions. A potent neurotoxin.
No one in Konoha could cure it yet. Not Shizune—nor Sakura. Their medical ninjutsu were not up to par; they couldn't even diagnose why Tsunade could not awaken.
Helpless, the Konoha advisory council announced that Uchiha Musashi would succeed as the new Hokage. The Sixth Hokage—Uchiha Musashi. To date, the only Uchiha ever to become Hokage of Konoha.
"Arise, former jinchuriki, Kage of past generations, and shinobi of ages gone!" One after another, innumerable powerhouses—Kage-level and even elite jōnin—were summoned by Orochi-Kabuto's Edo Tensei.
"Go—begin the war!" Thus the Fourth Great Ninja War began.
Countless living shinobi crossed blades with the mighty dead. The White Zetsu swarmed in overwhelming numbers, but in quality… In short, a single special jōnin could cut down several Zetsu. Though special jōnin and above were not plentiful in the coalition.
As for the resurrected titans—at the end of the day, they were all dead men. While immortal, their strength had declined significantly.
Bound by Edo Tensei, their performance was also greatly curtailed.
Take Kakuzu, for example. Once a veteran powerhouse among Kage-level combatants, with five hearts—and each manifested beast a menace. After Edo Tensei, he could at best struggle against three elite jōnin.
Most important of all: aside from a handful of fanatics and bloodthirsty sorts, the majority of the summoned powerhouses were holding back.
Yes, you heard that right—they were pulling their punches, and badly. The former Kage of each village were the most obvious—just shy of publicly pointing out their weak points to the Allied Shinobi Forces.
Even so, faced with the locust-like swarms of resurrected Kage-class foes, the coalition suffered grievous casualties.
They were still Kage, after all. Even pulling punches, even fighting at seventy percent of their prime, no one who reaches Kage and shakes the shinobi world is simple. Worst of all, they were immortal; unless sealed completely, these undying foes would slowly regenerate.
Especially the white-haired middle-aged man now before the coalition. Wielding only a short tantō, he barred their advance alone.
The legendary powerhouse whose light shone brightest in the Second Great War. Konoha's madman of a shinobi—the White Fang of the Leaf, Hatake Sakumo. Kakashi's father. For a time, the legend went that encountering the White Fang of Konoha meant you could abandon the mission without reprimand.
Since the founding of the Five Great Villages, only the First Hokage had merited such treatment—until the White Fang.
For reasons unknown—despite not appearing in the original—Hatake Sakumo now stood before the Allied Forces, a one-man army.
"He's too strong—this white-haired shinobi is like a demon. No one can get near him." Some shinobi up front—no one knew from which village—had been traumatized by the White Fang's power. No matter how many came, no matter how strong they were, all fell bleeding before that shining blade.
Only those who had weathered the storms of the Second War recalled the terrifying legend at the sight.
Konoha's top master—the White Fang of the Leaf.
And this White Fang was unlike the other Edo Tensei summons. From start to finish, he had not spoken a word, and whether the shinobi of Konoha or other villages, he cut them down mercilessly.
One stroke, one kill—blood spraying on the spot.
"Heh-heh. I'm not like Lord Orochimaru. My Edo Tensei has been improved. I can't maintain absolute control over many such subjects—yet—but each one is among the strongest in this world." Orochi-Kabuto set down a game piece with a wicked smile.
This was Edo Tensei even more thorough than in the original—able to draw out the recipient's power perfectly. "We have to seal him!" said an unknown coalition shinobi, staring at the White Fang standing proudly before them.
"Are you kidding? You try it! That's the White Fang of Konoha! How did this guy even die back then? This level of strength is… terrifying."
"His only weakness… might be a lack of large-area ninjutsu. But a single blade style like that is still beyond our pay grade. He just took down three elite jōnin in a single instant!"
"Wait—another one's here." White hair, two red dots at the brow—Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan.
If not for his illness, at Kimimaro's growth rate he would now surely be a man whose power rivaled the White Fang of Konoha.
Elsewhere, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had also assembled.
Finally, the Kage of past generations from the villages—more numerous than in the original: the Second and Third Raikage, the Second Tsuchikage, the Second, Third, and Fourth Kazekage, the Second Mizukage, and the Third Mizukage.
Eight Kage in all. Even the Third Kazekage, once turned into a puppet by Sasori, had been summoned.
"This feeling… power flooding my whole body." Just as the Fourth War began and the shinobi world plunged into conflict,
a voice rose from the depths of endless darkness.
"But—who am I?"
"Why does this power fill me with joy?"
"Pitou."
"Heh-heh-heh… I remember now. I am the King—the King of the Chimera Ants." In the depths of the dark where no light should reach,
a young man shone with a faint golden radiance.
"So I was wrong from the start." The youth's appearance grew strange; a long tail sprouted from his back. His whole form slowly shifted to resemble the Chimera Ant King from Hunter x Hunter—save for the massive green mushroom cap.
This was one of the abilities Meruem gained after devouring Hamura Otsutsuki—atavism.
Reverting to Chimera Ant form, Meruem's body would rise to an inconceivable level. How strong? Meruem did not know.
But certainly stronger than the boost Sage Mode gave his human form—by at least twice.
And the benefits did not end there.
"Chimera Ant form or human—both are me. In Chimera Ant form, my body is supreme. In human form, my energy attacks are supreme." In the end, Meruem's body settled back into human form.
A perfect human form—his skin no longer tinged green, but a natural human complexion.
It was all still his body, but having been human in a past life, Meruem's aesthetics were, after all, normal.
"So—what happened while I was away? Oh? It's already escalated to a shinobi world war? Quickly done. But this isn't the time to leave yet. I need to stabilize my current state. Just a little more time will do."
(End of Chapter)
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