"Did you really think mere Edo Tensei could bind me?" Under the three Kage's gaze, Uchiha Madara, who had been on the verge of dissipating, condensed into a solid body once more.
"From here on, I'm going all out!" Madara widened his Rinnegan and fixed everyone present with his stare.
"So it really is you, Obito? Just as the Fifth Hokage said!" On the other battlefield, Kakashi and Guy, two elite shinobi, had arrived. Kakashi had prepared himself mentally, but still hadn't expected the masked man to truly be Obito.
"Kakashi." Beneath the shattered half-mask, a refined face showed. Though over ten years had passed, Kakashi recognized Uchiha Obito.
Obito simply tore off the intact half as well, revealing the other side of his face, nearly ruined by the rocks that had buried him back then.
"No matter what, I'm taking the Nine-Tails today! Ninjutsu: Explosive Gale Waltz!"
"Kamui! Leave this to me. Naruto, your space–time jutsu can hurt him too, but let me handle this one." Kakashi's Mangekyō Sharingan spun furiously, warping Obito's ninjutsu into the Kamui space.
"Let me settle this with him once and for all!" Kakashi resolutely held back the eager Naruto.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song!"
"Wind Release: Shield of Karura!" "Earth Release: Rock Golem—Golem!" Madara's jutsu were downright broken. A casual Fire Release forced both Kazekage and Tsuchikage to combine their strongest defensive techniques just to barely hold.
Even so, much of Gaara's sand had vitrified from the heat. That showed how scorching his flames were.
"Hokage… do you have a way to beat this guy?" Panting, the Tsuchikage couldn't help but admire how long the Sixth Hokage, Uchiha Musashi, had fought Madara alone, and asked him quietly.
Musashi was essentially their only hope. The Tsuchikage's Dust Release had been absorbed; the Kazekage, even less so, couldn't scratch Madara; the Raikage might have a sliver of a chance if he pushed his lightning-stimulated cellular activation to the limit.
But the enemy was an Edo Tensei body. Wounding him was meaningless. Killing him didn't work either. Even when the caster ended the Edo Tensei, Madara hadn't dispersed. The only way to deal with him was sealing.
Them sealing Uchiha Madara? Pipe dream.
"I'll do my best." Musashi answered firmly as he looked at Madara's position, but none of the others saw the mocking smile that flashed across his face after he spoke.
Everything is proceeding according to plan.
"Kakashi, use your death to atone to Rin!" Though Kakashi was an old-school elite jōnin and by now had Kage-class strength,
he still didn't measure up before Uchiha Obito.
Holding back Naruto, Sasuke, and Guy to face Obito alone was far too taxing. He was completely being pressed. In ninjutsu, Obito, who had inherited most of Madara's techniques, wasn't going to lose to Kakashi's copied jutsu.
And in taijutsu it was even worse. Kakashi had once been a blade-using taijutsu shinobi, but later grew so listless his strength stagnated for a long time. If Guy hadn't kept dragging Kakashi into taijutsu spars, he might be even weaker now.
With Hashirama's cells, Obito's strength, speed, and regeneration far outstripped Kakashi's.
Lastly, secret arts. Kakashi's strongest was his Mangekyō Sharingan—but that eye belonged to Obito.
So the only outcome when Kakashi faced Obito was death. Unless he had protagonist plot armor and powered up on the spot, in a one-on-one he was doomed.
"This big guy's a pain too!" Even while blocking the Gedo Statue's attack in Nine-Tails form, Naruto had the leisure to quip.
No one answered him.
Sasuke and Guy's attention stayed on Kakashi and Obito. Naruto handling an unpiloted, low-intelligence Gedo Statue was a sure thing.
Didn't you see he still had time to quip mid-fight?
"Hey, Obito—what are you doing? Haven't you finished off these weak ants yet?" At that moment, the battle shifted again. Dressed in ancient garb, Uchiha Madara suddenly appeared before them.
"Impossible! Why are you here? Damn it—what happened to Musashi-nii and the others?" At Madara's appearance, not only Naruto but even the ever-icy Sasuke lost his composure.
By all logic, Uchiha Madara shouldn't be appearing on this battlefield.
Unless he had already finished off his opponents.
And his opponents had been the three Kage plus Uchiha Musashi.
"Oh? Those guys? Heh-heh-heh… By now they're probably as good as dead. Speaking of that Uchiha Musashi junior—he's strong. Strong enough to make me go all out. But too bad—I am Uchiha Madara."
"Oh? Only now do I notice—your eyes. Seems you're my clansman as well. Hmph. No surprise for a Uchiha. Even with the Senju gone silent, our clan still produces talents. Well? Interested in my plan?" After looking over everyone present, Madara's interest settled on Uchiha Sasuke.
He hadn't expected that, after writing off the Uchiha, so many outstanding juniors would appear.
"I'm going to kill you! Tailed Beast Bomb!" Before Sasuke could answer, Naruto had already attacked.
"With mere Nine-Tails power?" Madara calmly extended both hands toward the oncoming Tailed Beast Bomb.
It was the Preta Path. He absorbed even a Tailed Beast Bomb.
"A gaggle of rabble. Obito, how long are you going to dawdle?" Madara snapped, displeased.
"It's time you saw the Ten-Tails' complete form." A colossal, one-eyed behemoth crawled up from beneath the earth.
If ordinary shinobi were like ants before the Nine-Tails and the other beasts, then the Nine-Tails and the others were like ants before the Ten-Tails.
"Damn it! I'll avenge Musashi-nii! Super—Tailed Beast Bomb!!" Naruto gathered a massive chakra sphere again.
But before the Ten-Tails, it was a child's toy. It couldn't hurt it at all. A simple twitch from the Ten-Tails left Nine-Tails-cloaked Naruto reeling.
"Don't panic, Naruto! We're here." From sky and earth and in a blink, shinobi poured in from every direction.
The Allied Shinobi Forces—just like in the original—had come to support.
"Uchiha Madara! Don't underestimate us!" Distributing Nine-Tails' power to the Allied shinobi, they launched wave after wave against the Ten-Tails.
But the Ten-Tails now was only a step from its final complete form. Remember—the Eight-Tails had already been captured.
Though the army fought desperately, they took heavy losses under the Ten-Tails' blows.
"With no First, Second, or Third Hokage, how do you plan to beat the top-tier boss combo of Obito, Madara, and the Ten-Tails? And I've prepared a gift for you, too. Hee-hee." On a peak far from the battle's center, a hole opened in the air, and a man in white stepped out.
Meruem's true body.
"It's almost over—the board I've set in this world. Only Kaguya's advent remains." Strange sigils spread across the ground near Meruem, and a man in black appeared out of nowhere.
Uchiha Musashi—Meruem's strongest clone.
"Took you long enough. Well? How strong is that Madara?" Meruem asked without turning.
"A fine opponent. If I didn't have to conserve strength, I'd love to go all out with him. I've only felt that level of battle with Netero before." At the mention of Madara, something in Musashi stirred—he wanted another bout. But he knew that was impossible.
"Heh. You want to trade blows with powerhouses? You'll have your chances. Since everything's ready, let's wrap this up and leave this world sooner. Aside from Kaguya and the God Tree's fruit, there's nothing here worth our time anymore," said Meruem.
"Hm? Four powerful new chakra sources? Oh—it's them. Tch. No Konoha's four Hokage, but they summoned the other four villages' First Kage. Edo Tensei—only Orochimaru still uses it. Same as in canon—he can read the board. He knows that if Madara's plan succeeds, the shinobi world will be no more." Meruem glanced at the battlefield, mildly surprised.
Even so, the other villages' First Kage fell far short of Konoha's First. Still, they might barely patch the hole. Heh—interesting. I'll wait a bit longer and see how this plays out.
"But this time, even if Obito becomes the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, he'll be the full version!"
"Because… the other half of the Nine-Tails' chakra was handed to Black Zetsu back when I was sealed by the two Six Paths brothers!"
(End of Chapter)
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