The air fell silent; time and space themselves seemed frozen by the hundreds of pairs of pale purple, ripple-patterned eyes.
Hovering in midair, the hundreds of Uchiha clan members looked like gods, their bodies exuding an aura capable of destroying the world.
The Rinnegan.
The eyes said to belong only to the legendary Sage of Six Paths.
Yet at this moment, they were being handed out like wholesale goods, with every Uchiha possessing a pair.
That power intertwined, warping the fragile space of the ninja world.
The expression on Hashirama Senju's face completely froze.
The "God of Shinobi" instinctively tried to sense them using his Sage chakra.
However, the moment his chakra left his body, it was forced right back in by an apparently endless, overwhelming wave of chakra.
"Ha... haha..."
Hashirama let out an awkward laugh.
Then, he curled up into a ball and squatted in a corner.
He completely shut down.
On the other side, Madara Uchiha's reaction was even more intense, though his trembling came from sheer excitement.
He stared at the hundreds of pairs of Rinnegan, then abruptly whipped his head around, looking at Ian with a fanatical gaze.
"This is... this is what the Uchiha should be!"
"This is... the power that stands above the world!"
"This is the true clan of gods!"
The ultimate power he had spent his entire life pursuing had been mass-produced by the man before him.
But he did not feel angry; he had already figured it out!
So what if his Eye of the Moon Plan failed? So what if he couldn't achieve a world where everyone understood each other!
He could easily accept a world ruled by the Uchiha. Let the ants lament their fate of not possessing the Sharingan!
Standing behind her two predecessors, Tsunade's face was just as pale.
As the Fifth Hokage, she knew better than anyone what this meant.
The so-called Five Great Ninja Villages, the so-called Allied Shinobi Forces—they were nothing but a joke in the face of this power.
Resist?
Resist with what? Send tens of thousands of shinobi to charge at a jutsu they could cast with a wave of their hands?
That wouldn't be a war; it would be a suicide mission.
Dragging her weak legs, she walked over to Hashirama, who was still squatting in the corner questioning his life choices, and reached out a trembling hand to gently tug at his collar.
"Grandfather, why don't we just surrender?"
"There's absolutely no way we can fight this."
These words fell clearly into Ian's ears.
He slowly descended from midair and gently shook his head.
"Surrender? That's no fun at all."
He swept his gaze over the people of the Hidden Leaf.
"The war must be fought."
"But don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
"I just need the entire ninja world, and all those rats hiding in the gutters, to deeply realize—"
"Times have changed!"
Changing the subject, Ian's tone became casual.
"However, looking at the state you're in right now, you're definitely too weak. Fighting you wouldn't be very interesting."
"I've always been a kindhearted person, so I'll lend you a hand and boost your strength first."
This statement left everyone present stunned.
Boost the enemy's strength?
What sheer arrogance! What absolute confidence!
Before the crowd could recover from the absurdity of it all, Ian's gaze had already landed on Orochimaru in the crowd.
"Orochimaru."
Orochimaru's golden snake-like pupils shrank. Not daring to show the slightest negligence, he immediately stepped forward.
Ian casually used Wood Release to grow a perfect vessel from the ground, then issued a command.
"Edo Tensei, Kushina Uzumaki."
Not daring to disobey, Orochimaru's hands rapidly formed hand seals.
As the jutsu activated, countless specks of dust and paper gathered on the ground, gradually outlining a tall figure.
A signature head of fiery red hair.
A gentle yet resolute face.
When Kushina Uzumaki's figure fully solidified and appeared before everyone's eyes, Naruto Uzumaki, who had been hiding at the back of the crowd, instantly broke down.
He had a feeling—this was his mom!
His lips trembled unconsciously, and his eyes instantly turned red. Tears welled up, blurring his vision.
"Mom?"
However, it wasn't over yet.
Ian beckoned to a few Uchiha clan members who were watching the spectacle.
He casually tossed out several Totems of Undying radiating an ominous aura, which landed in their hands. He then pointed at Hashirama, Minato, Kushina, and all the other Edo Tensei bodies.
"Use the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu on them."
Those Uchiha members didn't hesitate at all. They nodded in unison and formed hand seals simultaneously.
The purple ripple patterns in their eyes glowed brightly.
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Jutsu!"
Green light surged from their bodies; it was pure life energy. Their bodies visibly shriveled and aged at a rapid pace, ultimately turning into piles of dust that scattered in the wind.
The price of the forbidden jutsu was the casters' lives.
But the very moment their life force completely dissipated, the Totems of Undying in their arms shattered!
The next second, the scattered dust flashed with light and reassembled on the spot. The Uchiha members stood back up, completely unharmed.
On the other side, the bodies of Hashirama, Minato, Kushina, and the others also underwent a transformation.
The Edo Tensei bodies made of dust peeled away inch by inch, revealing warm flesh and blood brimming with life underneath.
(Of course, they were clothed.)
They had been truly resurrected.
"Mom... Dad!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Naruto rushed straight over.
He hugged his parents tightly, burying his face deep into their embrace. The grievances, loneliness, and longing he had endured for years could no longer be contained.
Minato and Kushina also hugged their son tightly, unable to stop their own tears from flowing.
The family of three was reunited for the very first time.
...
Meanwhile, in the dense forest just outside the Uchiha compound.
A figure stealthily crept closer.
Konan of the Akatsuki had come under Nagato's orders to investigate the secrets of the Uchiha.
She turned her body into paper and carefully infiltrated, attempting to bypass the outer sensory barrier.
However, the moment she stepped into the Uchiha compound's territory, several figures appeared out of thin air right in front of her.
Those pairs of pale purple Rinnegan simply stared at her quietly.
Konan was instantly frozen in place, completely unable to control the paper on her body.
One of the Uchiha members raised a hand.
"Bansho Ten'in."
An invisible gravitational pull instantly bound her, capturing her with ease.
When she was brought before Ian and saw those hundreds of pairs of Rinnegan, she was completely dumbfounded.
Suddenly, an absurd thought sprouted in her mind.
'Could it be... is Nagato actually an orphan of both the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans?'
...
Late at night.
In the Hidden Cloud Village, Killer B was lying in bed, still rapping in his sleep.
"Yo, yo, tonight's dream is totally rad, just like Uncle Eight-Tails' tentacles, it ain't bad, skr..."
Suddenly!
A sense of emptiness that pierced deep into his soul abruptly emerged.
The Eight-Tails' chakra inside his body vanished in an instant.
"Ahhh—!!"
But just a second later, that familiar chakra returned to his body.
Killer B shot up from his bed, covered in cold sweat and panting heavily.
"Gyuki! What happened? What was that just now?!"
The Eight-Tails in his mind was trembling violently; he could feel a primal fear.
"I don't know! Just now, in that split second."
"A force pulled me over. I think I just saw the other Tailed Beasts too."
Listening to his partner's incoherent description, Killer B felt a chill shoot straight up his spine to the top of his head.
"Yo, yo, what kind of person... could do such a thing!"