In the deep crater, Hashirama Senju propped himself up, spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with dirt.
His cheeks burned with pain, but it was nothing compared to the bewilderment in his heart.
He looked up at the young man smiling down at him, his mind completely blank.
He knew the gap between him and Ian Uchiha, but he never expected to be taken down by just a few random Uchiha clan members.
All their top-tier fighters had been wiped out. The entire battlefield fell silent. Over a hundred Perfect Susanoos, massive enough to blot out the sun, stood between heaven and earth, suffocating the remaining Allied Shinobi Forces.
'Is there really no hope left?'
Right at that moment.
A loud roar shattered the dead silence.
"Now is the time to carry out my ninja way!"
"Lee! Watch closely, this is youth!"
The Eight Inner Gates Formation, the final gate.
Gate of Death, open!
Boom!
A pillar of blood-red vapor shot into the sky like an erupting volcano, instantly blowing away the despair that shrouded the battlefield.
Might Guy's skin turned crimson as his blood rapidly evaporated. The bright red vapor burned fiercely around him, even distorting the surrounding space.
Might Guy instantly became the focal point of the entire battlefield. His chakra, which surpassed that of the Five Kage, was like a blood-red sun rising in the dark night, reigniting the long-extinguished hope in everyone's hearts.
In the distance, Nagato, who was observing the battle through the Six Paths of Pain, also looked moved.
'To think Konoha was hiding such a powerful combatant.'
"Night Guy!"
A furious roar echoed.
Might Guy transformed into a colossal blood-red dragon, charging fearlessly toward Ian, who stood at the front of the Uchiha formation.
The fragile space of the ninja world hummed under the overwhelming burden of his immense power, constantly warping and twisting.
This was Guy burning his life away to unleash his strongest, and final, strike!
Feeling Guy's overwhelming power, countless shinobi shed tears of excitement.
They felt as if they could already see victory, envisioning the arrogant Uchiha leader being reduced to ashes by this world-destroying blow.
However.
Facing this ultimate strike capable of kicking straight to the grand finale, Ian vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. In the next moment, a sky-obscuring Susanoo appeared. The original Susanoos looked like ordinary humans standing next to it.
The giant bent down and gently tapped the head of the colossal dragon.
"Pop."
A soft sound echoed.
The sound was as faint as a bursting bubble.
Time froze at this moment.
The blood-red dragon, capable of distorting space, began to disintegrate inch by inch from its head the moment it collided with the Susanoo's fingertip, ultimately vanishing into nothingness.
The red vapor on Might Guy's body gradually extinguished.
Then, as if completely drained, he fell powerlessly toward the ground.
"Guy-sensei!"
Lee let out a desperate cry.
Hope had been crushed the moment it was born.
The hearts of the Allied Forces plummeted into the abyss once more.
Ian slowly raised his head, glanced at the sky, and decided it was time.
He issued an order to his clan members behind him.
"Start dropping the marbles. One per person. Don't miss, and give them a quick end."
Over a hundred Uchiha clan members nodded in understanding.
Then, they simultaneously formed hand seals.
Tengai Shinsei!
Over a hundred pairs of Rinnegan looked up at the sky in unison.
The next second.
Above the clouds, over a hundred massive, sky-obscuring meteors appeared, carrying apocalyptic power. The meteors cast a continuous, sprawling shadow that plunged the entire battlefield into darkness.
It was actually over a hundred meteors!
Under the despairing gazes of all the shinobi, these hundred-plus meteors plummeted simultaneously.
The world seemed to have been put on mute.
The Allied Shinobi Forces were completely erased in this apocalyptic scene.
The land of the ninja world was left heavily cratered, bearing a striking resemblance to the moon in the sky.
...
The consciousness of all the shinobi plunged into darkness.
After the darkness, a soft white light flashed.
All the deceased shinobi, including Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and Might Guy, were resurrected on the spot.
Everyone looked bewildered.
'Was that just a genjutsu?'
But the phantom pain radiating from their bodies and the indelible fear etched deep within their souls clearly told them that it was all real!
They had truly died, and they had died incredibly gruesome deaths.
The crowd abruptly turned to look in the direction of the Uchiha compound.
They were then pleasantly surprised to find that the hundred-plus Uchiha clan members and the strongest of them all, Ian Uchiha, were nowhere to be seen.
Now, outside the compound, there was only a seven or eight-year-old Uchiha kid named Haigui.
He was staring at them curiously with a pair of clear, large eyes.
"Bastards! What the hell are you Uchiha playing at?!"
The Fourth Raikage A's anger was reignited. The hot-tempered shinobi instinctively wanted to charge at the Uchiha brat.
Seeing this, the little boy sighed helplessly, yet a joyful smile appeared on his tender face.
"Oh my, look at you, getting impatient again! Alright then, round two begins."
As soon as his voice fell.
The little boy's eyes instantly switched to the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan. He then levitated in place as nine pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs materialized behind his back.
He directly entered Six Paths Sage Mode.
"Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang!"
"Sage Art: Great Ring of Spiraling Fear!"
"Sage Art: ..."
...
Single-handedly, the little boy slaughtered the Allied Forces to the last man once again.
...
A white light flashed.
The Allied Shinobi Forces were resurrected.
The Uchiha swapped out their fighter.
The Allied Shinobi Forces died, then resurrected again.
This process looped continuously like a never-ending nightmare.
The Allied Shinobi Forces began to grow numb.
They experienced having their hearts pierced by countless sharp wooden spikes, feeling the agony of their life force being drained dry.
They experienced being sealed into "moons" by Chibaku Tensei, suffocating in endless darkness and isolation.
They even saw their loved ones and lived out their happiest lives within the illusion of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, only to be completely drained at the end of the dream and turned into White Zetsu.
By now, whether it was Hashirama Senju, hailed as the God of Shinobi, or Madara Uchiha, the legendary Asura.
Their former will, dignity, and pride had all dissipated through these hundred-plus cycles of slaughter and resurrection.
After an unknown number of resurrections, no one on the battlefield moved anymore.
Everyone lay slumped on the ground, their eyes hollow, like a group of soulless dolls.
At this moment, Ian's figure appeared in the center of the battlefield once again.
He walked up to Hashirama and Madara, who had completely lost their will to fight, squatted down, and looked at the two despondent seniors.
"Alright, the Uchiha clan's warm-up is over."
"I'm sure everyone had a great time playing."
"So now, let's talk about how we're going to remodel this world."