"What happened?"
"I... I think I was dreaming!"
"I had a dream too!"
"No! Something's wrong! Why can't I extract any chakra?"
"Damn it! Neither can I!"
On the main battlefield in the Land of Iron, everyone from the Allied Shinobi Forces to the reanimated dead, and even Hokage like the Senju brothers, realized without exception that they had lost the ability to refine chakra.
Though their physical conditioning and vitality remained far superior to that of ordinary people, they were no longer capable of competing with Nen users who wielded all manner of bizarre and inexplicable powers. This intense sense of loss, the feeling of falling from the sky straight into the dirt, instantly swept through every ninja who had once prided themselves on being the elite.
In contrast, the former "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju, laughed it off with a carefree air. "Without chakra, Wood Release, or ninjutsu, I can finally enjoy the life of an ordinary person. Now then, should I find a casino to play a few hands first, or..."
Before he could finish, Tobirama couldn't help but interject, "Hey! Anijya! This is no time for that. If everyone has lost the ability to extract chakra, it means the Ten-Tails God Tree siphoned something vital from our bodies. Regardless of who the final victor is, the entire Ninja World has lost the power to oppose them."
"It's Allen! The victor is Allen! That guy planned everything from the start!" Sasuke struggled to crawl out of a cocoon, voicing what he believed to be the truth. "From Kabuto seizing the Rinnegan and the Gedo Mazo, to using Rinne Rebirth to resurrect all the reanimated ones, to killing Kaguya and seizing the Ten-Tails, it was all part of his plan."
Tobirama, who always had a penchant for conspiracy theories, nodded in grim agreement. "Exactly. If we had remained in the state of Reanimation, we would have possessed infinite chakra. But that man insisted on resurrecting us all!"
There was no helping it; Tobirama was naturally predisposed toward darkness. No matter what happened, he couldn't help but imagine the worst-case scenario.
"Where are Neji and Karin? Why have they disappeared? And the members of the Akatsuki, they seem to be gone too!" Tsunade scanned the chaotic surroundings, her brow furrowed.
It was obvious that these individuals had played pivotal roles in this incident; one could even say they were the initiators of the entire conspiracy. But now, they had vanished into thin air. Even a fool could tell something was amiss.
Unfortunately, after losing the ability to refine chakra, every ninja, including the Fifth Hokage, had been reduced to "trash" that was only slightly stronger than a commoner. Perhaps their years of combat experience and courage would still allow them to crush an ordinary person, but that was the extent of it. At this moment, simply walking out of this region, which had been completely terraformed by the previous battle, would take a considerable amount of time, let alone the taxing effort of tracking someone.
…
While the ninjas were mired in a state of extreme disorientation, the members of the Akatsuki were gathered in a cave several kilometers away. Even Black Zetsu was here, currently held captive.
"So, was our plan a success?" Nagato asked bluntly.
Neji nodded without hesitation. "Yes. Success. Allen successfully killed Kaguya and her son, the Sage of the Six Paths, Hagoromo. He even reclaimed the medium used to extract chakra from every ninja's body. Now, only Karin and I in this entire world still possess that power. No one else can ever use it again."
"Damn it! Why did that guy have to take away our chakra mediums too?" Deidara questioned, looking thoroughly displeased.
"Be grateful. Compared to Sasori and Kakuzu, you're quite lucky," Karin remarked, glancing at the two unfortunate piles of remains on the ground.
Because Sasori had modified his body into a puppet, he suffered an instant and violent death the moment he lost his chakra. As for Kakuzu, his original body had long since been replaced by the Earth Grudge Fear; once he lost his chakra, that secret weapon of the Hidden Waterfall Village immediately broke down, taking him with it.
It was a profound irony. Within the Akatsuki, these were the only two who craved immortality, yet both had ended up dead. In contrast, Nagato, Obito, and Itachi, men who did not fear death, had survived.
"Indeed. For a sinner like me who has already died once, to be resurrected and bask in the sunlight again is a stroke of incredible luck. If you don't mind, I intend to spend the rest of my life living in obscurity as an ordinary man," Itachi said with a sense of deep realization. He understood clearly that for someone like him, losing his power wasn't a curse, but a form of liberation. From now on, he could sever his ties to the past and embrace a future.
"Agreed. I also plan to change my identity and spend my remaining days accompanying Rin's tombstone," Obito added in support.
"And Allen? Where is he now?" Konan suddenly asked the question everyone was concerned about.
"Him? He should be undergoing some form of evolution and metamorphosis right now. Don't worry, he won't interfere with this world any further; in fact, he doesn't plan on staying here for long," Neji explained nonchalantly.
"What do you mean by 'doesn't plan on staying for long'?" Nagato sharply caught the keyword.
"Exactly what it sounds like. He will leave this world. Just as he promised, he is handing the power of decision-making over to humanity. We will control our own destiny."
As she spoke, a look of loneliness and sorrow crossed Karin's face. Although she had tried to confess her feelings and ask him to stay, she had ultimately been met with a very firm rejection. Since even Allen himself hadn't figured out the conditions and timing for the Dark Portal to appear, how could he risk taking another person with him?
"Then how do we handle this guy?" Deidara kicked Black Zetsu, who was pinned in place by the power of the Six Paths Yin and Yang.
"As per Obito's request, I will create a seal to lock him away forever and bury him in the deepest part of the earth. What awaits him is an eternity of darkness, loneliness, and emptiness," Neji said in a calm tone that carried a terrifying sense of dread.
Many present who had hated Black Zetsu to their core couldn't help but look at him with a glimmer of pity. They knew this was far more cruel than killing him. No rational, intelligent life could endure decades, centuries, or even millennia of isolation without a single person to talk to, nothing but endless darkness and waiting.
In a few hundred years, even if someone were to dig Black Zetsu up, his mind would likely be long gone.