The earth was trembling madly.
The already ruined battlefield—ravaged by Ren and Obito Uchiha's clash—was now being pushed beyond its limits!
A hundred-meter-tall blue giant was rampaging through the combined forces of Kumogakure and Iwagakure. Madara Uchiha, consumed by fury, had no intention of holding back at all.
Every slash of his Susanoo split mountains and shattered the land. Countless shinobi were being butchered under his onslaught.
Hashirama Senju, by comparison, was still exercising a measure of restraint, but the efficiency of his Wood Golem's attacks was just as shocking.
With the two "core figures" of the High-Gundam Version fighting side by side, the impact was indescribable. The destruction they caused was downright catastrophic!
The allied forces of Kumo and Iwa were being consumed at an astonishing rate.
It wasn't as though they hadn't tried to counterattack. But whether it was ninjutsu or taijutsu, none of it made any difference against Susanoo and the Wood Golem. They couldn't even cause the slightest bit of trouble!
"It's over…"
"What kind of monsters are these?!"
"Do we… do we really have any hope?"
"They're too huge… the gap is too huge! Can we really beat monsters like this?"
"It's all over…"
Some of these shinobi had already been crushed mentally by Ren earlier. And now, even the reinforcements who had only just arrived were beginning to collapse as well.
Especially when they watched comrade after comrade fall, while they themselves could do absolutely nothing. That despair had become something tangible.
There was a limit to the human heart.
Even though shinobi were far tougher than ordinary people, when they saw their comrades falling beside them with no way to help—and when they realized that what stood before them wasn't a battle, but a one-sided massacre—even shinobi would break. Even shinobi would lose heart. Even shinobi would completely collapse.
"Those two damned bastards!"
Ōnoki's mentality was the most shattered of all. He had seen the condition of the alliance with his own eyes, and the terror of those years past seemed to be clawing its way back into his heart.
"Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it!"
The Fourth Raikage wasn't faring any better. So many had died, and among them were no doubt many of Kumogakure's finest shinobi.
This wasn't combat.
This wasn't war.
This was slaughter!
"Those damned bastards!"
Faced with such a scene, even the reanimated Raikages and Tsuchikages' eyes had turned red. These were all their village's descendants—these were their shinobi!
They charged frantically at Madara and Hashirama. After all, they themselves were Edo Tensei. At the moment, only they could actually do anything.
"Earth Release: Earth Core!"
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
The two Tsuchikages coordinated instantly. They changed the terrain in a flash, then followed up with Dust Release and launched a ferocious assault at Hashirama.
"Hell Stab: Level Two!"
"Hell Stab: One Finger Nukite!"
On the other side, the three Raikages moved just as swiftly. Lightning—blue and black—crackled around them as they rushed straight at Madara.
"I should praise your courage, shouldn't I?"
Madara still stood with his arms crossed, looking at the incoming attacks with cold indifference.
"Or did you think you could defeat us in this posture just like Ren did?"
Madara truly could not forget it.
Back then, when he and Hashirama had joined forces, Ren had beaten them down using nothing more than a chakra mode!
To Madara, that was an exceptionally unpleasant memory.
And now, seeing others seemingly trying to imitate Ren, he really couldn't keep it together.
"Who gave you the courage to do this?"
Susanoo instantly raised its enormous blue chakra blade and slashed toward the three Raikages. The sheer force of the swing seemed to sever the air itself!
In the next second—
"Hah!"
The Third Raikage let out a furious shout and smashed his fist into Susanoo's blade. The wild force of the impact was terrifying.
"You've got some power, brat, but compared to Hashirama and Ren, you're still far from enough!"
Looking at the Third Raikage, who had actually managed to block one of his strikes, Madara merely shook his head. In the next instant, Susanoo's strength surged explosively.
The Third Raikage's body began to crack apart under the overwhelming pressure, but the First and Second Raikages had already used that opening to continue their charge toward Madara.
"Truly ignorant and childish."
Madara let out a cold snort. More arms sprouted from Susanoo, each drawing a blade at once. Their sword-light was terrifying enough to cut through all things!
With a thunderous roar, the two Raikages were sliced clean in half.
And those two slashes did not stop there.
Their blade pressure continued forward, carving an enormous trench straight through the Kumogakure and Iwagakure alliance formation.
In an instant, dust and blood mist filled the air, and no one even knew how many shinobi had died!
"Senpō: Deity Gates!"
On the other side, facing the combined Dust Release and Earth Release attack, Hashirama remained perfectly composed.
He had no interest in clashing head-on with Dust Release. Instead, he decisively used the Deity Gates for defense.
White gates crashed down from the sky and blocked the white beam of Dust Release head-on. At the same time, Hashirama formed more seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Boom!
The Wood Dragon roared as it burst from the ground, surging straight toward the First Tsuchikage. At the same time, the Wood Golem attacked as well.
That single punch, carrying unstoppable force, smashed directly toward the airborne Second Tsuchikage.
"Compared to Ren, his mobility in the air seems noticeably lacking. In that case…"
Hashirama thought to himself, and with a slight movement of chakra, countless vines shot up into the sky.
The Second Tsuchikage immediately moved to evade while trying to continue forming seals, but the vines had already sealed off his flight path.
And at that exact moment, the Wood Golem's overwhelming punch had arrived before him!
Buzz—
In a single instant, the Second Tsuchikage was blown completely to pieces!
Even for an Edo Tensei body, it looked horrifyingly brutal.
At the same time, the Wood Dragon had already wrapped itself around the First Tsuchikage.
His chakra was being drained wildly, leaving him with no room to resist.
"You're pretty quick. I thought this would take you a while."
Madara naturally noticed what was happening on Hashirama's side and let out a faint laugh.
"Don't say such things."
Hashirama shook his head lightly. He truly disliked this kind of large-scale slaughter. It made him feel sick inside.
But at this moment, he had no other choice. All he could do was hope this would end soon.
"Let's move faster. Also, do you have any leads now? Who do you think that 'shadow' might be?"
"I don't know."
Madara had no such scruples. But regarding Hashirama's question, he answered seriously.
"Not yet. But we can wait for what happens on Ren's side.
The Moon's Eye has not been fully activated yet. Perhaps everything is close now. We'll have our answer soon enough."
"I see…"
Hashirama nodded and let out a sigh.
"I just hope we get a definite answer this time. I really don't like doing this."
"That's the difference between you and Ren!"
Madara let out a cold snort, his face filled with disdain.
"Your kindness has always been hypocrisy at crucial moments, while Ren clearly understands that change demands bloodshed!
How many people have died because of your hypocrisy? Every Shinobi World War, including this one, is the result of your hypocrisy!
And Ren only needs to solve all the problems in one go, spill all the blood that needs to be spilled once, and it'll all be resolved for good.
Do you still not understand? Do you still want to keep making the same mistakes?"
Hashirama had no response.
He truly didn't want to keep discussing this topic, and at this point, what meaning was there in discussing it anyway?
Wasn't he already cooperating?
"Forget it. Let's finish them quickly."
Hashirama decisively changed the subject. Looking at the countless shinobi below, he sighed.
"Those Kages are about to regenerate. Before that happens, let's do what we need to do—then wait for Ren's result."
"Mm."
Madara's expression remained calm, but inwardly he was rather pleased, because he had discovered Hashirama's weakness.
Any time he brought up the sins caused by Hashirama's ideals, Hashirama instantly had no way to refute him.
That made Madara feel very good.
Back then, he had always been the one on the receiving end of Hashirama's "talk-no-jutsu"!
"Hmm?"
But just as they were preparing to continue their assault, Madara suddenly looked up at the sky.
Hashirama did the same.
Because at some point, the sky had begun to change slightly.
A strange beam of light pierced through the thick layers of cloud and fell onto the earth—onto every single person.
And those beams seemed to carry a special kind of chakra.
Within that chakra, there was a hidden unease…
"This is bad…"
In the alliance encampment of Kumogakure and Iwagakure, Black Zetsu felt his blood run cold!
Madara and Hashirama were displaying their full Warring States glory without reservation, and such glory was not something modern-day shinobi could withstand.
The two of them were like Asuras. Like slaughter gods.
They effortlessly crushed vast armies as if numbers meant nothing.
Whether it was Susanoo, the Wood Golem, or their large-scale elemental techniques, all of them were enormous battlefield-annihilating abilities.
They were utterly unstoppable!
And that put Black Zetsu in a terrible position.
If things continued like this, defeat was only a matter of time.
And above them, Ren was still in the sky beating Obito—who had already reached the Six Paths level—to a pulp. At this point, the outcome of the battle was practically without suspense!
"Damn it, why did it come to this?!"
Black Zetsu truly could not understand.
This was nothing like what he had envisioned.
He could not understand why a power like Kekkei Mōra—something that should only be created by draining every living thing on a planet dry and exhausting the core energy of the world itself—would appear in Ren's body.
Even if Ren were Asura's reincarnation, there was no reason for him to be this monstrous!
Even compared to Ren, Asura himself would probably seem vastly inferior.
"And on Konoha's side, there's still the current Indra…"
Black Zetsu would never allow himself to forget the existence of Uchiha Hikari.
That woman was an extremely dangerous existence as well.
And just thinking about the current situation was enough to make his scalp go numb.
The previous generation's Indra and Asura had been reanimated and defected, and although they didn't possess the entirety of their living strength, they still completely crushed the present age.
The current generation's Indra and Asura were dominating their era as well, with one of them having even stepped into a realm that even the Ōtsutsuki would covet.
What exactly had happened to this world?
"Hmm?"
Just as Black Zetsu's heart was collapsing, a beam of light suddenly descended from the sky.
That beam parted the clouds and spilled onto the world like holy light—gentle, yet carrying a strange chakra.
This sudden phenomenon made Black Zetsu raise his head in confusion.
But in the next second, he was completely stunned!
"Infinite… Tsukuyomi?"
Ordinary people might not be able to see it.
But as a fusion of Yin and Yang Release, and with a trace of Kekkei Mōra chakra within him, Black Zetsu could see it clearly.
At that moment, the moon was reflecting the form of an eye, and wave after wave of strange chakra were being cast down to the world through it.
That sight completely stunned Black Zetsu.
Wait.
What the hell was this?
Who was performing Infinite Tsukuyomi?
What was this supposed to accomplish?
"Th-That is…"
Suddenly, he noticed that strange markings were appearing on the bodies of the surrounding shinobi.
The appearance of those marks made Black Zetsu even more uneasy.
But strangely, he also felt a little relieved.
"This isn't Infinite Tsukuyomi. The eye reflected on the moon isn't the Moon's Eye. It's another dojutsu—something similar to Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
The same mark had appeared on his own body as well.
But his body was far too special for him to worry about what that mark might do to him.
And he immediately used the mark to investigate. At last, he figured out what was going on.
But after figuring it out, he felt even more like breaking down.
Was this the jutsu of the current generation's Indra reincarnation?
That brat had already awakened the Rinnegan too?
Black Zetsu was furious to the extreme.
Why were the Uchiha of this era all such freakish and outrageous monsters?
And Indra's reincarnation had clearly appeared too early.
So why had Madara chosen Obito Uchiha of all people?
"No, this can't continue. If I want to resolve this mess now, I can only rely on Mother…"
Black Zetsu clenched his teeth.
He knew very well that if things continued like this, he was truly finished!
His eyes turned toward Obito Uchiha.
At this point, Ren and Obito's battle had already gone beyond the limits of a single battlefield.
The entire shinobi world had become their battlefield!
They fought as they moved farther and farther away, and everywhere they passed was reduced to ruin—whether cliffs, forests, mountains, or rivers.
The entire landscape was being warped by their clash. Lava was spilling out in countless places, and the violent tremors shaking the ground had triggered eruptions from volcanoes all across the land.
And most importantly—
This fight had essentially turned into Ren pressing Obito down and chasing him all over the world, while Obito had almost no room to strike back!
"Dead horse or not, I have to try treating it like a live one. If I don't make a move now, I'll truly never have another chance."
Black Zetsu had a terrible premonition.
Obito Uchiha was very likely about to be killed by Ren!
At this point, it no longer mattered that Obito wasn't yet fully familiar with his Six Paths power, or that he still hadn't awakened the Moon's Eye.
Black Zetsu had to act.
If he did not seize this final, pitifully slim chance now, then he would never have another.
Buzz—
But just then, an enormous pillar of light suddenly pierced through the sky.
Its dazzling brilliance was almost blinding.
And its immense chakra—despite the great distance—still conveyed an overwhelming sense of grandeur and suffocation!
"Damn it, Ren's really going in for the kill now!"
At that sight, Black Zetsu instantly recognized Ren's strongest technique.
He didn't dare hesitate for even a second longer.
His body sank rapidly into the earth.
He had to try.
He had to force a summoning through Obito!
Whether it succeeded or failed…
"Hey, are you sure this ability won't affect our own people too?"
On Konoha's side, Tsunade immediately realized that Hikari's jutsu had begun taking effect the moment she saw the changes in the sky.
Still, she couldn't help asking.
After all, those beams of light looked indiscriminate, and that was enough to make her uneasy.
What she wanted was for the enemy to be crippled—not for their own side to get caught in it too.
If it really was indiscriminate, then she'd rather not have it at all!
After all, she had no idea exactly how Hikari's jutsu worked.
And with her two grandfathers plus Madara already going on a full-scale rampage, while Ren and Obito's battle was moving constantly—even though it was still causing destruction below, it had lessened somewhat compared to that apocalyptic devastation from earlier—
That meant it was their turn to move!
Since that was the case, Tsunade naturally didn't want any extra trouble.
But Hikari only shook her head lightly.
"Don't worry. If this were before, I definitely wouldn't be able to control it precisely.
But now it's different."
As she said that, Hikari's gaze turned forward.
"Ren's enhancement of me has greatly improved my control over ocular techniques. And I can also control the power of the Tenseigan.
I can guarantee our people won't be affected.
It'll consume a lot of concentration, but the impact on me won't be too great."
"I see?"
Hearing that, Tsunade finally nodded.
Still, she couldn't help looking up at the sky.
This kind of wide-range direct attack really was terrifying.
"But you and Ren have never actually explained what this ability does. You should tell me now, right?"
"This technique is called Yachihoko."
Hikari glanced at Tsunade and, after thinking for a moment, lowered her voice—especially since the two Kages beside them were still nearby.
"By using the moon as a medium, I can project my ocular power to place a mark on enemies.
Through that mark, I can control them with genjutsu.
At the same time, I can continuously absorb their chakra…"
"Hiss…"
Tsunade inhaled sharply.
That ability was terrifying in a way that ordinary jutsu simply couldn't compare to.
If used on this scale in war, victory could practically be seized at will!
"No wonder Ren values your ability so highly. So that's why it's so extraordinary…"
At that point, Tsunade had nothing more to say.
But she already understood one thing.
This war would absolutely end in their victory!
"Hmm?"
Yet in that instant, they all sensed something and instinctively looked toward the sky.
There, a colossal golden blade of light had appeared—one that seemed to pierce heaven and earth.
That divine, overwhelming power felt as though it could crush all things.
Ren and Obito's battle had long since escaped the bounds of any single battlefield.
Or rather, the entire shinobi world had become their battlefield!
As they clashed and moved, wherever they passed was flattened. Boulders, forests, mountains, rivers—everything was erased and destroyed.
The ground itself was being reshaped by their blows. Lava was spilling out everywhere, and the violent tremors had caused volcanoes to erupt all across the land.
And most critically, the battle had become one where Ren was chasing Obito and beating him down, while Obito had almost no room to retaliate!
"You know, your taijutsu isn't that good. Your genjutsu isn't that good either. And your mastery of ocular techniques is also pretty mediocre."
Ren slashed downward through the sky. In an instant, space itself seemed to split open, and the golden light sped straight toward Obito. At the same time, Ren even had the leisure to mock him.
"But I have to admit, the Ten-Tails' power really did transform you.
You've definitely become tougher than before.
Honestly, I used to think you were already annoyingly hard to kill. Who knew you'd become even harder to kill now?
I guess that counts as fortune arising from disaster."
Obito Uchiha didn't answer.
At this point, he no longer had the spare focus to even react to Ren's "verbal attacks."
Too strong.
Far too strong!
As the Ten-Tails jinchūriki, he had believed with absolute certainty that his power now stood at the very peak of the shinobi world.
But at this moment, he had the eerie feeling of waking from a dream.
Ren's fists had truly beaten them senseless.
Ren was really forcing him to face reality.
"I… never won at all, did I…"
That crushing sense of defeat was pushing Obito toward collapse.
And combined with Ren's earlier words—words that had defined him as a man who "didn't truly care about Rin," a man who was "deceiving himself" and "living only in his own world"—he felt even more despair.
For the first time, he was really wavering.
Had everything he done not truly been for Rin?
Then what meaning did his existence even have?
"No… no! It was for Rin! Everything I did was to create a world where she exists!"
Even as his mind wavered and cracked, an intense resentment and desperate survival instinct still surged within him.
Watching Ren's incoming slash, Obito suddenly roared and shaped his Truth-Seeking Orbs into a shield in a desperate attempt to block it.
At the same time, the Heavenly Spear of Marsh in his hand lengthened suddenly, and the flames of the Cross-Pattern Sacred Fire wrapped around it, making it even sharper.
"It was for Rin! I won't let you say otherwise!"
Clang—
But then came a crisp metallic ring.
The moment Ren shattered the Truth-Seeking shield, his golden sword also collided with the Heavenly Spear of Marsh.
"Not bad. You've still got some fighting spirit."
Ren raised a brow. Then, in the next instant, he pressed down with his blade, knocking the Heavenly Spear off-line.
"But spirit doesn't determine the difference between us. Don't you know what kind of person you really are?"
Buzz—
Another slash.
The surrounding space shattered once more as the blade came for Obito's head.
Obito instantly summoned a Limbo clone to intercept, but this kind of defense was still far from enough.
Although the clone managed to block another strike, it was now on the verge of collapse.
Yet Obito immediately turned and fled!
He understood very clearly that he had to return to the main battlefield.
Only there, among the massive armies, would Ren no longer be able to act so freely without restraint.
"Still not giving up?"
Ren raised a brow and snorted. He ignored the Limbo clone completely and flashed after Obito.
"Do you really not understand? Unlike you, I don't need to rely on any ocular technique at all.
I myself excel in spatial power."
The space around Obito suddenly folded in on itself.
In the next instant, Ren appeared directly in front of him!
Buzz—
Another slash descended.
Obito hurriedly blocked with the Heavenly Spear of Marsh, but his face changed in an instant.
Because that slash suddenly vanished into space—
and then reappeared from behind him!
"Hah!"
Obito gave a shout as the Truth-Seeking Orbs behind him rapidly formed into a barrier.
But Ren had already appeared in front of him again.
Bang!
One kick.
It landed squarely on Obito's face and sent him flying backward.
And while he was still hurtling away, he realized that the slash from behind was still pursuing him!
That strike tore through his Truth-Seeking barrier, continuing straight toward his back.
Truth-Seeking Orbs might be the power formed by fusing all chakra natures, and they could indeed be called the "hardest substance in the world."
But in the end, they were still a technique.
And Ren—
Ren was a true Kekkei Mōra existence.
Faced with Ren, even something like the Truth-Seeking Orbs had terrible luck.
Boom!
Obito Uchiha smashed violently toward the earth below with a thunderous crash.
And Ren knew perfectly well what it meant to beat a drowning dog.
Without a single moment of hesitation, his figure flashed again and reappeared directly before Obito.
"You won't get away."
Buzz—
Golden light flared once more, and blood flew!
One of Obito Uchiha's arms was severed cleanly by Ren.
Even though Obito had reached the Six Paths level and become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, his body still could not endure Ren's attacks.
"Argh!"
Obito cried out in pain.
Seeing Ren closing in, he forced himself to endure the agony and violently stirred his chakra.
The Cross-Pattern Sacred Fire blazing around him grew even more violent, and those savage flames surged straight at Ren.
"Tch."
Ren snorted softly.
One Truth-Seeking Orb behind him flew out immediately, forming an invisible barrier before him.
The Cross-Pattern Sacred Fire was, after all, a power born from the Ten-Tails. Ren could clearly sense the purity of that chakra.
Even in his current state, if he should dodge, he would dodge.
And honestly, Obito really was an excellent whetstone.
Though compared to Ren he was still far too weak, fighting him did indeed make Ren's understanding of his own strength much clearer.
"But… this is enough."
Ren thought to himself.
At the same time, he looked up at the sky.
At some point, the storm clouds covering the world above had already dispersed.
Mysterious beams of light had long since descended onto the world.
Ren had noticed that radiance very early on.
He knew that Hikari had already activated her "Pseudo-Infinite Tsukuyomi."
If nothing unexpected had happened, every shinobi on the battlefield should now bear the mark of Yachihoko.
And since Ren had already gotten a sufficiently clear measure of the situation, there was no reason to keep "playing" with Obito any longer.
Boom!
Another violent crash.
The earth caved in once more, and Obito's body shot away like a cannon shell into the distance.
His speed as he was blasted backward was terrifying, and every rock he passed disintegrated into dust.
Lava kept pouring from the shattered ground, but even so, Obito still held tightly to the Heavenly Spear of Marsh.
He clearly still wanted to resist.
He stabilized himself quickly and continued fleeing ahead, while Ren's voice echoed behind him.
"All you know how to do is run?"
"Don't get so smug!"
Obito roared through gritted teeth while sprinting at full speed, panting heavily.
"You think I'll submit? Dream on!"
"I'm not being smug."
Ren's voice rolled across heaven and earth like a great bell.
"I'm just a little disappointed.
Because you're far weaker than I imagined.
In fact, I can already guess what you're trying to do.
You just want to get back to the main army so I'll hesitate, right?
But have you thought about one thing?
I've been able to suppress you from beginning to end.
I can even control spatial power itself.
So why do you think I've allowed you to keep running?"
Listening to that question, Obito's expression became uglier and uglier.
Because he suddenly realized Ren was probably telling the truth.
If Ren truly hadn't wanted him to escape, would he really have been able to get away?
By now, Obito had been beaten so badly that even his confidence had collapsed.
He was beginning to doubt himself.
"Then let's play a game."
Ren's voice, like thunder, rang out again. In the next instant, he appeared above Obito's head.
Bathed in golden radiance, he looked like a god descending from the heavens!
The golden sword in his hand suddenly expanded at terrifying speed, transforming into a gigantic pillar of light that seemed capable of piercing through heaven and earth itself.
Its divine pressure was enough to crush all things!
"This attack…"
Feeling that surging power, Obito's face turned deathly pale.
He had seen Ren use this move before.
Back then it had already seemed invincible.
And now, at Ren's current level, Obito couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of destruction it would cause.
Then, Ren's voice sounded once more:
"Guess what?"
"Do you think you can survive this slash?"
"Do you think you can escape alive?"
The moment those words fell, the pillar of light came down!
In that instant, the sky seemed to collapse.
The world itself seemed to shatter.
"What is that?!"
"Damn it, what the hell is happening?!"
"The sky… what's that light in the sky?!"
Beams of light continued to fall from above, landing on every person below. The chakra hidden inside those beams began to stir more and more violently.
In an instant, the shinobi of Kumo and Iwa realized that a strange mark had appeared on their bodies.
That mark was formed by three tomoe intertwined together.
It looked mysterious—yet that mystery brought with it overwhelming unease.
No one knew what it was.
But many of them guessed that this had to be some move from Konoha's side.
"Hey, do you know what this is? Why does it feel strangely familiar?"
Hashirama immediately looked toward Madara. He had sensed in that chakra some power faintly similar to Madara's.
"It seems like… Infinite Tsukuyomi, but there are many differences."
Madara shook his head, his brows tightly knitted. He himself didn't fully understand it either.
He knew the Moon's Eye Plan.
Infinite Tsukuyomi had once been his goal.
He did understand the theory behind it.
The problem was that he had never actually gotten the chance to cast it before abandoning the whole plan.
So even he didn't know the full details.
Still, he was certain of one thing.
"If it were Infinite Tsukuyomi, the strength wouldn't be so weak, and there wouldn't be markings like this. It's more like someone's personal ocular technique."
As he spoke, Madara turned his head toward Konoha's side.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is the work of that Uchiha descendant.
Tch… to be born with an ability like that…"
Madara cursed inwardly.
He had needed to prepare so much for a technique like that, yet an Uchiha of this era had just naturally awakened something similar?
That irritated him.
But while irritated, he was also puzzled.
What exactly was this technique?
Why would an Uchiha of this era possess such an ability by nature?
And what was happening on Ren's side?
Madara had been waiting to see what would happen to Obito Uchiha. And even now there was still no result, which made him restless.
Truth be told, he already believed Ren's analysis.
After all, the evidence was there.
But there were still too many unanswered questions.
Even with his iron will—the same will that had allowed him to abandon the Moon's Eye Plan altogether—
he still desperately wanted a final answer.
Something definitive enough to finally settle his heart.
"Argh!"
"Damn it, my chakra!"
"That mark—damn it!"
But before he could continue thinking, an enormous amount of chakra suddenly materialized in front of everyone's eyes!
Vast quantities of blue chakra were forcibly extracted from the bodies of countless shinobi and turned into beams of azure light that gathered together in the sky.
Who knew how many shinobi cried out in agony.
This kind of chakra extraction was simply too terrifying—too unfair.
The forced draining of chakra caused large numbers of shinobi to scream instantly.
That kind of pain was not something an ordinary person could possibly endure!
"So this is Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
Hashirama's eyes went wide in disbelief as he turned to Madara.
Madara's face darkened.
"I already told you, this isn't Infinite Tsukuyomi. It's only a similar technique.
And most of the chakra seems to be heading into the sky…
That's the moon. The Tenseigan is absorbing it, isn't it?
Only a portion is being taken in by that Uchiha girl.
But the efficiency isn't very high."
Madara stared at the immense flow of chakra surging upward and muttered to himself.
He could clearly see that a great deal of the chakra being extracted was flying directly into the heavens, obviously returning to the Tenseigan through the lunar medium.
Only a smaller portion was being absorbed by Hikari.
And even that amount was deliberately limited.
Too much foreign chakra might become a burden to her, and she clearly had no intention of putting herself at risk through this technique.
Though this lowered the efficiency somewhat—preventing the enemy from being drained all the way into dried corpses—the result was still devastating.
The enemy suddenly losing enormous amounts of chakra, with some shinobi even collapsing outright and losing all combat ability—
that was an enormous advantage for Konoha's side.
"Looks like this war is finally coming to an end."
Watching the enemy shinobi scream in agony, Hashirama sighed. This… at least, perhaps, was still better than endless slaughter.
"Tch."
Madara let out a cold snort.
But suddenly, he sensed something.
A violent chakra was building somewhere else entirely!
"That's… Ren!"
He abruptly looked up into the sky.
At that moment, he once again saw that enormous golden "sword" of light—
and then it descended from the heavens!
Buzz—
Instantly, heaven and earth changed color. Even the streams of light that had been pouring down across the world seemed to be severed by that single slash.
It looked as if the entire world would be split in half beneath it.
And the violent chakra bursting from that strike was madly annihilating everything around it.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The already broken earth shook more violently than ever, as though struck by an apocalyptic earthquake.
Thick lava erupted from beneath the surface in countless places. Billowing smoke rolled up into the sky, swallowing the heavens themselves.
And under that single slash, it was as though all light had vanished from the sky.
Everything became endless darkness.
Every person in that instant felt as though they had been cast into hell itself—
with only endless flames burning and endless smoke churning around them.
"Divine Tree: Advent of a World of Trees!"
Then a shadow suddenly flashed by.
Roaring, it surged with chakra.
In an instant, the earth thundered, and an unimaginably enormous tree burst from the ground!
That tree was so gigantic it seemed able to support heaven and earth themselves.
And upon it, a strange Rinnegan gleamed.
Clearly—
this was the true form of the Ten-Tails: the Divine Tree.
Obito Uchiha had been driven to the edge. With no other choice, he could only use this technique as his final defense!
"They… came back?"
The sudden appearance of the giant tree forced Madara and Hashirama to leap away quickly.
At that moment, their Susanoo and Wood Golem seemed tiny beneath this world-supporting tree!
"This…"
"What is this…"
Even Hashirama and Madara couldn't hide the shock on their faces now.
Such an enormous tree was beyond even what they had imagined.
This giant tree was even larger than True Several Thousand Hands.
Even they felt uneasy in the face of such terrifying Wood Release!
"So this is your last resort?"
Ren's voice sounded once more. He stood proudly in the heavens, still holding that blazing golden sword.
"You've released the Divine Tree to block me.
Looks like you've really reached the end of the road, Obito Uchiha."
"And now you've finally run back to the center of the battlefield.
Do you actually think that means you can do something now?"
Obito didn't answer.
He simply raised his head and glared at Ren.
That scene was seen clearly by Madara and Hashirama.
They also saw Obito's miserable state.
A Ten-Tails jinchūriki…
had actually had one of his arms cut off?
And his body was in such a miserable, battered state that it genuinely made one's hair stand on end.
"Madara… looks like it's over."
"Mm."
Hashirama muttered softly, and Madara nodded as well.
But in the next second, both of them were stunned.
Because right then—
a black figure suddenly appeared!
Then, moving with terrifying speed, that black figure closed in on Obito Uchiha.
At the same time, one hand extended, sharpening into a blade.
In the next instant, before everyone's stunned eyes—
that hand pierced straight through Obito Uchiha's body!
"That is—"
"What—"
"Black Zetsu?!"
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