After being stabbed in the back, Obito first showed an expression of disbelief, then glared viciously at Madara Uchiha, asking in confusion, "Madara, haven't I always done everything you told me to? W-Why would you betray me?!"
Madara didn't immediately answer. Instead, he used the black rods to disrupt the internal balance of Obito's body, simultaneously activating the command seal left inside him, allowing the Ten-Tails to break free from Obito's control.
Obito struggled and managed to push Madara away, preparing to strike back. But by then, the Ten-Tails had already gone berserk.
His body began to swell rapidly, and the faces of the nine tailed beasts appeared on his skin, as if they were about to break free from within and regain their freedom.
Seeing this, Madara silently backed away and vanished from the battlefield.
Before officially becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki himself, he needed to use the Rinne Rebirth technique to restore his physical body, and he also needed to find a suitable host for the Rinnegan to perform the ritual.
Originally, Nagato was the best choice, but he had already been taken away by Tobirama and Minato.
Now, he'd have to settle for transplanting the Rinnegan into a random ninja.
As for the now-uncontrollable Obito, he was left to the Allied Shinobi Forces. Compared to his own reanimated body, Obito, as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, was the real threat to the alliance.
---
Madara's disappearance left the Allied Shinobi Forces in disarray.
Just as they were about to split up and pursue him, the Six Paths Obito went berserk, wildly releasing chakra in all directions.
Although he had lost self-control, the sheer destructive power of the chakra bursts was terrifying, forcing the alliance to retreat and avoid direct confrontation.
At this moment, Naruto noticed the Nine Tails' face on Obito's body and quickly said, "Obito's condition is extremely unstable. Can we use this chance to extract the tailed beasts from him?"
His words sparked a round of deliberation, and ultimately, the others nodded in agreement.
It was impossible to completely defeat Obito by brute force. They had to extract the tailed beasts to remove him from the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki state.
After using the Yamanaka clan's secret technique to coordinate, Naruto and the others had a plan.
Shisui and Sasuke would use Susanoo to pin down Six Paths Obito. Naruto would then take the opportunity to get close and use the natural bond between jinchūriki and tailed beasts to pull the Nine Tails out directly.
Once the plan was initiated, the two Susanoo warriors charged forward.
Even in front of Six Paths Obito, Susanoo couldn't last long, but with the combined efforts of multiple Kage-level shinobi, they managed to barely restrain him.
Tobirama and Minato then brought Naruto, Killer Bee, and Gaara close to Obito.
As soon as they got close, they could feel the connection with their respective tailed beasts. Holding on tightly to Obito, they synchronized their presence, and the One Tail, Eight Tails, and Nine Tails inside Obito responded, fighting back from within.
Just from that brief moment of contact, they managed to reclaim a portion of the tailed beasts' chakra.
Obito seemed to realize this too and launched a furious attack at the three of them. The Gudōdama-formed Truth-Seeking Spear struck their bodies, blasting them dozens of meters away.
The spear, made from Truth-Seeking Balls, erased everything in its path like a rubber eraser. If not for the protection from their tailed beast cloaks, they would've been completely impaled.
Even so, with the chakra they had reclaimed, the spiritual space of each jinchūriki once again housed their respective tailed beasts.
Kurama immediately said to Naruto, "Naruto, if you want to truly defeat the Ten-Tails, you have to rescue the rest of the tailed beasts as well."
Killer Bee and Gaara heard similar words.
Just then, Naruto seemed to recall something and said, "Kurama, is there a way to deal with those black orbs? All ninjutsu becomes useless in front of them."
The Nine Tails shook his head slightly and said, "That's the power of the Ten-Tails. I have no way to neutralize it. But once you enter Nine Tails Mode, you can resist some of the Truth-Seeking Balls' power."
Naruto understood he was hoping for too much.
Still, being able to neutralize most of the Truth-Seeking Balls' power was already helpful—it meant he could at least go head-to-head with Obito.
Pulling his thoughts back on track, Naruto and the others, under the protection of the Kage-level shinobi, continued stealing the tailed beasts' chakra from Six Paths Obito.
During this process, several Kage-level shinobi were struck by Obito and collapsed on the battlefield. Their bodies were swiftly dragged underground by White Zetsu and disappeared without a trace.
Before long, there were only a handful of people left on the battlefield.
As time passed, Obito's chakra continued to diminish. Though he was still the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, his power kept waning, and he was even forced into a symbolic tug-of-war.
With the Ten-Tails' influence weakening, Obito regained consciousness and clarity.
Realizing he might actually lose, Obito didn't even have time to curse Madara before launching himself into battle with Naruto and Sasuke, desperately trying to retain the chakra within him. But the scale of victory had already tipped. Obito could only watch as his chakra drained away, powerless to stop it.
Seeing this, Naruto smiled and said to the Nine Tails, "Welcome back, Kurama. Now that you're back at full strength, let's finish Obito together."
The Nine Tails frowned slightly and said, "My chakra is far from full strength."
Naruto was puzzled. "But Obito barely has any of your chakra left. Did it go somewhere else?"
Hearing this, the Nine Tails fell into deep thought. After glancing at Obito, he muttered, "You reminded me. I've just realized I'm missing half my power. And it's not just me—the other tailed beasts are also missing some chakra."
Kurama then growled, "That chakra vanished into thin air… I can't even sense where it went."
Naruto was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Did Madara take it? He and Obito did seem to fall out."
"Maybe."
The Nine Tails sighed softly. The Shinobi World was becoming more chaotic and unpredictable—so much so that even he couldn't see through it anymore.
---
In a dark underground chamber.
Madara Uchiha had already completed the Rinne Rebirth technique, restoring his physical body.
Feeling the boiling blood flowing through his veins again, Madara couldn't help but burst out in wild laughter. After decades, he finally no longer had to rely on a decayed, undead body since he was back at his peak.
Once he collected himself, Madara looked at a mortally wounded jōnin beside him and plucked out the man's eye.
After slotting the Rinnegan into his own eye socket and aligning it, he regained his vision and instantly sensed the ocular power stored within—Limbo: Border Jail.
Limbo was an extremely rare shadow clone technique that created invisible clones.
These clones couldn't be sensed by ordinary ninja, yet retained Madara's own speed and strength, raising his combat ability to a whole new level.
After summoning his Limbo clones, Madara turned and looked in Obito's direction.
Obito's chakra was rapidly growing weaker. At the same time, the chakra signatures of the Eight-Tails, Nine-Tails, and the other tailed beasts began to emerge from his body. Upon sensing this, Madara Uchiha's lips curled into a faint smile.
If Obito were still at full power, he might have been a threat. But now, the Allied Shinobi Forces had already worn him down. All Madara had to do was finish him off and take that Rinnegan from him. Still, his priority was to stop by Hashirama's location to obtain senjutsu.
Time passed quickly, and Madara soon arrived at Hashirama's side. Drawing on the First Hokage's power, Madara awakened sage chakra. The fusion of Sage Mode and the Rinnegan triggered a wondrous reaction within his body, and his strength rose yet again.
With everything complete, Madara wasted no time rushing to the front lines.
At this point, Obito had already lost most of his chakra. Even the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been expelled from his body. If not for the modifications he'd undergone as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, he would've been dead already.
Seemingly sensing Madara's chakra, Obito looked grim and warned Naruto and the others, "Madara is coming. He's close. Be careful."
When he saw the puzzled looks on their faces, Obito added urgently, "I've lost, yes. But I absolutely can't let him win. If I must, I'll even fight alongside you."
Naruto and the others clearly didn't trust him, but Madara's presence couldn't be ruled out. They had to stay alert for a surprise attack.
The next moment, Madara Uchiha appeared before them.
Just as everyone moved to defend themselves, they were each struck in the blink of an eye and sent flying hundreds of meters back. The bizarre scene left Naruto and the others in utter shock. They hadn't even seen when Madara attacked. How were they supposed to fight this? Naruto couldn't see Madara, but Obito could.
After taking a moment to recover his chakra, he shouted to the others, "Madara has an invisible clone. If you focus your sensory abilities, you'll be able to detect it. Be extremely careful!"
Before he could finish speaking, Obito was struck by Madara again.
Unlike the others, Obito still had the power to resist Madara. He frantically tried to defend himself while simultaneously attempting to use Kamui to retreat into the Kamui dimension. Now that he was no longer the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, he could access Kamui again.
Even so, he couldn't escape being struck.
The Rinnegan was taken from him with ease and returned to Madara's hand.
Looking at Obito's furious expression, Madara said coldly, "Obito, carry your regrets into the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I forgot to mention those Anbu who ambushed Rin back then? That was all my doing. But thanks to it, you awakened your Mangekyō Sharingan. So in the end, that girl was of some use."
Obito's eyes widened in rage.
He had never imagined that everything that had happened to him—the awakening of his eye and Rin's death—were all part of Madara's intricate scheme.
How did Madara perceive his existence?
Was it a mere game?
Fueled by rage, Obito retaliated in a frantic quest for vengeance.
Yet, Madara only offered him a frosty stare—
Soon after, a Limbo clone attacked Obito, driving him forcefully to the ground and breaking his bones.
Just as the Limbo clone was about to deliver a final blow, Obito vanished using Kamui and escaped to the Kamui dimension.
Seeing Obito escape, Madara didn't bother pursuing him.
The most important thing now was to defeat the Nine Tailed Beasts and the Kage-level ninja in front of him, and become the new jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails.
Though defeating these shinobi wasn't exactly difficult, it wouldn't be easy either.
Sharing a glance with his Limbo clone, Madara charged toward the Nine Tailed Beasts and Naruto, Sasuke, and the others.
In an instant, the battlefield was plunged into chaos once more.
---
Back in the Kamui dimension, Obito slowly pushed himself up from the ground.
Though he had multiple fractures, thanks to the regenerative powers he'd gained as the former Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, the injuries weren't fatal. With just a few weeks of rest, he could recover completely.
But could the shinobi world, or he himself, really afford to wait a few weeks? Should he even go back to fight Madara?
After all, Madara's plan was the Infinite Tsukuyomi and wasn't that what he had wanted too?
The real world was far too cruel. War was everywhere. Rin was gone. Maybe he should give up resisting.
Once Madara cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, he'd be able to see Rin again. To him, this hellish world was less appealing than a dream.
As Obito sank into his thoughts, a warm hand landed on his shoulder.
Startled, Obito turned his head—and saw a familiar figure speaking to him, "Pretty pathetic, Obito. Even after becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, you still ended up in this sorry state. As expected, a loser is just a loser. Even when given a chance, you still couldn't succeed."
"You… what are you? Human or ghost?"
Obito stared in disbelief at Byakuya.
He remembered clearly. He had killed Byakuya with his own hands. Yet now, here he was, appearing inside the Kamui dimension, mocking him in defeat.
Byakuya showed an innocent smile and replied, "Defeating just one of my shadow clones made you all so pleased with yourselves? You really thought I'd go down that easily? I'm one of the strongest in the shinobi world, did you think I'd die that simply?"
Obito fell silent for a moment, then asked, "If you're alive, why didn't you stop me or Madara? Weren't you an undercover agent for the Allied Shinobi Forces?"
Byakuya tilted his head in confusion and said, "When did I ever say I was on the Alliance's side? I've always been after the nine Tailed Beasts—to revive the Ten-Tails. I just don't have much interest in becoming its jinchūriki."
"You don't want to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki?"
Obito stared at Byakuya, completely unable to understand his logic.
"Are you afraid of being overtaken by the Ten-Tails' will? With your mental fortitude, I don't think even that could overwhelm you."
Byakuya chuckled softly. "That's none of your concern. I have better ways to utilize the Ten-Tails' power. Right now, you're just a loser—so why don't you sit with me and watch the battle between Madara and the Allied Shinobi Forces?"
As he finished speaking, a glowing screen appeared in front of Byakuya, displaying a real-time view of the battlefield. This left Obito completely stunned. This wasn't his Kamui dimension anymore.
Without a Kamui Sharingan, how was Byakuya even connected to the outside world? And what was this screen? Just who the hell was Byakuya? Was he even a ninja from this world?