Of course, there were one or two unexpected hiccups—like Koharu Utatane? Homura Mitokado?
But unfortunately, they were old now. Konoha was no longer theirs to influence, and even Sarutobi Hiruzen, who used to stand firmly with them, no longer involved himself in such matters.
"How's the situation on your side?"
"We've mostly wrapped it up. Clan Head Fugaku is really fired up—can't you see the sky over there is red?"
Obito Uchiha pointed toward a section of the village, and just as he said, the sky in that direction was glowing crimson.
Only then did everyone realize the situation inside the village seemed even more intense than what they were facing here.
"No helping it. The Uchiha took huge losses during the ambush last time."
"As Clan Head, Fugaku Uchiha has every reason to be burning with anger."
"But looking at it… the enemy's main force…"
"What is that?"
Sakumo Hatake gazed at the red sky as he spoke, but soon a mass of black entered his line of sight—closing in fast.
"No need to guess. That's that bastard Madara Uchiha."
"Hmph. He's using his dōjutsu and Susanoo to rush back."
And it wasn't just the black figure in the sky—Kazuyama Gekkō suddenly appeared before them as well. With Flying Thunder God Technique, Kazuyama could return to the village far faster than his opponent.
"Sensei, didn't you teleport him outside the village?"
"He couldn't handle even your strength?"
Kakashi walked up to his teacher, and Obito—who had been sitting—stood as well.
Kazuyama clicked his tongue at Kakashi's question.
He had wanted a proper fight, but that guy's dōjutsu was too annoying. When it became clear neither side could get a decisive result, the man actually activated his dōjutsu and flew off.
"What was I supposed to do about that?"
"My technique couldn't even reach him. I couldn't just stab him to death."
"Alright. Looks like things in the village are much better than I expected."
"In that case, I'm going to protect Gaara."
Since Gaara was the enemy's target, he needed to take precautions.
As Kazuyama vanished again, Kakashi and Obito were just about to move when they felt their chakra rapidly draining.
"Hey, hey, hey—Kakashi, what's that on you?"
"What? Aren't you the one growing white stuff all over?"
Both saw the white growths spreading across each other's bodies. The growths swelled, slowly forming what looked like… a human head?
"Wait—Dad, why do you have them too?"
"Damn it! This thing is absorbing chakra? Where's the enemy!?"
Hearing Sakumo Hatake shout, Inoichi Yamanaka immediately used sensory ninjutsu—but he detected no enemy presence at all.
This left him confused.
He had no idea the culprit had already slipped away, leaving only his Spore Technique behind.
"Hey! Kakashi, don't move! I'll take care of it for you!"
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire!"
"Damn it! That's your idea of helping!? You asked for it!"
Crack!
Obito and Kakashi had been planning to help each other, but their drained chakra—combined with Obito still being weakened from using Kamui—led to disaster.
The Phoenix Sage Fire Technique was released, but two or three fireballs exploded right on Kakashi's face.
Kakashi wasn't going to let that slide. He immediately flicked his wrist, sending bolts of lightning at Obito—and gave him a brand-new hairstyle.
Just like that, the two were fighting and shouting while pulling spores off themselves and messing with each other in the process.
"Enough! You two!"
"Finish clearing those things. I'm guessing the rest of the village got hit the same way."
Sakumo Hatake had already shaken off the spores himself. Though he'd lost a good amount of chakra, for a seasoned powerhouse like him, it was manageable.
Black Zetsu's Spore Technique had massive range—he'd spread chakra-born spores across all of Konoha.
And of course, only the ninjas actively fighting were affected.
That included the Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
"Hiashi, what are these things supposed to be?"
"They appeared without any warning—just suddenly materialized."
"Good thing you reacted quickly."
Minato looked at the White Zetsu husk he had pulled off his own body, grateful for the powerful ally beside him.
When the spores latched on, Hiashi's reaction was just as fast as his.
With Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation, he spun up and expelled the White Zetsu from his body with sheer force—then used Gentle Fist to remove the one clinging to Minato as well.
"No idea. They seem like parasitic organisms."
"But forget that for now. The enemy's almost here."
Hinata Hiashi looked toward the sky. The black Susanoo was already visible—clearly, their leader was close.
"Right—those non-human creatures!"
Minato suddenly remembered them and sprinted toward them, but by the time he arrived, their eyes were gone.
"Damn it—they already recovered the Sharingan?"
"Bastards!"
The same situation played out on Fugaku Uchiha's side.
Because of the Spore Technique's interference, Black Zetsu had managed to reclaim all the Sharingan.
"Where's Kazuyama? Has he come back?"
"No idea. If he did, wouldn't he go to the Grand Arena?"
Minato thought for a moment, then grabbed Hiashi's arm and activated Flying Thunder God Technique.
He had marked the Grand Arena beforehand—arriving was instant.
Inside, he saw Kazuyama Gekkō standing with Rasa.
"So you really came back."
"Yeah. I couldn't help it. If that guy uses his dōjutsu, I can't stop him."
Kazuyama didn't seem surprised to see Minato. With only a limited number of non-human creatures in the village, Minato could clear them all given enough time.
Not to mention—they had prepared for this earlier.
But the current situation was even more urgent. The stone walls surrounding them were still rising. If they collapsed, countless casualties would follow.
"That bastard is almost here. Should we switch?"
"You want to stall him?"
Kazuyama glanced toward the village—Muren Uchiha was nearly at the gates.
Kazuyama himself had no interest in fighting him. He'd rather deal with the stone walls.
"You're hard enough to handle. You want me to deal with him?"
"Forget it. I'll take him on. You handle the surroundings. With your abilities, it should be easy."
Minato surveyed the situation.
The danger posed by those stone walls was far greater.