On the other side, a group of people blocked Obito's path.
Neji, Shino, Kurotsuchi, Darui, Chōjūrō, and Temari—each one a standout young talent from their village.
Hm? Darui? "Young talent"?
Forget it. Kakashi was the one in front, anyway.
Kakashi stared straight at Obito with a solemn gaze and tried to talk him down. "Obito, stop. Everyone here is part of the Allied Shinobi Forces. And the world you want to create isn't real. Rin won't be real there either."
"Shut up!"
Obito roared, "If you're here to stop me, then we fight. Today, it's either you die or I win!"
Kakashi shook his head. "If you insist on this, then I'll have to knock some sense into you!"
With that, he raised a kunai and charged.
Obito didn't use his eye power at all. He raised his own kunai and met Kakashi head-on, clashing blade to blade.
But his taijutsu really wasn't great. Before long, Kakashi caught him cleanly and kicked him to the ground.
Kakashi moved in to restrain him—only to be blasted back by a sudden repulsive force. Clearly, Obito had lost the exchange in taijutsu and could only fall back on what he was actually good at.
Neji, of course, wasn't about to stand there and let Kakashi reminisce with an old friend.
He surged forward and unleashed Hakke Rokujūyon Shinkūshō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Vacuum Palms). Palm after palm detonated with violent bursts of repulsion, forcing Obito to activate intangibility at once.
But Kakashi didn't have the luxury of holding back anymore. He used Kamui (Divine Authority) as well, canceling out Obito's Kamui (Divine Authority) intangibility.
Obito's face changed dramatically. He immediately pushed the Rinnegan's power, blocking all of Neji's palm strikes.
"Doton: Dosekijun (Earth Release: Earth Stone Spikes)!"
Kurotsuchi joined in, and stone spears erupted from the ground, stabbing toward Obito.
Obito could only evade. With his Kamui (Divine Authority) countered by Kakashi and the Rinnegan pressured by Neji, he had no spare bandwidth left to handle everyone else's attacks at the same time.
"Fūton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique)!"
"Ranton: Reizā Sakkkusu (Storm Release: Laser Circus)!"
"Hiramekarei Kaihō (Hiramekarei Release)!"
Temari, Darui, and Chōjūrō attacked in sequence, battering Obito into a steady retreat.
Shino, on the other hand, didn't move.
In Shino's view, Obito's techniques were already completely countered. Stepping in now would be nothing more than kicking a man while he was down.
He wasn't interested, so not acting was fine.
Besides, he had a feeling the situation would not remain this straightforward. Something would change later—there would be a variable.
So he conserved stamina and chakra now, waiting for the moment he would actually need to act—when he could truly make a decisive impact.
Neji had similar thoughts.
Neji wasn't stupid. He would never believe they could defeat Madara and Obito that easily. If it were truly that simple, then with Natsuki's strength, it would have been done already.
So caution was the better choice—save strength for when it mattered.
As for Obito's repulsion barrier, breaking it wasn't difficult at all. A few techniques would be enough.
Over on the other front, Madara naturally saw Obito's predicament, but he couldn't be bothered to intervene. In his eyes, Obito had brought it on himself.
He'd had two Kamui (Divine Authority) and still handed one over to Kakashi. Now he was countered, and he couldn't even manifest Susanoo (Armored Avatar).
A Mangekyō that can't use Susanoo (Armored Avatar)—does that even count as a Mangekyō anymore?
"Raiton: Jūryūbō (Lightning Release: Heavy Flow Violent)!"
"Doton: Chō Kajūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique)!"
Raikage A began a hard push. Tsuchikage Ōnoki climbed onto his back again, and with the two working together, the scorching impact slammed into Susanoo (Armored Avatar), tearing jagged cracks across it.
Tsunade seized the opening and drove a monstrous-strength punch into it, smashing Susanoo (Armored Avatar) to pieces.
Mei, naturally, followed up immediately. Suiton: Suiryū no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Technique) surged forth and blasted Madara up into the sky.
"Now!"
Ōnoki decisively unleashed Jinton (Dust Release) straight into Madara's body. But before he could celebrate, he saw it get absorbed.
A Rinnegan technique—Fūin Hantan (Sealing Rebound).
Even though he'd already known this was likely, Ōnoki still couldn't hide his frustration.
Madara counterattacked at once. He formed seals and spat out five fire dragons, locking onto all five of them with precision.
"Katon: Ryūen Hōka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique)!"
The fire dragons struck from above, below, left, right—every angle. The hit rate was effectively guaranteed. There was no dodging. The only option was to endure it head-on.
Jiraiya and Ōnoki immediately worked together to raise Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall), but the wall was blown apart with ease, forcing the five of them into a desperate scramble to avoid being engulfed.
When the Allied Shinobi Forces saw even the Kage fighting together getting bullied by Madara, morale faltered. Some even felt fear take root, stumbling backward in panic.
Natsuki chose that moment to speak. "Tsunade-sama, finished with your senior citizen calisthenics? Isn't it about time you handed the field over to the younger generation?"
Tsunade laughed and cursed at him. "You brat—asking to get hit, are you? I'm eternally young. I don't need any 'senior calisthenics.' That said… if you're that impatient to get in there, fine. I'll let you have it…"
The other four exchanged glances. They could tell they weren't Madara's match, and there was nothing else for it.
They'd assumed five of them together could at least hold Madara off for a while, but it turned out they still couldn't.
If that was the case, then they had to rotate out and let Natsuki take over personally.
Once they were off the field, they would recover properly. When Natsuki needed to rest, that would be the moment the five "old folks" stepped back in to fight and buy time.
Whoosh.
In the next instant, Natsuki appeared in front of Tsunade, facing Madara directly.
Madara didn't seize the chance to strike. Instead, he laughed loudly. "Hahahaha! Natsuki, you finally decided to move. If you'd stalled just a little longer, I'd have killed those five."
"You should know you won't get that chance."
Natsuki's tone stayed calm. "Madara, I'll say it one last time. You really were deceived by Black Zetsu. He isn't your will—he's—"
"Enough!" Madara cut him off, clearly unwilling to hear another word. "You brat don't know what you're talking about, so stop babbling. Fight, or get lost!"
Natsuki couldn't be bothered to continue either. He silently drew the Demon Blade: Thousand Blades.
This was going to be a battle of attrition. He didn't want to open with his trump cards, so if he could drag it out, he would drag it out.
Natsuki had a strong feeling there would be another twist later, which meant he had to preserve enough power to respond.
Besides, in Edo Tensei form, Madara couldn't truly be killed. Sealing wasn't an option here either, so all they could do was grind him down little by little.
If Madara revived for real, then he could be killed instead.
Which meant assassination-style tactics might actually be the right approach.
"What, you plan to win with swordplay?" Madara sneered.
"How I fight is my choice!"
As he spoke, Natsuki swept the Demon Blade: Thousand Blades horizontally. The blade body shattered and extended at the same time, reaching Madara's throat in the blink of an eye.
Madara let out a cold laugh. He didn't even bother with Susanoo (Armored Avatar). He simply leaned back into a deep bend at the waist, letting the strike pass over him.
"Scatter!"
Natsuki snapped his wrist.
In an instant, more than a thousand fragments burst outward, turning into a dense storm of hidden weapons that shot toward Madara.
Madara immediately stepped into Uchiha Buyō (Uchiha Dance Steps), weaving like a butterfly through the blizzard of shards. His Sharingan tracked everything with perfect clarity, ensuring not a single fragment could touch him.
(End of Chapter)
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