In the next second, the Gedō Mazō's roar took on a note of joy. Right before everyone's eyes, the two hands that had been erased by Dust Release grew back.
As for the severed leg, it was still severed.
But that didn't dampen the Gedō Mazō's excitement in the slightest. That long-lost feeling of chakra surging through its body, of strength returning, felt so good it genuinely believed it could slaughter everything in sight.
Inside the Kohaku no Jōhei were four tailed beasts: the Two-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Six-Tails.
The Gedō Mazō had absorbed them before, only to have Obito forcibly rip them back out later. That sensation had been agonizing. But now they were returning again.
Then it locked onto Gaara as well, sensing the energy inside him that it needed.
On the allied side, everyone's expressions turned incomparably ugly. They wanted nothing more than to tear Obito, Kabuto, and Orochimaru into pieces.
The huge advantage that Natsuki and TenTen had fought so hard to secure yesterday had vanished in the blink of an eye. It felt like all of yesterday's effort had been for nothing.
But there was no choice. It was already reality. They could only keep fighting.
Hashirama studied the Gedō Mazō with curiosity. "What is that thing? Why is it so ugly?"
Natsuki explained, "That's the Gedō Mazō, the shell of the Ten-Tails. Your 'best buddy' Madara wanted to shove all nine tailed beasts into it and fuse them into the Ten-Tails. That thing has the power to destroy the world!"
"What? Madara, you idiot!" Hashirama's head throbbed. He couldn't understand why his old friend would do something like that.
Now that he thought about it, what Tsunade had said about the world ending really might not have been exaggeration. Each tailed beast was powerful on its own—if all nine became one, it would be terrifying beyond measure. Even Hashirama himself probably wouldn't be able to stop it.
So what could they do?
Beside him, Tobirama cursed, "As expected, the Uchiha are an evil clan!"
Hiruzen glared as well. "So the ninja world is about to face catastrophe! Jiraiya, TenTen, hurry and seal me. If you can seal me, you should be able to seal that thing too!"
"You don't have to tell me…!" TenTen snapped, whipping out the Kōkinjō (Golden Binding Rope). But Hiruzen dodged it again, and she instantly got annoyed. "Sandaime-sama, stop dodging!"
Hiruzen hurriedly called out, "Jiraiya! Quick, use a toad to restrain me!"
Jiraiya didn't dare waste time. He immediately summoned a giant toad, and with their coordination, the toad's tongue successfully wrapped around Hiruzen, while TenTen's Kōkinjō also latched onto him.
Hiruzen tried to spit out the "kotodama," but TenTen severed it with the Shichiseiken (Seven-Star Sword).
When TenTen saw the "cursed words" on the Shichiseiken, her expression turned strange—but she still said quickly, "Sandaime-sama, repeat after me: Danzō, I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen flushed bright red, but he still shouted, "Danzō, I am the Hokage!"
And then he was sucked into the red gourd.
Jiraiya's expression also turned odd. He could practically feel his teacher's social death. He never expected that even at the end, Hiruzen-sensei would still be fixated on that old thief Danzō. Wasn't that relationship a little… off?
But TenTen didn't have time to dwell on it. She immediately said, "Jiraiya-sama, let's go try it. If we can seal the Gedō Mazō, that would be ideal!"
Jiraiya nodded and escorted TenTen over at once.
And the Allied Shinobi Forces weren't just standing around. They understood that the Gedō Mazō was the linchpin of the war's outcome, so they moved immediately.
The command division reorganized the units and began a full-scale operation against the Gedō Mazō.
Obito had already climbed onto the Gedō Mazō, looking down at everyone. But his battered, miserable appearance had none of the confidence of a victor—and his eyes were filled with thick worry.
He didn't believe his side truly had the upper hand.
It was all Madara's fault. Madara had been sucked into the red gourd by the Sage of Six Paths tools, leaving Obito without an anchor. He had no backbone, no confidence at all.
At that moment, the half-black, half-white Black Zetsu appeared beside him. "Obito, where is Madara-sama? I found the turtle's location. Let's hurry and capture the jinchūriki!"
Obito lit up. "You found it? Then move, now!"
Black Zetsu pressed again. "Where is Madara-sama?"
"Uh… about that. He accidentally got sucked into the red gourd and sealed."
Obito's voice wasn't loud, but everyone present had their ears pricked.
The moment they heard the turtle's location had been exposed, their expressions all turned grim.
That Black Zetsu was clearly not ordinary—at the very least, his tracking ability was first-rate. He had found the turtle's location so quickly that the allied side was forced back into a passive position again.
Bad. Very bad.
A immediately ordered, "Darui! Assemble a squad now. Your mission is to kill Black Zetsu!"
"Yes, Boss! I guarantee mission success!" Darui accepted at once, then called Samui, Atsui, and Akatsuchi to move with him toward the Gedō Mazō.
If they could kill Black Zetsu, a lot of problems would be solved along with him.
So the assassination had to succeed.
Tsunade spoke while snatching a moment to breathe. "The turtle's location has been exposed. What do we do?"
Mei suggested, "Gaara, join the fight right now. We'll send two people to Natsuki's side so Natsuki can free up his hands. If something changes, have Natsuki use Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) to extract people!"
Gaara immediately agreed, leaving in a ninja dash together with Hashirama.
In his mind, he spoke to Shukaku. "Shukaku, you saw that, right? That's the Ten-Tails' shell, the Gedō Mazō. You don't want to get absorbed by that ugly thing either, do you?"
Shukaku's irritated voice replied, "You don't have to provoke me on purpose, s—Dad's son."
Meaning: he was going to make a huge scene. He wanted to play too.
Gaara immediately formed hand seals in Shukaku's form and opened his mouth, spitting out a massive ball of wind. "Fūton: Renkūdan (Wind Release: Drill Air Bullet)!"
Natsuki instantly used Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) to flash away, reappearing on Shukaku's shoulder. He watched the wind sphere crush forward—
Only for it to be bizarrely blocked by a thin stretch of forest.
Hashirama casually created the forest. A mere wind sphere couldn't hurt it at all.
He leapt onto a treetop and examined Shukaku. "So this is the One-Tail. Back when the villages were dividing up the tailed beasts, Sunagakure didn't get a share because they already had one. I never really knew how strong the One-Tail was."
He actually looked a little eager to try.
Natsuki, meanwhile, spoke with Gaara. "Gaara, are you getting used to full tailed-beast transformation?"
Gaara's voice answered, "It feels good. The aftereffects are cooperating."
"…Natsuki, I'm really sorry…"
"It's fine. None of us expected this either. Call it losing by one move. But it doesn't matter—we haven't lost yet."
(End of Chapter)
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