Before Natsuki could make a move, Ōnoki decisively raised a hand to stop him.
"Natsuki. From here on, take it easy and conserve your strength. This fight against Shodai-sama will be led by me and Gaara. You must stay in a state where you can disengage at any time."
"Oh?" Natsuki's eyes lit up, thinking they'd come up with some clever plan.
But Ōnoki slowly shook his head. "There's no plan. Black Zetsu has tracked down the turtle's location. If anything changes, we'll need you to move immediately and retrieve all the jinchūriki. So you must stay free, and you must preserve enough chakra."
Natsuki understood at once, and he didn't object.
From the perspective of overall strategy, the jinchūriki mattered more.
Once the enemy freed up manpower to go after the jinchūriki, it would be better to bring the jinchūriki back directly.
In any case, the location was already exposed. Even Myōbokuzan wouldn't be safe now, so it would be better for everyone to come fight together. Several jinchūriki fighting side by side was an enormous amount of combat power.
Seeing Natsuki's expression, Ōnoki immediately knew he'd thought it through.
Ōnoki was genuinely satisfied with this young man. Not only was he overwhelmingly strong, his mind was flexible. Most importantly, his temperament wasn't impatient or stubborn—he was good at thinking calmly and making accurate judgments.
A leader like that was rare.
If a village had someone like this to inherit it, it would surely flourish.
Unfortunately, Natsuki already had a girlfriend, so Ōnoki couldn't even begin to scheme. All he could do was envy Konoha.
After that, Natsuki deliberately "paddled" in the back. Ōnoki and Gaara coordinated to tangle with Hashirama, and naturally, they were pressed down and beaten back by Hashirama the whole time.
Hashirama grew dissatisfied and shouted, "Natsuki! Why aren't you putting in any effort? Fight me! Fight me like you did Madara! You absolutely have the strength to face me. Stop hiding it—get out here and fight!"
"Shodai-sama, calm down." Natsuki almost rolled his Byakugan to the sky. "This isn't the time for sparring. This is a war. I need to preserve enough strength to protect my companions. I already told you not to focus on getting yourself hyped up—think about the big picture. Do you want to see all Konoha's shinobi die before you're satisfied?"
Hashirama fell silent.
He knew it wasn't the time… but his hands were itching.
If only Madara could be released so they could fight properly. The problem was that he was being controlled by the enemy—so even if Madara were released, he wouldn't be on the opposing side anyway. There'd be no chemistry, and it wouldn't be a real bout.
So Hashirama immediately said, "Then hurry up and take down Orochimaru! The four of us were resurrected with Edo Tensei by him. If you defeat him, you'll have four fewer enemies!"
Oh?
Orochimaru, not Kabuto?
In an instant, countless gazes locked onto Orochimaru, and even the always-composed Orochimaru broke into a cold sweat.
Neji immediately shouted, "Hyuga clan! You heard him! Defeat Orochimaru, free the four Hokage-sama, and we won't need to keep fighting the four Hokage-sama!"
"Wooo!!! Defeat Orochimaru!"
The Hyuga clan instantly erupted in a roar, completely shedding their usual cool demeanor.
Neji took the lead, unleashing "Hakke Hyakunijuuhachi Shinkūshō (Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Vacuum Palms)," hammering Orochimaru until he had no room to fight back.
Guren tried to intervene, but Hiashi led several Hyuga elites in repeated "Kaiten (Rotation)," completely unafraid of her Crystal Release, leaving her only able to watch helplessly as the Orochimaru she revered was beaten down.
Over on Kabuto's side, Suigetsu and Jūgo couldn't help glancing toward Orochimaru.
"Hey, hey, hey! Orochimaru's fine, right? Do we need to go back and help?" Suigetsu asked cautiously.
"Can we even leave?" Jūgo's words dragged Suigetsu back to reality.
Dense swarms had completely surrounded them. There was no way out. Worse, neither of them had any ninjutsu suited to dealing with insect swarms.
As for Kabuto, he had the Rinnegan—but he wasn't Uchiha blood. Using the Rinnegan drained him brutally, and he could only afford a few uses at most.
The situation was truly grim.
"None of you are leaving! Especially you, Kabuto!" Shino wasn't going to be polite. He commanded the swarms to engulf Suigetsu and Jūgo, ravenously devouring their chakra.
Even Suigetsu's Hydrification couldn't save him, because Hydrification also relied on chakra. And chakra was exactly what the insects consumed. He couldn't resist at all.
Before long, Suigetsu and Jūgo were drained dry and collapsed to the ground.
Karin had stayed farther away and narrowly escaped.
Kabuto, meanwhile, used "Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push)" to blast the swarms away, then fled toward the Gedō Mazō, intending to have it save him. As for Suigetsu, Jūgo, and Karin—those teammates didn't matter anymore.
Cold-blooded, like a venomous snake. No one should expect Kabuto to care about his companions' safety now.
Seeing that, Shino decisively pursued with the swarms.
Meanwhile, near the Gedō Mazō, TenTen and Jiraiya had already reached the area. Then it became two people turning into three—Konan had joined them at some point without anyone noticing.
Jiraiya's expression was grave. "What we do next could be fatal. Are you prepared?"
Konan nodded firmly. "I've long since prepared myself to die, to atone for the mistakes Nagato and I made."
TenTen, however, said, "I'm not dying. I'm going to live. Only by living can I keep fighting the enemy. Unless we can take the Gedō Mazō with us, dying has no meaning. And you two—don't just go dying either. I'm not collecting bodies."
Jiraiya and Konan both froze, staring at TenTen in surprise.
And, unexpectedly, they found themselves agreeing.
Yes. Sacrifice could feel noble—but it had to mean something. If they could take the Gedō Mazō down with them, then dying would be worth it.
But if their deaths achieved nothing against the Gedō Mazō, then sacrifice had no value. So before the Gedō Mazō was defeated, they had to stay alive, so they could continue fighting it.
The two nodded solemnly. "Alright. We'll live."
That's more like it.
Don't die at the drop of a hat. There's so much more value in staying alive.
If they still couldn't kill the Gedō Mazō, then TenTen still had her husband. What could a mere Gedō Mazō do then?
TenTen continued, "There are two operations next. First, you cooperate with me to complete the kotodama curse and see if the red gourd can seal the Gedō Mazō. Second, if that fails, you cooperate with me to leave a Hiraishin formula on the Gedō Mazō. That'll be crucial for later. I'm planning to use a Money Release ultimate technique against it!"
Konan didn't understand. "Money Release ultimate technique? Is it a powerful move?"
TenTen held up her fingers. "Ten billion explosive tags."
Even Jiraiya was dumbfounded. So that was what she meant by refusing to die.
But Konan blinked. "Um. I have six hundred billion. Want me to add those too?"
Thud.
TenTen and Jiraiya both fell flat on the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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