The massive water sphere dropped, and just as it was about to explode right in front of Madara—
The next instant—
"Fūjutsu Kyūin!" (Sealing Jutsu Absorption)
Bzzzt!
Madara's Rinnegan activated, and he absorbed every last bit of power from the spiraling water sphere. He didn't even move. The sheer "standing there looking cool" factor was obscene.
But Natsuki hadn't been counting on that move to win. In a flash, he reappeared on the Ten-Tails' back.
He'd thrown a lot of Jutsushiki Kunai (Formula Kunai) earlier. While he was pressuring with the vortex-boiling attack, several of those kunai had successfully landed on the Ten-Tails' back—exactly as planned.
If Madara was sitting on top of the Ten-Tails, then Natsuki would open the battlefield right here on its back.
Any collateral damage would be the Ten-Tails' problem anyway. Ideally, they'd kill the Ten-Tails outright.
The moment Natsuki touched down, he slammed a palm onto the Ten-Tails' back and left a Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) formula there. That way, even if he got knocked off, he could warp right back up.
Madara turned his head and laughed. "Hahahaha! Natsuki, how many times have we fought now?"
Natsuki's face didn't change. "However many it is, you've basically lost every time. You keep calling yourself a savior, but your actual strength isn't anything special. You talk huge, but that's all it is. Fighting you, I've gotten seriously injured before."
"Young man," Madara said calmly, "you're still too arrogant."
But he wasn't underestimating Natsuki either. "Winning and losing isn't that simple. As long as I'm not down, I won't admit defeat."
Natsuki couldn't be bothered to keep talking. He raised both hands and condensed two circular water blades into his palms.
But he didn't swing at Madara.
Instead, he slashed downward—twice—carving two vicious wounds into the Ten-Tails' back. The Ten-Tails roared in fury.
"Stop that!"
Madara surged forward and counterattacked immediately.
Natsuki met him head-on, parried cleanly, and even returned blows. In an instant, the two were trading attacks back and forth—tight, fast, and brutal.
And the moment Natsuki moved, the others didn't just stand there watching.
First, armored Sasuke charged straight at the Ten-Tails. The giant turtle beneath him blasted water cannons while the Susanoo (Armored Avatar) raised its colossal sword and cleaved down, forcibly yanking the Ten-Tails' attention in their direction.
Naruto stayed in his golden Kurama form, forming an enormous Rasenshuriken in his claw and hurling it toward the Ten-Tails' massive single eye.
Gaara was in Shukaku form as well, firing Renkūdan (Air Bullets) nonstop. The damage wasn't huge, but it was constant harassment—enough to keep the Ten-Tails scrambling.
Seeing that, Killer B transformed too, becoming the Eight-Tails' bull-octopus body, and launched a gigantic ink-black Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Ball).
As for Fū, she was already in Seven-Tails form, hovering high in the air, and she kept pelting Obito, Kabuto, Orochimaru, and the others with Bijūdama.
Obito repelled them with Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), and for the moment, he honestly didn't have a clean way to deal with her.
Fū was flying too high. Hitting her directly was difficult.
Even if the Ten-Tails fired an energy wave, she could dodge easily—and with multiple tailed beasts pestering it from every direction, the Ten-Tails was getting overwhelmed.
Down below the Ten-Tails, the ground battle erupted as well.
Neji immediately took Nagato, because Nagato had the Rinnegan—and right now, Neji might be the only one who could actually hold him in check.
And Neji had his own pride riding on it. Last time, he'd lost to the Deva Path. Now that he'd run into the puppeteer behind Pain, he could finally defeat him and prove the Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye) was superior.
The Raikage, Ay, rushed Yugito head-on. Yugito was from Kumogakure, so Ay knew her style and how to fight her.
Ōnoki chose Rōshi. He understood Rōshi's threat level: even without a tailed beast inside him, Rōshi could still use Yōton (Lava Release) Chakra Mode—an extremely dangerous opponent. So the old fox had to step in personally.
Kurotsuchi naturally took Han. As Iwagakure's "princess," she had a responsibility to put him down. Fortunately, it wasn't a pure one-on-one—Temari stayed behind her, providing support.
Mei went after Utakata. Since Utakata was originally from Kirigakure, she had the duty to defeat him.
Chōjūrō, as Mei's guard, stayed close to cover her.
And because it was obvious the lower battlefield was in trouble, Senju Tobirama and Namikaze Minato were dispatched down there.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Darui moved to intercept them—but even at four versus two, it wasn't guaranteed. Those two were absurdly fast. Tracking Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) users was a nightmare.
The allied side still had Shino, too—but Shino was fearless. He directly stepped onto Geppō (Moonwalk) and climbed into the sky, standing shoulder to shoulder with Fū.
Then he released his swarm.
Fū split off a portion of Seven-Tails chakra and let the insects feed on it. One by one, they swelled rapidly until each bug was the size of a millstone. Under the two of them controlling the swarm, the mass of giant insects surged toward the Ten-Tails' forehead.
"Hey, hey—this is ridiculous!"
Kabuto pushed his glasses up, speechless, not even sure how to deal with it.
Orochimaru, however, immediately slipped into analysis mode. "Aburame clan kikaichū (parasitic insects) can evolve continuously. This boy Shino used Seven-Tails chakra energy as a growth medium long ago, letting the swarm adapt to bijū chakra. Now, even after consuming massive amounts of Seven-Tails chakra, they won't rupture—they'll just keep expanding. A swarm of insects this large really is a serious threat. Dealing with it won't be easy."
"Kabuto sighed. "Orochimaru-sama, please stop analyzing and think of an actual solution. The swarm is coming down!"
Orochimaru spread his hands. "I don't have one. I'm excellent at staying alive, but I can't match the raw power of you two with the Rinnegan. Good luck."
Fortunately, Kabuto didn't have to shoulder it alone—Obito was going to act.
He raised a hand and used Mokuton: Sashiki no Jutsu (Wood Release: Piercing Insertion Technique). Dense wooden spikes fired out wildly, impaling plenty of insects. But the swarm was too thick; wiping them all out wasn't simple.
He followed with Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu), but the results were minimal.
And then the swarm arrived—nearly blotting out the sky. Even the three on the Ten-Tails' back felt their scalps prickle.
Kabuto activated Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse), ripped a bone sword from his body, and started cutting down the giant insects that got close. But they were shockingly hard—each kill took real effort.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, was holding nothing but a kunai. When a bug flew at him, he simply jabbed its head once—clean kill—making it look effortless.
He even had time to pick one up and examine it, his face carrying a faint, almost pleased smile that the others couldn't understand at all.
More insects landed on the Ten-Tails' head as well, gnawing furiously. They couldn't break through the Ten-Tails' hide right away, but it still made the beast howl in pain.
Obito got sick of it and immediately went for a big move.
"Katon: Bōfū Ranbu!" (Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance)
His Mangekyō Sharingan warped space, whipping up a violent storm, and then he exhaled spiraling flames. With the storm feeding it, the fire erupted instantly and rolled across the swarm, incinerating a huge number of insects.
Shino and Fū watched—and couldn't help chuckling.
Their insects had extremely high fire resistance.
And their insects were endless.
(End of Chapter)
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