After a long while, the mushroom cloud finally dissipated.
What appeared was a gigantic crater—proof that even "only" fifty billion explosive tags still carried monstrous power.
The Ten-Tails lay sprawled in the pit, limbs splayed. Not only was its last remaining arm gone, half its shoulder had been torn open as well. The sight was miserable.
Whoosh. Natsuki flashed to the side, and when he saw the scene, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
From far behind, cheers erupted. It was clearly Tenten's handiwork. She really had gone and played it big.
The Ten-Tails was still screaming—almost whimpering now. It looked like it was still taking damage. Even the black flames on its head hadn't gone out yet, and it was practically losing all feeling in its skull.
Madara and Obito reappeared as well.
Obito could phase, so it made sense he hadn't been hurt.
Madara, on the other hand, had sensed something wrong and instantly threw up a repulsive-force barrier plus Susanoo protection, so he'd avoided the blast too.
But seeing the Ten-Tails in this state, there was nothing to be happy about.
Madara demanded, "Obito, you've been up front controlling the Ten-Tails this whole time. What exactly happened?"
Obito's face was dark. "Looks like something got fired from the Alliance's rear base. Then Natsuki's girlfriend, Tenten, pulled the same trick as before—used Flying Thunder God to warp fifty billion explosive tags right next to the Ten-Tails…"
Her again?
Why couldn't that girl just stay in the back and stop causing chaos?
Madara sighed, then snapped, "Why didn't you just blow the explosion away? Where's your Rinnegan? Where's your war fan—wait. That's right. Where did you put the Uchiha war fan? Hand it over. Now!"
Obito, sulking, hurriedly pulled the war fan out of his storage and passed it to Madara.
Madara relaxed the moment it was in his hand, like having it meant the world belonged to him again.
As for the Ten-Tails—if they wanted to salvage this, they'd have to absorb the remaining jinchūriki immediately. Otherwise, forget Infinite Tsukuyomi. At this rate, the Ten-Tails would just get beaten to death.
Not far away, Tobirama's, Minato's, and Nagato's bodies were slowly regenerating.
They'd known the blast was coming, but they hadn't dodged. They hadn't defended, either.
Their orders were to fight the Alliance. They hadn't been ordered to evade an explosion like this—so they simply didn't. And that meant they'd die.
The moment Minato's mouth re-formed, he shouted, "Jiraiya-sensei, before we fully regenerate, hurry and seal us—now!"
Tobirama and Nagato echoed him. "Yeah! Hurry!"
Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, and the others who knew sealing techniques didn't hesitate. They rushed in and slapped down sealing tags, sealing all three as fast as possible.
Just like that, the enemy lost three more high-end combatants.
That left: Madara, Obito, Orochimaru, Kabuto, and that giant thing.
"Shinra Tensei!" Kabuto suddenly appeared and repelled the black flames off the Ten-Tails' head.
The Ten-Tails finally got a moment of relief, but in its current battered state, it was hard to even look at.
Orochimaru reappeared as well, his voice hoarse. "It seems Madara-dono's strength is nothing special after all. And perhaps this so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi isn't worth yearning for. I'm considering whether I should continue supporting you."
In truth, he'd been uneasy for a while.
His dream was to learn every jutsu and achieve immortality—not to destroy the shinobi world.
And earlier, after hearing Tsunade say that Infinite Tsukuyomi was just a con by Black Zetsu to resurrect his mother—that all humanity would be trapped in an illusion, while their bodies transformed into White Zetsu—he'd felt a chill. If that were true, it would be a catastrophe.
He hadn't fully believed it at the time. A man like Madara shouldn't be so easily deceived.
Still, he'd kept his guard up. He'd been "present," but never truly going all out—waiting to see how things developed.
Now, whether Tsunade's claim was true or not, one thing was obvious: going to war against the entire shinobi world was arrogance on Madara's part. And the current humiliation pretty much proved it.
So Orochimaru was genuinely thinking about backing out.
Madara, however, burst into wild laughter. "Hahahaha! Support or not, even if I stand alone, I will cast Infinite Tsukuyomi and bring peace to the shinobi world! Because I, Uchiha Madara, am the savior who will rescue this world!"
"Hah. Big talk for someone about to bite his tongue."
Sasuke's voice cut in. He and Naruto moved in front and back, boxing Madara and Obito in.
Earlier, the two of them had used their massive constructs to shield Tsunade and the others, preventing serious casualties. And the moment they arrived, they had to listen to Madara grandstanding.
Sasuke knew the truth. He had nothing but contempt for Madara's "savior" speech.
Savior? He was just a pitiful fool who'd been played by Black Zetsu from the start.
Madara kept smiling. "What do you even know about me? Have you ever witnessed my true prime? Young brats this arrogant deserve the consequences of arrogance!"
With that, he activated his Perfect Susanoo. A colossal giant rose into the sky, towering like a god of war, crushing the air with pressure alone.
Sasuke didn't flinch. He activated his own Perfect Susanoo in response.
He'd already had Natsuki help him complete the eye-fusion surgery. His eyes were already an Eternal Mangekyō. He no longer feared damage, and he no longer feared burning out his ocular power.
He was going to teach that self-important bastard a lesson.
Clang! The two Susanoo giants slammed blade against blade—fighting atop the Ten-Tails' belly like it was a battlefield platform.
Naruto didn't interfere. Instead, he charged straight at Kabuto. Ever since Pain's invasion of Konoha, he'd sworn he would beat Kabuto down one day, and he wasn't about to let this chance slip.
Everyone else swarmed in as well, leaving Obito and Orochimaru with nowhere to run.
Kakashi called out, "Obito… stop. You've lost."
Obito's expression twisted into madness. "Kakashi, why are you stopping me? All I want is to create a world where Rin exists! Why are you getting in my way? You didn't protect Rin. I didn't kill you for revenge. I only want to see Rin again—so why are you blocking me? Why!"
Kakashi fell silent. He didn't know how to talk his closest friend down.
And in his heart, guilt had already consumed him.
He believed it was his failure to protect Nohara Rin that pushed Obito into darkness. He didn't feel he had any right to condemn him.
But the others didn't care about that.
A snapped, "The world you want is one where everyone dies with you. That's why we're stopping you! You and Madara aren't going to succeed!"
As he spoke, he lunged in with Rairyū Nekkutō (Lightning Plow Hot Knife).
Obito's eyes widened. He unleashed a massive-area Shinra Tensei (Repulsive Force), blasting A away and forcing everyone around him back.
Then a tube from the Ten-Tails connected to the back of his skull again—and he suddenly unleashed a new jutsu.
"Mazo no Kusari (Demonic Statue Chains)!"
Rattle-rattle-rattle! Five enormous chains erupted from the Ten-Tails' mouth, shooting forward at terrifying speed toward the four jinchūriki. Before anyone could even react, the chain-heads were already upon them…
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]