Konan froze for a beat, then decisively dumped every last explosive tag in front of Natsuki, piling them up into a mound like a small mountain.
Thankfully, it wasn't like in the original story, where it was an entire sea—Konan had used Paper Release along with explosive tags as camouflage. In reality, when you actually stacked the tags up, it wasn't that outrageous.
"So we're blowing it up again?" Tenten's big eyes sparkled.
"Yeah. The formula I left behind is still there, so I can blow it up one more time."
Natsuki hurriedly explained, "The Ten-Tails is way too dangerous. If we can attack from long range, that's better, so I'm leaning toward using the Money-Talk Ultimate Technique. I just don't know whether six hundred billion explosive tags can match the power of that red energy sphere from earlier. If it still doesn't die after that, then we'll have to go in close—and that'll be a hundred times more dangerous."
Everyone fell silent.
Truth was, nobody felt confident.
Six hundred billion explosive tags sounded like an absurd number, but an explosive tag was still just an explosive tag—its power was fixed. No matter how many you had, it might still be hard to compare to the Ten-Tails' raw energy.
Sometimes, sheer quantity just couldn't produce a qualitative leap.
If they could kill that beast from far away, that was obviously ideal. No one wanted to fight something like that up close.
Natsuki spread chakra over the vast mass of explosive tags, then locked onto the formula's location—his Flying Thunder God transport and detonation executed in one smooth, seamless motion.
Over there, Madara was practically floating on pride. The Ten-Tails was complete, and his goal was finally within reach.
Obito's expression was gloomy, clearly calculating something.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, had vanished somewhere.
Kabuto had returned, though—and the moment he saw the immense pile of explosive tags appear behind the Ten-Tails, his voice went shrill.
"No—! Not again!"
BOOOOM—
Another colossal mushroom cloud erupted.
The Ten-Tails, along with the three of them, was swallowed up by the terrifying blast.
Even the Ten-Tails' screams were drowned out by the roar of the explosion. The gale it kicked up still reached the Allied Forces' main base, but this time, the people there only felt one thing:
It still wasn't big enough.
If the blast were bigger, maybe—just maybe—it would finally kill the Ten-Tails.
Half a day passed. The mushroom cloud was blown away again, and the Ten-Tails was still there—but compared to last time, it looked utterly miserable.
Looking closely, several of its tails seemed to have been blown clean off, and its body was a mangled mess of torn flesh and blood.
Clearly, the two bombings worked. At the very least, it wasn't as arrogant as it had been right after reviving. It even looked… pitiful.
Not that anyone pitied it.
And it didn't dare spit out energy spheres anymore, either—because it knew someone could relocate those spheres right back near it.
That would be blowing itself up.
And it absolutely refused to do that.
"That damned monster! How is it still alive?!"
"Damn it! How are we supposed to kill something like that?!"
"No choice—we have to go up there and fight it! However we do it, we charge first and figure it out as we go!"
The Allied shinobi were in an uproar, but at least they weren't panicking like before. Maybe it was because they were too desperate—at this point, they just wanted one last all-in push, so they wouldn't regret living through all of this.
There were calm people too, but none of them spoke. They were thinking, searching for a path forward.
And then, right at that moment, Orochimaru showed up—an unwelcome visitor.
"Need help?" Orochimaru asked, strolling forward unhurriedly.
"Orochimaru?! You bastard!" Tsunade snapped.
"Come on, don't get so worked up." Orochimaru wore an almost agreeable expression. "You saw how I acted earlier. I told you I was considering whether to support Madara, and now it's clear—I chose not to."
Tsunade and the others didn't buy it for a second. "You think we'll believe you just because you say that? We had the upper hand, and it was you who brought four Hokage into this and stirred everything up until it became a disaster. Now that Madara has the advantage, there's even less reason for you to come to our side. This is obviously a trick. What—are you trying to take back the severed leg of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path? Or are you trying to mess with Sasuke and Neji's bond?!"
It was obvious.
Nobody trusted Orochimaru.
There had been no warning, no foreshadowing—nothing. Especially not at a time like this, when Madara clearly held the advantage. Switching sides now offered Orochimaru no benefit at all, so how could anyone believe it?
But Orochimaru didn't rush. Instead, he looked at Tsunade and Jiraiya.
"The two of you understand me best. You should know my dream has always been to learn every jutsu… and then pursue the secret of immortality. I'm a bad person, sure—but I have no interest in destroying the world. I helped them before because I wanted to seize Sasuke and Neji's bodies, that's all."
His eyes narrowed, gleaming.
"However, I'm interested in the truth you mentioned, Tsunade. If the truth really is what you say—if Madara has been deceived, and activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi means ending the world—then I have no interest in supporting him any longer…"
"If shinobi are wiped out, and all humans become White Zetsu, what meaning does this world even have?"
No one answered. No one believed him.
A snake couldn't be trusted. Trust it once, and you might find fangs in your throat.
But Jiraiya was a man of emotion—and clearly, Orochimaru's words had gotten through to him.
He summoned a massive scroll and tossed it to Orochimaru.
"Then here's the truth. Read it, and decide."
Orochimaru caught the scroll, opened it, and skimmed through it at speed. Then his face split into a delighted grin.
"So that's how it is… heh heh heh. How fascinating."
The rasping, icy laughter made more than a few people break out in goosebumps.
But Orochimaru was plainly in a good mood.
"So this is the world's truth—chakra's origin, the Sage's eyes, the Sage's body… everything." His tongue flicked briefly, almost unconsciously. "Interesting. Really interesting. But my research isn't finished yet. So this Infinite Tsukuyomi… forget it. I have no interest in a shinobi world full of nothing but White Zetsu. And I certainly don't intend to become one myself."
Tsunade's gaze remained hard. "Nice words. Why should anyone believe you?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "You don't have to believe me. I'll join the fight and do what I can. That's all."
Natsuki watched him closely.
He actually believed Orochimaru—because to Orochimaru, Madara's 'peaceful world' held no appeal whatsoever, and a shinobi world filled with White Zetsu had zero research value.
So it wasn't that Orochimaru had repented.
He simply didn't support Madara's plan.
At least for now, that made him… temporarily usable.
Natsuki didn't say any of that aloud. He just handed a scroll to Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama, the First Hokage is sealed inside this. If you think Orochimaru is trustworthy, then release the Hokage and use them as support. The decision is yours. I'm choosing to trust your judgment, Tsunade-sama."
Tenten nodded hard. "Me too! I trust your judgment, Tsunade-sama!"
One after another, the others echoed their agreement—only adding to Tsunade's crushing pressure.
But there was no time to hesitate.
Because the Ten-Tails started moving.
The Ten-Tails split off a massive swarm of clones and sent them rushing toward the Allied Forces. It might not have dared to spit out an energy sphere anymore, but it could still slaughter people with sheer numbers.
(End of Chapter)
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