On another battlefield—
A large number of fully armed Hoshigakure shinobi entered the fray. Because their gear had been blessed and enchanted, they were able to track and eliminate the disguised White Zetsu clones under the guidance of the Mountain God's divine power, taking over some of the burden from Naruto's Shadow Clones.
Of course, this was only a small portion. The real bulk of the work was being handled by those who had previously spent large sums to purchase Hoshigakure's ninja tools. These tools came with built-in abilities to detect White Zetsu as well.
Among the sea of hundreds of thousands of shinobi, White Zetsu had nowhere left to hide. Whether it was Naruto's clones or the newly arrived star shinobi, none could match the overwhelming kill count of these tool-enhanced warriors.
Meanwhile, with the help of the pangolin, the Mountain God entered a different battlefield—
To confront the resurrected legendary shinobi brought back by Edo Tensei.
Although newly born, the Mountain God wielded divine power fueled by the strength of belief. Through long-term worship and blessings, some combat-capable divine authorities had also been formed.
For example, as the Mountain God, it could easily manipulate nearby mountains to forcibly suppress its targets.
Or it could peer into the inner world of its opponent through faith, making it easier to counter the resurrected Edo Tensei warriors.
Eventually, after a period of intense combat, Neji captured Kabuto. Influenced by the Breathing Art of the Sage Path, Kabuto came to see a path of human progress and chose to give up his desire to validate himself through the Fourth Great Ninja War—
He decided to release Edo Tensei.
Countless resurrected warriors, both sealed and unsealed, returned to the Pure Land.
...
Uchiha Madara, having just finished off the Five Kage, realized Edo Tensei had been undone.
To remain in the living world, he chose to sever his link with Kabuto by forming hand seals, effectively freeing himself.
He turned to assist Obito in absorbing the Ten Tails and continued the battle against the shinobi alliance's elites.
Though Obito did become the Ten Tails' Jinchuriki, his own willpower was insufficient. Moreover, he was not a reincarnation of Indra or Asura, leading to a suppressed Kamui and numerous emerging weaknesses.
Still, the Truth-Seeking Orbs granted him invincibility against all physical matter!
At this critical moment, Neji—who had reformed Kabuto—entered the battlefield.
Although the Truth-Seeking Orbs were beyond the limits of Neji's physical endurance, the abundance of natural energy in the ninja world meant that Neji's attacks were primarily driven by pure nature energy.
This actually made his strikes even stronger than Sage Chakra mixed with normal chakra, forcing Obito to avoid direct confrontation.
In the end, with the assistance of the Hokage revived by Orochimaru's Edo Tensei, the tailed beast chakra fused within Obito was extracted—
And he was left powerless.
It was at this moment that Black Zetsu launched a sneak attack, forcing Obito to use Rinne Rebirth to revive Uchiha Madara.
Now returned to life, Madara once again battled the alliance, taking pleasure in the pain of his physical body—experiencing the joy of being alive.
But with Neji's arrival, the now-blind Madara was swiftly suppressed. Even his Susanoo was shattered. The relentless waves of energy assaults were like an unending tide—
Forcing Madara to get serious. He seized the opportunity to reabsorb the Ten Tails' chakra and became its Jinchuriki.
With the activation of Limbo: Border Jail, four invisible clones that normal people couldn't see materialized.
Combined with the constant threat of the Truth-Seeking Orbs, the battle turned.
Neji, who was in perfect resonance with nature, could see the Limbo clones. With punches and sword strikes infused with inexhaustible energy drawn from heaven and earth, he managed to hold them off—
But his momentum was clearly beginning to fade.
Six Paths Madara used gravitational control to fly high into the sky, launching attacks on Neji from above.
Though Neji could briefly stay airborne by resonating with nature, it wasn't true flight. In the end, alongside Sasuke, Naruto, and the tailed beasts who had rushed to assist, he was defeated.
...
Throughout the entire fight, Uchiha Kirin's gaze never left Six Paths Madara and his four Limbo clones.
After some time—
Identical clones, residing in an alternate dimension, appeared beside Uchiha Kirin as well!
Not only had he replicated Limbo, but his version was enhanced by his overwhelming Ocular Power.
Uchiha Kirin had six Limbo clones in total. Although they couldn't use enhancement-type techniques like the Eight Gates, their abilities were identical to his main body. They could even perform the Breathing Art of the Sage Path!
And unlike Shadow Clones, which split off into independent consciousnesses, these clones were directly connected to Kirin's main mind. They were more akin to the Six Paths of Pain.
In addition—
The clones could fuse with each other, and with Kirin himself, allowing for stacking of strength and defense. If necessary, one clone could even be sacrificed to escape from otherwise unbreakable sealing techniques!
A unique dojutsu born from the Rinnegan indeed lived up to its name.
As long as one could discover the right rules and integrate with them, it would truly become a divine technique.
With that thought, Uchiha Kirin—and his six clones—simultaneously turned their eyes toward Six Paths Madara, as well as Sasuke, who was lying unconscious, receiving power from the Sage of Six Paths.
If Limbo was already this powerful… then how terrifying would Amenotejikara be?
What about Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Only stronger.
...
Though curious about Neji's strange condition, Madara had no time to ponder it. Might Guy, having opened the Eight Gates, launched a ferocious taijutsu assault with the help of Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze.
Madara, believing himself already invincible in the shinobi world—
Chose to face the Night Guy head-on.
In the end, after exclaiming, "I hereby name you the strongest!", he ended up half-paralyzed...
Might Guy, meanwhile, burned out his life force completely by using the Eight Gates.
Thankfully, by then Naruto and Sasuke—both newly powered up by the Sage of Six Paths—had arrived once more.
Naruto had received the Yang Power of the Six Paths, along with a one-time-use set of Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Sasuke had received the Yin Power of the Six Paths, and with it awakened the Six Tomoe Rinnegan in one eye, along with the space-swapping dojutsu Amenotejikara.
Neji, after being injured, couldn't receive another power-up. The Breathing Art of the Sage Path was something powered by his own inner strength alone.
So, all Uchiha Kirin could do was treat his wounds to keep him alive. Whether Neji could break through the next barrier would depend on him alone.
Given that—
The next phase of the battle should be left to the Sage of Six Paths.
Uchiha Kirin casually waved toward the Sage of Six Paths, who was also watching the fight, signaling:
His pawn had been played.
At most, he'd scavenge some leftovers—he wouldn't be competing for the main prize.
At this point, his priority was to stabilize the Sage of Six Paths and prevent him from interfering when Kaguya appeared...
When the time finally came to seize power from Kaguya—
That would be when Kirin revealed his true strength and claimed the lion's share for himself!
After all, this world still ran on the law of the jungle.
Even those so-called civilized sages, using shinobi as chess pieces—
When faced with unsolvable problems, still had to follow that law!