In Kirigakure, the Mist shinobi who had stayed behind to guard the village instead of going to the front lines—
The mont they saw the monstrous figure that had suddenly appeared several kiloters outside the village, they imdiately triggered the village-wide alarm.
At the top of the Mizukage Tower, Uchiha Hikari swung her legs leisurely from the rooftop.
The Mangekyō Sharingan spun in her eyes, clearly reflecting the grotesque and nacing form of the Ten Tails' first transformation in the distance.
Standing beside her, Jigen clasped his hands behind his back, his expression calm and detached.
"Six Tails and Seven Tails—two complete tailed beasts. More than we expected."
"Is that going to be a problem for you?"
Uchiha Hikari turned to look at the seemingly empty railing beside her.
"More power doesn't an anything if you don't know how to use it. In the end, it's still just a beast... Want a drink?"
Jigen's expression remained unchanged. He raised his hand, and as if from nowhere, a glass of deep crimson wine appeared, gleaming like blood.
"I don't take food from strangers."
"Is that so? Looks like we haven't built up enough trust yet. But now that you have a much longer life ahead of you, we'll have plenty of ti to get to know each other."
"...When do we move?"
"No rush. The Ten Tails' transformation will be slower than usual with this low chakra supply. Just make sure Kirigakure reacts the way it's supposed to."
"Oh."
Uchiha Hikari casually waved at the fanatical-looking Kirigakure leadership gathered behind her.
Not a single word more.
A wave of Mist shinobi, left behind to protect the village, charged out in unison toward the Ten Tails—accompanied by a massive number of White Zetsu!
...
At the southwestern corner of Kirigakure's ergency shelter—
Elder Genshi listened to the distant tremors and the blaring alarms. He gently patted the head of the small boy beside him, trying to soothe his fear.
Eleven-year-old Terumī i watched in exasperation as the young boy trembled and cried uncontrollably.
This brat was already six years old, yet he still bawled at the slightest shake.
Unbelievable~
She really hoped Grandpa Genshi wouldn't ask her to comfort this guy later!
"Sir, are we really not going out there? There are still many civilians who haven't made it to the shelters."
Gonbei's face was full of worry.
He hated war. He hated the Mist shinobi who had embraced extremism. But the common people—they were innocent.
The village was under attack, and yet here they were, hiding away.
This...
"Morning will co."
Genshi's gaze swept over the anxious faces around him. With a raised hand, he silenced the room.
Ever since he received that anonymous note a day ago, he had known—
This ti, his guess had been right!
Uchiha Hikari, the Fifth Mizukage, might have her own agenda, but after this chaos, Kirigakure would finally see a dawn that could light the entire village!
...
Above the Ten Tails.
Uchiha Madara felt the deep-rooted, instinctive desire rising within him—to absorb the Ten Tails' power.
He scoffed.
The Uchiha and Senju clans both carried the blood of the Ōtsutsuki.
And the Ōtsutsuki had always advanced by devouring chakra.
Now that the Ten Tails had been awakened to this degree, he too felt the pull of that hunger.
But after hearing Yamanaka Shinno explain the truths of the shinobi world so many tis, how could he be swayed by such a thing?
The fruit of the God Tree had already been eaten by Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Even if he rged with the Ten Tails now, all he'd get was a power that wasn't truly his—sothing Kaguya could snatch back at any mont.
No... He would have his own God Tree.
"Madara~! This form of the Ten Tails is ugly! Can't you make it look better?"
Senju Hashirama's voice ca through the clouds of dust kicked up by the Ten Tails' movent.
"Shut up!"
Madara's face darkened. Of course he knew Hashirama was just trying to keep him from falling under the Ten Tails' influence.
Damn pineapple head!
Six Tails, Seven Tails, and bits of other tailed beasts' chakra—it was still a patchwork of power, never truly his.
How stupid would he have to be to get tempted by that?
If it weren't for the Ten Tails' low chakra reserves...
And how long this transformation was taking...
Would he really still be standing here like an idiot?
"Transform!"
Madara growled, forming hand seals as his Rinnegan flashed.
Under the Rinnegan's control, the Ten Tails began to change again.
The heavy, armor-like outer layer peeled away.
Its body shrank to half its previous size—revealing the gaunt, skeletal second form of the Ten Tails, looking more like a malnourished corpse than a threat.
Madara didn't stop. He kept forcing the Ten Tails to evolve.
anwhile, waves of Kirigakure shinobi and White Zetsu were already surging toward them like a tidal wave!
...
"Creepy."
Yamanaka Shinno's eyes glowed faintly with the Byakugan's power as he scanned the Mizukage Tower in the distance.
Right away, he spotted Uchiha Hikari turning to speak to soone beside her.
But through the Byakugan...
There was no one next to her!
Even pushing the Byakugan to its limits, all he could detect was a faint, wispy chakra signature—thinner than the weakest clone jutsu!
Still, he was too far to see clearly.
But Shinno was certain—Jigen was there.
First of all, Hikari wasn't the type to politely turn her head and make eye contact when speaking.
Second, with her personality, if no one was standing beside her, and she saw that Shinno had arrived but hadn't co to greet her, she would've marched over on her own!
"If she keeps glancing that way, then it must an her Mangekyō can see him."
Shinno rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
In the original tiline, Sasuke's Rinnegan with six tomoe could track Jigen's size-shifting movents.
His own spiritual energy already far surpassed Sage Chakra.
Empowered by that, his Byakugan and sensory abilities were more than a match for a Rinnegan's precision—at close range, at least.
Still, better not to get careless.
A miniaturized enemy could be dangerous in ways most wouldn't expect!
...
"What a sight."
Ōnoki murmured, watching the wave of Mist shinobi and White Zetsu pouring toward them.
"Hokage. Care to compete?"
The Third Raikage, A, clenched his fists, challenging Tsunade with a grin.
Last ti, Tsunade had been a bit slower than him.
Against cannon fodder like this, as long as he moved fast, he was sure to rack up a higher kill count!
"How about a bet—nah, forget it. No gambling today!"
Tsunade cracked her knuckles. She had considered putting sothing on the line...
But rembering her luck—and what Shinno had said about her having the fate of a "reverse gambler's saint"—she decided to resist temptation.
It was warti. Losing a bet wouldn't matter.
But winning one...
"Co on then! Ti to kill, you maggots!"
Uchiha Izuna drew his blade, not even glancing at Tsunade or the Raikage before charging into the fray.
Anyone who dared interfere with his brother's plans deserved to die!
"Three, two, one—go!"
The Third Raikage vanished in a flash of lightning.
Tsunade, surrounded by nine white dragons, darted past him and slamd a fist into the earth.
Ōnoki watched the three of them charge in.
Then glanced up at Madara, still accelerating the Ten Tails' evolution from atop its head.
And at Hashirama, now leaping over to join him.
He also spotted Yamanaka Shinno, who had reached the Ten Tails' head and was now sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, one hand resting on the Ten Tails' skull—sensing sothing.
Ōnoki sighed.
Seriously...
Why was his idiot grandson still so useless? He'd never managed to learn Dust Release!
Even at his age, Ōnoki was still forced to fight with everything he had!
And maybe it was osteoporosis, but he'd been throwing out his back twice a day lately.
If Tsunade hadn't been here, he probably would've had to roll into battle in a wheelchair!
He grumbled, but still activated Ultra-Lightweight Boulder Jutsu and flew toward the incoming enemy.
Though whether intentionally or not, he kept himself within a hundred ters of Tsunade at all tis.
That way, if he threw his back out again, he could just crawl over and let her give it a slap—good as new!
...
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! Ugh—who's cursing !?"
Yamanaka Shinno sneezed three tis in a row, then looked toward Kirigakure.
He ntally chalked one up against Jigen before closing his eyes again, expanding his sensory field—both to guard against an incoming sneak attack, and to finish engraving the Ten Tails with space-ti seals infused with his spiritual energy.
Once the Ten Tails was fully marked...
He activated the [Multiverse Traveler] trait and unleashed its powerful dinsional awareness to scan the Pure Land.
Jigen had already made his move.
The God Tree was awakening.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was about to break free.
Souls were flooding into the Pure Land...
Sage of Six Paths—let's see what you're planning to do!
The battlefield roared with the clash of voices and steel.
Ten minutes passed... then twenty... half an hour!
With no one interfering, and Madara using the Rinnegan to accelerate the process, the Ten Tails finally reached its third form.
Its chakra now fully converted, it didn't stop—imdiately beginning to shift into its fourth form!
Yamanaka Shinno sensed Uchiha Hikari and the "tiny one" approaching fast.
He grinned and slapped his palm against the Ten Tails.
The space-ti seal activated.
A mont later, the Ten Tails' massive body reappeared over a barren wilderness, a hundred kiloters from Kirigakure!
Giant, python-like roots exploded from the Ten Tails' body, tearing through soil and rock, crushing forests as they dug into the earth.
Towering tree trunks twisted together as they grew, forming a pillar that stretched to the sky—the trunk of the God Tree!
Its countless roots lashed toward Shinno and Hashirama—
Only to be halted by Madara's Rinnegan.
At the top of the tree, a purple flower blood.
Buzz—
A surge of space-ti energy flared.
A twisted black portal opened.
From it leapt Jigen, his body back to full size, now covered in dark, ominous markings.
His cold gaze swept toward Yamanaka Shinno—the one who had just relocated the God Tree with Flying Thunder God.
The opponent's utterly irrational move threw his entire plan into chaos!
"Release!"
Jigen thrust his right palm toward the blossom atop the God Tree.
The flower blood. The disk-shaped core of the blossom shimred with the ripple pattern of a Rinnegan. With the power of the God Tree, that image was projected straight onto the surface of the moon.
Crack—
A sharp, crisp shattering sound—like glass breaking—rang out from the center of the flower.
The black eye pattern was violently pierced by a pale, almost bloodless, slender arm. The image collapsed completely.
Jigen leapt back without hesitation and vanished into the still-open spatial rift behind him!
...
A cold female voice rang out.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya slowly floated up from the heart of the flower.
"You go after him. This one's ours."
Uchiha Madara crossed his arms as his full-body Susanoo took form in the blink of an eye.
"Fighting alongside Madara, huh? What do you think, grandson-in-law?"
Senju Hashirama was clearly itching for a fight too, clenching his fists together. The markings of Sage Mode had already appeared on his face.
"Be careful. Sure, the lab still has samples of your flesh and cells, but reviving you again is a real pain."
Yamanaka Shinno flicked his wrist as he spoke. From his sleeve, he casually tossed out the massive True Several Thousand Hands Buddha that Hashirama had created during their trip to Sunagakure.
"Bastard! Who do you think you're underestimating?! I'm Uchiha Madara!"
"I know you're worried, but co on, grandson-in-law! I am the man known as the God of Shinobi!"
Their voices rang out at the sa ti.
Chakra erupted from them like a storm. Hashirama activated the True Several Thousand Hands, and Madara's Susanoo imdiately wrapped around it like a massive armor.
...
"Just so you know," Shinno added, "Indra and Asura were technically Kaguya's grandsons. So if her grandsons are fighting her... yeesh."
He didn't give Hashirama or Madara a chance to fire back. The mont he finished speaking, Shinno's figure vanished from the spot.
----------------
Pls Drop so Power Stones
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