Noticing the strange expressions on Kakashi and the others' faces, Kaede glanced down at the black thread of sealing script in his hand. Thinking back to Tobirama's last, desperate attempt to speak, he seemed to realize something.
Looks like acting too fast isn't always a good thing.
Still, it wasn't a big deal. Tobirama was going to be sealed eventually anyway.
Kaede shook his head.
He slipped the black thread into his pocket, then flickered forward in a flash and landed atop Kakashi's Susanoo. He raised a Truth-Seeking Spear in his hand and looked across to Uchiha Obito.
"I didn't expect you to be brought back into this world again."
"Obito."
Seeing Kaede, Obito's eyes flickered with complicated emotions.
"Sorry… for causing trouble again. That guy's hiding spot is in the northern region of Kumogakure. You should hurry. They've probably already started putting things in motion. If they get all the Tailed Beasts… even you might have trouble stopping them."
"North of Kumogakure? No wonder we couldn't find them."
A flash of realization passed through Kaede's eyes.
Kumogakure was the northernmost of the Five Great Villages, and the Land of Lightning itself was practically at the northern edge of the continent. Beyond that lay only the sea. He'd assumed Black Zetsu was hiding in the cracks between smaller nations, but it turned out they were behind the northern mountains of Kumo all along. No wonder they'd remained hidden so long.
"Alright, I understand."
"This time, no one will disturb your eternal rest."
Kaede nodded and casually tossed the Truth-Seeking Spear in his hand.
Ssshhh!!
It pierced through the Susanoo.
Obito activated his intangibility, but Kakashi immediately followed up with Kamui, targeting Obito's body. The two spatial techniques collided and canceled each other out, forcing Obito's partially phased body to rematerialize.
In that moment, Kaede's spear struck.
Crash!
The Truth-Seeking Spear pierced through Obito's body, which shattered like flower petals, disintegrating into nothing.
With a single thought, Kaede recalled all the surrounding Truth-Seeking Orbs back to his body. He glanced at Kakashi, then at the distant Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, and said:
"Kakashi, I'll leave the rest to you. I'm going to the source."
As his words fell, a golden light shimmered in Kaede's Rinnegan, causing ripples to spread through the space ahead. He took one step forward into the portal, and vanished.
Only the Fourth Kazekage and the stunned Sand ninja remained amidst the ruins.
Kakashi gazed silently in the direction where Obito had disappeared. Then he turned to look at Rasa and the nearby Sand ninja
Feeling Kakashi's gaze, Rasa stiffly turned his head. He looked at the shattered fragments of the reanimated Kage around him, then up at Kakashi, still cloaked in his imposing Susanoo.
The remaining Konoha elite guards, along with Kurenai and others, also turned toward the Sand ninja. Amid the silence—
Clang!
A short sword slipped from someone's hand and clattered onto the ground. It bounced a few times, ringing clearly in the still air. That one sound was like the first domino toppling, triggering a chorus of clangs as kunai and swords began to fall from nervous hands.
Several Suna shinobi stumbled backward before slumping onto broken stones, the shock and fear slowly fading from their faces, replaced by a look of utter hopelessness.
They couldn't win.
Not even the legendary former Kage, powerhouses of their era, could withstand a single blow from Kaede. His strength undeniably matched the title: God of the Shinobi World.
To stand against him was to face inevitable defeat.
That despair soon gave way to grim understanding. It wasn't just Sunagakure, none of the Five Great Nations would be able to resist someone like Kaede.
Since Hashirama ended the Warring States period, the five-nation era had lasted fifty years.
But now, like that ancient era of endless war, it too was about to become history.
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Kumogakure.
The entire village had descended into chaos.
The attackers were none other than the First, Second, and Third Raikage. Though the Second Raikage was weaker, the First Raikage was on par with the Third, and the sheer force the three of them unleashed had already thrown the village into disarray.
The Fourth Raikage was locked in direct combat with the Third. While he was significantly faster, his strikes couldn't penetrate the Third Raikage's defense.
Boom!!
A sharp chop from the Fourth Raikage landed on the Third's shoulder, but it only made the muscles tremble slightly. There was no real damage.
"A, you rely too much on speed. You haven't mastered lightning's sharpness. Without that edge, you can't break through my defenses. This won't work, you need a Wind Release user!"
The Third Raikage barked loudly.
The Fourth gritted his teeth and snapped, "You think I don't know that? But we don't have any powerful Wind Release ninja in the village!"
The Third Raikage's expression also darkened.
Elsewhere, Killer Bee had fully transformed into the Eight-Tails, teaming up with Dodai to try and hold off the First and Second Raikage.
But it wasn't a true fight, they were barely managing to survive, relying solely on the Eight-Tails' massive body to take the hits. The two former Raikage were utterly overwhelming them.
If it were only those three,
Kumogakure might have managed.
But the real problem was the others.
A whole group of once-dead Kumo legends had returned, including the previous Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails. And worse yet, among them was a flash of gold tearing across the battlefield, Konoha's Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato!
Though sealed with the Reaper Death Seal, Orochimaru had found a way to retrieve his soul.
Naturally, Black Zetsu knew how to do the same. For him, it was even easier, because the Shinigami summoned by the Death Seal was merely a fragment of Kaguya Otsutsuki's unconscious spiritual energy.
"This is bad…"
Minato darted around the battlefield using the Flying Thunder God Technique, cutting down Kumo ninja with ease, but his gaze was heavy.
This Edo Tensei technique was created by Tobirama Senju.
If a Konoha shinobi had used it, Minato wouldn't have minded lending a hand in death.
But it was clear this wasn't a Konoha user. And judging by the actions they were forcing him to take, teleporting the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, and Two-Tails to some unknown location, the enemy was after all the Tailed Beasts.
If something had also happened in Sunagakure…
That would mean the enemy had already gathered at least six Tailed Beasts!
From earlier battles, Minato had learned that Kaede had become the Fifth Hokage, which meant he had died and Kaede had used the Nine-Tails to save Konoha.
But that also meant Kaede, and Rin, were likely among the enemy's targets.
"…Rin… Kaede…"
Minato's fingers clenched slightly.
He didn't know what was happening with the two of them.
And though he wasn't certain what the enemy's ultimate goal was, if it involved collecting all the Tailed Beasts,
Then the entire ninja world was facing a calamity of unimaginable scale.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria