Boom!
Madara descended from the sky, landing beside the masked man. He gave him a quick glance and said,
"You're far inferior to Obito."
The masked man's body stiffened. He snorted coldly.
"I thought the great Uchiha Madara would have something profound to say. Turns out all you can do is insult your own partner. You should know—without me, you'd never have been able to execute your plan!"
"Without you, I'd still finish it. It would just take a little longer," Madara replied, shaking his head.
"Black Zetsu really doesn't know how to pick allies."
He reached toward the masked man and took back the Uchiha clan's flame-patterned fan.
"This belongs to me."
The masked man didn't resist. That fan was Madara's to begin with—and in his own hands, it was little more than a sturdy decorative piece.
Better to return it to its rightful owner.
Madara's sudden arrival sent a chill through everyone on the battlefield.
"Madara!" Naruto shouted anxiously. "What did you do to Kiyosuke-san and Granny Tsunade?!"
"The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, huh?" Madara's gaze shifted toward him. "That Asakawa Kiyosuke fellow is quite the powerhouse. Back when I was alive, I might not have been able to beat him. But right now… well, he'll need some time before he can fight again."
Hearing that Kiyosuke wasn't dead, Naruto exhaled in relief.
Then Kurama's voice thundered inside his mind.
"Naruto, the Ten-Tails is about to complete its transformation. We must stop it—now!"
"Got it!"
"Then use a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"Tailed Beast Bomb!!!"
Kurama opened his jaws, gathering an enormous amount of chakra. The protective barrier around the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path began to crack—
Crack. Crack.
Then shattered entirely.
From within, a colossal monster emerged.
Its ten tails lashed wildly, and its massive, earth-colored body towered over the battlefield. A spiraling shell-like bloom grew from its back, its mouth filled with jagged fangs. In the center of its head shone a single blood-red Rinnegan, with a tomoe pattern spinning slowly inside it.
Madara and the masked man leapt onto the creature's back. Thick black tubes extended from the beast into their bodies, linking them directly to the Ten-Tails.
"Let's clean up the battlefield," Madara said calmly. "We're not yet at full power—and there are still two tailed beasts left to absorb."
His goal wasn't to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki using only fragments of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails' chakra. That would be beneath him. He wanted them all—complete.
The Ten-Tails raised a massive arm and swept it across the ground.
A storm of dust exploded outward.
Compared to the creature's sheer size, both the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails looked like children.
"Move!"
Kurama and Gyūki dodged frantically; even the smallest graze would be catastrophic.
"They're here!"
It was Mito Uzumaki who spoke first.
"Hm?" Madara turned sharply. Beneath his feet, a three-pronged kunai appeared out of nowhere.
A flash of yellow light cut across the air—
The tubes behind them were instantly severed.
Both the kunai and the yellow flash vanished a heartbeat later.
"I see… the Flying Thunder God Technique." Madara narrowed his eyes, lips curling into a grin. "But not Tobirama's. This one's even faster. I've been waiting for you… Hashirama!!!"
"Later!"
Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, and Orochimaru appeared on the battlefield.
"My, my," Orochimaru chuckled softly, unbothered even before the monstrous Ten-Tails. "What a rare sight. Is Sasuke here too? This battle will decide the future of the entire shinobi world."
"Let's seal that thing first!" Hashirama replied, his tone serious. He approached his wife.
"Mito, it's been ages! You haven't aged a day."
"Decades, actually," Mito said curtly. "Why have you called me? Make it quick."
"The Four Red Yang Formation. We need to restrain the Ten-Tails."
That barrier required four shinobi of Hokage-level strength to cast—and once activated, even a Tailed Beast Bomb couldn't break through.
Since the Third Hokage was still alive, they were one short. So Hashirama had asked his wife for help. After all, she had contributed to the technique's creation.
"Understood."
Mito didn't waste words.
Minato, reunited briefly with Kushina, shared a few quiet moments before turning serious again.
"Second Hokage-sama, Mito-sama—stand with me."
"Oh? You've already prepared everything, Fourth," Tobirama said approvingly, smiling for once. "You're quick as ever."
Minato entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode—his aura darker and redder than Naruto's golden glow.
Swish, swish, swish!
In the blink of an eye, the four of them took their positions around the Ten-Tails.
They formed hand seals in unison.
"Four Red Yang Formation!!!"
A blazing crimson barrier rose up instantly, sealing Madara, the masked man, and the Ten-Tails inside.
"Looks like we're trapped," Madara remarked, unconcerned. "But this sort of thing means nothing to me."
He glanced at the masked man.
That one couldn't die yet—not until Madara was done with him.
"The Ten-Tails is losing control," Madara noted. "It's beyond restraint now."
"No," the masked man replied arrogantly. "I can still manage this. They're just a bunch of reanimated corpses—hardly worth your concern. I didn't think you could be so easily rattled, Madara."
Madara said nothing.
He simply shook his head.
This was all a farce. Better to end it quickly.
"Let's hold it for now," Hashirama said. "Then it's my turn. Sage Mode!"
The markings of the sage spread across his face as he formed a new sequence of hand seals.
A series of massive vermilion torii gates fell from the sky, slamming down over the Ten-Tails' body—pinning its limbs, tails, and even its head.
"Seal complete!"
The monster was locked in place, unable to move an inch.
"The kids are on their way," Hashirama said, his voice calm. "Let's wait for them."
"Agreed," Tobirama nodded. "Given the situation, rushing in would be reckless."
"We're here," came a familiar voice.
Kiyosuke landed beside Hashirama, carrying Terumī Mei in his arms.
"Oh! You made it, Konoha's young hero!" Hashirama beamed.
"Hashirama-sama," Kiyosuke said, setting Mei down gently and motioning for her to stay back.
"Looks like you've been through quite the fight with Madara," Hashirama said, laughing heartily.
"If he weren't in his Edo Tensei state, I would've finished him," Kiyosuke replied coolly.
"I sensed that battle from afar," Hashirama said, smiling proudly. "You truly are the future of Konoha, young man."
"No," Kiyosuke said quietly, his gaze shifting toward Naruto and Sasuke. "The future belongs to them."
Even with all his power, he knew he couldn't surpass those two children of destiny.
"The future rests in the hands of the young," Hashirama said warmly. "We old ones merely pave the way."
The Will of Fire burns on—endlessly.
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