Obito stood expressionless, lightly tapping his staff against the ground.
[BOOM!!!]
A thunderous roar erupted.
The powerful shockwave blasted everyone back, sending them flying through the air.
But—!
That was far from the end!
More reinforcements were arriving.
Even though most of them were only jonin, their sheer numbers within the Allied Shinobi Forces were overwhelming.
They hurled kunai in Obito's direction.
Each one was strapped with multiple explosive tags.
[BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!]
A chain of deafening explosions rang out around Obito.
A flicker of disgust passed through Obito's eyes.
He despised explosive tags.
Deep down, he truly loathed them.
If anything, you could say he lost this war because of those damn things.
His Truth-Seeking Balls morphed and slashed outward toward the attacking shinobi.
"Watch out!"
Minato and Tobirama shouted in unison, using Flying Thunder God to teleport in an instant.
Some of them warped away the shinobi directly.
Others teleported giant chunks of debris into the path of the Truth-Seeking Orbs, trying to intercept their deadly trajectory.
"Huff—huff—!"
Tobirama was gasping for air, teeth clenched. "Where's Uchiha Funan? How much longer until he gets here?!"
Yako closed her eyes, sensing carefully, then answered with a sigh, "He's not moving quickly."
"Damn it!" Tobirama cursed. "What the hell is he doing?! Does he think this is a joke? Is he sightseeing on the way or something?!"
Who knew?
Yako couldn't help but silently complain in her heart.
Still—
Her Hokage wasn't the kind of man who would slack off in a crisis. If he was moving this slowly, there had to be a reason.
Until he arrived, they had to hold Obito off.
The longer Funan delayed, the more justified they were in keeping Obito occupied.
Tobirama clearly understood that as well.
But still, staring at Obito, a sense of helplessness crept over him.
How were they supposed to stop him?
Their ninjutsu barely worked on this guy.
His ninjutsu, on the other hand, was utterly devastating.
That power...
Tobirama turned to Minato and said grimly, "Fourth… why hasn't your arm recovered yet?"
He'd already noticed it during the earlier Flying Thunder God jump.
Could an Edo Tensei body really heal this slowly?
"Um…"
Minato was just as surprised.
Frowning, he muttered, "Maybe the chakra consumption was too intense?"
"No. That's not it."
As the developer of the jutsu—even if he hadn't fully mastered all of its mechanics—Tobirama still knew plenty.
"It's very likely..." he said, voice low, "that the enemy's attacks are the reason. Fourth, from now on, we'll need to be extremely cautious."
"Hm?"
"Their attacks might be capable of fundamentally destroying our Edo Tensei bodies. I mean completely. If we keep taking hits like this, even Edo Tensei won't be able to restore us. We'll vanish from this world for good."
"I see..."
Minato drew in a sharp breath.
[BOOM!]
Suddenly, a loud crash resounded beside Obito.
At the same time—
Countless figures appeared around Tobirama, Kakashi, and the others.
"Dad!"
Naruto and the rest had arrived.
They hadn't defeated the giant Buddha—
It had simply been summoned away by Obito, reappearing at his side.
Now, with the Buddha at his back, Obito stood coldly, facing off against the Allied Shinobi Forces.
His enemies included all the elite jonin and Kage-level shinobi from Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure.
Obito glanced at them indifferently. "This one's yours."
The masked man standing atop the Buddha tilted his head slightly, then asked in a serious tone, "Can you tell me what it feels like… to take a dump?"
Obito didn't even bother answering.
He simply took to the air, flying straight toward Uchiha Funan's last known position.
Talking to that guy would drive anyone insane.
[BOOM!!!]
A barrage of ninjutsu was unleashed.
The sky lit up in a swirl of chakra-infused colors.
Obito was forced to retreat once more.
He glared at the Allied Forces, full of irritation.
These people were really starting to piss him off.
Even though he had now ascended to the level of the Six Paths, granting him significant resistance against ninjutsu, the sheer number of enemies forced him to retreat.
"You're all looking to die!"
Gritting his teeth, Obito's face twisted with rage.
[Whoosh!]
Naruto took a deep breath—then suddenly dashed into motion at high speed.
As he passed by his comrades, he shared the power of the Nine Tails with each of them.
In the blink of an eye, every member of the Allied Shinobi Forces on the battlefield was cloaked in a glowing Tailed Beast shroud—just like Naruto.
It was the power of the Nine Tails' chakra!
"Th-This is…"
Everyone stared in disbelief.
"Heh, heh!" Naruto chuckled and said, "With Kurama lending a hand, it should be a lot easier for everyone to fight now."
Easier? This was way more than just 'easier'—this was a massive boost!
Minato beamed and said cheerfully, "Naruto, I never expected you had a trick like this up your sleeve. Amazing!"
"Heh, heh!"
"Hmph."
Sasuke let out a quiet snort as he watched.
Obito, meanwhile, observed coldly.
At his side, Black Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"Obito," he said, "can't you just cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon now?"
"I can't."
Obito's reply was immediate and firm. "Even though I've become the jinchūriki, I'm still missing the core essence."
He turned his gaze toward the Tailed Beasts.
"I need to capture them—devour them—and become the true Ten Tails Jinchūriki."
Black Zetsu said nothing, his eyes dark and unreadable.
"Water Release...!"
A large water bullet shot toward Obito.
[Boom!]
He raised a hand to block it, but the force still sent him stumbling backward.
"Huh?"
Several people on the battlefield voiced their surprise—Obito included.
"Gamakichi!"
Naruto turned to the giant toad behind him and shouted, "Don't attack on your own! We need to coordinate!"
"It's not that, Naruto!" Gamakichi replied helplessly. "Actually, our time is up. We summoning beasts have to return soon. I just wanted to land one last hit on that bastard before leaving."
Every summonable creature from the Three Great Sage Regions had already been called into battle.
The towering Gamakichi—over ten meters tall—was no exception.
Under the leadership of Uchiha Fugaku, they had fiercely battled Hiruko's monstrous Bloodline beasts.
Many of the summons had been wounded, but none had perished. Together, they managed to subdue the enemy.
Now—
Though the battle wasn't yet over, the summons' time limit had run out. They had no choice but to return.
"I see…"
Naruto was just about to nod when he froze, realization dawning in his eyes.
"Wait… you guys…"
"Summoning creatures have a time limit?"
Naruto was stunned!
How had he never known that?
Gamakichi was even more shocked.
"You seriously didn't know?"
"Was I supposed to?!"
"…"
Everyone present turned to stare at Naruto, eyes wide in disbelief.
Did this guy actually make a contract with Mount Myōboku?
Was he really at Kage-level strength now?
Was it fake?
You don't even know your summoning beast has a time limit? That's basic knowledge!
What if the beast disappeared mid-fight and you got killed?
"No need to be surprised," Sasuke said calmly, as if this were nothing new. "That's just Naruto. If there ever comes a day when he doesn't surprise people, that's when you should really worry."
Minato gave a dry cough and glanced at Tobirama.
Tobirama nodded slightly, his gaze locked onto Obito, his expression solemn.
Minato let out a long breath of relief.
"Thank you, Second Hokage."
"…Thank me?"
Tobirama looked confused for a moment.
What was that supposed to mean?
Why is he thanking me now?
Minato looked equally puzzled under Tobirama's questioning gaze.
"My son can be… thoughtless. I hope you won't hold it against him."
After a long pause, Tobirama said, "You're apologizing… for that?"
"What else would it be for?"
"…Yeah, you two are definitely related by blood. Honestly, if anyone ever claimed otherwise, I'd be the first to shut them down."
"Eh?"
Tobirama stopped paying attention to Minato and Naruto, refocusing on Obito, thinking silently to himself: Sage techniques? The toads of Mount Myōboku always use senjutsu.
But there's no sage on this side.
He glanced over at Jiraiya and Orochimaru—
—who were still busy yanking each other's hair out.
A sage?
Seriously?
Jiraiya had a fistful of Orochimaru's hair, screaming like mad.
Orochimaru was tugging back just as hard, biting into Jiraiya's neck with an unhinged grin.
Tobirama's temple twitched.
He'd almost forgotten those two were still fighting.
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