In terms of sheer size, there was no question—the Ten-Tails was the biggest of them all.
Even now, crouched low in a defensive position, it still towered above the other Tailed Beasts.
But!
The others had the advantage of numbers.
If one couldn't beat you, a whole squad could.
After the Three-Tails was caught mid-roll by one of the Ten-Tails' massive limbs, the rest of the Tailed Beasts launched their assault.
When facing a beast that wanted to devour you whole, was there any need to hold back?
Wrong!
Hit as hard as you can. The harder, the better.
Ideally? Beat it to death!
The Seven-Tails struck first.
With a sharp dive, it slammed into the side of the Ten-Tails, knocking it off balance and nearly flattening it to the ground.
"Raaaargh!"
The Four-Tails let out a guttural howl, hoisted a massive boulder over its head, then leapt into the air and smashed it down onto the Ten-Tails' back.
This time, the Ten-Tails completely lost its footing and collapsed to the ground.
The Five-Tails charged in like a stampede.
Its overwhelming power crashed into the Ten-Tails with unstoppable force.
[BOOOOOM!]
The Ten-Tails was sent skidding across the ground like a ragdoll.
From a distance, the Eight-Tails formed a Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth, swallowed it down, then spat it out directly at the Ten-Tails.
Straight at its face.
[BOOOOOM!]
"RAAAAAH!"
With sticky smoke and debris plastering its face, even the Ten-Tails couldn't hold back a pained roar.
Then came the Six-Tails' turn.
No one could tell whether it was breathing through its nose or mouth—but either way, it launched a thick spray of pink acidic mist at the Ten-Tails.
In an instant, the corrosive substance engulfed the beast, eating away at its body.
Another agonized roar.
The spectators all widened their eyes in disbelief.
Was this the power of the Tailed Beasts?
Naruto grunted, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, concerned.
"It's Kurama," Naruto said, his expression complicated. "He's telling me to go join the fight and beat up the Ten-Tails. He's this close to breaking the seal and jumping out there himself!"
Sasuke: "…"
The Susanoo remained on standby, watching from a distance.
They had one job: intervene only when the Ten-Tails tried to devour another Tailed Beast.
[Whoosh!]
Uchiha Madara detached from the Ten-Tails, standing aside with cold, indifferent eyes.
"Well? What do you think, Madara-sama?" Funan asked with a pleasant smile. "Satisfied with the beatdown?"
Madara replied flatly, "A bunch of third-rate beasts. This is all they can manage."
He still had plenty of cards up his sleeve.
Truth be told, he hadn't even gone all out yet.
"Heh… whether third-rate or not, as long as they can take down the enemy, that's good enough," Funan said.
Then, locking eyes with Madara, he added suddenly, "Would it really be so bad to let yourself be sealed?"
"…What do you think?" Madara's expression darkened.
What kind of crap question was that?
You seriously expect him to just lie down and accept being sealed?
Even Hashirama was staring at Funan in disbelief.
Kid, I gotta admit—
That was bold.
But Funan remained serious. "Madara, think about it. The entire shinobi world—unified. I'm sure you've snuck a peek at Konoha since then. That kind of peace, that kind of future... it's about to become reality. You're the only one left threatening that balance. Is that really what you want?"
"I know… the old shinobi world, even the old Hashirama, disappointed you."
Hashirama, standing nearby, opened his mouth to speak—then stayed silent.
"But don't you want to take a chance again?"
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi… you know deep down it's just an illusion. Don't you?"
Funan stretched out both arms. "In one hand, you have a fake world. In the other, a real one. Are you really not going to reconsider?"
"Is your stubbornness still worth anything now?"
Madara stared at Funan and let out a low, bitter chuckle.
"Do you know how many Uchiha have died?" he said quietly.
"My brother… he died for all of this. First, he gouged out his own eyes. Then he died on the battlefield."
Blood crept into the whites of Madara's eyes as he growled, "And in the end? People still slandered him."
Funan fell silent.
Those old wounds… they were hard to judge.
Right or wrong depended on where you stood.
From Madara's point of view, he had suffered worse than death, digging out his brother's eyes for power, fighting for their clan—and yet the clan turned on them, smearing their names.
He had made up his mind.
The Eye of the Moon Plan—he would see it through.
No one was going to stop him.
"…What a shame," Funan sighed.
"Hmph!" Uchiha Madara's eyes were icy cold as he said, "Brat, I don't know what exactly you're planning, but clearly, you have your own agenda. Let's see whose trump card runs deeper—yours or mine!"
With his strength, it was easy to tell that Uchiha Funan had been holding back during the fight.
As an enemy, doing such a thing was definitely suspicious.
[Whoosh!]
Madara vanished.
So did the Ten-Tails.
Man and beast reappeared not far away, both glaring coldly at the Allied Shinobi Forces.
"Don't stop!"
Funan's voice echoed, his gaze fixed on Madara. "All of you—Kage-level shinobi—attack them in turns. Don't let them rest, not even for a second!"
"Got it!"
Naruto shouted, "I'll go first!"
Rasenshuriken!
Powered by the Nine-Tails' chakra, the spinning storm of chakra surged straight toward Madara with terrifying force.
"Roar!"
The Ten-Tails swung one of its massive tails, smashing the attack aside.
However—!
Its tail was slashed in the process, a sharp jolt of pain ripping through it.
"My turn!"
Not to be outdone, Sasuke fired an arrow with his Susanoo.
It was knocked away again.
But this time, the wound on the Ten-Tails' tail deepened.
"Keep it up!"
Funan leaned in toward Hashirama and whispered, "First Hokage, keep an eye on him. I need to leave for a bit. Just make sure Uchiha Madara doesn't get a moment's peace. Pin him here, no matter what."
"Alright!"
Though startled, Hashirama quickly nodded.
Leaving at a time like this—what could be so important?
He wasn't stupid. He had already noticed that Funan seemed to be deliberately stalling the battle, preventing it from ending too soon.
At first, Hashirama had been furious. He'd even wanted to confront Funan. Didn't he realize that dragging things out would only lead to more deaths?
But Tobirama had stopped him.
Tobirama believed that Uchiha Funan wasn't the type to act recklessly—there had to be a reason.
And now—
Was the mystery about to be revealed?
Hashirama glanced toward Madara.
He too seemed to be buying time.
...These people. So annoying!
...
After leaving the battlefield, Funan returned to his laboratory.
Inside, piles of White Zetsu corpses lay scattered.
Among them were the bodies of various bloodline-mutated monsters.
Funan had made up his mind. He would devour them all as soon as possible—he needed to awaken the Rinnegan.
The Sage of Six Paths was clearly running out of patience.
He had interfered in this battle multiple times already.
On the battlefield, Funan had sensed someone watching him. Yet no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find who it was.
But it wasn't hard to guess.
It had to be the Sage of Six Paths.
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.
And who knew when he might descend personally?
Funan's scattered power had barely reached the level of half a step of the Six Paths. Compared to the Sage of Six Paths, the gap was still massive.
"Rinnegan..."
Funan clutched his eye and murmured, "Only with the Rinnegan will I have the courage to face the Six Paths directly. And that old man… he might not be in such good shape anymore, right?"
Funan had doubts.
Had the Sage really stayed hidden in the Pure Land just to gather allies?
Or was there another reason?
Maybe, just as he suspected, the Sage was hiding.
Hiding from whom?
From the Ōtsutsuki clan.
The Ōtsutsuki didn't exactly get along with one another.
The Shinobi World might only be hiding one of them—but still!
Taking a deep breath, he turned to the White Zetsu and the bloodline-mutant corpses.
"It's time," he muttered. "The final evolution!"
This time—
his dōjutsu must evolve!
Massive life energy surged from the bodies of White Zetsu and the mutant creatures, flowing like a river into Funan.
Deep within him, a massive God Tree stirred—
As if cheering in triumph.
The fruits on its body began to radiate a new kind of light.
...
Uchiha Madara was the first to notice Funan's departure.
But he didn't care.
Compared to that, what mattered more was Obito's current state.
That guy had been holding his own pretty well at first, even against both Kakashi and Guy.
But now... he was being completely overwhelmed.
"It's about time, isn't it?"
Madara murmured to himself.
He was going to force Obito to bring him back to life.
Once he was resurrected, he'd possess true, god-like power. After all, only the living can become a Jinchuriki.
...
[Buzz!]
Obito's body twisted slightly, slipping into an intangible state just in time to dodge Guy's crushing kick.
As Guy's leg passed through his ghost-like form, Obito reached out and grabbed him.
"You're finished!"
His eye socket twisted with power. A sudden suction force erupted, trying to pull Guy into the Kamui dimension.
[Szzzt!]
Crackling with destructive lightning, Kakashi appeared and forced Obito to phase again to avoid the strike.
"Kakashi!"
Guy jumped back, his eyes locked onto Obito. He said in a low voice, "His power is starting to wane."
"So is ours," Kakashi replied with a bitter smile.
"Obito. Stop this."
Kakashi spoke firmly. "Look at Uchiha Madara. Even he's chosen to lay down his arms. What are you still fighting for?"
Obito glanced over at Madara, then muttered under his breath, "Coward."
As if he didn't know.
Madara was waiting.
Waiting for him to bring him back to life.
Once resurrected, not even Hashirama or Funan would be able to stop him.
Too bad…
Obito had never planned to go along with that.
Why sacrifice himself just to bring someone else back? Wouldn't it be better to become the Jinchuriki himself and carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan?
A black chain materialized in Obito's hand.
"Obito…"
Kakashi sighed and summoned lightning to his hand once more.
Chidori!
"Let's settle this, Kakashi," Obito said calmly. "I'll avenge Rin—and you, you want to end this battle."
"You're right," Kakashi replied in a low voice. "I'm a shinobi of Konoha. Since you refuse to let go, then I have no choice but to stop you myself."
"Haha… Hahahahaha!"
Obito burst into manic laughter. "Yes! That's it, Kakashi! If you really want to beat me, you'd better be ready to kill me. Without that resolve, you'll never succeed."
Kakashi stared at Obito with a calm, steady gaze.
"Then come."
[Clatter…]
The iron chain in Obito's hand slithered like a serpent.
"Chidori!"
Kakashi charged in with his fastest, most powerful thrust!
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