"Hmm?"
Three figures sipping tea together simultaneously furrowed their brows.
Around the village, perceptive shinobi paused in unison—every one of them had sensed it.
A massive surge of chakra suddenly burst forth. Overbearing. Dominant.
Compared to this presence, even the Four Kage felt somewhat... lacking.
"He's here."
"A bit later than expected."
Naruto looked up, gaze fixed toward the horizon beyond Konoha's walls.
The Shura of the Shinobi World—the one who, in the original timeline, nearly cast the entire world into the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Uchiha Madara.
"Nagato should arrive soon. Whether Mori's Sage Mode clone can hold out depends on how well Black Zetsu performs."
"If nothing's gone wrong, Obito is likely already in the Hidden Cloud Village, targeting the Two-Tails. If it were just White Zetsu involved... maybe the Fourth Great Ninja War wouldn't have happened in the first place."
With that thought lingering, Naruto rose to his feet.
"Aunt Snake," he called out. "A new batch of experimental subjects will be arriving shortly. Perform well, and you'll get what you've earned."
Orochimaru licked his lips, eyes gleaming. "Leave them to me."
Whoosh—
Before the words had even finished echoing, Naruto vanished.
Given how things were progressing, he had to handle this personally.
A resurrected Uchiha Madara, bearing the Rinnegan and summoned via Impure World Reincarnation, stood as a threat unlike any other.
Were he alive in a true body, battling the Five Kage wouldn't be a contest—it would be a massacre.
Even Senju Hashirama, in his prime, would struggle against this Madara.
"Madara?"
"Yes... this chakra aura... it's him."
Minato rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, eyes narrowing. "This pressure... is this really Uchiha Madara's chakra?"
"Unbelievable," Hashirama muttered, brow furrowed. "Something feels different. Could it be the influence of the Rinnegan?"
Tobirama turned to his elder brother. "Do you think you can take him?"
"It's hard to say," Hashirama replied quietly. "Even if I go all out, I can't guarantee I won't fall..."
Whoosh—
"I knew you'd come," Tobirama said calmly. "You're ready, right?"
He immediately waved his hand, pouring Naruto a cup of tea. "Why am I even asking something so obvious?"
"I didn't expect this to happen…"
Mu stood slowly, voice filled with surprise. "For the caster of the Reanimation Jutsu to find you..."
"There's no doubt about the outcome of this war now."
"Immortality?"
Uchiha Madara glanced down at his reanimated form.
"So it really is the Reanimation Jutsu, huh…"
The swirling smoke cleared as Madara stepped forward, his chakra monstrous and oppressive.
"Wait... what is that?!"
A sensory ninja wiped cold sweat from his brow.
"What's wrong? What did you sense?!"
"Over there!"
All heads turned at once.
A figure began to materialize—slowly, as if peeling back from reality itself.
"No Sir?! How did they even split under those circumstances?!"
Ōnoki's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait—no... that's not him. There's someone else!"
The sensory ninja's voice trembled. "Another presence…!"
The figure solidified.
Uchiha Madara.
"What… What is this?!"
Ōnoki broke into a sweat, voice barely above a whisper. "He's here... Uchiha... Madara!"
Every shinobi froze.
Even Kabuto paused his manipulation, releasing control of the other Kage.
"The Five Great Nations… and civilians too… Konoha has changed quite a bit."
Madara crossed his arms, gazing down at the mass of ninjas and ordinary villagers alike.
Then, his eyes drifted up—to the enormous wooden Buddha seated in meditation, watching over the battlefield.
The corners of his mouth curled into a smile.
"Hashirama…?"
"You weren't reborn… yet your life force feels so vivid. How are you alive again?"
"No matter. It doesn't change a thing. Resurrected or not, you can't stop me."
Madara's expression darkened.
"All this… because of Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
"The Five Great Nations—signing treaties, talking about peace…"
"Hmph. Another meaningless truce."
He scoffed.
"If I've been summoned like this, then the Eye of the Moon Plan clearly isn't going as intended. Otherwise, there'd be no need to bring me back in this form."
"Where's Obito?"
Mu, now under Kabuto Yakushi's control, stepped forward.
"I'm Kabuto. And yes, the masked man you're referring to—he's Obito."
"I'm not affiliated with him."
Without even turning his head, Madara scoffed, "Speaking to me through the Impure World Reincarnation? How underhanded."
Kabuto remained unbothered by the jab. "This Impure World Reincarnation was tailored just for you."
"With the help of Black Zetsu, you are now stronger than you were at your peak."
Madara narrowed his eyes. "Black Zetsu… so it's not Obito pulling the strings? Heh. I see."
He turned his head slightly. "You… have seen me in my prime?"
"No. That's why now… I want to witness it for myself."
"The legendary power of the Uchiha."
Boom—
Before the words had fully left Kabuto's mouth, a beam of Dust Release came tearing through the air.
The two vanished from their positions simultaneously.
Madara appeared again, his eyes scanning the battlefield—the crowd of shinobi, and Senju Hashirama standing in the distance.
"There's too much trash in the way. Let's clean it up."
His Sharingan spun violently, and in an instant, it evolved into the Rinnegan.
Madara swiftly weaved hand signs as an overwhelming amount of chakra erupted from his body, sending his long mane of hair whipping wildly in the surge.
Crack— Crack— CRACK—
Blue chakra flared around him as the first form of Susanoo materialized with a roar.
And in perfect synchronization, another figure mirrored Madara's hand seals—the battlefield was plunged into darkness.
Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama looked up simultaneously, as did Minato Namikaze. His pupils contracted.
"…Is this… the true power of the Rinnegan?"
Minato was stunned. He and Kushina had once fought Pain—back then, the Rinnegan didn't feel as terrifying as the legends claimed.
He'd thought, so this is it? This is the Eye of Samsara?
But now…
Now he understood what the Rinnegan truly was.
And yet—gulp—he still couldn't help but think: Was that really all…?
Clang—
A Hidden Cloud shinobi dropped his sword in despair. It clattered against the stones.
"Hehe… damn monster…"
The same emotion swept through the civilians and shinobi of Konoha—disbelief, then despair.
But soon, they remembered—the Hokage still stood with them.
In contrast, the shinobi from the other four great nations were already crumbling. Their will to fight shattered.
"…This can't be real…"
"Our power… we're not even on the same playing field…"
Konan, helping with the transport of the gold dust, paused mid-step.
"…Is this the power of a god?"
Thwack!
Kushina bonked him on the head. "Don't overthink it."
Konan blinked—then a familiar figure flashed in his mind.
"Mmm…"
Hashirama and Tobirama stood together.
Hashirama immediately activated Sage Mode, nature energy converging around him like a second skin.
"If it's just one Madara, we can manage… but if he brought more—then yeah, he's really inherited the Power of All Things."
Despite the apocalyptic aura hanging above, the civilians of Konoha did not panic.
Guided by the shinobi, they evacuated in an orderly manner toward the shelters.
Elsewhere, Sarutobi Hiruzen dropped his broom.
The sky was glowing.
A massive meteorite—no, multiple meteorites—were descending.
His aged frame hunched under the weight of what was coming.
"…Hahaha~"
Not far from him, Danzo Shimura laughed wildly.
If those endless rocks dropped, Konoha would be obliterated.
"Let it all burn! My Edo Tensei body can't die anyway!"
"The day of reckoning has come!"
"I—urk!"
Before Danzo could finish, Hiruzen picked the broom back up and jammed it into his mouth.
Danzo: "…"
"Kill us too?" Kabuto asked, eyes wide in confusion.
"Of course," Madara answered. "The Impure World Reincarnation was meant for mutual destruction."
"We'll recover soon enough."
His eyes drifted toward the massive wooden statue in the distance.
"…Can you catch it, Hashirama?!"
Hashirama raised his hand, pointing directly at him.
"Madara! Want to dance again?!"
The smirk on Madara's lips faded slightly.
"Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands!"
BOOM—
The colossal Buddha statue beneath Hashirama stirred, then slowly rose. Thousands of wooden arms surged up like a tidal wave of chakra, catching the massive meteorite mid-fall.
Whoosh—
"Flying ninja detected… must be Onoki, that little brat who tried to lecture me decades ago."
Madara crossed his arms, unimpressed.
The ground trembled underfoot. The Buddha's legs sank deeper into the earth as it held the crushing weight of the falling star.
"Lord Tsuchikage!"
"Aaaaaaaahhh—!!"
Onoki flew beneath the meteorite, placing his forehead against its massive underside, preparing to halt it—or die trying.
"How could I let you destroy the peace we fought so hard to achieve?!"
Ōnoki roared as he floated upward.
"Earth Style: Super Light-Weight Boulder Jutsu!"
Bzzzz—
In an instant, the sinking Buddha statue slowed dramatically.
Ōnoki's technique took hold, lifting the colossal wooden construct slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Senju Hashirama guided the massive statue out of the crater it had made, its heavy steps thudding as it moved forward.
Madara raised a brow, slightly amused.
"Looks like the two relics have gotten stronger.
But what about the second one?"
BOOM—!
Without warning, a second meteorite came crashing down—colliding with the first.
"Damn it! I knew it!"
Senju Tobirama's eye twitched in frustration. He didn't have the firepower to stop that.
"Minato, we'll have to use Flying Thunder God to teleport the meteorites away!"
"No need," came a calm voice.
Naruto stood up and patted the dirt from his pants.
"Meteorites make excellent test material."
He turned to the others, already making hand seals.
"Dig up the same amount of earth from Konoha and move it to Amegakure."
Clap—!
A surge of chakra erupted from Naruto's body, radiating like a second sun. It pulsed outward and was absorbed into the flora around Konoha.
BZZZ—
In the blink of an eye, a surreal sight unfolded.
Trees across the village began to tremble—then, as if animated by will, they pulled their roots from the earth and leapt free.
"Handle the falling debris. I've got the rest."
"Hngh!"
With a swing of his arm, Naruto summoned an enormous tangle of vines. They rose from the ground like serpents and lunged toward the meteorites above.
"This... is Sage of Six Paths-level power!"
"Hmph. That was just the appetizer."
Madara's Rinnegan flared.
"The real battle starts now. But first... I need to confirm something."
He rapidly formed hand seals and slammed his palm into the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu: Spiritual Communication!"
A faint warmth spread across Naruto's abdomen.
Inside the seal, the Yang half of Kurama stirred.
"This chakra... still trying to summon me?"
Bang—!
A puff of white smoke appeared in front of Madara. But strangely, it was small—too small.
"Failed...?"
Madara frowned.
"You blockhead!"
SLAP—!
A hand came flying out of the smoke and smacked Madara clean across the face.
"…???"
Madara blinked in disbelief.
Before him stood a girl with red hair and a sharp gaze, carrying a sack of gold dust.
"Uzumaki Mito? No... just similar."
The Nine-Tails—in human form—snorted and narrowed her eyes.
"Naruto will deal with you later, Madara. Don't get cocky!"
With a flick of her hair, Kurama turned and stormed off toward the old Konoha district.
Madara just stood there, stunned.
Very few things could shake him—but that? That caught him completely off guard.
"That was... the Nine-Tails?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Not just a Jinchūriki... This is different."
His attention shifted back to Naruto. His eyes locked on the thick vines and chakra-rich wood-style erupting from him.
"Wood Release?"
He focused.
The energy pulsing from Naruto wasn't just Wood Release. It carried overwhelming vitality and nature energy—on a scale far beyond even Hashirama's.
"That isn't the Wood Release of my old friend... it's stronger. Far stronger."
He turned to Kabuto.
"Who is that boy?"
"Uzumaki Naruto. The Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki."
Madara fell silent for a moment, eyes scanning Naruto's form with deep interest.
"Uzumaki... from Mito's clan."
He exhaled.
"He won't be easy. His power surpasses even Hashirama's."
"Should we prepare a strategy?" Kabuto offered.
"The Four Kage can buy you some time—"
Madara's Rinnegan glinted coldly as he shot Kabuto a look.
Then he stepped forward.
He and Naruto locked eyes across the battlefield.
"Perfect timing," Madara said, raising his hand.
"There's a new jutsu I've been wanting to try."
...
T.N:
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