"Kakashi."
"Obito..."
Though more than ten years had passed, and half of his face was disfigured while his temperament had changed completely, that face still stirred the deepest, gentlest ripples in Kakashi Hatake's heart—the face of the dearest friend whose smile had been forever frozen at the age of twelve during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge.
Once he was completely certain of the masked man's true identity, his expression became a kaleidoscope of emotions—disbelief, joy, confusion, bitterness, pain, and finally, a bone-deep remorse.
So many years of regret, so many years of hollow wandering, so many what ifs... Yet when the fantasy—"what if Obito hadn't died"—finally came true, it was nothing but a cruel nightmare.
Everything made sense now.
Why seventeen years ago, the masked man knew Konoha's defensive strength, the barrier systems, and the exact time of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's delivery.
Obito... it was you.
Why—why would Obito Uchiha, such a gentle soul, so kind and passionate, someone with Naruto's same unyielding spirit, who was once called a dropout but never gave up and was always ready to help others—why would he become this?
Even if Kakashi didn't want to believe it, the truth was right before him.
Obito Uchiha—the one who had controlled the Nine-Tails seventeen years ago and destroyed Konoha; the one responsible for the death of his own teacher and teacher's wife; the one who drove his clan to extinction (by aiding Itachi Uchiha's massacre); the one who manipulated and twisted the Akatsuki; the one who instigated the Bloody Mist era in Kirigakure; the one who sparked the Fourth Shinobi World War—
He was the source of it all.
After more than a decade apart, the two finally stood face to face again—but there was no warmth left between them.
Holding a kunai tightly, Kakashi's voice trembled with struggle. "Obito... since you're alive, why...?"
The half-ruined, grim face, the right eye of Mangekyō Sharingan and the left of Rinnegan, the Uchiha fan in his hand—Obito, whose identity could no longer be hidden, answered coldly, "Whether I live or die doesn't matter, does it?"
"But if you insist on knowing why I survived..."
Obito raised a finger, pointing directly at Kakashi. "It's because you broke your promise to me. You let Rin die before your eyes—and even killed her yourself."
"I..."
The guilt and exhaustion clouding Kakashi's face could not be hidden. His body wavered, and his will to keep fighting faltered.
No matter how he tried to justify himself, no matter how unforgivable Obito's sins were, the man before him had once saved his life. And the fact remained—Kakashi had pierced Rin's heart with his own Chidori.
"Hahaha..."
Staring at the wavering man before him—the so-called Copy Ninja of Konoha, elite Jōnin, and current commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces' Third Division—Obito sneered.
"Still so naive, Kakashi. Don't make that apologetic, guilty face. In this place, in this world—I no longer care about any of that."
The more he said, the dimmer the light in Kakashi's eyes became.
"Kakashi-sensei—!"
Enveloped in golden chakra, Naruto, in his Kurama Mode, shook his head violently, breaking free from a strange, soul-deep chill that had momentarily gripped him. Whatever that feeling was—a warning, perhaps—he had no time to dwell on it.
He gritted his teeth. "I don't know what happened between you two, but now's not the time to lose hope or mope around! I'll ask you later, but right now, we have to stop him!"
"Kakashi! Naruto's right! The village, no—the entire shinobi world—is counting on us! Obito has gone down the wrong path!"
Snapping out of his stunned daze, Might Guy—who was equally shocked to learn that his old classmate was still alive—placed a firm hand on his best friend's shoulder and stepped between Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.
"But... Obito..."
"Hmph. I have nothing to say to you. Sentiment, wishes—they're all illusions. Those who get caught up in such nonsense can accomplish nothing."
Facing his childhood classmate—a man with a kappa-like bowl haircut, thick eyebrows, a firm jaw, wearing a tight green bodysuit and a matching flak jacket with his forehead protector tied around his waist—Obito pressed his hands together, thumbs aligned and overlapping, the left thumb on top, forming the 'Boar' seal.
"Fire Style: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"
Using the spatial distortion of his right Kamui eye to generate a violent vortex, Obito exhaled a massive torrent of fire that fused with the whirlwind, carving spiraling trails through the air. The scorching heat engulfed the battlefield, erupting into multiple blazing tornadoes.
Boom!
The searing temperature was so intense that the ground cracked apart, melting rock and carbonizing everything within a hundred-meter radius. Trees summoned by Earth Spear Technique burst into flames, smoke billowing into the sky.
"You seem to be having fun."
Suddenly—boom!—
Shattered debris and surging flames were scattered by a powerful impact as a figure dropped heavily before Obito, dispersing the firestorm.
With wild, spiky hair, a pair of glowing purple Rinnegan eyes, and clad in a black battle suit layered with a red-lacquered armor styled in the ancient Warring States tradition, a tall, commanding man stood with his arms crossed, glancing sideways at Obito.
"Madara!"
Naruto quickly fell back, using the Nine-Tails' chakra tails to pull Kakashi and Guy away, his face grim. "Edo Tensei should've been undone already..."
Obito's tone was stiff as he looked toward his savior. "To resist Edo Tensei... that's certainly like you."
"Enough talk," Madara replied in a deep, resonant voice. "Obito, the plan has changed. We don't have much time left. We must move now—revive the Ten Tails completely. Otherwise, the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan will have to be delayed... We need to amass power."
His gaze flicked toward the two remaining tailed beasts, then to the incomplete Ten Tails within the distant barrier that was already absorbing the chakra of the One through Seven Tails, along with portions of the Eight and Nine Tails. He took a step forward—his words filled with uncharacteristic urgency.
Obito frowned slightly. What's with him?
That tone—so unlike the usual arrogant calm of Madara Uchiha—carried the unease of an approaching storm.
Though Madara hid it well, Obito knew him better than anyone alive. He knew this old man's arrogance, his pride—how he believed only Hashirama Senju and himself were true heroes. Everyone else? Trash.
Well, Izuna counted. Tobirama... maybe half a person.
By that logic, shouldn't Madara be mocking everyone first, taunting them, maybe giving a dramatic speech before starting a fight? Had Hashirama and Tobirama risen from their graves again—or had the Sage of Six Paths himself come back from the dead?
"Susano'o."
Catching the Uchiha fan that Obito had been using so crudely, Madara summoned a dark blue chakra aura around his body. With the power of his Rinnegan, the energy began to take skeletal form—a massive, four-armed upper torso of a warrior manifesting out of thin air.
Though the legs and armor were still forming, Madara didn't wait. He launched forward like a blazing arrow of azure light, aiming straight for the chained figures of the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki—Naruto Uzumaki.
"Damn it! I don't care who you are, some so-called legendary shinobi—Tailed Beast Bomb!"
The tentacles of the Eight-Tails writhed as Killer Bee and Naruto synchronized, compressing their Yin-Yang chakra in an instant—2:8 ratio—then fired.
BOOM!
"You brats... I don't have time to play with you."
Damn it, he thought. I wasted too much time with Hashirama's granddaughter. Whatever that dread in my heart is—it's closing in. I have to become the Ten Tails' Jinchūriki now!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Susano'o rapidly advanced into its fourth stage, its tengu-like armor still forming. Standing inside the crystal on its forehead, Madara swung his energy blade without hesitation. His precise control cleaved straight into the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb.
With a sharp crack, the black orb split neatly in two, the explosion blooming midair and engulfing the battlefield in blinding fire.
The aftershock carved a trench dozens of meters wide and thousands long into the earth, the shockwave roaring straight toward the Eight-Tails.
As Madara Uchiha charged forward with overwhelming momentum, Naruto frowned deeply. Using the Nine-Tails' chakra claws, he hurled Kakashi and Guy out of harm's way while simultaneously helping the Eight-Tails remove the sealing stakes.
"Gyūki! Killer Bee! Don't look into his eyes!"
"Damn it, Naruto! Too late! Run!" In that instant, Gyūki made his decision—better to sacrifice a piece than lose the entire board. The octopus tentacles wrapped around Naruto and hurled him far away.
"Bastard! Don't think you can swallow me so easily! Eightfold Tailed Beast Barrage—!"
"Futile!" Madara didn't pause for even a heartbeat. Controlling his Susano'o, he rammed directly into the spinning Eight-Tails, whose tails coiled like a defensive vortex.
BOOM!
With a teeth-rattling screech, the fully formed Susano'o threw two thunderous punches, slamming the Eight-Tails into the ground. The earth shattered, mountains crumbled. With two swift slashes, Madara avoided vital points but severed several tails. Gripping the beast's head, he forced it down with monstrous strength.
"Second to last."
The Eight-Tails' face twisted grotesquely under the pressure, its eyes—marked with tomoe—rolling back. Madara hurled the massive beast onto the ground, then cleaved open the barrier sealing the Ten Tails. Following up with the Demonic Statue Chains, he absorbed the Eight-Tails completely.
Now, his gaze turned to the last one—the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki—snarling as Konoha shinobi surrounded him protectively.
Everything happened in an instant. Madara's Susano'o, now complete, unfurled massive wings behind its armored form. The energy blade in its hands gleamed as he pointed it toward the Nine-Tails.
"The last one!"
SHING—!
"Madara!"
"Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!"
BOOOOM!
From the barren, scarred battlefield, countless plants erupted, surging like a tidal wave. A gigantic wooden giant rose from the ground, its vine-covered arm swinging up to meet the descending Susano'o blade.
The impact thundered across the land. Rocks and corpses shattered, fragments slicing through stone and flesh alike. The shockwave sent waves of dirt and rubble sweeping across the field, burying scores of White Zetsu soldiers and hurling allied shinobi aside.
"Hashirama."
Perched atop the massive Susano'o, Madara gazed down from its towering height, his expression complex.
Wearing the same black battle attire and red-layered armor, the man standing atop the colossal wooden giant could have been his twin—if not for the Senju crest on his shoulder and that sleek black hair flowing behind him.
"The resurrected you—even in Edo Tensei form—you must have felt it too. From deep within our souls, a special chakra binds us... a vast shadow, born from the origin of chakra itself, now looms over all of us!"
"That overwhelming malice and power... Don't tell me, Hashirama, that you haven't sensed it yet. Something inside us—it's always been there, dormant until death, only then does it fade, right?"
Standing upon his wooden titan, Hashirama Senju met Madara's gaze. He nodded gravely.
Even Naruto had vaguely sensed something strange within his chakra and spirit. How could Hashirama not? Since being reanimated, he had felt a peculiar energy in his soul—a remnant of warm, radiant chakra—growing unnaturally active, resonating with something far beyond.
Then, in a half-dreaming state, he had seen it: a colossal figure among the stars, eyes like scarlet diamond crosses glowing from the void. The instant that gaze brushed against him—
Even in his Edo Tensei body, Hashirama felt his blood, nerves, and very soul rupture. His entire being was consumed by an indescribable hollowness.
"So this is why you're collecting the Tailed Beasts?"
"Only by gathering the chakra of all nine can I revive the Ten Tails. Then I will gain the power of the Sage of Six Paths—to bring peace to this world of lies... and to protect it."
Madara did not deny it. In fact, he laid his intentions bare.
Overwhelmed by an ever-growing sense of dread and cosmic scrutiny, he had no patience left for delay.
The most important thing now was time. Once that being from beyond turned its attention toward this world, there would be no escape, no defense.
"At the very least, this is the land that raised us. It has already taken notice. Our ancestor may have been the Sage of Six Paths—or his descendant—but that being... that being is his enemy!"
In truth, Madara wasn't even sure what he had seen. That vast, divine eye that gazed through the remnants of his soul's chakra—he could not name it. But his instincts told him what it meant.
"So, Hashirama... just like we once built Konoha together—to end the bloodshed and protect our children from war—this time, we must stand together again."
"To resist the malice coming from beyond the stars."
"Hashirama... help me."
Before the stunned eyes of everyone present, Madara Uchiha—his voice stripped of arrogance, his expression sincere—extended his hand toward Hashirama Senju.
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