[Sage Art: Myojinmon!]
Forming seals with both hands, Senju Hashirama unleashed his finishing technique upon Uchiha Madara, whose movements had slowed somewhat after burning too much chakra in a short time.
Boom!!
A crimson torii gate fell from the sky and pinned Madara down, completely sealing off his ability to move or use chakra.
"It's over, Madara." Hashirama exhaled a little. Even with Link's support, dealing with his old friend still felt as taxing as ever. Fortunately, he was in peak condition when summoned to the living world, and victory ultimately belonged to him.
The main problem was that his current body was made of chakra. If he used too much, he could be forced back to the Pure Land prematurely. If he failed to keep Myojinmon in place until Tobirama could seal Madara, given what he knew of his friend, Konoha's problems would be far from over.
[Sorry, Madara… I have to do this for the village yet again…]
"For the village again, huh?"
Uchiha Madara seemed unusually calm, even letting out a laugh. "You're still the same old person. I guess we really don't get along."
"Hashirama, you'll never understand, nor could you possibly grasp my path—" As he spoke, his expression suddenly shifted.
How could this be?!
He had made arrangements beforehand. A White Zetsu hosting the Kamui Sharingan should, at this moment, be controlled by Black Zetsu to warp him into the Kamui dimension. Why wasn't it happening?!
[Black Zetsu!!!]
…
[No good—ordinary medical treatment won't work. Tsunade's injuries are too severe,]
Link thought.
The violent natural energy had severed Tsunade's internal organs and much of her muscle tissue. On the outside, she looked mostly fine, but inside she was torn to pieces. On top of that, she was unconscious and unable to regulate it herself.
Delicate Illness Extraction wouldn't heal her fast enough to keep pace with the destructive sage chakra. But if he used Mystical Palm to disperse the rampaging natural energy, she would lose her regeneration and might die instantly.
[Well, lucky for you.]
Link continued releasing chakra from his hand. Under cover of Tsunade's unconscious body and his own, he let "Crazy Diamond" emerge with just a fist from his chest. In a single instant, it completed the internal repairs, while Link simultaneously employed Mystical Palm to clear away the rampaging natural energy.
He kept channeling chakra, as though performing conventional medical ninjutsu.
He really hadn't intended to reveal Crazy Diamond's ability this soon. Among shinobi, intel is everything, and they weren't inside Konoha. He had already shown Rashomon and his Chakra Scalpel; shadows alone couldn't stop Black Zetsu, Obito, or Nagato. He felt anything but safe.
So earlier, when he kept burning his own chakra on Delicate Illness Extraction to heal people, it was partly to avoid revealing his true ability and partly to fish for anyone careless enough to take the bait.
Although Crazy Diamond's power was "restoration," it couldn't repair permanently lost body parts or fix pathological changes. However, it could rearrange whatever it touched however he liked—turn a hand into a foot, an eye into a "door," or fuse someone with a rock. Its power was disturbingly uncanny.
With its hidden presence and top-grade strength and speed, Crazy Diamond could punch an opponent, then use its ability to produce, in the next moment, some nightmarish "Cthulhu" creation. Even Black Zetsu might be at risk if Link remained fully alert.
Since Black Zetsu could only control a person's body, not a Stand, it might be worth taking a small gamble to eliminate such a dangerous foe. It would be quite the payoff.
Unfortunately, after putting on an act for so long, neither Black Zetsu nor Obito took the bait; even Konan didn't respond. It felt like winking at a blind man.
Now that he had finally used Crazy Diamond's ability, its extra chakra fluctuation could be sensed even by Kakashi just before. For Black Zetsu, with its unrivaled stealth and detection, there was no doubt—and that meant losing the chance to capture it.
Tap, tap.
Kakashi and Might Guy landed. Konan and Yahiko floated overhead.
Bubbles descended silently, while Senju Tobirama approached from the distance. Apart from Jiraiya, everyone was here.
[Geez, Jiraiya… will you ever get over being late?]
"That masked man got away," Uchiha Sasuke said in a lower voice. After a pause, he added quietly, "His space–time jutsu is very powerful. Be careful."
"Got it." Link nodded, keeping up the pretense of healing.
Bubbles extended his hand, wordlessly supplying Link with chakra. "I couldn't catch Black Zetsu," he said.
He glanced at Sasuke; their eyes held the same thought: [So your enemy escaped, too.]
A strange sense of relief passed between them—if one of them had succeeded alone, the other would have felt a lot worse.
Unlike this version of Sasuke, Bubbles was more introverted and calm, an adult who didn't brag about his adversary's abilities; he merely gave the impression that he was explaining why he had failed.
[Now's my chance,]
Black Zetsu thought to itself, silently clinging to the gap in Senju Tobirama's scroll. It eyed Link, who had used up a great deal of chakra and appeared completely defenseless.
Its first plan had been to retrieve the White Zetsu fitted with Madara's Kamui Mangekyo, then ditch its "master" Madara and bide its time. It had a freshly minted plan for reviving its mother.
If possible, it would go to Obito first and stage a "switching sides" routine.
If Obito also failed, it would kill Link and manipulate Sasuke, handing him the method to awaken the Rinnegan. Typical Uchiha—push them a little, they'd go right into the Eye of the Moon Plan.
But while fleeing Bubbles, it had stumbled across the resurrected Senju Tobirama—and nearly blacked out from shock.
Without understanding what was going on, its plan had stalled at step one. It was quite sure that whatever allowed Tobirama's resurrection must be a special technique of Link's. But if Link's jutsu truly granted resurrection, then even killing the boy would be pointless. Someone else could just use Edo Tensei, followed by the resurrection technique… an endless nesting of revivals.
Much as it pained Black Zetsu to admit, that sort of "resurrection" was exactly the style of the sinister Konoha brat—an even greater headache.
Wiping out everyone who knew Edo Tensei and Link, all at the same time, wasn't feasible.
Given Orochimaru's craftiness and Konoha's current power, Black Zetsu might be better off capturing Link and controlling him.
As it stared at Link, just an arm's length away, it grew more and more tempted. But recalling that odd chakra fluctuation during Tsunade's treatment, it hesitated. This situation looked like a trap. Was it worth the risk?
[Hold on!]
Suddenly, it noticed space distorting behind Link.
[Nicely done, Obito!]
~~~
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