On the other side, Black Zetsu, still controlling Sasuke, reached out and gouged the Rinnegan from Sasuke's forehead. Taking the Rinnegan, Black Zetsu transferred his will into a nearby White Zetsu, then slipped underground and emerged beside Uchiha Madara.
"Madara-sama, your Rinnegan."
Madara took the eye and embedded it into his socket, a crazed, triumphant grin spreading across his face.
Without delay, Madara formed hand seals and summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from within Sasuke's body. A plume of smoke burst forth, and the massive statue materialized behind Madara.
"Beasts… It's time to end this!"
He leapt onto the statue's head. The Rinnegan flashed menacingly as his gaze locked onto the Tailed Beasts. In an instant, seven Tailed Beasts—along with fully-transformed Naruto and Killer Bee—were slammed to the ground by an invisible force that appeared from nowhere.
The statue opened its mouth and spat out nine chains, each one precisely wrapping around the neck of a Tailed Beast, dragging them toward the statue's gaping maw.
From the One-Tail to the Seven-Tails, all were swallowed whole with no resistance.
The Eight-Tails, however, managed to slice off its own tail with a swift hand chop, leaving it behind to protect Killer Bee.
But the Nine-Tails had no such means. It was forcefully extracted from Naruto's body.
As a Jinchūriki, Naruto losing his Tailed Beast was tantamount to losing all his chakra.
He crashed to the ground, face pale as paper, and passed out.
"Naruto!" Sakura, Shikamaru, and the others rushed toward him, pulling him back into the Allied Forces' formation as Sakura immediately began emergency treatment.
Madara laughed maniacally.
"Hahaha! Everything is playing out exactly as I planned!"
...
At that moment, Hyuga Gakuya stepped forward, eyes steady as he stared at Madara.
"Madara… your ambitions will never succeed."
Madara scoffed. "You? What strength do you have left? Thirty percent? Forty, at best?"
"I won't kill you now. You're the only one on this battlefield who still intrigues me. I'll wait for you to recover… then we'll fight properly."
Just then, a swirling vortex of space distorted near Naruto's side, and out appeared Uchiha Obito, Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi, and Sakumo Hatake.
The Allied Shinobi Forces instantly tensed at the sight of Obito.
Kakashi stepped forward, shielding the others.
"Stand down, everyone. Obito's on our side now. He's fighting with us."
He quickly explained what had happened in the Kamui dimension—how the four of them had fought and ultimately defeated Obito, and how they learned from him that Sasuke had become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki.
Knowing that Obito's power might still be necessary, Minato had stopped Kakashi from delivering the killing blow, instead urging Obito to atone for his sins and remember his old dream—to become Hokage.
Following Gakuya's carefully prepared script, Obito played along, claiming he'd returned to the path of the Uchiha who once dreamed of peace.
With Minato's forgiveness, the others also let go of their hatred. After all, no one had suffered more at Obito's hands than Minato himself.
As for why Sakumo and Minato hadn't been released from the Edo Tensei, that was also part of Gakuya's plan.
After all, this wasn't the same world, was it?
Gakuya briefly filled them in on what had happened in the real world, exchanging intel with the returning group.
Minato, however, wasn't interested in stories. He crouched beside Naruto, forming seals to transfer the Yin half of the Nine-Tails into his son.
But just as he reached out, Black Zetsu shot up from underground once again, intercepting Minato's hand and absorbing the Yin Nine-Tails' chakra into his own body.
The others moved to stop him, but using Yin-Yang Release, Black Zetsu began to sink back into the ground.
Everyone's eyes widened with rage and despair. Minato's turned blood-red as he lunged with a kunai, stabbing downward at the shadowy, black mass.
But Black Zetsu's body was immune to physical attacks. Like flowing water, he slipped through unharmed and continued to vanish into the earth.
If they let him escape, the last remaining portion of the Nine-Tails would be lost… and with it, any hope of saving Naruto.
They had to retrieve at least some of the Tailed Beast chakra before time ran out—otherwise, Naruto would die.
And right now, the countdown to his death had already begun.
...
Suddenly, Obito made his move. He grabbed Black Zetsu's fluid body and activated Kamui, warping him into the Kamui dimension.
At that moment, Madara turned toward them. Behind him, the Ten-Tails was being absorbed into his own body.
Unlike Sasuke, who couldn't fully contain the Ten-Tails, Madara achieved a perfect synchronization. He became the Ten-Tails' perfect Jinchūriki.
"Obito… are you really going to betray me now?" Madara extended a hand. "The Eye of the Moon Plan is nearly complete! We can reshape this world—turn hell into paradise!"
"Come back to me now," he said. "You're still the savior of the new world!"
Obito looked at him, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. But after a brief pause, he made his decision.
"…Madara. Maybe you're right. I'll return to your side. Let's complete the Eye of the Moon Plan—together."
Madara's laughter exploded across the battlefield.
"Ha! So you finally understand, Obito! The Eye of the Moon Plan is the salvation this world desperately needs!"
Obito began walking toward him.
Kakashi tried to grab his shoulder, but Obito phased through the attempt using Kamui.
The Allied Shinobi Forces could do nothing against Obito in that state. Instead, realizing they couldn't let Madara obtain a second Rinnegan, they turned their focus on him.
Dozens of elite shinobi launched themselves at Madara in unison.
Gakuya, still feigning exhaustion from battle, stood aside, watching quietly.
But Madara simply activated his Rinnegan and glared.
"You insects… stop crawling."
In an instant, the entire group of Kage-level fighters were blasted back by an invisible force.
This was the Rinnegan's unique Kekkei Genkai ability.
A power only his Rinnegan could wield—Limbo: Border Jail.
The technique created invisible "shadows" that couldn't be seen or sensed by anyone lacking Six Paths power, yet they could affect and damage the physical world.
Each "shadow" was almost as powerful as the original. With one Rinnegan, Madara could summon one shadow. With both… that number rose to five.