When Hinata returned to the chamber where Kurama was being sealed into the colossal Gedo Mazo statue, she could see the process clearly. Without Kurama's resistance, the procedure advanced rapidly. What would normally take days now seemed to require only a few hours. Atop the statue's enormous hands, Hinata could clearly see Obito, Black Zetsu, Kisame, and Deidara—each standing on the tip of a finger, channeling their chakra into the ritual.
Mitsue watched the scene with a devastated expression, her eyes fixed on Kurama as he was slowly absorbed. Beside her, Kuro maintained a protective stance, making sure her companion didn't attempt anything impulsive.
Hinata approached them.
The first to speak was Mitsue, turning her attention to Hinata with an unusually worried tone. "How did it go with Kabuto?"
Hinata noticed the genuine tone in her question. There was real concern behind it... At some point, she'd need to find out what was hiding beneath that.
"He... he's himself again. I don't think he'll have any trouble returning to Otogakure. But what happened to him... it wasn't easy."
Kuro quickly jumped in, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. "...How do you think Sasuke and Naruto are doing against Madara?"
Mitsue answered without hesitation. "Even though Naruto lost a large portion of his power now that he no longer has the sssweet, sssweet fox's help... I don't think they'll have problemsss. Besides, they haven't contacted us through Hinata's telepathic channel..." Her intuition understood exactly what Kuro was getting at.
Hinata smiled warmly. "Thank you... Looks like this sealing will still take some time. And I wouldn't want that battle between the boys to drag on too long. What do you say we give them a hand and speed this up a bit?" she said, gesturing toward several of the Gedo Mazo's fingers that were still unoccupied.
Kuro looked at her with bright eyes. "Isn't that only for Akatsuki members?"
Hinata smirked mischievously. "Well... in that case, since we brought Kurama, in my capacity as a provisional ally of Akatsuki, I hereby declare you two honorary members."
Kuro's eyes lit up. "Does that come with the cool cloaks? The black ones with red clouds?"
Mitsue sighed, exasperated. "No... Stop joking and let's get started. It'sss bad enough I'm helping make that fox disssappear without even tasssting him first..."
Hinata raised an eyebrow when she noticed Kuro eyeing Deidara, tail swaying, clearly plotting something. "No, Kuro. You're not going to steal a cloak from one of the actual members. We've got more important things to do, remember?"
Kuro drooped her ears in disappointment. "But later?"
Hinata simply nodded. With a swift step, she vanished and reappeared atop one of the Gedo Mazo's fingers. Kuro and Mitsue followed suit without hesitation.
The combined power of the three honorary Akatsuki members was more than enough to dramatically accelerate the sealing process. What remained of hours... was reduced to minutes.
<<<< o >>>>
The awakening, when the last fragments of Kurama entered the Gedo Mazo, was like an explosion of fate. In that instant, Obito positioned himself atop the statue's head and, through an organic conduit formed of chakra, connected his body to the creature. The Gedo Mazo changed shape, growing beyond all proportion, its tails rising like whips that pierced the ceiling of Akatsuki's hidden refuge.
All those on the statue's hands jumped just in time, falling amidst the devastation as the colossal monster finished destroying what had once been an underground fortress. The ground trembled. The Jūbi had been reborn. Its overwhelming roar was not just sound—it was pressure, vibration in the soul, ancient fear. All who heard it felt their will falter. The world itself held its breath.
Kuro shrank into her smaller form and allowed herself to be lifted into Hinata's safe hands. Mitsue tensed, hissing through clenched teeth with wide eyes, also in a diminished form on Hinata's shoulders. Even the Akatsuki members who had once summoned it were ignored by the primeval creature.
Obito, still fused, raised a hand as if he already held the world in his grasp... but then, his heart thudded violently. A stab of pain made him stagger, his body abruptly paralyzed, his mind suddenly clouded. From the lower depths of the creature, Black Zetsu crawled like a living shadow, scrambling upward in urgency.
Meanwhile, Hinata retreated in elegant leaps, carrying her companions with her. On the top of a nearby tree, she sat with the calm of someone who understands the inevitable. Kuro, in her small form, curled up in her lap. Mitsue balanced delicately on her shoulders.
Hinata closed her eyes and slowly began to rise into the air in a lotus position. Her breathing synchronized with the pulses of the world. Her Mind's Eye opened, and her consciousness searched beyond the physical. Her silver threads vibrated gently, as if responding to something only she could perceive.
Her mind wandered, recalling the conversation with the Sage Dragon and Michel. The memory of that meeting shone within her, like a torch in the darkness now beginning to consume the earth.
The visit of the Sage Dragon had been memorable. The most impacted by his presence was Michel, whose eyes widened in awe as he admitted with a smile of disbelief: "I never imagined I'd see a real dragon... let alone talk to one." Despite the unexpected encounter, mutual respect blossomed quickly and sincerely; the two sages recognized one another as equals on their respective paths into the unknown.
There, with both present, Hinata decided to share the revelation she had during the conclave of sages, deep in the Maw of the World. "I understood that to reach the Golden Stage, the breath of just one world isn't enough..." she said, her voice resonating with conviction. "It requires the breath of two worlds. The Yin breath belonging to the spiritual realm of Yumegakure no Kai... and the Yang breath that springs from the physical world. Inspired by my own Mirage Breath, I believe that by combining them, I can create a union between the two natural forces, as both resonate in perfect harmony. A fusion that will let me break through that barrier, just as I once did with the Silver Stage."
"It will be temporary access... and I know from experience that the difference is fundamental, but I am convinced it will be enough to match the threat that looms."
Both the Sage Dragon and Michel lit up with emotion at that revelation. The Dragon spoke first: "Though for now only you will be able to channel that mode... it is a sign that the path to a new kind of sage has begun."
And so the trials began. Multiple and demanding, designed to test not just Hinata's stamina but her emotional and spiritual control. Each brought her a step closer to manifesting that new golden breath.
But one of the greatest benefits that Yumegakure no Kai gave her was time, time to grow, time to heal her wounds and time to transcend her limits.
Hinata's mind refocused on the present. She remained suspended in the air, her eyes closed, her breathing in perfect harmony with her surroundings. From above, her Mind's Eye expanded in all directions, perceiving every fluctuation of the physical and spiritual world. The wind, the trees, the chakra echoes, the distant murmur of the Juubi—everything was part of a universal rhythm.
Then it began. With nearly divine precision, Hinata started synchronizing multiple forms of breath into a single flow: the serene rhythm of the Mirage Breath, the harmonic cadence of the Breath of the World, and a new dimension, a duality: the breath of the physical world and the vibrant echo of Yumegakure no Kai. Each operated on a different frequency, yet converged within her.
Her body was surrounded by white threads, natural energy responding to her call. Threads from the material world interwoven with those from the spiritual one. Yin and Yang fused within her, not as opposites, but as complementary forces of a greater whole. The barrier that separated the Silver Stage from the Golden Stage wasn't destroyed—it simply ceased to exist.
And then it happened. The threads surrounding her began to shine. First a faint silver... then, one by one, the filaments shifted in tone to a radiant gold. The air swirled around her, as if acknowledging a transcendent presence.
Hinata slowly opened her eyes. No longer silver, her irises now gleamed like contained suns. She had crossed the threshold. The power of two worlds danced within her, and with it, a new stage in her journey had begun.
<<<< o >>>>
A few minutes earlier… Black Zetsu had reached the head of the frenzied Jūbi. There, Obito remained physically connected to the creature through the Gedo Mazo, completely paralyzed by a seal placed on his heart long ago. At his feet, the Jūbi writhed and destroyed everything in its path, completely out of control. But none of that mattered.
Black Zetsu placed his hand on the creature and performed a summoning. In a cloud of dark smoke, Madara appeared, his arm still regenerating after the battle with Sasuke.
White Zetsu spoke quickly, with an almost mocking smirk: "Looks like those brats gave you some trouble..."
Madara's fury was evident. His chakra vibrated in the air like invisible blades. "None of that matters. Everything ends now... you know what to do."
Black Zetsu nodded and placed his arm on the paralyzed Obito's chest. "You were a valuable pawn for our plans."
Darkness spilled from Black Zetsu's body, slowly covering Obito while the latter, powerless to resist, began to move, following another's will. A bright glow surged from the Rinnegan in his left eye, and with a hollow voice, driven by Black Zetsu's control, he pronounced the words: "Rinne Rebirth."
Madara's body gleamed intensely. His aged appearance vanished, fully rejuvenating. He was now truly alive, with overwhelming vitality and presence. His eye sockets, however, were empty… for now.
Beside him, White Zetsu carefully held one of the Rinnegan in a glass jar. Madara took it without hesitation and inserted it into his right eye. Then, showing no emotion, he tore the Rinnegan from Obito's still-living body and placed it into his left eye.
Obito's muffled cry was drowned by the Jūbi's roar as it was completely absorbed into Madara's body. His form began to mutate, growing in power as the colossus vanished.
Black Zetsu and Obito's fallen body plummeted to the ground. Madara, however, began laughing maniacally.
Without a moment's hesitation, Madara revealed his third eye and focused on the moon… Mugen Tsukuyomi. The moon changed color, reflecting the third eye on Madara's forehead, and shone with unimaginable force. The world was bathed in its light, reaching all corners regardless of whether one looked at the moon or not…
One by one, everyone in the world was affected by the terrible Genjutsu. When the light faded, Madara only laughed and, between laughs, performed his next Jutsu: Jin Jukai Kōtan. Giant roots sprouted everywhere across the world and covered every living being—one by one, all were bound to the eternal dream. The chakra of the world now flowed under his command…
A flash of golden light in the sky made him pause. Floating in the air, he saw Hinata Gin in a lotus position. In her lap rested a small black ninken, and on her shoulders lay a small silver snake. Her body floated serenely, and her spiritual threads had transformed from silver to gold. When she opened her eyes, a tremendous pressure enveloped the world. Madara felt the tremble of the earth, the scream of reality itself reacting to the presence of the young woman who, though motionless, radiated a latent divinity.
And then, they arrived.
On the Full Body Susanoo with wings spread out on his back they arrived at the battlefield on the Susanoo central prism were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke was the first to speak, in a cold, determined tone: "Looks like Phase Two begins now."
Naruto manifests his golden cloak around him "We're not done yet."