Within the Allied Shinobi Forces, there were many ninja from Morenin Village, including Chudong, Xiaonian, Ge, and the others…
On the front lines, the four current Kage were being beaten so hard they were gasping for breath, completely unable to put up a proper defense.
Madara was simply too fast, and with those eyes of his that could practically foresee his opponents' next move, the four Kage didn't even have time to think about a battle plan.
Watching him act so arrogantly, Shigeo ground his teeth in fury.
He gathered chakra into his lungs and shouted at the top of his voice:
"Hey, you donkey over there! Started kicking the moment you were born, huh?!"
Right after yelling, he shot forward like a cannon shell.
Raiton (Lightning Release) flared in his hand as he swung, sending a bolt of lightning crashing straight toward Madara.
Madara casually raised a hand and caught the attack, then lashed out with a powerful kick.
But his kick struck nothing but air—
Shigeo's body had slipped into a different space and transferred away.
When Madara looked up again, he saw that the young man in front of him now had a pair of deep blue Rinnegan.
What was going on?
What had happened in the ten-plus years he'd been gone?
There was another pair of Rinnegan in the ninja world?
His face was full of confusion, but his movements didn't slow for even a heartbeat.
He turned, and Susanoo erupted into existence around him.
Shigeo responded by unleashing Mokuton: Mokujin no Jutsu (Wood Release: Wood Human Technique), and the towering wooden avatar clashed head-on with Madara's Susanoo.
At the same time, the other battlefronts had entered the second wave of fighting.
The White Zetsu clones were wiped out, Kinkaku and Ginkaku were sealed, and all the Edo Tensei forces under Kabuto's control vanished.
Everyone thought the war was finally won—
But no one expected Obito to appear, bringing the Gedo Mazo (Demonic Statue of the Outer Path) and multiple captured tailed beasts crashing toward the Allied Shinobi Forces.
After receiving the intel from Headquarters, Shigeo formed seals and used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique).
Tens of thousands of his own clones split off and rushed toward the main battlefield.
At this point, relying on the Allied Shinobi Forces alone to achieve victory was no longer possible.
Madara seemed to sense the presence of the Gedo Mazo as well.
Even as he fought Shigeo, he began pressing westward, toward the main battlefield.
On Itachi's side, Orochimaru had donned the Shinigami Mask, and from the belly of the Reaper he released the First Hokage Hashirama, the Second Hokage Tobirama, as well as the Third and Fourth Hokage.
The four of them appeared on the battlefield and were just about to launch an attack on Madara and Obito when a golden radiance swept across the land.
A clear, ringing voice echoed out:
"Bunki Ishiki Kagami (Dividing Radiance Consciousness Mirror)!"
In an instant, everyone's chakra on the battlefield rose to more than ten times its previous level.
At that same moment, Shigeo—still locked in combat with Madara—had already entered Sennin Mode (Sage Mode).
Naruto, Bee, and Jiraiya also arrived at the scene.
Seeing this, all three of them were stunned.
"Naruto, you seeing this?" Jiraiya said. "Your sensei is using Sennin Mode (Sage Mode). It's a shame you still haven't mastered it. If you had, your strength would already be right on his heels."
Naruto looked on with envy.
He asked, "How long did it take my sensei to learn Sennin Jutsu (Sage Techniques)? Was it longer than me?"
At that, Jiraiya's face twisted awkwardly.
Then he let out a dry laugh.
"I heard it took him only half a day… and he did it without anyone teaching him."
Naruto stared, stunned.
What kind of monster was this guy?
Then again, for the last two years Naruto had mostly been training different jutsu and his physical strength.
If they'd sent him to Mount Myoboku from the very beginning, maybe he would already have a Sennin no Karada (Sage Body) by now.
Thinking of this, Jiraiya quietly shut his mouth.
Tch… in the end, it's this sensei who held him back.
"Wow, that's amazing! I'm definitely gonna train hard. One day I'll be just like my sensei!"
As expected of Naruto—no matter the situation, he never gives up.
On the battlefield, Shigeo's entire body shone with golden light.
While directing the gigantic lines of Mokuton: Shin Sūsenju (Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands) to battle Madara, he glanced toward the group of four Hokage—Konoha's so-called F4.
What, just here to spectate?
Not planning to lift a finger?
Orochimaru also appeared on the battlefield.
Seeing one of Shigeo's clones, he asked, "Shujin, I'm not late, am I?"
After experiencing Itachi's Izanami, Orochimaru's mindset had completely changed.
In the past, he had submitted to Shigeo as "master" purely to obtain Shigeo's body and bloodline.
But now he genuinely and willingly submitted.
He still pursued immortality, of course.
However, in chasing that goal, some sense of conscience had awakened in him.
He had decided to change the direction of his experiments in the future and spend more time reflecting on life.
The clone gave him a single glance and said nothing.
But all of that information would be transmitted back to the original.
Orochimaru knew that even if the clone didn't speak, Shigeo would know he had arrived.
Seeing that Konoha's F4 still hadn't moved, Shigeo suddenly spun around and vanished.
When he reappeared, he went straight for Obito and the Gedo Mazo.
You guys wanna just sit there and watch the show?
Fine—he'd dump this mess in their laps and see if they would still stay out of it.
By now, Obito had completely snapped.
He hurled the Nine-Tails chakra he'd obtained from Kinkaku and Ginkaku into the Gedo Mazo, and added in the Eight-Tails chakra he'd extracted from that severed tentacle last time.
The Gedo Mazo went berserk, rampaging wildly as it tore across the battlefield—
Chasing after the Eight-Tails on one side and hunting Naruto on the other.
The scene was nothing short of terrifying.
Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Bomb) after Bijūdama erupted across the battlefield.
Jiraiya did his utmost to shield Naruto, but even so, it was nearly impossible to dodge them all.
At last, the Fourth Hokage Minato made his move.
With Shigeo gone, Madara suddenly had no opponent.
He immediately turned his attention toward the ordinary shinobi.
However, all of these ninja had been empowered by Bunki Ishiki Kagami (Dividing Radiance Consciousness Mirror).
Right now their chakra had greatly increased—
They couldn't face someone like Madara in a head-on clash, but they could at least dodge a blow or two and keep their lives.
"Go!"
Seeing that Shigeo was no longer handling this side, Hashirama had no choice but to charge forward, leading the other two resurrected Kage into the fray.
"What's that kid's name? Is he from Konoha?" Hashirama asked.
Back during the Konoha Crush, he had seen Shigeo as well.
But at that time, Shigeo had been just another bystander, simply watching the chaos from beginning to end without doing much.
Because of that, the Hokage knew very little about him.
"He's a youngster. Right now he's the first Mokage of the sixth great shinobi village," the Third Hokage Hiruzen replied.
Hiruzen really didn't want to bring up Shigeo.
But it was obvious that in this war, Shigeo possessed the strongest combat power.
Not only that, Hiruzen had no idea what kind of jutsu Shigeo had used to boost everyone's chakra more than tenfold, cloaking every shinobi in the same golden aura he had, and granting all of them far greater fighting strength.
"The sixth great shinobi village?" Tobirama said in shock. "What's his name?"
Of all the names Hiruzen least wanted to say, Shigeo's was at the top of the list.
But since his own teacher had asked, he couldn't simply refuse to answer.
He could only grit his teeth and say, "He's from the Hyuga clan. His name is Shigeo."
"Hyuga? From Konoha's Hyuga clan?" Tobirama's expression chilled as he spoke while fighting.
"Our village has such a powerful shinobi, and he went off to found a new village instead? Monkey… what did you do?"
Hiruzen said nothing.
After all that had happened, it was no longer something he could make up for.
Konoha losing someone like Shigeo could only be considered Konoha's loss.
"That's not all he did," a cold voice suddenly cut in. "He not only drove the Hyuga chief to leave Konoha and found a new village… he also used underhanded schemes to force my entire clan, the Uchiha, into annihilation."
Sasuke appeared, eyes like ice.
"I'm right, aren't I, Hiruzen?"
(End of Chapter)
[[email protected]/Zukooo]