Thick smoke and dust engulfed the center of the battlefield, making it impossible to see anything in the surroundings.
Faced with this kind of environment!
Yuto casually raised his hand and waved it forward.
That single, simple fanning motion instantly generated a fierce gale, clearing away all the dust and smoke in an instant.
Yuto and Uchiha Madara walked at a leisurely pace, soon arriving at the center of the battlefield.
What appeared before them was a massive crater about fifteen meters across, and at its very center lay Naruto and Sasuke.
Their clothes were torn to shreds, their bodies covered in wounds of all sizes, blood streaming freely and dyeing more than half their bodies crimson.
"Damn it!"
"How can the gap be this… huge!"
Naruto and Sasuke lay gravely wounded in the crater, coughing up blood continuously, their faces twisted with frustration as they struggled to rise.
But in the blink of an eye!
Yuto and Uchiha Madara appeared simultaneously before Naruto and Sasuke.
Yuto gazed at them calmly, as though looking at two corpses.
"I haven't become Hokage yet… I haven't saved the village yet… I can't lose yet…"
"I will absolutely never lose to… the ambitions of someone like you!"
Naruto looked up at Yuto's cold, expressionless face as he struggled to crawl up from the ground, his voice filled with defiance and fury.
Beside him, Sasuke was also desperately trying to force himself up.
But like Naruto, he could barely manage to prop himself up. His chakra was nearly depleted, and combined with his severe injuries, Sasuke barely had the strength to stand.
Despair had already begun to show in Sasuke's eyes.
"How unsightly."
Madara sneered at Sasuke as a Black Rod materialized in his hand.
With a spray of blood!
Under Sasuke's defiant gaze, the Black Rod in Madara's hand pierced straight through his heart.
Madara's expression never changed once. Even though they were from the same clan, anyone who dared to raise a hand against him would receive no mercy!
"Sasuke!!"
Naruto's eyes went wide. He stared in disbelief at Sasuke, who lay in a pool of blood, and let out a howl.
Yuto looked at Sasuke and Naruto before him, a trace of sentiment flashing in his eyes. These two were supposed to be the protagonists, after all.
"So-called protagonists are nothing more than a fancy title in front of someone with absolute power."
"The ambition you speak of — to me, it means the same thing as the dreams you're always talking about."
"You say you want to become Hokage, avenge the village, and even rebuild it. You call that a dream, but in my eyes, isn't that also your ambition?"
A mocking smile on his face, Yuto conjured a Black Rod in his own hand and drove it straight through Naruto's heart.
There will always be people in this world who like to dress themselves up in lofty words.
Isn't a dream just another word for ambition?
"Sasuke, everyone…"
Naruto stared at the Black Rod piercing his chest and the blood flowing endlessly from the wound, his eyes blank as he muttered to himself before collapsing to the ground.
On the other side.
Both Jiraiya's group and Uchiha Obito's faction simultaneously sensed Naruto and Sasuke's presences vanish.
"They failed, then?"
Uchiha Obito's eyes flickered as he murmured softly.
"Useless. With the situation as it is, unless something unexpected happens, does Mother's resurrection really have to be delayed again?"
Black Zetsu lurked in the shadows, a cold and ruthless glint flashing briefly in his eyes.
Jiraiya's group.
"Naruto!"
Jiraiya cried out, his body held down by Hatake Kakashi and Darui.
When Naruto had been in danger earlier, Jiraiya had tried to rush to the battlefield, but Kakashi and the others had forcibly stopped him.
In that kind of battle, they couldn't even intervene — they'd likely be killed by the shockwaves alone just getting close. No matter how many of them went, they'd only add more numbers to the dead.
"Orochimaru, what the hell are you doing!"
"Didn't you say you had another trick up your sleeve!"
Kurotsuchi shouted at Orochimaru.
At this moment, Orochimaru's expression was somewhat grim. He had anticipated that Naruto and Sasuke might not win, but he never expected them to lose this quickly.
Judging by the battle they'd just witnessed, that had only been Uchiha Madara fighting at full power alone.
Even if he had another card to play, it absolutely wouldn't be enough against both Uchiha Madara and Yuto.
But feeling everyone's gazes fixed on him.
Orochimaru let out a soft sigh. At this point, there was no hiding it any longer.
"I was planning to wait and see how the battle went before making my move, but Naruto and Sasuke lost too fast. I should have acted earlier — it might have added a few more percentage points to our chances."
As Orochimaru spoke in his raspy voice, he pulled a thick scroll about ten centimeters long from his robes.
He tossed the scroll onto the open ground.
With a rise of white smoke, a coffin appeared before everyone.
"Edo Tensei?"
Seeing the coffin, Jiraiya and Kakashi immediately thought of the forbidden technique from the village.
"This is no Edo Tensei."
"That technique can't deal with Yuto and Uchiha Madara."
Orochimaru spoke as he walked toward the coffin, fanaticism gleaming in his eyes.
"Come forth!"
Standing beside the coffin, Orochimaru formed a hand seal and slammed the lid, speaking with excitement.
Crack!
The coffin lid crashed to the ground, and from within, a figure both familiar and strange dressed in gray robes stepped out.
"This is…"
"Naruto?"
"Sasuke?"
Seeing the figure emerge from the coffin, everyone froze simultaneously, a strange unease rising in their hearts.
Because the figure in the coffin looked incredibly similar to both Sasuke and Naruto — as if the two of them had been combined into one.
Everyone present could even feel that this figure's body contained the same chakra signature as both Naruto and Sasuke.
"What on earth is going on!"
Kakashi's pupils contracted slightly. He had already guessed something, and he stared at Orochimaru as though looking at a madman.
At this moment, Orochimaru paid no attention to anyone's stares. Instead, he gazed at the figure before him with pure fanaticism.
"I told you — the legendary Sage of Six Paths had two sons. One was called Indra, the other Ashura. This intelligence cost quite a price to obtain."
"For some reason, these two fought. The outcome is unknown, but their battle never truly ended. Their descendants carried on an endless war across generations."
"And the chakra of these two has been continuously reincarnating."
Speaking thus, Orochimaru let out a strange laugh, his expression fervent.
This method of reincarnation was remarkably similar to his own approach of reviving through cursed seals — both relied on leaving behind impressions of one's consciousness through chakra.
The only difference was that the chakra these two possessed was on an entirely different dimension from that of ordinary ninja, which was why it had persisted for over a thousand years of reincarnation without fading.
"The reincarnations of Ashura and Indra in this era are Naruto and Sasuke."
"This person is a clone I created by combining the chakra and cells of Naruto and Sasuke using cloning technology."
"This person not only carries Senju Hashirama's cells, but also the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, and more."
Orochimaru examined his creation as though admiring a work of art, introducing it to everyone.
Jiraiya stared at Orochimaru in shock, his lips trembling slightly.
"So this is your real plan?"
Jiraiya spoke slowly.
"That's right. This is my plan!"
"Combining the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, Senju Hashirama's cells, and the chakra of Indra and Ashura's reincarnations!"
"Merging everything together — this will be an entirely new being, one who approaches the Sage of Six Paths!"
Orochimaru declared with fanaticism in his eyes.
The moment those words left his mouth!
A trace of regret suddenly appeared on Orochimaru's face.
"It's a shame Naruto and Sasuke have already lost. This one might not win either, and I haven't even decided on a name for him."
Orochimaru shook his head, speaking with a hint of madness.
Seeing Orochimaru in this state, Jiraiya's expression changed slightly as he was the first to notice that something was off.
[
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