The light of the Dust Release was dazzling.
However, Madara Uchiha simply stretched out his hand, absorbing all of the Dust Release chakra into his body. He looked at Onoki and sneered contemptuously. "There are always people in this world who spout strange nonsense about 'will' for some foolish reason..."
After speaking, a blue light floated around his body, and a tall Susanoo rose from the ground, slamming Onoki down with a single palm.
"Hashirama was like that, and so are you..." Madara stood within the Susanoo, letting a group of Stone ninjas attack it. His face grew somewhat wistful. "Here I am, trying to explain the ultimate truth of the world, and you people just want to talk to me about 'will'..."
If Orochimaru were here, he would have definitely agreed with Madara. Madara wanted to reason with Hashirama Senju, and Orochimaru wanted to talk science with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Unfortunately, these Hokage only knew how to indoctrinate them with the Will of Fire.
It was truly an insult to one's intelligence. Hearing Onoki also mention the inheritance of the Will of Stone, Madara became a little angry.
"Hurry up and finish it, Madara!" Sasuke Uchiha snorted coldly, and a purple Susanoo also emerged from his body. "In another half hour, Lord Jiraiya's reinforcements will be here!"
"..."
Hearing Sasuke's cocky tone, Madara felt a strong urge to hit him. This brat looked so much like his younger brother, Izuna, yet he wasn't obedient at all and even dared to speak to him with such an attitude.
Seriously, why didn't Itachi Uchiha kill this brat?
Forget it. He was, after all, Sasuke's ancestor. It wasn't right to argue with a kid like him. He'd find a chance to properly deal with this little nuisance later...
Madara Uchiha clasped his hands together and said in a low voice, "Since the warm-up is over, let's start the real battle! Wood Style: Wood Clone Jutsu!"
Four wood clones split from his body. Each clone activated its own Susanoo. Five tall blue giants now stood on the battlefield, slaughtering everything in their path.
Suddenly, two Tailed Beast Bombs appeared, instantly destroying the Susanoo of two of the wood clones. The other two high-level combatants from the Stone Village had finally shown themselves: the jinchuriki of the Four-Tails, Roshi, and the jinchuriki of the Five-Tails, Han.
Originally, Roshi hadn't wanted to follow Onoki's orders, but Konoha's move to unify the ninja world was happening too quickly. Even if Roshi disliked the old man, he didn't want to see his hometown destroyed.
"Jinchuriki?"
A light flashed in Madara's eyes, but his interest faded just as quickly. Since Project Tsuki no Me had already failed, there was no need to collect the jinchuriki. Besides, that task fell to someone else.
Sasuke Uchiha flew up. He was the one responsible for capturing the jinchuriki of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails. A purple Susanoo materialized before everyone.
Madara quietly observed Sasuke's battle. The remaining members of their Uchiha clan were all at least at the Mangekyo Sharingan level... If he had been the clan head back then with so many strong members, the Uchiha would have unified the ninja world long ago. At least they wouldn't be on the verge of extinction like they were now.
However, Madara's eye soon began to twitch. Sasuke seemed to be having some trouble against the combined forces of the two jinchuriki. Even with the Flying Raijin Jutsu, a space-time dōjutsu, and a perfect Susanoo, Sasuke was surprisingly unable to gain any ground against them.
What a joke.
"..."
Madara watched speechlessly as Sasuke used the Flying Raijin to dodge the Tailed Beast Bomb attacks, his eyebrows knitting together. Sasuke's brother, Itachi, was so strong. How could his younger brother be so useless? An Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't even beat the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails?
Back in his day, he could use the Nine-Tails as a pet.
"Limbo: Border Jail!"
A light flashed in Madara's eyes. The shadow of Limbo flew from his body and, in a single moment, defeated both jinchuriki.
Sasuke looked at the two defeated jinchuriki and couldn't help but frown. "You don't need to meddle in my business. This is my mission!"
Madara Uchiha: "..."
This kid… if he wasn't an idiot, then he was just begging for a beating.
With the defeat of the Third Tsuchikage and the jinchuriki of the Four and Five-Tails, the Stone ninjas could no longer mount an effective resistance. What was originally a massacre soon turned into a chase.
Tens of thousands of Stone ninjas fled frantically. After Onoki's defeat, his son Kitsuchi was completely unable to organize any resistance. He managed to use Earth Style: Earth Mobilization Core to stall Madara for a few seconds, then hurriedly picked up his father and fled.
"I'll take the Four-Tails and Five-Tails back to complete the mission," Sasuke said, shouldering the two unconscious jinchuriki and glancing at Madara. "You wait here and rendezvous with Lord Jiraiya."
"That sounds too boring." Madara had his wood clones give a token chase before turning back to Sasuke. "With tens of thousands of prisoners scattered across the mountains, it would take Konoha days to capture them all... I'll go to the Stone Village and the Land of Earth's daimyo's mansion to wait for them to sign the surrender agreement."
-----
Everything went as Madara expected. On his way to the daimyo's mansion, he crushed several attempts by the Stone ninjas to regroup, completely breaking their will to fight. In the face of absolute power, will is just a minor detail.
Jiraiya, leading the Konoha ninja forces, rushed from the Land of Rain all the way into the Land of Earth, taking the opportunity to occupy the Stone Village and the daimyo's mansion.
The Land of Earth officially declared its fall. The great Stone Village had no choice but to announce its dissolution.
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki, at his advanced age and with his body long since decayed, still had to force himself to sign the surrender agreement. He wanted to fight for some rights for the Stone ninjas. Unfortunately, he was facing Madara Uchiha, who gave him only two options: unconditional surrender, or the entire Stone Village and the Land of Earth would be turned to ash.
To demonstrate this possibility, Madara performed his Shattered Heaven for Onoki, completely destroying the now-empty Stone Village.
After Onoki signed the agreement, his mind was still in a daze. "Is the ninja world really going to be unified?"
"Perhaps by the time we return to Konoha, we'll be able to attend the unification ceremony," Jiraiya sighed faintly. "The battle in the Land of Lightning should be handled by the Second Hokage and Minato, right?"
After all, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, were old rivals of the Cloud Village.
In the Hot Water Village, thousands of miles away, Konoha ninjas had just taken control of the small, peaceful country. Faced with a behemoth like Konoha, the small ninja village had no power to resist and could only let them do as they pleased.
"Close down all the gambling dens here," Tobirama Senju ordered after occupying the village. It was his first order. Then he began to study the next step of the plan. "Tomorrow, we will arrive in the Land of Moon. By occupying that small country, we can directly reach the Land of Lightning."
"Is that so?" A bitter smile appeared on Minato Namikaze's lips. "I never thought that the battle I promised the Fourth Raikage, a duel between Kages, would actually be part of a war of unification..."
-----
Bonus:
Minato Namikaze: Do you remember our promise?
Fourth Raikage: I remember. You said that once we each became Kage of our villages, we would fight again!
Minato Namikaze: That's right...
Fourth Raikage: Then let's begin!
Minato Namikaze: Kurama Mode, on!
Fourth Raikage: What is that?
Minato Namikaze: I heard you can fight the Eight-Tails with your bare hands. This is just half of the Nine-Tails. It's not that strong, pretty weak actually...
Fourth Raikage: Oh, that's fine then.
Killer Bee: Yo, don't fall for it, bro! Half a Nine-Tails and a whole Eight-Tails are not the same thing at all.