Night fell.
A white-haired old man stood atop a small hill, gazing toward the distant lights of UzUzushiogakure.
"Hashirama… this is the world you created. And it truly was a mistake."
The old man sighed.
Back then, he had already known that the shinobi village system was fundamentally flawed. Now, time after time, reality had proven him right—tragedy after tragedy.
Even the Uzumaki clan, once equal in stature to the Uchiha and Senju of old, was now facing annihilation. And worse still, Konoha itself was involved.
Yet this was not the end. In the future, even more tragedies would unfold—endlessly, without cease.
Yes.
The old man was Uchiha Madara.
Though he had remained hidden in the shadows for many years, he had never stopped observing the shinobi world. With events of this magnitude unfolding in the Land of Whirlpools, there was no way he would not come to watch.
Back then, it appeared that he had been defeated by Hashirama alone—but in truth, he had lost to Hashirama and Mito together.
Whether it was the sealing scroll Hashirama had used in that battle, or the technique used to seal the Nine-Tails, both had been crafted by Uzumaki Mito.
The Uzumaki clan's sealing arts were indeed formidable.
"How exactly… can one obtain the power of Creation of All Things?"
Madara lowered his gaze to his withered, skeletal hand, a trace of confusion surfacing within him.
According to the stone tablet, two opposing powers must be unified to give birth to the Creation of All Things. Yet after transplanting Hashirama's cells, while he had awakened Wood Release, true fusion had never occurred—nor had he obtained that supreme power.
On the contrary, the constant internal struggle between his own power and Hashirama's cells was rapidly draining his vitality, accelerating his aging.
He could feel it clearly—he did not have much time left.
At most, one more year.
If within that year he could not give birth to the power of Creation of All Things, then it would be time for him to meet Hashirama again in death.
"What exactly am I missing…?"
Madara was lost.
But he was not the only one.
Hidden in the shadows, Black Zetsu was just as perplexed.
"Why hasn't the Rinnegan awakened yet? Could it be that even Uchiha Madara lacks the necessary aptitude?"
Black Zetsu stared at Madara from afar, equally at a loss regarding the Rinnegan's emergence.
In this world, Mother had been the first to awaken the Rinnegan—but she had done so by consuming the fruit of the God Tree.
The second was Hagoromo, who inherited it directly from his mother.
Creating a third pair of Rinnegan was unimaginably difficult—there was simply no reliable precedent.
Mother's case was not replicable. At best, Hagoromo's Rinnegan could serve as a partial reference.
For over a thousand years, Black Zetsu had pinned his hopes on the Uchiha, guiding and experimenting again and again. Uchiha Madara was the closest he had ever come to success.
Yet even so, Madara was still far inferior to Hagoromo of the past.
"Is it because he lacks Uzumaki chakra?"
Black Zetsu shifted his gaze toward UzUzushiogakure, pondering the possibility.
Hagoromo had only two sons, who inherited the Sage's Eyes and the Sage's Body respectively—but Hagoromo's chakra itself had been passed down separately, eventually forming the Uzumaki clan.
In some sense, the Uzumaki were even more compatible with the God Tree. The Adamantine Sealing Chains capable of restraining tailed beasts originated from the Ten-Tails itself.
Moreover, Hagoromo's greatest strength had been sealing techniques. Strictly speaking, the Uzumaki clan were the purest inheritors of Ninshū.
Their chakra was extraordinarily special—calling it Sage chakra would not be an exaggeration.
Perhaps only by adding Uzumaki chakra could the Rinnegan truly awaken.
"Perfect. I'll use this war to collect their chakra."
With a plan forming in his mind, Black Zetsu decided to harvest the chakra of fallen Uzumaki during this conflict.
Afterward, he would find a way to feed it to Madara—perhaps that would further stimulate Madara's eyes, allowing them to evolve into the Rinnegan.
If that happened, the Eye of the Moon Plan could finally begin.
"Hm? They're moving out?"
Black Zetsu suddenly sensed something and turned his attention back toward UzUzushiogakure.
Several massive chakra signatures were leaving the village, heading toward the Mist Village forces' encampment.
Surprised but unconcerned, Black Zetsu melded into the earth and silently followed, intending to collect the corpses afterward.
At the same time, the Cloud Village acted as agreed.
As night fell, over a thousand elite Cloud ninja launched a rapid assault toward the Mist Village camp, burning chakra without restraint. In a short time, they crossed dozens of kilometers and arrived at their destination.
Naturally, the Mist Village's sensory ninja detected both approaching forces.
They were especially confused by the Cloud Village's sudden appearance.
The commander of the Mist forces, Hōzuki Jāgetsu, stared toward the approaching Cloud ninja, unable to determine their intentions.
Were they here because the UzUzushiogakure elites had taken the initiative?
Were they targeting the Mist forces?
Or had they come with hostile intent—or goodwill?
"Send word immediately to the Sand and Stone forces. Tell them the Cloud Village has allied with UzUzushiogakure and that they must come at once. We'll join forces and wipe out the Cloud ninja."
Jāgetsu made his decision swiftly.
Regardless of the Cloud Village's intentions, the Mist would not face this battle alone.
After all, the worst-case scenario was a joint assault by the Cloud Village and UzUzushiogakure—a disastrous situation for them.
Though even then, he was not afraid.
If necessary, they could retreat into the sea. That was their true domain.
This confidence, however, would cost them their final chance to escape—and their lives.
The Uzumaki clan had never intended to let them retreat.
The four Uzumaki elders were the first to arrive.
They took positions in the four cardinal directions, erupting with chakra and jointly forming a crimson barrier that enveloped the entire Mist force.
The Four Red Yang Formation—the ultimate barrier requiring four Kage-level shinobi to cast, both offensive and defensive in nature.
These four old men might lack many things—but chakra was certainly not one of them.
Uzumaki Ashina wasted no time.
Once the barrier stabilized, he poured an enormous amount of chakra into the Banana Palm Fan, swinging it to unleash a sea of flames that engulfed the area where the Yuki clan ninja were concentrated.
"What kind of Fire Release is this?!"
"How can there be such a massive-scale fire technique?!"
"This is impossible!"
The Mist forces were completely stunned.
The Yuki clan ninja caught within the inferno were especially terrified.
The flames covered an enormous area, and the temperature was so extreme that Ice Release was impossible to use. Even Water Release was difficult.
And even if Water Release was used, it was instantly vaporized into scalding steam—equally lethal.
And this was only the beginning.
After expending all his chakra, Uzumaki Ashina passed the Banana Palm Fan to another elder, who had also prepared vast reserves of chakra.
One swing—
The inferno intensified, growing even larger and more violent.
Then more Uzumaki elders took turns, unleashing Fire and Wind in succession, the two elements amplifying each other.
The scale and temperature of the flames skyrocketed.
"This is almost on par with Edo Madara's Great Fire Annihilation…"
Watching from outside the Four Red Yang Formation, Tamura Zairo couldn't help but marvel.
The Uzumaki clan's immense chakra combined with the Banana Palm Fan was terrifying.
Each swing was no weaker than Madara's Great Fire Annihilation. Ten swings in succession—no Kage-level shinobi could withstand that.
And with Wind Release amplifying it further, the power became even more horrifying.
Yet it still wasn't over.
This time, when the fan was swung again, it unleashed not flames—but countless bolts of lightning.
Mist ninja specialized in Water Release. Fire and Lightning were their greatest counters—especially Lightning Release against the Hōzuki clan.
The Kaguya clan fared no better, suffering heavy casualties in this onslaught.
And then—
A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the front lines of the Cloud forces.
As the lightning faded, a towering, imposing figure emerged.
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