Black Zetsu had clearly sent Madara and Hashirama here to stop Jie from reviving the Ten-Tails.
There was only one Gedo Statue, and there were only nine tailed beasts. If Jie succeeded first, Black Zetsu's thousand-year plan would collapse. He could neither seize control from Jie by force nor trick him into becoming a sacrifice for Kaguya's resurrection.
Jie knew Madara and Hashirama were not his only enemies. Black Zetsu was still hiding somewhere in the dark.
Black Zetsu himself had little combat power, but his knowledge of the Gedo Statue and thousands of years of scheming made him dangerous enough to guard against.
If Jie came this far only to let Black Zetsu ruin everything at the final moment, he would have no one to blame but himself.
So Jie split his attention. On one side, he controlled the Susanoo-clad Buddha and continued fighting Madara and Hashirama.
On the other, he controlled the Gedo Statue and launched a final assault on Gyūki and Kurama.
As long as he subdued the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, the Gedo Statue could absorb their power in the shortest time possible.
Once the Ten-Tails revived, Jie would seal it into himself first and become its jinchūriki. There was no better option. Even Kurama was difficult to seal into an ordinary scroll, let alone the Ten-Tails.
After studying it for some time, Jie had confirmed that becoming its jinchūriki was the safest way to bring it back to his own era.
After returning, he could extract it again.
With Jie's recovery ability, having a tailed beast extracted would injure him, but it would not kill him like an ordinary jinchūriki. Besides, he already had three tailed beasts inside him. This level of risk was not enough to kill him.
More importantly, his Six Paths chakra seed was only a step away from completing its transformation.
Once that transformation was complete, Jie himself would stand at the peak of the Six Paths level.
Becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki could grant Six Paths-level power. It might not be stable, but it was more than enough to finish the process.
With Jie's chakra flowing through the summoning connection, along with his direct control, the Gedo Statue's combat strength rose sharply.
The sudden change caught both Gyūki and Kurama off guard.
The Gedo Statue swung its fists left and right, smashing into both tailed beasts' heads and forcing them back.
Gyūki took the heavier blow, its head denting slightly before the chakra body repaired itself.
If tailed beasts were not masses of chakra, that blow would have been crippling.
"What is going on?"
Gyūki steadied itself and stared at the Gedo Statue.
"Why did this thing suddenly become so much stronger?"
Kurama noticed something first.
The seven open eyes on the Gedo Statue's head had become far more alive than before.
It immediately understood.
"Gyūki, don't let your guard down. This is the real test."
Kurama's voice was heavy.
"The Gedo Statue is no longer just the Gedo Statue. That human is controlling it now. If we get careless, we'll be sealed completely."
"What?"
Gyūki was shocked.
"Isn't that human already fighting those two?"
"He can control a jutsu that powerful and still split his attention?"
"What kind of monster is he?"
The crimson-gold Susanoo-clad Buddha towering above the crater already made Gyūki's instincts tremble, and now Jie was controlling the Gedo Statue at the same time.
But Gyūki had no time to think.
The Gedo Statue was already advancing toward them again.
If Gyūki did not want to be erased here, it had to treat this as a fight for its life.
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu was still hidden in the dark, watching the battlefield.
When he saw Jie fighting on two fronts and still holding the advantage on both, he immediately grew anxious.
"How can he be this strong?"
"Could he really be one of the beings Mother always feared from beyond the heavens?"
Black Zetsu grew even more uneasy.
"It doesn't matter who he is."
"I have to stop him."
Even with Black Zetsu's guidance, maintaining True Several Thousand Hands and Susanoo was still a heavy burden for Madara and Hashirama.
After several collisions, Madara's face had gradually turned pale.
"No, Hashirama."
Madara gritted his teeth and squeezed out more chakra and eye power, repairing the damaged Susanoo armor once again.
"If this continues, we will lose."
Because of his Sage Body, Hashirama's chakra recovery was much stronger than Madara's, so his condition was slightly better.
But when he looked up and saw Jie still standing there calmly, Hashirama's face tightened.
At the same time, the battle below was turning against the tailed beasts.
Gyūki and Kurama were roaring more often now, but each roar sounded weaker than the last.
That meant they were losing.
If Gyūki and Kurama were absorbed, the Ten-Tails would revive. And if Jie destroyed it while it was still weak, the ninja world would truly lose its final defense.
But as soon as that thought appeared, Hashirama suddenly paused.
A moment later, Madara seemed to realize the same thing.
The two looked at each other and understood.
If the Ten-Tails was truly the Sage of Six Paths' final defense against invaders from beyond the heavens, then they had been thinking about this wrong.
They had to let it awaken.
Then they had to keep Jie away from it until it recovered.
With the Ten-Tails' help, they might truly have a chance to defeat Jie and protect the ninja world.
Fortunately, it was not too late.
Even while splitting his attention, Jie noticed the look Madara and Hashirama exchanged. But he could not read what they had decided, so he ignored it and continued fighting on both sides, increasing the Gedo Statue's assault at the same time.
Since Madara and Hashirama had decided to allow the Ten-Tails' revival, the first step was to stop Gyūki and Kurama from resisting.
Jie had already gathered the other seven tailed beasts for them.
Now only these two remained.
And when it came to dealing with tailed beasts, Hashirama had plenty of methods.
He gave Madara a look.
Madara immediately understood and focused on controlling the Susanoo-clad Buddha, holding back Jie's pressure for the moment.
At the same time, Hashirama formed another seal.
"Sage Art: Gate of the Great God!"
The moment Hashirama finished speaking, two red wooden gates descended from the sky.
"Gate of the Great God?"
Jie recognized it immediately.
Gate of the Great God was extremely effective against tailed beasts, but using it against him was a joke.
He raised one hand, preparing to destroy the gates.
Then he suddenly paused.
There were two gates.
And they were not falling toward him.
They were falling behind him.
Had Hashirama missed?
That brief doubt made Jie hesitate.
In that instant, the two gates fell like meteors and smashed heavily into the crater.
Two furious roars immediately came from below.
One belonged to Kurama.
The other belonged to Gyūki.
Through the Gedo Statue's vision, Jie saw everything that had happened at the bottom of the crater.
Only then did he realize that Hashirama's target had not been him at all.
Nor had it been the Gedo Statue.
It was the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.
For a moment, even Jie was confused.
What were these two trying to do?
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