What exactly was going on?
Seeing the scene in the crater, even Jie paused for a moment.
Logically, Hashirama should have been on Kurama and Gyūki's side right now. They all wanted to stop Jie from reviving the Ten-Tails.
So why had Hashirama suddenly turned his attack on his own temporary allies?
Was this also part of Black Zetsu's plan?
But what would Black Zetsu gain from this?
For a moment, even Jie could not figure it out.
Black Zetsu was just as confused.
He had spent so much effort, even exposing some methods he had hidden for a thousand years and helping Madara awaken the Rinnegan, just to trick Madara and Hashirama into working for him.
So why had Hashirama suddenly lost his mind and aimed at the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails instead?
Had Jie caught him in a genjutsu in that instant?
No.
It did not look like that either.
Hashirama, however, did not know what Jie and Black Zetsu were thinking. When he saw the Gates of the Great God land accurately on their targets, he finally relaxed a little.
Now that the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails could no longer move, the Gedo Statue should be able to devour them smoothly.
Once the Ten-Tails awakened, it should recognize Jie's true identity and turn against him.
Jie still did not understand Hashirama's thoughts.
But if Hashirama was handing him an opportunity, Jie had no reason to refuse it.
With a thought, Jie controlled the Gedo Statue.
The Gedo Statue immediately let out an excited roar.
The next moment, two chains shot out from its mouth and wrapped tightly around Gyūki and Kurama.
Wood Release and the Sharingan were both naturally suppressive against tailed beasts.
In order to subdue them quickly, Hashirama had used the same Sage Art: Gate of the Great God that could temporarily restrain even the Ten-Tails.
Even one gate each was enough to rob Gyūki and Kurama of the strength to resist.
After letting out unwilling roars, the two tailed beasts were dragged into the Gedo Statue's mouth by the thick chains.
As the chakra of the final two tailed beasts entered its body, the last two eyes on the Gedo Statue's head opened at almost the same time.
A strange and far more powerful chakra immediately began to form inside it.
Under that chakra, the Gedo Statue's withered body began to swell, flesh and power filling it at a visible speed.
"The Ten-Tails is reviving?"
Through the summoning connection, Jie could clearly feel the huge transformation taking place inside the Gedo Statue.
The chakra surging inside it was far beyond anything the tailed beasts had possessed alone.
The Ten-Tails was about to be born.
Once he sealed it into himself, he would finally be able to push through the last step and reach the true Six Paths level.
"The Ten-Tails is about to awaken?"
"Good."
Madara and Hashirama looked at each other, both seeing the joy in the other's eyes.
As expected of the final safeguard left behind by the Sage of Six Paths.
Just feeling that chakra was enough to convince them their choice had been right.
As long as they protected it through its weakest stage, they still had a chance.
"Mother."
Black Zetsu was also trembling with excitement as he watched the Ten-Tails transform.
"I succeeded."
"The Ten-Tails is finally returning."
"Do not worry. I will definitely fulfill your will."
"This ninja world has only ever had one true master."
But Jie had no intention of wasting time with Madara and Hashirama any longer.
The result he wanted was already within reach.
He turned and rushed toward the bottom of the crater, intending to seal the Ten-Tails into himself the moment it took shape.
That would complete the final step of his Six Paths transformation.
The moment Madara and Hashirama saw Jie move, their expressions sharpened.
Their last task was to protect the Ten-Tails while it was still weak. Jie would definitely use everything he had to reach it, but they could not back down now.
Seeing Jie move, Madara immediately changed his eyes back to the Rinnegan.
"Limbo: Border Jail!"
There was no better way to stop Jie than an invisible attack.
But as Jie had said before, the same move would not work on him twice.
Let alone a third time.
Jie snorted coldly, and a brilliant blue light flashed through his eyes.
The Kusanagi Sword appeared in his hand.
"You know nothing, yet you still dare stand in my way?"
"Do you really think Limbo makes you invincible?"
"Rinnegan technique or not, I'll cut it down all the same."
Emerald chakra flames wrapped around the Kusanagi Sword.
Jie found the right timing, then slashed hard at the empty space in front of him.
"Fall."
A deep sword mark tore across the ground, stretching far into the distance.
At the same time, blood trickled from the corner of Madara's eye, and a muffled groan escaped his throat.
"Madara, are you all right?"
Hashirama could not see the Limbo world. All he saw was the pain on Madara's face.
Madara had no strength to answer. He could only press a hand against his aching eye.
To everyone else, Jie had only cut empty air.
But Madara knew better.
Limbo: Border Jail created invisible clones in a separate world, and the clone he had sent to stop Jie had been standing exactly where that sword fell.
Because of the earlier battle, Madara's chakra and eye power were already heavily depleted. In his hurry, he had only managed to form one Limbo clone.
And that clone had been split in two before it could even stop Jie.
A Limbo clone was not a true body, but its destruction was still connected to Madara. The backlash was one thing. The more terrifying part was what that strike proved.
Jie could see Limbo.
He could even cut into it.
In front of Jie using his true strength, Madara and Hashirama were no different from that clone.
They could be cut down in a single strike.
What kind of monster had they provoked?
Jie finally vented a little of his anger.
He cast Hashirama one cold glance, then continued toward the Ten-Tails.
The missing half of Shukaku's chakra delayed the transformation slightly, but only slightly.
Among the tailed beasts, Shukaku's share was not enough to change the final result.
The brief transformation soon ended.
After gathering the chakra of all nine tailed beasts, a colossal beast with ten tails finally appeared before Jie.
The Ten-Tails had returned to the ninja world.
The moment it revived, it raised its head, ready to let out its first roar.
But before that roar could leave its throat, Jie landed lightly on its head.
"Sealing Technique: Double Four Symbols Seal!"
The sealing formula Jie had prepared long ago instantly appeared across his abdomen.
The Ten-Tails' roar froze in its throat.
The next second, a powerful sealing force stretched its enormous body into a long stream and pulled it straight into Jie.
The Ten-Tails was the source of chakra in the ninja world.
Its power was violent enough to crush ordinary hosts, yet once sealed properly, it was purer than any tailed beast's chakra.
Jie did not need to bargain with it like an ordinary jinchūriki.
The moment the seal took shape, the power began flowing through him naturally.
There were no restrictions, and no need to slowly adjust.
The circulation of pure Six Paths chakra settled into him as if it had always belonged there.
And now, Uchiha Jie had become the only Ten-Tails jinchūriki in the world.