From afar, Funan glanced over at Naruto and Sasuke.
That one look conveyed a clear message.
What are you standing around for? Fight! Take this chance—beat Uchiha Madara!
Sasuke immediately snapped back to his senses.
Funan-aniki?
Then there was nothing to worry about!
Anything that happened to him was never to be taken as a surprise—this was a shared understanding among all Uchiha.
[Whoosh!]
Sasuke raised his bow and loosed an arrow.
[Thunk!]
Madara only reacted when the attack was already in his face. In a fluster, he hurriedly used the Rinnegan's power to deflect it.
Seeing Sasuke had attacked, Naruto didn't hesitate either.
He wasn't even sure who had just called out to him…
Whatever!
"Roar!"
The Nine-Tails, formed from pure chakra, let out a thunderous roar and charged forward.
Seeing this, Hashirama didn't fall behind—he charged in as well.
He couldn't just stand by and watch the two kids suffer, could he?
And once again, the battlefield dissolved into chaos.
All except for Uchiha Madara, who was growing increasingly frustrated.
He was certain that the burst of massive ocular power just now hadn't come from his side.
And that alone spoke volumes.
Anxiety began to creep into Madara's heart.
This couldn't go on.
There were simply too many variables.
He'd gone through so much to come back to life—only for some random surprise to send him right back to the afterlife?
He had no backup plan.
If he died again this time—he would stay dead.
There was only one thing left to do!
Madara shifted his gaze to the Tailed Beasts hiding nearby.
[Rumble…]
Unnoticed by the others, the Divine Tree began to stir.
Its branches crept into the earth, slowly extending toward the Tailed Beasts.
Elsewhere—
Funan looked coldly at the Great Buddha, cradling Konan in one arm while beckoning the massive enemy with the other.
"Come on. Let's see what you've got."
The Great Buddha visibly trembled. A meek voice answered, eyes downcast: "No need, sir. You're busy. Don't mind me…"
"Heh. Don't be so polite," Funan replied with a faint smile.
Progress was slowing down. He figured he'd lend a hand—help Madara speed up the Tailed Beast absorption, get Kaguya resurrected.
Or maybe… skip the resurrection entirely.
Send the Sage of Six Paths packing while we're at it.
This young master doesn't have all day to wait for you people.
Whatever path they ended up choosing—it would all come down to this moment.
"Don't say I never gave you a chance."
Funan began his assault.
...
"Roar!"
"Uchiha!"
Inside Naruto, the Nine-Tails let out a low growl, coldly glaring at Uchiha Funan.
Just a moment ago, with a single glance, Funan had transferred a portion of his ocular power.
He wanted to meet with the Nine-Tails—
To calm its heart, so this creature wouldn't start having wild thoughts.
"Nine-Tails, you're in pretty good shape."
"Hmph!"
The Nine-Tails snorted and rose to its feet, staring at Funan with a frosty tone. "You've gotten stronger again."
"I've gotten stronger. Shouldn't that put you more at ease?"
"Don't give me that crap."
The Nine-Tails bared its fangs and said coldly, "I should feel more at ease—but now I don't. Our deal still stands, right?"
"Of course."
Funan replied with a cheerful smile, "I have no intention of breaking my promise. Nine-Tails, not only will I give you freedom—I'll give the other Nine-Tails freedom as well."
"The other one? The one inside Minato?"
The Nine-Tails only had to think for a moment before understanding.
"Wait, something's wrong."
Suddenly, the Nine-Tails noticed something. It stared at Funan's body and muttered, "What… How could this be? You… you actually… Impossible."
Funan raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, smiling as he said, "Let's not get into that. I only came here to remind you—remember to cooperate. That's part of the deal too."
The Nine-Tails didn't press further. Its tone grew serious.
"I hope you'll keep your word. Until then, I'll do my part."
"Good."
And with that, Funan vanished.
He had only injected a trace of ocular power into Naruto from afar. It couldn't last long.
The Nine-Tails remained silent, its expression solemn.
Uchiha Funan's strength… was terrifying.
Far beyond what it had imagined.
And as the undeniably weaker party, cooperating with someone like that didn't sit well.
But what choice did it have?
Go against him?
If it came to that, Funan's methods would be even crueler than Madara's.
It had no say in the matter.
"Ugh…"
The Nine-Tails let out a weary sigh and muttered, "Tell me… can Funan really be trusted?"
Its voice echoed within the sealed space.
No one responded.
Only a fleeting flash of red passed through the shadows.
...
[Boom!]
A crimson Susanoo swung the sword in its hand.
The Great Buddha's arm was sliced clean through.
And this wasn't the first arm that had been severed—
It was the last.
Though the Buddha regenerated quickly, it couldn't keep up with Funan's relentless assault.
Funan's Susanoo was only about a hundred meters tall—much smaller than the Great Buddha.
But his attacks were incredibly fast, and his movements extremely agile.
With a casual sweep of his massive sword, several arms would be severed.
And this sword—Susanoo could swing it hundreds of times in a single second.
"Useless! Are you even capable of anything?!"
Black Zetsu seized the moment to appear beside the masked man, launching into a furious tirade.
"You had your fun earlier, huh?!"
"Now look at you!"
"You've accomplished nothing—wasted all that power for nothing!"
"Damn it…"
Black Zetsu was so angry he wanted to jump up and curse out loud.
The masked man muttered under his breath, "It feels like… poop…"
Black Zetsu: "…"
After giving him one last look, Black Zetsu turned and walked away.
He had seen it—
White Zetsu's chakra was nearly depleted.
A worthless dead man walking didn't deserve Black Zetsu's time.
He had to come up with another plan.
Black Zetsu's gaze shifted to Uchiha Madara.
And silently, he began to move closer…
"Madara-sama!"
"Black Zetsu, find a way to stall Uchiha Funan."
"Stall... Uchiha Funan?"
Black Zetsu felt his vision darken.
At that moment, a terrifying thought struck him—had Madara begun to suspect something?
If you want me dead, just say it plainly.
Uchiha Funan had never been someone he could handle.
And now, after disappearing for a while and returning, Funan's power was undoubtedly even greater than before.
Just a wave of his hand carried an overwhelming aura.
How was he supposed to stall someone like that?
"I don't care—just stall him for as long as you can!"
As Madara's voice fell, several tailed beasts let out furious roars.
The Divine Tree had launched its attack.
Countless branches lashed out, wrapping around the tailed beasts and beginning to drain their chakra.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have happened so easily.
But the beasts had just fought a massive battle and were heavily weakened.
Moreover, the fierce battle with Madara had pulled their attention away.
They had huddled together, drawing strength and comfort from each other's presence.
And that gave the enemy a perfect opening—from right beneath their feet!
"This is bad!"
Senju Tobirama and the others exclaimed in alarm and charged forward.
Everyone had just seen it with their own eyes: the Ten-Tails required the tailed beasts to be reborn—it craved them desperately.
And now, it had finally made its move.
Fugaku and the others were still recovering, but Tobirama and Minato were in peak condition.
That's the broken power of Edo Tensei.
"Water Release!"
Tobirama immediately spewed a high-pressure water jet, slicing through the Ten-Tails' roots.
The compressed water beam was like a blade—nothing could withstand it.
Minato, meanwhile, unleashed Rasengan after Rasengan, striking at the Ten-Tails' main body.
But this time, the Ten-Tails was resolute. It ignored all attacks, continuing to release more roots that wrapped around the tailed beasts, absorbing their chakra.
For every root Tobirama and Minato destroyed, two more grew—then four, then eight...
"RRAAARGH!!"
A furious roar echoed through the battlefield.
To everyone's shock, the Eight-Tails was the first to be absorbed.
"Huh?"
Funan's eyes narrowed in surprise.
At the very last moment, Killer Bee had actually broken free of his genjutsu.
He had willingly let himself be absorbed by the Ten-Tails—no wonder it happened so fast.
"Because Kumogakure was destroyed... he wants to drag Konoha down with him?"
Funan thought it over for a moment, then gave up.
To be honest, he and Killer Bee had gotten along decently well.
They could talk. They could relate.
But in the end—one was from Konoha, the other from Kumo.
If Killer Bee had been able to convince the Raikage not to attack Konoha, Funan would have gladly maintained a good relationship with him.
But Killer Bee couldn't do that.
His Raikage—
That man would never tolerate Konoha's continued rise to power.
Even if Uchiha Funan had no interest in uniting the ninja world, who could guarantee that the Sixth Hokage wouldn't?
Or the Seventh?
Once a village grew powerful enough, all kinds of ambitions would begin to fester.
As the Kage of a village, the Raikage understood this all too well.
Sometimes, it wasn't about what you wanted to do—there were always people or events that would force your hand.
Eventually, it would all lead to war.
Besides—
The ninja world was only so big. If one village took more of the pie, the rest had to make do with less.
Konoha's continued expansion meant the slow diminishment of the others.
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