"Don't cry. Don't you still have work to do?" Mito Uzumaki said gently as she watched Tsunade begin to tear up.
"…Mm." Tsunade nodded. While treating a patient, her voice slightly choked, she began telling Mito about her new life.
She didn't mention how she had once left Konoha and wandered aimlessly, only that she had become the Fifth Hokage, and had found a truly exceptional successor.
Finally, Tsunade also spoke about her and Jiraiya. Even now, she only shared the joys, not the sorrows.
"A successor… the Sixth Hokage?" Mito murmured in reflection. "That one is indeed a very powerful and capable Hokage."
Even though she had only met Natsuro briefly, she still made such a judgment.
That figure who single-handedly defeated all five of them. He reminded her of Hashirama who equally strong, equally overwhelming…
In fact, with her Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Mito felt there was something strange about him. But she couldn't quite place it. Maybe… he hadn't even shown his full strength?
And then, when she heard the name Jiraiya, Mito smiled again.
"It should've been like this all along. That boy liked you ever since he was young, he just never had the courage to confess."
She gave Tsunade a look. She understood perfectly well why Jiraiya had never confessed, Tsunade's monstrous strength was enough to scare off any man.
Although… that was also on Jiraiya. If he had strength like Hashirama's, what was there to fear?
Mito watched Tsunade bustling around, admired and respected by the surrounding medical-nin. And it wasn't just medics from Konoha, there were many from other villages, too.
"Tsunade… you've truly grown into someone remarkable~" Mito smiled gently, her heart finally at peace.
She had already come to terms with everything long ago. She had simply remained bound in this world by her own sense of duty, until now.
And then, a white light began to shine from Mito's body as she gradually faded away.
Tsunade's hands froze momentarily. A tear slid down the corner of her eye...
But still, she said firmly, "Next! Bring me the next one!"
Naruto and Sasuke were originally assigned to the Support Division, meant to move between battlefields providing reinforcements.
And during the first day, during daylight hours, they had done exactly that.
Both of them tore through the enemy like a storm.
Each time they arrived on a battlefield, they immediately tilted the odds overwhelmingly in the Alliance's favor.
Honestly, the time they spent traveling between fights was longer than the actual fights.
But this incredible momentum only lasted until nightfall.
Inside the world of Limited Tsukuyomi, the masked man had not yet achieved his goal of capturing all of Kurama, but by chance, he had witnessed Naruto's power firsthand.
From that moment on, he became extremely wary of Naruto.
When he saw the reports from every front line… even he was shocked.
He had already known Naruto was strong, but Sasuke?
That figure wielding a massive purple Susanoo without restraint... It reminded him of that aged figure… equally terrifying.
But Madara Uchiha would never have acted this way. He would've ignored the lives of the weak, even those from his own village.
Originally, Tobi had intended to continue with his own plans and wait until morning to act.
But after seeing Naruto and Sasuke crushing through the battlefield with unstoppable momentum, he realized...
If he let them run wild until morning, the war would be over before his plan could unfold.
Especially since they didn't seem to be taking any breaks, not even at night.
What he didn't know was before the war began, Natsuro had spoken to them both, telling them to make a good showing on the battlefield.
So both Naruto and Sasuke had taken that to heart.
In truth, Sasuke didn't need to use Susanoo so much. Naruto didn't have to maintain Kurama's massive golden avatar.
But they wanted to prove themselves.
So Tobi was forced to act earlier than planned.
He finally implanted the Rinnegan... But only in one eye.
Even with just a single Rinnegan and the power of Hashirama's cells, he could use most of its techniques... Though slightly weaker, it was enough.
If he implanted both eyes, even the Hashirama cells probably wouldn't be enough to support the chakra drain.
After all, Nagato, a true-born Uzumaki with immense vitality, couldn't handle the burden of two Rinnegan.
If he had a perfect Hashirama body, then maybe he could, but Tobi wasn't that lucky.
So with only partial access to Hashirama's power, one eye was safest.
As for the Rinnegan's unique abilities, Tobi knew, Even if he had both eyes, he couldn't use them.Those were not his eyes.
Only the original owner, that aged figure, could unlock those secrets.
But most importantly, Tobi believed that his Mangekyō Sharingan's powers were no weaker than the standard Rinnegan techniques.
So, his left eye remained his Mangekyō Sharingan, and his right became the Rinnegan.
Once he completed the transplant, he donned a new battle mask, a solid, white combat model that completely enclosed his face and head.
Then, after some thought, he hid the other Rinnegan.
Unbeknownst to him, Black Zetsu was watching.
No chakra, no sound, no movement, completely undetectable. Even the Sage of Six Paths' sons had failed to notice him, so how could a mere masked man hope to?
Black Zetsu stared silently, deep in thought.
And then, Tobi grabbed the Uchiha fan, a weapon passed down through generations.
He departed for the battlefield.
His first target: Naruto.
When Naruto saw him, he felt a surge of anger, and excitement.
Anger, because this man was the cause of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Even with Naruto giving it his all, he couldn't save everyone. Though the casualties were lower than in the original timeline, the number was still massive.
Excitement: because if he could defeat Tobi here and now, the war might end immediately.
But Tobi, knowing Naruto's strength, didn't hesitate.
He immediately formed hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
Suddenly, an enormous figure appeared before Naruto.
But the shock wasn't from the Ten-Tails itself, it was from the nine figures standing atop it, beside Tobi.
"…That is…" Naruto stared at the final figure, voice trembling.
It was a woman with red hair. Naruto had seen her once before, with Natsuro's help.
"Mom…" he whispered.
That's right, it was Kushina Uzumaki, the previous jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
And the other eight figures:
The former Eight-Tails jinchūriki: Blue B
The Seven-Tails jinchūriki: Fū
The Six-Tails jinchūriki: Utakata
The Five-Tails jinchūriki: Han
The Four-Tails jinchūriki: Rōshi
The Three-Tails jinchūriki: Yagura
The Two-Tails jinchūriki: Yugito Nii
And the previous One-Tail jinchūriki: Bunpuku
Naruto didn't recognize them all, but he could feel it, they were just like him.
And their Edo Tensei forms said it all.
Naruto stared blankly at Kushina's figure. Her eyes, like the other eight jinchūriki, were void of life, clearly, her consciousness had been erased.
After all, the masked man wanted to be cautious. Who knew what might happen if an Edo Tensei jinchūriki could still cooperate with their tailed beast? That could lead to unforeseen disasters.
Yet even knowing this, seeing Kushina's vacant eyes stirred a massive surge of killing intent in Naruto's heart.
"Hey, Naruto, calm down!" Kurama called out at that moment, also staring at Kushina's figure with complicated feelings. When he sensed Naruto's immense rage, he couldn't help but issue a warning.
Even Kurama thought this reaction was inevitable. That was his mother being controlled like a puppet with her mind erased… Anyone would lose it.
"I know, Kurama…"Naruto took a deep breath and finally pulled his gaze away from Kushina, then replied quietly.
At that moment, Naruto turned his cold, piercing eyes toward the masked man.
Kurama sighed in relief, then glanced back at Kushina. He could feel the immense chakra within her body, though she had no will, the power was still there…
Which led him to wonder.
When had the masked man collected Kurama's leaked chakra?
Kurama was baffled.
When did it happen? Could he really be Madara Uchiha? Was he preparing for this moment back when he summoned me long ago?
But… the masked man didn't feel like Madara.
While Kurama was lost in thought, the masked man sat casually atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, as if watching a play. Then, with a simple wave of his hand, the nine jinchūriki instantly turned into crimson streaks and charged toward Naruto.
In a flash, Naruto felt a tremendous wave of danger. Without hesitation, he activated his ultimate form: Sage Fox Mode, and rushed to meet them.
"Tsk, Naruto…" the masked man murmured with amusement. "Let's see how long you can last against all nine jinchūriki."
If it were just the tailed beasts, he wouldn't be too concerned. He knew Naruto could likely beat them one-on-one.
But two fists can't beat nine opponents, and this wasn't just nine random foes, but nine jinchūriki working together.
Sure enough, even in Sage Fox Mode, Naruto struggled. The combined attacks of nine jinchūriki's Tail Beast Bombs, unique abilities, relentless coordination were overwhelming.
Naruto found himself constantly retreating, barely able to defend. At this rate, defeat was only a matter of time. Even Kurama's chakra wasn't limitless.
Legends called Kurama's chakra "infinite," but that was only relative to others. Kurama had never released all of his chakra at once, which gave the illusion of being infinite.
In truth, while Kurama's chakra dwarfed that of the other eight tailed beasts, it was still not unlimited.
Under this kind of sustained pressure and assault, even Kurama couldn't keep up.
As Naruto gradually fell back and Sage Fox Mode faded, the masked man smiled.
At last, he could seize the complete Nine Tails.
The masked man descended from the Demonic Statue and appeared beside Naruto, reaching out his hand.
Just as he was about to touch Naruto, he saw a kunai.
His alarm bells blared.
He had been toyed with by this kind of kunai before. And now...
In the next instant, the kunai vanished before his eyes, replaced by a young man with Mangekyō Sharingan and the Uchiha crest on his back.
It was Sasuke.
Arriving just in time, Sasuke locked eyes with the masked man, his Mangekyō flaring, and lightning crackled in his hand.
"Chidori!"
Without hesitation, Sasuke lunged with the lightning blade aimed directly at the masked man.
But unsurprisingly, Chidori passed right through him. Sasuke felt nothing, like striking air.
The masked man vanished again and reappeared atop the Demonic Statue, staring down at Naruto and Sasuke.
"So… this was your plan. But unfortunately, you won't succeed," he sneered.
Then he looked directly at Naruto.
With a flicker in his eyes, he said, "Why resist? If you give me the Nine Tails, I'll leave your life intact. And once my plan succeeds, you'll be reunited with your loving father and mother. Isn't that what you want?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Kushina's lifeless figure.
"…!" Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He looked from Kushina to Naruto, concern flashing in his gaze.
"Hmph. You want me to just give up? That's never going to happen!" Naruto growled.
"I've met my parents before. And even if they were still here, they would never agree with what you're doing!"
"Refuse kindness and choose punishment… then I'll make sure you know despair!" the masked man snapped.
Once again, the nine jinchūriki charged in unison.
"Sasuke, cover me for a bit, Kurama needs time to gather chakra!" Naruto called out.
"Fine, but hurry it up," Sasuke muttered, a bitter smile on his face as he glanced at the approaching nine enemies, "...I can't hold them off for long."
"Don't worry!" Naruto grinned.
He had complete faith that Sasuke could do it.
Sasuke took a deep breath. A massive purple Susanoo emerged around him, and as it did, black streaks began crawling across its surface.
It was like a thunder god in violet armor, now clad in a jet-black battle suit.
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Currently on Chapter 404 - The Mini Ten-Tails and the Golden Tenseigan