The bright moon hung high in the sky, casting a vast pall over the land.
On the battlefield of the Fourth Great Ninja War, corpses lay scattered everywhere. At this moment, however, no one had the heart to retrieve their fallen comrades.
Everyone was waiting—waiting for the final charge.
Over the course of a single day, they had defeated nearly seventy thousand White Zetsu and countless Edo Tensei warriors. Now, nothing but open ground lay before them.
"Charge! Once we break into Amegakure, we can bring this war to an end!"
Someone shouted excitedly, and the Alliance soldiers, freshly fed and energized, responded at once.
Inside the Allied Command Headquarters, seeing the army's morale at its peak, Shikaku nodded to himself. According to his calculations, the enemy's trump cards had nearly all been played. It truly was time for the final assault.
"Inoichi, pass down the order. Assemble all forces and prepare for the final charge."
At those words, Inoichi had yet to react when Hoshiyomi was the first to stand up. Looking at the moonlight projected within the sensory water sphere, Hoshiyomi knew clearly that after watching the battle unfold for so long, it was finally time for him to take the stage.
"Lord Hoshiyomi?"
His sudden movement drew everyone's attention. They all turned to look at him, puzzled as to what this powerful figure was planning.
Seeing their expressions, Hoshiyomi smiled and said:
"You're right—the decisive battle has arrived. That means it's time for me to move as well."
With that, Hoshiyomi prepared to leave the tent. When he reached the entrance, he suddenly paused, turned back, and said to everyone:
"The tasks here are already complete. You should also prepare to head to the front lines.
"The next battle won't be something that can be resolved with strategy and planning alone. Besides, staying here won't necessarily be any safer than being on the battlefield."
After saying this, Hoshiyomi stepped out of the command tent, mounted the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade, and departed into the distance.
The people inside the command tent exchanged glances, then could only turn their questioning gazes toward Minato.
After a moment of contemplation, Minato ultimately chose to trust his teacher, Hoshiyomi. He waved his hand decisively and said:
"Let's follow my sensei's arrangements. Naruto, Killer B—you two come to the battlefield with me as well."
...
The Allied Shinobi Forces continued their charge toward the Amegakure, while the full moon overhead slowly shifted along with their advance.
Amegakure, Akatsuki Base.
Madara, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His abrupt movement startled Black Zetsu and Tobi, who had been about to approach him.
"Lord Madara, you're awake."
Madara snorted coldly at the sight of them.
"It seems all the trump cards we prepared have been used up."
The two forced awkward smiles, not daring to even breathe too loudly. Madara ignored them, turning instead to look at the moonlight hanging high outside the window, letting out a cold laugh.
"So be it. At least we managed to drag things out until the time for the plan to begin."
As he spoke, Madara slowly stood up and picked up the Uchiha Gunbai beside him, slinging it across his back.
"Let's go. The time for descent has arrived. It is time to usher in a new era."
With those words, Madara turned and left the Akatsuki base without another glance.
Outside, under the leadership of the Five Kage, the Allied Shinobi Forces were rapidly closing in on the Akatsuki base.
As the Akatsuki's iconic spire-like tower came into view, Ōnoki, who was flying in the air, suddenly raised his hand with a grave expression, signaling everyone to halt their advance.
Just as the Allied Shinobi Forces were wondering what was going on, a deep, powerful male voice suddenly echoed from above:
"Insects… you truly did not disappoint me. The cries you unleashed in your struggle for survival were, indeed, an excellent form of entertainment."
Everyone instinctively looked up, only to see Madara, clad in dark red armor, standing atop the spire, gazing down at them from on high.
"As a reward for your efforts in pleasing me, I will allow you to witness the descent of the Eye of the Moon."
As he spoke, the Rinnegan in Madara's eyes emitted invisible ripples. With his movement, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to quake violently. Amid the intense tremors, many Allied shinobi could barely keep their footing.
"What is that?!"
When the shaking finally subsided, the crowd looked up—and every single one of them was left dumbfounded by the colossal figure that had appeared behind Madara.
A gigantic, eerie stone statue stood behind him. If it were merely an ordinary statue, it wouldn't have been so terrifying—but the eight wide-open eyes upon it filled everyone with an unsettling sense of dread.
Glancing at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path behind him, Madara frowned slightly. The amount of missing tailed-beast chakra was far greater than he had anticipated.
Madara cast an annoyed look toward Black Zetsu and Tobi behind him. Black Zetsu let out an awkward laugh and quickly used Edo Tensei to resurrect Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure.
Seeing the bewildered expressions on the brothers' faces, Madara's expression finally eased somewhat. He casually lifted his right hand, and a tremendous gravitational force instantly acted upon them.
The once-arrogant brothers had no chance to react before they were dragged in front of the Demonic Statue by Madara's Banshō Ten'in. Ignoring their struggles, Madara casually tossed them straight into the statue's mouth.
The Nine-Tails chakra within the two brothers was rapidly devoured by the Demonic Statue. After absorbing their chakra, the final closed eye of the statue slowly creaked open.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, the Demonic Statue let out a thunderous roar and began to rise to its feet.
Once standing, the Demonic Statue rapidly began to change under the waves of Madara's Rinnegan. Strange protrusions continuously emerged across its body, its mouth expanded without stop—anyone with eyes could tell it was undergoing some kind of bizarre transformation.
Seeing the Allied Shinobi Forces utterly intimidated by Madara and the statue's transformation, the Five Kage exchanged glances. They knew they could not allow Madara to continue any further. Ōnoki quickly formed hand seals, and the white glow of Dust Release appeared in his hands.
Clearly, he intended to shatter the Demonic Statue behind Madara with Dust Release. To help him land the attack, Gaara, Mei Terumi, and A launched their own attacks to cover Ōnoki.
But in the next instant—
"Shinra Tensei!"
An overwhelming repulsive force erupted outward. Whether it was the three charging toward Madara or Ōnoki who was gathering his Dust Release, all of them were blasted away by the terrifying power of the Shinra Tensei.
The Four Kage were sent flying an unknown distance, barely avoiding being taken out in a single exchange thanks to Gaara instantly adapting and raising an enormous wall of sand.
Glancing at the Demonic Statue behind him as it continued to transform, Madara spoke calmly:
"I cannot afford to be interrupted during the next stage, so…"
As he spoke, Madara raised his right hand high. At this gesture, Jiraiya, Sakumo, and others present all turned pale, memories of terror flooding back.
That was… Tengai Shinsei!
In the next second, a shadow vast enough to cover more than half of the Allied forces appeared overhead.
The crowd looked up in stunned silence, followed by the clatter of weapons falling from numb hands. With eyes filled with despair, they stared at the enormous meteor plummeting from the sky, feeling as though their lives had already reached their end.
...
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