After hearing this, Naruto stood up decisively, patted his chest, and spoke with absolute confidence:
"Don't underestimate me."
"I am the child of the Bloody Red-Hot Habanero and the Yellow Flash of Konoha."
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto—the man who'll become the Orange Hokage in the future!"
Seeing that confident grin on Naruto's face, Tsunade seemed to glimpse the shadows of Minato and Kushina from years past. She reached out and rubbed Naruto's head hard, twice in a row.
"All right, all right, kid."
"If Kushina could hear you right now, she'd definitely be thrilled."
After that, everyone's gaze naturally shifted toward Uchiha Hikaru.
"I wonder if they can get past Hikaru…"
Uchiha Hikaru seemed to sense something. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Naruto, Killer Bee, and the others had already finished their battles.
Clearly, both A and Tsunade had given their approval.
In that case, there was no need to drag this out any longer.
"Enough."
Hikaru dispelled the skeletal constructs around him, and his Mangekyō Sharingan faded back into ordinary black eyes.
"That'll do. Even though the seven of you aren't very polished in terms of teamwork, your combat instincts complement each other well enough."
"At the very least, when I limit myself to Mangekyō abilities, first- and second-stage Susanoo, and standard ninjutsu, I can't decisively deal with you."
"So… you pass."
With that, Hikaru walked over to Tsunade and A. The Jinchūriki regrouped and stood together, facing the three of them.
Naruto looked at Hikaru with open curiosity.
"Then, Brother Hikaru… if you went all out, would we have any chance of beating you?"
Hikaru didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned around and casually placed a hand on Tsunade's shoulder and another on A's.
"If there were nine of you together," he said calmly, "it would take about ten minutes."
The next instant, the three of them vanished.
When they reappeared, they were already back inside the combat command center on Turtle Island.
Ōnoki frowned when he saw Hikaru return without bringing the Jinchūriki along.
"You didn't bring Naruto and the others back?"
"Since they want to fight," Hikaru replied evenly, "there's no reason for us to stop them."
"They've passed our tests. And Nagato is already at the main battlefield."
"So don't worry."
Ōnoki hesitated for a moment. Though concern still lingered, he ultimately accepted Hikaru's judgment.
After all, if Hikaru said it was fine, then it probably really was.
As for Mei Terumi and Rasa, the two of them were already busy compiling intelligence sent in from various units and coordinating ninja deployments.
...
"Ten minutes?"
"In other words, if we all fully transform into tailed beasts… he can guarantee absolute dominance for ten minutes?"
Rōshi, who had never personally witnessed Hikaru's strength before, couldn't help thinking that way.
In his eyes, no matter how powerful the Mangekyō Sharingan was, its greatest threat lay in controlling tailed beasts. But now, with all nine Jinchūriki capable of suppressing genjutsu through cooperation, that advantage was largely neutralized.
From that perspective, the fact that Hikaru could still withstand a full siege by nine tailed beasts for ten minutes was already terrifying.
Gaara spoke up quietly at that moment.
"I don't think that's what he meant."
"He probably meant… he could finish us all within ten minutes."
Bokuto and Naruto both nodded in agreement.
"That sounds more like it. Even if I don't want to admit it, Brother Hikaru is absurdly strong."
"Hmph. I hate to say it, but yeah—he really does have the strength to back it up."
Not just Rōshi—Han was also visibly shaken.
Among the nine Jinchūriki, only the two of them had never crossed paths with Hikaru before. They didn't truly understand what kind of monster he was.
The others had all witnessed it firsthand.
Whether it was his brutal suppression of Uchiha Madara after the Impure World Reincarnation—forcing Madara to abandon his techniques and retreat—or his training in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, or even the wager he'd once made with the Raikage years ago…
They all knew exactly how terrifying Hikaru was.
And now, he was only getting stronger.
"Is he really that powerful?" Han muttered, doubt and disbelief lacing his voice. "Is that really something a human can do?"
As they continued forward, Gaara recalled a scene from a year ago—when Hikaru had come to the Land of Wind and trained using the harsh environment itself.
"He really does have that level of power.
"A year ago, the largest sandstorm in Sunagakure's history broke out. The entire village was on the brink of disaster.
"If the First Hokage hadn't planted vast forests around the village long ago, Sunagakure would've been completely buried.
"But that sandstorm… was just the aftershock of him practicing ninjutsu."
"As an apology, he agreed to cut Sunagakure's tariffs in half for the next three years."
Gaara's words left both Rōshi and Han stunned, their imaginations running wild.
Just training—causing a sandstorm capable of swallowing an entire village?
That was beyond absurd.
After that, no one spoke further.
After all, Hikaru's strength only increased their chances of winning this war.
As for the doubts that had lingered in Rōshi's and Han's hearts, they quietly faded away.
Now, both of them simply wanted to witness with their own eyes—on the final battlefield—what kind of power Uchiha Hikaru truly possessed.
Over the next several hours, the Tailed Beast Squad encountered wave after wave of White Zetsu and Impure World Reincarnation forces.
Some White Zetsu even disguised themselves as members of the Allied Shinobi Forces.
Unfortunately for them, under Naruto's perception of malice, they were like wolves in sheep's clothing—reeking so badly they couldn't hide at all—and were swiftly eliminated.
As for the reincarnated shinobi, they were beaten down repeatedly before being sealed away by Gaara.
This made Shukaku unbearably smug, endlessly boasting inside the Tailed Beast Space, to the point that Kurama got so irritated he simply stopped responding. (ಠ_ಠ)
Finally, deep into the night, the nine of them caught up with the main force and reunited with the First Unit led by Nagato.
"Brother Nagato! I'm here!"
Naruto threw open the tent flap and immediately spotted Nagato frowning over a battle map.
The familiar voice made Nagato look up.
"You're late! Took you long enough."
Despite his words, relief flashed across his face—like he'd just seen a savior.
Half a day earlier, he'd received word from Hikaru that the Tailed Beast Squad would rendezvous with them around midnight.
The First Unit had been pushing straight into the front lines, clashing head-on with the enemy's main force. Even with Hikaru's Eight Thousand Spears preventing White Zetsu infiltration, the situation was still miserable.
The White Zetsu and Impure World Reincarnation troops advanced relentlessly, fearless and disposable. The Sealing Teams were stretched dangerously thin.
At the start, the combined firepower of artillery and ninja tools had caught the enemy off guard, wiping out nearly ten thousand White Zetsu.
But the survivors quickly adapted—burrowing underground, launching surprise attacks from behind, making defense nearly impossible.
On the front lines, reincarnated shinobi continuously stalled the artillery units, dragging things out in the most infuriating way imaginable.
But now—
With the Jinchūriki finally here, they could use the raw power of the tailed beasts to completely wipe out those disgusting White Zetsu once and for all.
...