Within Konoha Village, Minato Namikaze and Senju Tobirama returned with heavy expressions. Tsunade, who had been anxiously waiting for news of the two, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that her grand-uncle and Minato had returned safely.
Seeing Tsunade's worried gaze, Minato Namikaze felt somewhat embarrassed for a moment: "I am sorry, Lady Tsunade. We failed."
In truth, Tsunade had not placed absolute reliance on the two succeeding.
The Fifth Kazekage's personal strength was so formidable that if a simple assassination could work, Konoha would not have exhausted so much power to deal with such an opponent, even resorting to the Impure World Reincarnation.
"Aoki Shiraishi commands a special space-time sealing ninjutsu technique, preventing the Flying Raijin of both of us from escaping Sunagakure."
Senju Tobirama explained the gathered intelligence on Subspace Severance in precise detail and then produced a scroll. Within it, he had organized Shiraishi's various techniques and abilities; during this period, the Second Hokage had clearly put in immense effort.
"The reinforcement from Mount Myoboku will arrive during tomorrow's final battle. The Great Sage has sent ten stone statues, all of which represent exceptional figures from various historical clans since the Warring States period."
Presently among the Three Great Unexplored Sage Regions, Mount Myoboku had clearly stated its position to support Konoha with all its might.
Apart from allowing Naruto to continue his cultivation, they also prepared to deploy the ten stone statues meticulously prepared by Mount Myoboku.
At this moment, Danzo suddenly recalled a matter: "Is Uchiha Sasuke's whereabouts still unknown?"
These words directly provoked Hiruzen Sarutobi's dissatisfaction: "Danzo!"
Glaring at Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo inwardly cursed this old fellow for being so fond of putting on an act, especially loving to act pure in front of their teacher—he was virtually a shameless old scoundrel.
"Uchiha Itachi isn't present anyway. Besides, aren't you sharing the exact same thought as me, needing to utilize Sasuke to keep Uchiha Itachi in check?"
Compared to Uzumaki Naruto's rapid progress in strength, Uchiha Sasuke's strength had stagnated after awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Although he had obtained the mysterious inheritance of Ryuchi Cave, he ultimately still felt his strength growing too slowly, causing him to leave Konoha to cultivate.
However, up to this day, the people of Konoha collectively held a distinct feeling that Uchiha Sasuke might have already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan by now.
Since the outbreak of the Shinobi World War, Sasuke's whereabouts had remained a mystery. The people of Konoha were, in fact, more worried about whether Sasuke had encountered some misfortune, as that would pose a massive problem for controlling Uchiha Itachi.
There was no mistake; the very significance of Uchiha Sasuke's existence was to properly control Uchiha Itachi so that he would better exert his efforts for Konoha. This was Konoha's true definition regarding Sasuke.
Of course, there were exceptions, such as Uzumaki Naruto, who genuinely viewed Sasuke as a companion, and Sakura Haruno, who was genuinely infatuated.
"Uchiha Sasuke is the optimal weapon to deal with Uchiha Itachi."
Gazing at the approaching dawn sky, Shiraishi had long since laid out his plan on Uchiha Sasuke's side. Even though Indra's chakra was influencing Sasuke, Sasuke was ultimately one of the children of destiny.
Indra could not completely control him and could only attach himself to Yakushi Kabuto to exert an influence on Sasuke.
Although Indra's chakra consciousness had awakened, to put it bluntly, it was not the original body of Indra. Its intelligence and thinking patterns were relatively simplistic; Shiraishi had basically confirmed this situation during his prior battle with Yakushi Kabuto.
"The depletion of Sasuke's ocular power is already very severe."
A while ago, Uchiha Sasuke had traveled to Amegakure Village to find Uchiha Kaede, hoping to obtain more power. During the process of guiding Sasuke, Uchiha Kaede assisted him in awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Having obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke was instantly filled with gratitude toward Uchiha Kaede. Afterward, Uchiha Kaede arranged for Sasuke to travel to several small nations to execute secret missions.
Throughout the entire process, Uchiha Sasuke used the Mangekyo power frantically without any restraint, leading to a severe loss of ocular power.
Discovering that his ocular power was continuously draining away like a collapsing river dam, Sasuke left Amegakure Village in a mixture of shock and fear. During his journey, Indra's chakra, which had been monitoring Sasuke, was also immensely anxious.
"The sky is bright..."
Accompanying Shiraishi's words, the brilliant sun illuminated the sky above Konoha Village. The current Konoha Village was basically empty of people, leaving behind only the shinobi who stayed for the final battle; the vast majority of civilians had completely finished migrating.
As Shiraishi slowly rose into the air, the countless flying devices, puppet dragons in the sky, and the puppet forces on the ground grandly and majestically launched their official offensive against Konoha.
"Lady Tsunade, do you still choose to continue fighting?"
Recognizing Tsunade on Konoha's front lines at a single glance, Shiraishi spoke gently.
He and Tsunade had exchanged blows back during the Third Shinobi World War, so the two were not completely unacquainted.
"Heh, you womanizer... prepare for the final battle, Konoha will absolutely not harbor any fear!"
Tsunade's remark of "womanizer" caused Shiraishi's face to darken. The younger generation of Suna shinobi below had no idea what had happened, while the Suna shinobi who had participated in the Third Shinobi World War dared not bring up that dark history of Shiraishi's past human body secret techniques.
Even a portion of the people on Konoha's side looked entirely bewildered. Senju Tobirama cast an inquiring gaze toward the Third Hokage, who gave a dry cough: "The Kazekage made a certain period of Tsunade's life become exceptionally colorful."
The Third Hokage's explanation almost made Tsunade explode with rage, and even Shiraishi was nearly left unable to back down. For a perfectly fine final battle, the atmosphere became a bit strange.
But Shiraishi reacted quickly, letting out a clear cough. Instantly, countless puppet forces unleashed dazzling beams of chakra energy, blasting directly toward the outer barrier area of Konoha.
The echoing sounds of explosions symbolized the official opening of the final battle of the Fourth Shinobi World War between Sunagakure and Konoha.
Jiraiya was still at Mount Myoboku looking after Uzumaki Naruto, but Uchiha Itachi was worried about the Konoha battlefield, so he left Mount Myoboku ahead of schedule. However, he was intercepted by a single person midway.
"Sasuke? You've returned!"
Seeing Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi's mood instantly became much better. After all, Sasuke had been missing for so long, and he worried about his younger brother's whereabouts more than anyone else.
But very quickly, Uchiha Itachi discovered that the atmosphere was wrong!
The moment the Sasuke before him turned around, his right eye revealed a blood-red, curse-like radiance—it was precisely the power of the Ketsuryugan. Meanwhile, the Sharingan in his left eye had also evolved into the Mangekyo Sharingan.
An unsettling chakra transformed into a red current of air circling around Uchiha Sasuke. The atmosphere of the scene instantly became exceptionally heavy and solemn, a powerful killing intent enveloping the two individuals.
"Uchiha Itachi, offer up your Mangekyo Sharingan!"
In a cold tone resembling a synthesized electromagnetic voice, the long sword in Uchiha Sasuke's hand instantly burst into a terrifying light of slaughter, lunging forward at extreme speed to strike directly at Uchiha Itachi's vitals.
Itachi, whose body dispersed into countless crows before Sasuke, reappeared at another position. Seeing the massive blood-red energy released by the Ketsuryugan, Uchiha Itachi had no choice but to engage in battle.
"Sasuke..."
He did not object to giving his Mangekyo Sharingan to Sasuke, but absolutely not at this current moment, because that ominous chakra on Sasuke's body made him very uneasy.
"Die!"
At this moment, Uchiha Sasuke was like a fierce ghost, transforming into a red, terrifying current of air as he lunged forward.
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