He clearly sensed that the massive and warm Nine-Tails chakra within his son's body had completely vanished, leaving only a faint flicker of life swaying in the wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.
The sense of despair brought by Obito's perfect Six Paths form shrouded the entire battlefield. The Divine Tree was rising from the ground, and the shadow of the Eye of the Moon seemed to have already been cast upon everyone's hearts.
Minato forced himself to calm down, his mind racing through every possible plan to save Naruto.
Take back the Nine-Tails? The thought was extinguished as soon as it arose.
The power of Six Paths Obito was no longer something they could reach. The Nine-Tails had completely fused into the opponent, becoming a part of the Divine Tree; trying to forcibly take it back was nothing short of a fool's dream.
Then, only one path remained—a faint one, yet one that had truly happened before.
His gaze locked tightly onto Takuno's lazy and unfathomable face.
Memories flooded back like a tide. This mysterious Collector before him had taken the half of the Nine-Tails from within Kushina.
Using an incomprehensible power, he had preserved her life and even restored her to health.
That was no simple Medical Ninjutsu, but a method that nearly reversed the rules of life and death.
Therefore, The Collector should have the ability to save his son!
On the other side, while Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly leave with the unconscious Naruto, placing his hopes on Takuno, the situation where Sasuke was located suddenly changed.
Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan constricted sharply, his pupils reflecting a heart-palpitating sight.
A layer of thick, ink-like black substance that seemed to have a life of its own was quietly writhing like a living swamp, completely enveloping the unconscious Sasuke!
Itachi was all too familiar with this cold, viscous, and ominous form!
"Black Zetsu!" Itachi's sharp shout carried unprecedented shock, anger, and anxiety.
He instantly recognized this as the terrifying entity that had previously parasitized Konan to force Nagato to use the Rinne Rebirth power!
No one had expected that this most cunning lurker on the battlefield would take advantage of the massive chaos caused by Six Paths Obito summoning the Divine Tree.
And with the perfect opportunity of Sasuke falling unconscious after exhausting his Ocular Power while fighting Obito alongside Naruto, it had silently slipped back into the heart of the battlefield!
It perfectly utilized the gap when everyone's attention was drawn to Obito, the Divine Tree, and the taken-away Naruto, accurately capturing Sasuke's weakest moment.
As the light of Minato rescuing Naruto dissipated, Black Zetsu had already silently completed its erosion and attachment to Sasuke!
"When did this happen?!"
Kakashi, Shisui, and the others also realized in shock, a bone-chilling coldness filling their hearts.
Black Zetsu's concealment ability was actually so terrifying that even Minato, with his extremely strong sensory abilities, and the Hyuga Clan with their Byakugan, had failed to notice its reappearance.
It was like a ghost on the battlefield, patiently waiting for a flaw in its prey.
At this moment, Sasuke, wrapped in that writhing black mud, twitched slightly, a pained and distorted expression appearing on his face.
"Let go of Sasuke!" Itachi's Susanoo instantly condensed, the Sword of Amaterasu burning with raging black flames pointing directly at the darkness enveloping his younger brother.
His gaze was piercingly cold, boiling with killing intent.
He would never allow anyone to harm his brother!
However, facing Itachi's killing intent and the pressure of the Susanoo, the mass of black mud enveloping Sasuke only undulated slightly, as if silently mocking the Allied Forces' slowness and impotence.
"Well done." Madara saw this scene and also revealed a smile.
Black Zetsu's viscous, ink-like body tightly wrapped around the unconscious Sasuke, controlling him to slowly stand up like a marionette.
Sasuke's body was stiff, having completely lost consciousness.
Itachi's massive energy sword burned with the pitch-black inextinguishable fire of Amaterasu, the tip of the sword hovering less than a foot above Sasuke's head.
However, Black Zetsu's raspy, mocking voice rang out from within Sasuke's body.
"Put away your useless flames, Uchiha Itachi. I know better than anyone that you will never let these flames fall upon your brother."
Itachi's Susanoo trembled slightly, his crimson Mangekyo Sharingan staring fixedly at his controlled brother, his teeth clenched; those destructive black flames ultimately could not fall.
"Black Zetsu! You despicable monster!"
Hashirama was furious, his majestic chakra surging as he glared at Madara, who was watching coldly from not far away.
"Madara! Is this your intention as well?! Stop him!"
Madara crossed his arms, his voice showing no ripples, even carrying a hint of impatience.
"Hashirama, you are too noisy. I have zero interest in this Uchiha brat's life. My eye has been lodged in him for so long; now, it is merely being returned to its original owner."
Under the horrified gazes of the Allied Forces, Black Zetsu manipulated Sasuke's right hand to stab without hesitation into his own tightly closed right eye!
Blood instantly gushed out, flowing down Sasuke's pale cheek.
Sasuke's body instinctively twitched in the intense pain, but his consciousness was still firmly suppressed by Black Zetsu.
That Rinnegan, containing terrifying power, was forcibly gouged out by Sasuke's own hand!
"Lord Madara, your eye."
Black Zetsu controlled Sasuke's blood-stained hand to hand the Rinnegan, still warm and streaked with blood, to Madara.
Madara raised his hand and easily caught it, a flash of satisfaction at his wish being fulfilled appearing in his eyes.
He unhesitatingly pressed the Rinnegan that originally belonged to him into his right eye socket. Powerful chakra surged, and the fusion was completed in the blink of an eye.
When he opened his eyes again, that purple Rinnegan emitted a suffocating pressure.
And Sasuke, under the intense pain of losing his eye and Black Zetsu's manipulation, slumped down limply.
Itachi himself rushed toward his fallen brother regardless of everything, his eyes filled with unspeakable rage and grief.
Black Zetsu, having completed its mission, faded from Sasuke's body like a specter, merging back into the shadows, leaving behind only a deathly silence on the battlefield and the Allied Forces' soaring rage and despair.
Madara, having retrieved his right eye, looked coldly at that massive Divine Tree that blotted out the sky, its thick roots seeming to pierce through the entire desert.
Even though his familiar Rinnegan was re-embedded in his right eye socket and familiar, powerful Ocular Power surged through his bloodline, his furrowed brow did not relax in the slightest.
His power had indeed grown, reclaiming most of the power from his peak state during his lifetime.
However, so what?
Facing Obito, who was currently emitting a true Six Paths level pressure, he clearly felt an insurmountable chasm.
Obito's current power had completely surpassed Nagato's state when he was the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and it was far beyond what he could handle.
Furthermore, now that he had personally gouged out that Uchiha brat's eye, this action itself had completely blocked any possibility of joining forces with the Allied Forces again.
"Cooperation?" The corner of Madara's mouth curled into a cold arc, carrying a hint of disdain.
The Allied Forces? Those ant-like Shinobi, even with that naive fellow Hashirama added, what could they possibly achieve before the Six Paths Power?
When had he, Madara, ever needed to rely on a motley crew?
Power—only power that absolutely belonged to oneself was a true reliance.
Counting on the Allied Forces? That would only be an added burden, utterly meaningless.
Troublesome.
Unprecedentedly troublesome.
Obito had already completed the Ten-Tails' power; the Divine Tree had descended, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi was close at hand.
Madara's mind worked rapidly, analyzing the battlefield variables.
A head-on clash? In his current state, a single Rinnegan might allow him to hold out for a while, but the end result would inevitably be defeat.
Obito's Truth-Seeking Orb barrier was nearly immune to all of the Allied Forces' non-Senjutsu attacks; even Naruto and Sasuke's combined attack that broke through the Six Paths threshold only caused brief damage, which was instantly smoothed over by regeneration.
How much stronger could his, Madara's, attacks be?
Currently, his attacks were at most on par with the level of Naruto and Sasuke's joint effort just now, and that kind of power was simply meaningless to Six Paths Obito.
Outsmarting him? Obito was currently driven by Black Zetsu's plan and his own obsession, with a clear goal and immense power; he was nearly flawless.
Using the Allied Forces as cannon fodder to draw attention? This was perhaps the only 'non-solution' solution he could think of right now.
But even so, what could it gain for him? A chance for a sneak attack?
Obito's speed and reactions, bolstered by the Six Paths Power, were no longer human; even sneak attacks using the Flying Thunder God Technique were easily neutralized.
Madara's gaze swept across the chaotic battlefield.
Finally, it rested on Takuno.
"The Collector..." Madara silently repeated the name in his heart.
This variable was the only existence that could possibly break the deadlock.
But how to make him act? At what price?
Even though he was Madara, at this moment, he actually felt a sense of helplessness.
...
On the desert battlefield, despair shrouded the Allied Forces like the shadow cast by the Divine Tree.
Might Guy gritted his teeth, feeling the intense soreness and unspeakable fatigue within his body caused by previously opening the Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder.
Every breath pulled at his damaged muscle fibers, and his chakra Tenketsu were like a dried-up riverbed.
He had witnessed Six Paths Obito's despair-inducing power, which easily crushed Naruto and Sasuke's ultimate combined attack and even imprisoned and heavily injured the Second Hokage, Tobirama.
Now, that massive Divine Tree that blotted out the sky was growing frantically, and Obito was about to launch the world-destroying Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"He must be stopped... there is only that one way now..." Guy's heart was in a state of intense struggle.
He contacted the strategist Nara Shikaku through the Yamanaka secret technique.
"Mr. Shikaku!" Guy's voice carried a hint of raspiness and urgency, interrupting Shikaku's deep thoughts.
"I... I want to use the Eight Inner Gates Formation!"
Shikaku suddenly turned his head to look at Guy, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Guy! You know what that means! Your body..."
"I know! But in my current physical state... I'm afraid I won't even be able to fully exert the power of the Gate of Death." Guy admitted frankly, his face showing reluctance and pain.
"The consumption from the previous Seven Gates was too great; my body hasn't recovered yet. Forcing open the Gate of Death, I might... I might not even be able to throw a few punches of 'Evening Elephant' before..."
Guy didn't finish, but Shikaku understood completely.
The Eight Inner Gates Formation was the ultimate Taijutsu that used life as fuel in exchange for power dozens of times beyond the Kage level for an instant.
The worse the physical condition, the less effective power could be unleashed, and the shorter the duration of burning life.
In Guy's current exhausted state, forcing open the Gate of Death would likely fail to cause an effective blow to Obito before his life was exhausted in an extremely short time.
Shikaku fell silent.
He looked around. The heavily injured Naruto and Sasuke had been rescued by the Fourth Hokage, their lives uncertain; the Allied Forces' morale had completely plummeted to rock bottom.
The massive shadow of the Divine Tree and the terrifying aura emitted by Obito made resistance seem so futile.
Shikaku's shadow on the sand distorted slightly, showing the intense struggle in his heart.
He naturally knew the price of opening the Gate of Death; that would be the end of Might Guy.
But at this moment, just like the despair Guy sensed, Shikaku also clearly saw that besides staking a life to gamble on that faint glimmer of hope, the Allied Forces seemed to truly have no other choice.
Guy's life-burning power was perhaps the only thing that could shake this non-human existence before them.
Time was pressing; the light of the Divine Tree seemed to be gradually intensifying.
Shikaku suddenly raised his head, a flash of decisiveness appearing in his eyes.
"Lady Tsunade!" Shikaku's voice instantly crossed the battlefield through his mental network, accurately connecting to the Fifth Hokage Tsunade far away at the rear headquarters.
"The situation is critical! Might Guy needs to immediately restore his peak combat strength! Only your power can do it in the shortest time! Please... help Guy restore his power in a short time!"
Shikaku's tone was heavy and urgent, clearly conveying Guy's will, his terrible physical condition, and the desperate nature of the battle.
He knew well that the person who could make Guy's body instantly recover enough to bear the power of the Gate of Death's eruption in this desperate situation...
...was only Princess Tsunade, who mastered the top-tier Medical Ninjutsu and the Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred Technique!
After receiving Shikaku's emergency notification, Tsunade did not hesitate for a moment. She temporarily handed over command of the medical room to Shizune and sped toward the main battlefield at an incredible speed.
When she broke through the pervasive smoke and dust and truly stepped onto this scorched desert land, the sight before her caused even this battle-hardened Konoha princess's pupils to shrink.
The air was filled with the scent of despair.
The branches and leaves of the Divine Tree seemed to be absorbing the skylight, casting suffocating shadows. The remaining morale on the battlefield was like a candle in the wind, on the verge of being extinguished.
'Have things... already reached such a grave moment?' Tsunade's heart was solemn.
She instantly understood the urgency of Shikaku's request. This was no longer a conventional battle, but the final struggle concerning the survival of the Shinobi World.
Her gaze swept across the chaotic battlefield like lightning, and she instantly locked onto her target: the green figure leaning against a rock, Might Guy.
Hashirama's familiar chakra was not far away, but Tsunade knew that at this moment, every second counted. Even the time to nod in greeting to this great-grandfather was a luxury.
"Guy!" Tsunade shouted low, appearing beside Guy as if by Body Flicker.
There were no redundant questions, no polite greetings.
She pressed one hand firmly against Guy's violently heaving chest, feeling the Tenketsu torn by the Seventh Gate's Daytime Tiger and his nearly exhausted life force, while her other hand formed seals without hesitation.
"Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred Technique!"
The diamond-shaped Yin Seal on her forehead, symbolizing years of accumulated chakra, was instantly released.