"The Ten-Tails disappeared?"
"What the hell is going on?"
"Did they get him?"
"No. The Ten-Tails was completely absorbed by that person... he had become the Ten-Tails jinchūriki," Sakura answered after hearing the people around her questioning the sudden disappearance of the giant monster.
"Naruto... How do you know?" Sasuke wondered, looking at him with a confused look.
"I'm on friendly terms with the Tailed Beast now! I clearly understood what was happening the moment their chakra started pouring into him!" Naruto answered. "Besides that, I've already seen the Revival Jutsu before! The seals have been different from the start!"
"Which means he was manipulated by Madara. He was just pretending while performing his own Jutsu," Sakura concluded, quickly piecing it all together. Her heart raced as she realized the stakes of the situation. They had barely managed to keep the Ten-Tails at bay, and now the very person responsible for their troubles had taken on its power.
Hashirama attempted to restrain Obito, but with Obito's new power, it proved to be too much for the Jutsu that had successfully restrained the Ten-Tails beast before. Obito proceeded to generate four chakra arms and ripped the Four Red Formation barrier apart.
Minato tried to call out to his former student and pleaded for him to stop, which was met with a response from Obito, who barely recognized his own name. The other reincarnated Hokage relocated to where Obito was, preparing to attack the enemy, planning to use their immortality to study the enemy's power. Right before they could do anything, Obito surprised Hashirama's clone and Tobirama, ripping through their bodies.
Theorizing what exactly the substance was, Hiruzen attacked Obito with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, summoning a giant shuriken to do so. However, the substance proved once again too versatile for these attacks and eradicated the weapons.
"Dad! Why didn't you have the third jump out with your Jutsu as well?" Naruto worriedly asked about protecting the Hokage.
"Don't make a fuss, Naruto!" Sasuke interjected. "The Hokage are all dead! They know that they won't die, so they need to analyze the enemy's power and abilities. You should be analyzing, rather than worrying."
Sakura nodded in agreement without breaking eye contact with the fight in front of her, although he could have said it more gently.
Elsewhere, the real Hashirama decided to head to the battlefield as well, but he was stopped by Madara, who stated that he was done waiting around for his real rival to arrive.
Taking his chance after seeing that Obito still hadn't gotten used to being the beast's jinchūriki, Minato teleported his clone to his side and prepared to attack Obito. However, Obito had another plan; extending his torso, he went underground with just his upper body and moved straight toward Naruto.
"Gamakichi, look out below!" Naruto, atop summoning, warned him, but it was too late. With his strength, Obito pushed Gamakichi aside, sending the frog tumbling through the air. Losing his balance, Naruto fell off Gamakichi, and Obito, using this opportunity while he was still in the air, tried to stab him with a black, jagged chakra spear.
Using his Susanoo, Sasuke blocked the spear just in time, the blade sizzling against the ethereal purple of the Susanoo's armor.
"Are you okay, Naruto?" Sakura's clone asked worriedly as she caught him mid-air, pulling him safely to the ground.
Before he could answer her, Obito launched himself forward, breaking through Sasuke's defense and grabbing both Sasuke and Naruto by their faces, lifting them effortlessly into the air. Sakura's clone disappeared when she was pushed away by Sasuke's Susanoo.
Seeing what was happening, Minato prepared to teleport again; he anxiously hoped he would make it in time. Panic started to rise when he noticed he was unable to teleport to Naruto and Sasuke's aid because the mark that was previously on Obito had seemingly vanished.
"Don't forget about me..." Sakura whispered; she appeared in the nick of time behind Sasuke and Naruto, her fists clenched and determination radiating from her. Before she could process her own dread over the situation, she gathered every ounce of chakra she had and unleashed a massive kick aimed straight at Obito's torso. The force hit him with a resounding impact, pushing him back just enough to give Sasuke and Naruto some breathing room.
Quickly concentrating on her chakra control, Sakura used the Chakra Transfer Jutsu, allowing her to transfer her chakra to Minato, Sasuke, and Naruto. Seeing they were all linked together, Minato used this opportunity to teleport them to safety.
"Holy crap! My life flashed before my eyes!" Naruto exclaimed, landing safely on the ground along with Sasuke, Sakura, and Minato. They had narrowly escaped Obito's clutches, adrenaline still coursing through their veins.
"Nice observation. You knew that sharing your chakra with me would allow me to teleport us out of danger. That was quick thinking, Sakura," Minato praised, ruffling her hair affectionately.
"H-how did you get here so fast?" Sasuke asked, still catching his breath.
"I had a feeling it would be better to have me here instead of a clone. I left a clone behind to focus on healing while I used the Body Flicker Jutsu to speed over here," she explained, her cheeks flushing slightly at the praise.
"You keep surprising me, Sakura." Sasuke mumbled, watching her with newfound admiration.
Not wasting any more time, Sakura and the others turned their attention back to Obito to see he was losing control of the beast once again as his body began to become distorted. Minato, remembering the young man he had trained years before, rushed forward, trying to exploit Obito's inability to suppress the Ten-Tails.
Before he could do any damage, Minato found that Obito had managed to regain control of his body and had assumed a form similar to the Sage of the Six Paths himself. Obito attacked Minato, tearing his arm off and forcing him to teleport back to Naruto and the others for safety.
However, their safety proved to be illusory when Minato found that Obito had attached an orb made of some mysterious substance. In shock, all those around him looked surprised as the ball began to glow, preparing to expand.
"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled and grabbed her arm, pulling her close. Using his Susanoo to shield himself along with her and Naruto from the impending explosion.
Before it could explode, a regenerated Tobirama used a clone to grab the orb, teleporting to Obito—whom he had managed to mark during their previous confrontation—destroying himself in an attempt to kill Obito.
"Relax, it was only a clone," Tobirama said as he landed behind them. "I was able to make contact with him the last time, so I attached a seal."
"Badass! You can copy my old man's jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Actually, it's the Fourth who's mimicking my Jutsu and... I'd appreciate it if you could show me the respect the Second Hokage deserves..." Tobirama replied, rolling his eyes at Naruto's enthusiasm while putting a hand on his temple in exasperation.
"And you, miss Sakura?" he looked at her as she embarrassingly pushed herself away from Sasuke."Hiruzen isn't fully regenerated yet and can't join the fight, but he commented that even though the Body Flicker Jutsu is common among the shinobi, Hiruzen couldn't help but see a resemblance between you and someone named Shisui Uchiha. Unlike others, he would fade away from sight, leaving no trace of his presence."
"Shisui..." Sakura murmured to herself, "Itachi, Sasuke's brother, taught me how to perfect the Jutsu."
"I have also been told you have perfect chakra control," Tobirama continued. "Are you ever interested in inheriting mine and the Fourth's Flying Thunder God Jutsu?"
"H-huh?" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as the weight of Tobirama's proposition sank in.
"I can't promise you that you will be able to do it," he quickly interjected, "but I do feel like you should give it a try. What do you think?"
~To Be Continued~
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Next chapter; May 8 2025