The battlefield went dead silent.
Off to the side, Uchiha Madara—usually the king of cool—was so stunned he couldn't even form words.
Once upon a time, he could swing Susanoo's greatsword and threaten to chop off Rinjin's head.
Now? The guy was so tough he could just ignore a Truth-Seeking Ball like it was nothing.
What the hell?!
Were all those ancient clan stone tablet legends about the Six Paths' invincibility just a scam?
Was the real meta just brute force and raw taijutsu?
Maybe it was time to delete his character and start over...
Up above, Obito hovered, brow furrowed, just as shaken as Madara.
The instant he became the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, a flood of strange memories filled his mind.
Not only did they let him master Six Paths mode instantly, but they also dumped a ton of intel on him.
Truth-Seeking Balls—supposedly devastating, able to wipe out a forest in a blink.
Shape-shifting weapons, packed with the power of all creation, harder than anything, containing the full force of yin-yang and five elements—supposedly beyond even Kekkei Genkai or Kekkei Tōta.
So why could Rinjin just grab one with his bare hand?
Was the Truth-Seeking Ball instruction manual a lie?
Sure, they were insanely powerful—but it all depended on the opponent.
Rinjin had spent more than fifty years building his body. Tailed beasts used as power sources had come and gone, and he'd pushed his durability to the absolute max.
Combine that with his immortal-level regeneration, and he was basically a Dragon Turtle with Mundo's ult. If he wanted to marry Gnar, he'd just go marry Gnar.
Truth-Seeking Balls? Not even worth his time.
Obito tried to wrestle the Truth-Seeking Ball back under his control, but Rinjin wasn't playing around. With a squeeze of his fingers, he crushed it to dust.
If someone was going to attack him, he wasn't about to stand still.
"Here I come!"
With a low shout, Rinjin bent his knees—Eight Gates, Seventh Gate, instantly open! Blue steam erupted from inside him like wildfire.
The ground exploded beneath his feet, spiderweb cracks spreading out.
"So fast!"
Obito barely had time to react, instantly morphing his Truth-Seeking Balls into a black semicircular barrier in front of him.
But Eight Gates wasn't just a gimmick—the stronger you were, the more it boosted you.
In a blink, the Truth-Seeking Ball barrier shattered like wet clay. Rinjin vanished, reappearing right in front of Obito.
With a massive hand, he snatched Obito by the throat.
Six Paths mode was powerful, sure—but against raw speed and strength, it meant nothing.
"Down you go!"
With another shout, Rinjin hurled Obito toward the ground.
BOOM! The impact echoed across the battlefield.
Obito crashed down like a meteor, pulverizing everything within a hundred meters.
Nearby, Madara stood with arms crossed, brow furrowed, looking more serious than ever.
He finally realized—when Rinjin fought him before, the bastard had been holding back!
That burst of speed just now was so fast, even his Sharingan only caught afterimages.
Back when they fought in the Mist, Madara's body couldn't keep up, but at least his eyes could follow the action.
Decades later, Rinjin's speed had become something else entirely.
Madara was starting to seriously doubt if even Six Paths power would be enough to beat this guy.
Speed was one thing—but the fact that even Truth-Seeking Ball barriers broke so easily was a huge problem.
Damn, this was bad.
Up in the air, the fight raged on.
Rinjin, plummeting toward where Obito had landed, arched his body and stomped on the air.
A sonic boom ripped through the sky as Rinjin vanished again.
Simultaneously, a streak of red and blue carved a path between ground and sky—flames from skin friction, steam from the Gate of Wonder.
BOOM! Another impact, even more terrifying than before.
The ground around Obito shattered and sank again.
Obito's abdomen exploded with a gaping hole, almost splitting him in two.
He spat blood, all indifference wiped from his face—only agony and rage remained.
Right now, he had only one thought: he'd picked the wrong opponent.
Rinjin at full throttle didn't give anyone a chance. He straddled Obito, massive fist raised, ready to smash down with unstoppable force.
To him, Six Paths, Kage-level, Chunin, Jonin—they were all just targets.
Not far off, Senju Hashirama watched with a grave expression, mentally calculating his odds.
He didn't know Rinjin, but he could feel the guy was terrifying—maybe not even human anymore.
But next to him, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, looked on with awe and admiration, blurting out:
"Rinjin-sensei is still as reliable as ever!"
"Rinjin-sensei?!!" Hashirama and Tobirama exclaimed in unison.
Tobirama immediately shot Sarutobi Hiruzen a glare. "Monkey, you owe me an explanation!"
Hadn't they agreed not to let this Rinjin guy into the upper echelons? How the hell did he become the Fourth's teacher?!
Hiruzen's face turned sour. "Cough, cough... Tobirama-sensei, you can't blame me!
Back then, nobody in the village knew the Flying Thunder God anymore. Minato was a prodigy, so I..."
"So you what?!"
"I just had Jiraiya ask Rinjin to teach Minato for a week."
Tobirama finally relaxed a little. Good, just a week.
Seeing Tobirama's brow smooth out, Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness Tobirama-sensei didn't ask about Tsunade!
Damn it—once this war's over, I'm getting Orochimaru to cancel my Impure World Reincarnation ASAP!
Just as Hiruzen was feeling lucky, Minato spoke up at the worst possible moment.
"The current Fifth Hokage is Tsunade-sama, right?!
That's perfect. With Rinjin-sensei backing her, the village must be thriving!"
Hashirama and Tobirama's eyebrows shot up. They both eyed Minato suspiciously, speaking in sync:
"What... is going on?
Why would Rinjin be supporting little Tsunade?!"
"Uh..." Minato blinked, tilting his head innocently. "You didn't know?
Tsunade-sama and Rinjin-sensei got married ages ago!"
"..."
Thunderstruck, Tobirama was utterly speechless.
He'd told little Tsunade to keep an eye on that punk Rinjin—so this is how she kept an eye on him???
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