"Hehe, you actually showed up after all."
Kabuto stood before the massive Gedo Statue, arms spread wide in a welcoming gesture. Perhaps because he never imagined he would one day possess such overwhelming power, his face was flushed with the smile of a man who had reached the pinnacle of his ambitions.
"Indeed, I'm here. And I've brought the remaining Tailed Beasts you desire most. So, are you ready to become the second Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails after the Sage of the Six Paths?" Allen asked with a faint, knowing smile.
As someone who also pursued ultimate power, he could understand Kabuto's current state of mind.
Unfortunately, this former spy had far too narrow a vision. He was completely unaware of the terrifying truths hidden behind the shinobi world, and even less aware that those Rinnegan eyes had long since been tampered with.
"Of course! How long will it take to seal the last of the Tailed Beasts into the Gedo Mazo?" Kabuto asked, cutting straight to his primary concern.
After all, whether it was Madara and Black Zetsu or the Allied Shinobi Forces, no one would grant him much time. He had to ensure the Ten-Tails was fully resurrected before the defensive line formed by his Reanimation army collapsed; otherwise, there would be no place for him to hide from his own demise.
"About five hours. The Nine-Tails, in particular, will take a considerable amount of time. I trust you can hold out until the final moment, right? After all, a piece of trash has no right to become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails," Allen replied meaningfully.
Kabuto's expression shifted slightly. He glared through the borrowed Rinnegan and replied, "Rest assured. No matter who comes, I will keep them firmly locked outside."
The moment he finished speaking, his hands blurred as he formed hand seals at incredible speed, instantly summoning hundreds of coffins. Within seconds, legendary powerhouses who once dominated the shinobi world stepped out one by one.
Clearly, just like in the original timeline, this fellow had been busy desecrating graves.
With titans like the Third Raikage and the Second Tsuchikage, warriors capable of taking on ten thousand men alone, even Madara would find them a headache to deal with, not to mention the endless swarm of immortal cannon fodder backing them up.
Without a moment's hesitation, Kabuto gave the command. The controlled elites vanished from the deep underground secret base, fanning out to establish a perimeter. Within moments, the surrounding several kilometers were transformed into a dead zone where not even a bird or a mouse could hope to pass.
Meanwhile, Allen stepped toward the Gedo Mazo and began to extract the last few Tailed Beasts from his body, their utility to him now completely exhausted.
As a thorough Human Supremacist, he didn't care for the feelings or the lives of the Tailed Beasts. He didn't even consider these artificially created constructs to be true living beings. Whether it was the Nine-Tails, the Eight-Tails, or the Three-Tails, if they dared to defy him, a single pulse of Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu would instantly make them more obedient than dogs.
As for the nonsense about "befriending" the Tailed Beasts, he didn't believe a word of it.
What were the Tailed Beasts? They were merely mediums derived from the God Tree, aggregates of Chakra formed by siphoning the life from the planet beneath them. They were a deliberate weakening of power performed by the Sage of the Six Paths to prevent the Ten-Tails' resurrection.
And the God Tree? It was a device used by aliens to extract energy, crafted through some unknown, highly advanced biotechnology. From beginning to end, it was nothing more than a tool.
Under Allen's forceful suppression, despite the Nine-Tails' constant roars and curses, the beast could only watch helplessly as it was stripped away piece by piece, forced back into the cavernous shell of the Gedo Statue.
As the process reached its halfway point, Madara, Obito, and Black Zetsu finally reached the outskirts of the secret base.
"Who would have thought that bastard Kabuto would hide in the Land of Iron? No wonder we couldn't find him," Black Zetsu said, his voice dripping with intense loathing and hatred.
"Not only that, he's prepared an army of Reanimation. Careful now, several among them are quite difficult to handle," Obito cautioned, feigning helpfulness.
Madara, however, merely wore a look of utter disdain. "Against these failures?"
"Failures? Hey! Who do you think you are, speaking with such arrogance?"
Pakura, the former hero of the Sand, stepped forward to challenge him. Though she was being forced to intercept anyone approaching the base, hearing the word "failure" immediately sparked her rage. She wasn't alone; the others who hadn't witnessed Madara Uchiha's era glared at him with murderous intent.
Anyone qualified to be part of the Reanimation army was famous in their own right and possessed immense confidence in their strength. They were not the type to tolerate such a blatant insult to their faces.
Only the older generation, including the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, recognized the true identity of the man standing before them, the man in the fire-red armor with eyes that looked down upon the world.
Madara Uchiha.
A name that once stood on equal footing with the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju. A name that, when mentioned, was enough to strike terror into the hearts of all other hidden villages. A name known as "Shura" because of the countless lives he had reaped.
Just as the younger generation began clamoring to teach this newcomer a lesson, the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, finally couldn't help but speak up. "Enough! Others might not have the right to say those words, but this man absolutely does. He is Madara Uchiha, the blood-soaked Shura who once made the entire shinobi world tremble!"
"What? Madara Uchiha?!"
"The Mangekyo Sharingan! That red armor! Dammit... every detail matches!"
"Why is Madara Uchiha here?"
"Just what is happening to the world?"
For a moment, these powerhouses from across different eras were lost in confusion.
However, one person remained calm throughout: the final person to be reincarnated, Itachi Uchiha. Unlike the other poor souls still under the thrall of the Edo Tensei, he had made complete preparations before his death. As soon as the moment was right, he could use the Kotoamatsukami stored in Shisui's remaining eye to break the control and regain his freedom.
"Hmph. Gengetsu Hozuki, Mu... I never expected you two to be brought back as well. But do you really think you can block my path?" Madara let out a contemptuous cold laugh.
But in the next second, another voice caused his smile to freeze on his face.
"And what if you add us to the mix?"
The First Hokage and the Second Hokage descended from the sky, landing steadily upon the treetops.
With their arrival, the battlefield finally settled into a three-way standoff.
"Dammit! This is getting complicated!"
Hidden in the shadows, Black Zetsu finally realized how disastrous the situation had become. Setting aside the others, the Senju brothers alone were enough to keep Madara pinned down here for hours.
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