So he had no choice but to find another way.
Uchiha Obito had been hiding near Konoha for some time, originally intending to observe Namikaze Kirito and find some kind of weakness.
What he had not expected to witness, however, was a battle so devastating that it shattered even his assumptions.
He did not know the full extent of his ancestor Uchiha Madara's power, but judging from the scale of the battle he had seen that day, even if Madara himself were resurrected, Obito could not confidently say he would be able to defeat Namikaze Kirito.
If that was true, then his plan to ignite another great shinobi war and capture the Jinchūriki would become nothing more than an impossible dream.
For a time, Uchiha Obito had fallen into despair.
He had nearly decided to abandon all restraint and gamble everything recklessly.
But then, an unexpected opportunity had appeared.
Urashiki Otsutsuki had somehow managed to obtain chakra from both the One-Tails and the Nine-Tails.
If capturing the Jinchūriki themselves was no longer possible, then perhaps using fragments of their chakra, along with the proper methods, would still be enough to awaken the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
That was why Uchiha Obito had come here today, bringing those two masses of chakra with him in order to seal them into the Demonic Statue.
As the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path opened its massive mouth and spat out two chakra chains, the two spheres of chakra were slowly drawn in exactly as Obito had hoped.
The moment he saw that, Uchiha Obito's eyes lit up.
It was working.
If this continued, then all he needed to do was seal the remaining tailed beast chakra into the Demonic Statue. Once that was done, the true Ten-Tails would descend upon the world, and the Eye of the Moon Plan could finally be completed.
Rin... wait for me.
Soon, I'll create a world where you can exist again.
Excitement surged through Uchiha Obito, but he had no idea that Konoha, too, had prepared a gift for him.
Deep within one of Konoha's underground laboratories, Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto stood in white coats, adjusting instruments and monitoring equipment.
Nearby, Namikaze Kirito looked at the petri dish before him with a faint smile.
Inside the green-tinted liquid floated the body of a young girl dressed in a shinobi outfit.
If Obito or Kakashi had been there, they would have recognized her in an instant.
The girl they had both once desperately wanted to protect.
Rin Nohara.
At this moment, Rin still looked exactly as she had in her youth. Her eyes were closed, her body motionless, without even the slightest trace of life.
"Leader, Rin Nohara's body has been fully repaired. Next, we only need to continue the nutrient delivery process. Before long, her physical condition will reach the level of a normal person."
Yakushi Kabuto pushed up his glasses and reported respectfully.
Namikaze Kirito did not respond to Kabuto.
Instead, he gently touched the glass of the lid with his fingers, a strange smile forming on his lips.
"Obito, I promised you a gift. It's almost ready now."
He paused, his expression unreadable.
"I'm a man who values promises. Since you believe you've been living in hell... then I'll show you what real hell looks like."
"Hehe... our leader really does have terrible ideas."
Orochimaru let out a hoarse laugh, sounding almost sympathetic toward that Uchiha boy for once.
Obito wanted to manipulate the entire shinobi world, to cast everyone into an endless dream and play god from the shadows.
The plan itself was not the problem.
His mistake had been provoking Namikaze Kirito.
The deaths of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina had always remained a nail in Kirito's heart.
Even though the two of them had now been brought back, the hatred in Namikaze Kirito's heart had not faded in the slightest.
Orochimaru had once said that their leader embodied the deepest darkness.
And if that was true, then how could he possibly let Obito go unpunished?
To Orochimaru, this was all rather entertaining.
After all, what could be more amusing than seeing a man who thought he was controlling the entire shinobi world reduced to a broken mess by someone even worse?
According to the story Kirito had mentioned before, Uchiha Obito really had been nothing more than a puppet his entire life.
Used, deceived, and manipulated from beginning to end.
By the end of it all, even death might be a luxury he would never be allowed to have.
At that moment, Namikaze Kirito, who had still been observing the lid, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
His expression turned serious.
With his extraordinary perception, he sensed a faint trace of danger.
Then, Observation Haki surged to life.
A vision of the future unfolded before him.
Konoha lay in ruins.
The village had been utterly devastated, and countless shinobi had vanished without a trace. Not even the signs of life remained.
Only Namikaze Kirito himself was left standing amidst the destruction, his eyes burning with fury as he looked around at the shattered remains.
"What is this... a Chakra Cannon?!"
Kirito's gaze sharpened.
"Damn it."
Having read the original story, Namikaze Kirito naturally knew that in the movie, the Chakra Cannon developed by Kumogakure had never actually been fired in the end.
But from the conversations surrounding it, one thing was clear.
That weapon truly possessed enough power to destroy the moon.
If a weapon of that level were fired directly at Konoha, then aside from Namikaze Kirito himself, very few people in the village would survive.
Of course, that was only if it struck without warning.
With the power to see into the future through Observation Haki, Namikaze Kirito would never allow himself to be hit so easily.
Meanwhile, in Amegakure—
The Rain Village had long since been reduced to a wasteland, but today, a military force was stationed there.
Raikage A, Tsuchikage Ōnoki, and a number of high-ranking shinobi from both villages had gathered in one place.
Samui, Mabui, Kurotsuchi, and many others were present as well.
The reason so many of them had assembled here to launch the Chakra Cannon was simple.
They were taking no chances.
No one knew what the consequences of firing such a weapon would be.
If Namikaze Kirito survived, then the strongest shinobi of both villages would have to rush in immediately and finish him off. Otherwise, if they allowed him even a little time to recover, what would happen when he fought back against their villages?
At this point, the only thing they believed could truly threaten Namikaze Kirito was the Chakra Cannon.
But if it destroyed Konoha and still failed to kill him...
Then everything would be over.
Once Namikaze Kirito came to their doorstep, it would already be too late.
Even if they hated to admit it, Namikaze Kirito's personal combat power had already reached the realm of a god among shinobi.
Numbers alone could no longer crush someone like that.
Still, if the Chakra Cannon could at least leave him heavily wounded, then this would become their greatest chance—
No, their last chance.
Having lost all of their Jinchūriki, the two villages no longer had the confidence to face Konoha head-on in open war.
"Report, Raikage-sama. The Chakra Cannon is fully charged and ready to fire."
Samui stepped forward and reported calmly, though there was a faint impatience in her eyes.
Even she did not want innocent civilians caught in the blast.
But after one defeat after another, she no longer had the standing to oppose the Raikage's decision.
All she could do now was obey orders.
A nodded, then turned and looked at everyone behind him before speaking in a loud, resolute voice.
"Everyone, I know there are those among you who do not wish to harm innocent people."
His voice rang across the wasteland.
"But that king of hell will show no mercy to us."
"If we do not stop him here, then we will lose our villages, our homes, and everything we swore to protect!"
"That man wants to unify the entire shinobi world by force. So it falls to us to protect our people!"
"Everything that happens today is on me. If there's a price to pay for this… I'll bear it."
It was an effective speech.
Human nature was often like that.
When the burden was placed on the shoulders of the strongest, the rest found it easier to move.
By taking full responsibility onto himself, the Raikage had given everyone else a way to silence the guilt in their hearts.
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