This city forged of steel was like a giant beast, breathing silently amidst the endless rain.
Atop the highest spire, a pair of eyes that looked down upon all living things watched this pitch-black world with cold indifference.
Inside the secret chamber at the top of the tower, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if the air itself had frozen.
The space twisted in a spiral, and Obito's figure emerged soundlessly.
He did not sit casually on a high ledge as he usually did, but instead stood five paces away from Nagato, his single eye narrowing slightly behind the orange mask.
"Nagato."
Obito's voice was low and raspy, carrying a subtle hint of probing. "Since the Eight-Tails' chakra from the Cloud and the Four and Five-Tails' chakra from the Stone have already been retrieved, why has the sealing ceremony for the Gedo Mazo not yet begun?"
In the center of the room, Nagato sat by the window with his back to Obito.
Even as a mere silhouette, the heart-stopping pressure of his chakra flooded the entire room like a tide.
Nagato did not answer immediately.
After a long silence, he slowly raised his hand to catch a drop of water leaking from the roof.
"Are you trying to tell a god how to act, Madara?"
His voice was flat, without a hint of emotion, yet it caused the muscles beneath Obito's mask to tighten slightly.
"I am reminding you," Obito said, suppressing his irritation and maintaining his stance as a collaborator. "The appearance of that woman in Konoha calling herself 'Kaguya Otsutsuki' has completely disrupted the board. If we do not revive the Ten-Tails as soon as possible and gather all our power, your ideal of 'peace' might vanish like a dream before her strength."
"Kaguya..."
Nagato finally turned around. His ripple-patterned Rinnegan emitted a cold purple light in the darkness as he stared directly at Obito. "That woman's power is indeed staggering. But because of that, the Gedo Mazo must be handled with even greater caution."
"The Statue's current state is unstable," Nagato said indifferently. "Forcing it to consume Tailed Beast chakra continuously will only cause it to lose control. I need time to adjust its resonance frequency."
"How long do we need?" Obito pressed.
"That is my business."
Nagato cut him off coldly. "Madara, you seem more impatient than I am. What are you afraid of? Or is there... some hidden motive I am unaware of?"
This counter-question was like a sharp blade, precisely stabbing at Obito's secrets.
Obito felt a chill in his heart, but as a master pretender, he immediately let out a scornful laugh. "Hmph, I simply do not wish to see us lose to Konoha like this. Since you are the leader, you naturally dictate the pace. But I must remind you, Konoha's Yellow Flash won't give you much time to adjust."
With that, space distorted again as Obito's form began to blur.
"Three days," Obito left behind a final phrase that sounded like a suggestion but was effectively an ultimatum. "Three days from now is the optimal time for the sealing. I will coordinate with you. Do not disappoint us, Nagato."
As Obito vanished, the secret chamber returned to dead silence.
In the shadows, paper fluttered and coalesced into Konan's form. She looked at Nagato with concern. "He is using you. That 'Madara' is becoming increasingly restless."
"It matters not."
Nagato turned back to look at the never-ending rain outside. "A god cannot be used by a mortal. No matter who he is or what he is plotting, as long as the power of the Tailed Beasts is in my hands, we hold the initiative."
...
Deep beneath Konoha, a massive, little-known cavern had been transformed into the top-secret Laboratory Zero.
This was originally a derelict base used by Orochimaru to store dangerous experimental subjects. Now, after expansion by Earth Style ninjas and reinforcement by the Sealing Corps, it had become an underground fortress filled with metallic textures and the glow of chakra.
Hundreds of lighting techniques on the ceiling illuminated the underground space as bright as day.
In the very center of this light stood a steel beast capable of making any man's blood boil.
It was about twenty meters tall, forged entirely from chakra-conductive metal and high-strength alloys. Its surface shimmered with a cold, silver-gray luster.
Its design was not bloated and rounded like traditional puppets, but sharp-angled and brimming with the beauty of industrial violence.
Massive pauldrons resembled a samurai's shoulder guards. A large crystal core emitting a faint blue light was embedded in the chest, while two pairs of folded wings were mounted on the back—chakra thrusters designed for supersonic maneuvers within the atmosphere.
"Oh, oh, oh! These lines! This texture! This cold sensation!"
Jiraiya was sprawled against the giant mecha's lower leg armor like a gecko, his cheek pressed tightly against the cold metal as he let out a lecherous groan. "Orochimaru! This is a masterpiece! It's ten thousand times cuter than those slimy snakes of yours!"
Standing on a lift platform debugging the chest core data, Orochimaru felt several veins throb on his forehead.
He held a clipboard covered in data, his golden vertical pupils filled with pure disgust.
"Jiraiya, get your face off the hydraulic transmission shaft of Unit 0," Orochimaru's voice was cold and raspy, echoing in the cavern. "That was refined using chakra armor materials from the Land of Snow. If you get your spit on it and cause the chakra conductivity to drop, I'll stuff you into the exhaust pipe as fuel."
"Tsk, you have no sense of romance."
Jiraiya reluctantly let go, performing a backflip to land steadily on the ground. He looked up at the massive entity, stars practically overflowing from his eyes. "Hey, Orochimaru, I'm serious, this color is too plain! It's not domineering at all! It should be painted red! Then write a giant 'Oil' or 'Sage' character on the chest! Only then would it be worthy of my status as the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku!"
"Shut up, you idiot."
Orochimaru didn't look back, his fingers flying across the console. "This is a light-absorbing coating designed for stealth; it can greatly evade detection by sensory ninjutsu. Paint it red? Are you worried you won't die fast enough on the battlefield?"
"Stealth my ass!" Jiraiya jumped up and shouted. "A guy this big shakes the earth with every step! Who wouldn't see it? Since we're piloting a Gundam, looking cool is a lifelong pursuit! Even Gamakon said that red gives a three-times speed boost!"
The hand Orochimaru used to hold his pen trembled; clearly, his patience had reached its limit. He took a deep breath, preparing to give his old friend a 'Hidden Shadow Snake Hands' to wake him up, when he caught sight of a figure walking in from the entrance.
Short blond hair, a white haori, and a purple toad perched on his shoulder.
The killing intent in Orochimaru's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of relief at having someone to dump the problem on.
"Lord Hokage, you've come at a good time."
Orochimaru jumped down from the platform over ten meters high, landing silently. He smoothly shoved the thick data board into Minato Namikaze's hands in one fluid motion.
"The tuning of this unit's power core is ninety percent complete. The remaining neural link tests require a pilot with a massive chakra pool and thick skin." Orochimaru pointed at Jiraiya, who was still drooling over the mecha's leg, and said coldly, "This moron is giving me a headache. Since he is your teacher, I'll leave him to you. I'm going to the lab next door to study Isshiki's cells."
With that, Orochimaru didn't even give Minato a chance to speak before turning to leave.
"Eh? Orochimaru! Don't go! We haven't finished discussing the color yet!"
Jiraiya reached out to grab him but caught only air.
He turned around and saw Minato, his eyes instantly lighting up.
"Minato! My wonderful student!"
Jiraiya used a Body Flicker Technique to rush in front of Minato, his aged face nearly pressed against Minato's nose. He even remembered to use his elbow to shove Gamakon, who was on Minato's shoulder, to the side.
"Quick! You're the Hokage! Order Orochimaru to paint this thing red! Also, the pilot must be me! Who else but this Sage can handle such a beast?"
Minato retreated half a step helplessly, wiping the spittle from his face with a wry smile. "Jiraiya-sensei, this 'Unit 1' is still in the testing phase, and the safety..."
"Safety? What's that? Can you eat it?"
Jiraiya dismissed it with a wave of his hand, cutting Minato off. He grabbed Minato by the shoulder and pulled him aside, his voice dropping to a whisper filled with temptation and longing.
"Minato, use your brain."
Jiraiya pointed at the towering mecha, his eyes glazed as if he had fallen into an inescapable fantasy.
"Imagine... on a battlefield ravaged by war, facing the terrifying power of the Otsutsuki, everyone has fallen into despair. Just then! A thunderous boom echoes from the sky!"
As he spoke, Jiraiya gestured wildly with his hands.
"This Sage, piloting a red steel giant, descends from the heavens! I kick that Otsutsuki flying and follow up with an Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan to shatter the God Tree! How majestic would that be? How cool?"
At this point, Jiraiya let out a lewd chuckle, two red blushes appearing on his cheeks.
"Most importantly... Tsunade will definitely be there. When she sees my heroic and invincible figure, she will surely be moved to tears. Then she'll throw herself into my arms and scream, 'Jiraiya, you're a real man'... Hehehe... Slurp..."
Watching Jiraiya sink into his delusions and even begin to drool, Minato and Gamakon on his shoulder shared a look, seeing deep exasperation in each other's eyes.