"The time has come..." Madara remarked, glancing back with a satisfied smirk as Kanon stepped up seamlessly behind him.
Across the other side of the battlefield, Minato and Kakashi stood entirely frozen, staring blankly at Obito.
"How incredibly persistent. He's clearly on the verge of death, yet he still hangs on," Black Zetsu muttered in annoyance.
With Black Zetsu and Kanon having successfully accomplished their respective objectives, the situation on the battlefield had reached an absolute tipping point.
High above, Gaara steered his sand cloud through the air, carrying the dying Naruto and Sakura toward Minato's coordinates.
Staring down at Naruto's lifeless form, Sakura desperately channeled every ounce of her medical ninjutsu into his chest.
But in the next second, the translucent chakra shroud enveloping her body began to flake away into nothingness.
"The Nine-Tails' chakra..."
"It's completely gone..."
Sakura pressed her ear tightly against Naruto's chest. Listening intently for his heartbeat, her expression shattered into pure horror; the rhythmic thumping had grown so faint that she could no longer hear anything at all.
"How can this be?!"
"What's wrong?!" Gaara demanded in shock, turning back to look at Sakura in confusion.
"Hang in there! Naruto!"
"Why... why isn't my medical ninjutsu working?!" Sakura's pupils shrank to microscopic points. Naruto, possessing the Nine-Tails, had been the ultimate beacon of hope for the entire Allied Shinobi Forces.
Now that this hope had been ruthlessly snuffed out, Sakura's shock instantly spiraled into a paralyzing panic.
Seeing her distress, Gaara explained grimly, "It's because the Nine-Tails was extracted from his body."
"What?!" Sakura gaped at Gaara in utter disbelief.
"Yes. Madara and Kanon succeeded."
"But there is still a way to save him, which is why we must hurry."
"Where are we going?!"
"To find the Fourth Hokage!"
Before his extraction, the Nine-Tails had informed Gaara that the other half of its chakra, the Yin Kurama, was sealed inside the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. If they could transfer that half into Naruto to replace the extracted Yang Kurama, he could still be saved.
Refusing to abandon hope, Gaara told Sakura, "We can't give up just yet. This is the only way to save Naruto's life!"
"How much further do we have to fly?!" Sakura pressed.
"A few more kilometers!"
Grit teeth, Sakura stared down at Naruto. Channeling chakra into her fingertips, she cleanly sliced open Naruto's abdomen, physically reaching inside with her chakra-infused hand to rhythmically pump his heart manually.
Watching the gruesome yet necessary display, Gaara grit his teeth and pushed his sand cloud to its absolute maximum speed.
Tobirama looked down at Sasuke, who lay entirely motionless on the ground, his life force completely spent. A look of agony crossed the Second Hokage's face.
"If only... if only I could use my forbidden jutsu to chain his soul..."
"But I can't sense a shred of his chakra anymore..."
"Let alone a Body Flicker Jutsu, I can't even move my own limbs... That brat Kanon Uchiha understands the mechanics of the Reanimation Jutsu far too well..."
At that exact moment, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was leading a contingent of the Allied Shinobi Forces in launching a coordinated, large-scale counterattack.
Though Team Taka was currently missing Karin, Orochimaru stood at a distance, his brow furrowing deeply as he stared toward the exact location where Sasuke had gone.
Orochimaru knew full well that the only ones capable of salvaging Sasuke's life right now were himself and Jugo. He recalled their past battle against the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B; Sasuke's state back then had been even more perilous than this.
As long as they utilized Jugo's cellular compatibility alongside Orochimaru's medical expertise, they could pull Sasuke back from the brink.
Wasting no time, Orochimaru signaled Jugo and Suigetsu, and the three slipped away across the battlefield to search for Sasuke.
Sasuke lay completely still, blood pooling continuously around his lips. His eyes were closed shut, his consciousness entirely gone.
Standing just ahead of his limp body were the bare-chested Madara and Kanon, draped in her vibrant red trench coat.
The silhouettes of the two Uchiha looked like a towering beacon of light illuminating the path ahead.
Taking a slow, deliberate step forward, Madara spoke softly, "Let us begin..."
"Kanon, I am about to become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails. Guard my perimeter."
"Old man Madara, are you sure that brittle spine of yours can handle it?"
"You cheeky brat. If you're so worried, how about you become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and let me play support?"
"No way! Blehh!" Kanon playfully stuck her tongue out at Madara, pulling a mocking face.
"The Ten-Tails Jinchuriki form is hideously ugly. I hate it. You do it."
"Keep your eyes wide open, Kanon. Our dream is finally about to begin."
In the next instant, Madara's hands blurred into a sequence of hand seals. Directly behind them, a massive shockwave erupted.
Boom!
The colossal entity of the Ten-Tails was summoned forth, immediately beginning to compress and flow directly into Madara's physical frame.
As the massive entity converged into Madara's body, Kanon expanded her sensory perimeter to its absolute limits, fully prepared to ruthlessly eliminate anyone who dared to interfere.
Yet, no one came. Madara's long hair instantly bleached from pitch-black to a stark, snow-white, and a flowing white coat identical to that of the Sage of Six Paths materialized over his form.
Nine Truth-Seeking Balls floated into a perfect, rotating halo directly behind his back. His forearms and lower legs shifted to a deep, obsidian black, and his left hand firmly gripped a Six Paths Staff.
"So this is the Power of the Six Paths?!" Madara muttered in awe. He gently rested a hand on Kanon's shoulder.
Without warning, a massive surge of pure Six Paths chakra flowed directly into Kanon's tenketsu.
"This is...?"
"Take this power, Kanon. It will undoubtedly serve you well."
"Understood," Kanon nodded softly. She could feel the incredibly refined Six Paths chakra circulating through her, an energy far more potent and pure than the power Obito had possessed.
Thanks to this sudden influx of primordial chakra, she could sense that Konin's awakening progress within her soul was rapidly accelerating.
"Now, the only thing remaining is my left eye," Madara murmured smoothly.
Using one of his Truth-Seeking Balls, Madara constructed a solid, floating platform beneath Kanon's feet. In the blink of an eye, the two shot into the stratosphere, vanishing completely from the immediate battlefield.
Elsewhere, Sakura was frantically delivering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Naruto, paired with continuous, desperate chest compressions.
Staring down at Naruto's unresponsive, pale face, a torrent of memories flashed through Sakura's mind, stretching all the way back to the very day they had first met.
She remembered how he had stood proudly before Kanon and declared: "I'm going to become Hokage someday, and I'll surpass every single one of the previous Hokage!"
"Back then, everyone thought your dream was completely absurd... only Kanon truly believed in you and constantly gave you the strength to push forward..."
"But now things have..."
"Naruto, I won't let you die! You aren't allowed to die... I absolutely won't let you die!"
"Because the very dream you promised Kanon... is finally right before your eyes!"
Orochimaru and Jugo finally managed to navigate the terrain, arriving right beside Sasuke's fallen body. Tobirama, pinned miserably to the earth, snarled weakly, "Who goes there?!"
"It's only us..." Orochimaru replied smoothly, stepping past the Second Hokage to look down at Sasuke.
"Has your wind finally stopped blowing here?!"
"No matter. I will make you run anew!" Orochimaru whispered softly.
Jugo immediately knelt beside Sasuke. The young Uchiha had completely stopped breathing; his heart had been cleanly run through by the Kusanagi Sword. Although the absolute faintest trace of chakra lingered, he was, for all intents and purposes, entirely dead.
In this grim hour, both Naruto and Sasuke had effectively ceased to live, both broken at the hands of Madara and Kanon.
Further across the vast battlefield, Might Guy was being physically propped up by Rock Lee.
"Lee! Tenten!"
"We must maximize the power of our youth and rush to everyone's side!"
"Right! But Guy-sensei, you're already completely exhausted."
"Your body is entirely failing to keep up with your spirit..." Tenten chimed in with a dry, exasperated sigh.
Suddenly, a blur cut across the sky above them.
"That's Gaara's sand... It looks like Sakura is up there too. What's going on?" Lee asked, squinting up in confusion.
"Why are they heading back toward the rear?" Tenten wondered aloud.
Might Guy slowly raised his head, his expression turning incredibly solemn as he spoke softly, "Kakashi hasn't surpassed us just yet, has he? The Nine-Tails' chakra we received from Naruto has vanished, and an elite medical ninja like Sakura is rushing back in a panic. No matter how you look at it, something terrible must have happened to Kakashi's group."
"We're turning back! Lee! Tenten! My hot blood is boiling!"
Guy suddenly erupted with a burst of frantic energy. Tears streamed down Lee's face as he roared in admiration, "That's incredibly beautiful, Guy-sensei! Ohhhhh! This is our youth!"
Instantly, both Lee and Might Guy looked as though they were engulfed in an invisible, roaring fire of passion, leaving Tenten staring at them in utter disbelief.
She knew that whenever she was grouped with these two hot-blooded, simple-minded idiots, things were bound to get exhausting. Looking up at the sky, she felt a sudden, heavy ache of longing for Neji.
"Fine, fine... we're turning back. Let's just turn back," Tenten muttered dejectedly, the painful memory of Neji's final moments flashing through her mind.
"Just wait for me, Kakashi... I'm on my way," Might Guy muttered under his breath.
At the target location, Kakashi and Minato stood watching the trembling, unstable form of Obito.
"Kakashi... hurry... gouge out my left eye... quickly..." Obito's weak, fragmented voice drifted over to them.
"Obito's consciousness is still clear. This is our chance..." Kakashi grit his teeth, preparing to make his move. He had always been this way; it was the foundational duty of a shinobi. No matter who stood before him on the battlefield, he had to make the hard choice.
Kakashi understood better than anyone that his choices were rarely what his heart truly desired. But he was a ninja. Whether it meant resolving to cut down Kanon in the past, or resolving to kill Obito right now, he had to execute his duty like a true shinobi!
Seeing the fierce resolve return to Kakashi's eyes, Minato spoke with a cold, focused calm, "The only remaining issue is figuring out how to unravel that creature from Obito's body."
"We absolutely cannot allow that left eye to fall into the hands of the enemy..."
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NOTE: This fic has been completely translated. If you want to read the whole story head over to my p-atre-on: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]