Chapter 359: The Final Battle
Just as Kyosuke was closing in on the Four Great Nations, utilizing the Flying Thunder God to capture the Tailed Beasts one by one, the Ninshu, hidden in their dimensional space, learned of his departure.
Eyes snapping open, a flash of purple light, representing the pinnacle of power, flickered within Tōrira's gaze. He stood up silently, and countless rays of golden light erupted from his body.
Under the influence of his supreme Yang Release, all the Ninshu members began to awaken one by one. No explanations were needed; the golden light had already conveyed the situation. They stared silently at their leader.
"Now, you will come with me to Konoha. We will annihilate the faction that brings chaos to the ninja world."
"Yes!"
Konoha Village.
Minato Namikaze, who was reviewing intelligence reports, suddenly looked up at a spatial rift appearing in the void above the village.
"Here they come..." He donned his Hokage robe, crushed the communication device in his hand, and led the arriving Anbu toward the enemies materializing one after another.
As for the civilians, they had been evacuated to deep underground shelters the moment Kyosuke left the village. As long as Konoha didn't fall, no matter how fierce the battle above, the villagers would be safe.
Arriving beneath the spatial rift, Minato looked up at the emerging enemies. With a wave of his hand, the Anbu and gathered Konoha ninja charged forward, engaging in the final battle.
Minato himself did not join the fray. His role was to guard against the enemy leader. Even if he couldn't defeat him alone, he had to stall until Kyosuke returned.
From the start, the Konoha ninja completely suppressed the Ninshu members.
Although Konoha's high-end combat power was away on campaigns, the same was true for the Ninshu. With the top-tier fighters absent on both sides, the battle came down to sheer numbers and ninjutsu variety.
Under the combined assault of the Uchiha, Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other clans, the Ninshu members, despite their fierce resistance, were overwhelmed and fell one by one.
At this moment, Tōrira finally appeared.
Looking at the white-haired man floating in the air, holding a staff, Minato's heart sank.
Even with his current strength, he couldn't gauge the depth of the man's power. There was only one possibility: the gap in their strength was immense.
"...No choice. I have to buy time." Minato muttered. Suddenly, golden chakra enveloped him.
A chakra cloak like golden flames, markings appearing on his body, and magatama representing the Sage of Six Paths—Minato unleashed his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Combined with Sage Mode, which he activated almost instantly, the power of the "Kurama Sage" appeared in the ninja world for the first time. In this state, Minato's combat power touched the edge of the Six Paths level.
Yet, even so, he had no confidence facing the floating enemy. The reason was simple: the white-haired man in the white trench coat, holding a staff with Truth-Seeking Orbs floating behind him, was a genuine Six Paths-level powerhouse.
Just like Naruto in his Kurama Sage Mode facing Six Paths Obito, although Minato possessed the power to fight head-on, it was only a desperate resistance. Victory was impossible.
Understanding this, Minato chose to use his speed, which had skyrocketed once again, to stall the enemy leader.
Meanwhile...
After continuous spatial jumps, and following Hiruzen Sarutobi's annihilation of the Cloud Village, Kyosuke arrived at the Stone battlefield. Leading Shisui, Tagitsuhime, and others, he wiped out Onoki's forces in one fell swoop and successfully marched his army into the Hidden Stone Village.
Having done all this, Kyosuke left immediately. Using intelligence from his secret guards, he located the jinchuriki Han and Roshi.
After a brief skirmish, both were brought to the Moon Palace base. Along with the Three-Tails, which had already been revived and controlled, only Utakata and a few other Tailed Beasts remained uncaptured.
As for the Nine-Tails... Kyosuke had obtained its flesh from Kushina when he saved her. Through years of cloning experiments, he had cultivated a Nine-Tails chakra clone.
It would only take a little more time for all nine Tailed Beasts to be fully under his control.
"Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan!"
A golden Rasengan, comparable in size to the Hokage building, was thrust into the enemy by Minato.
However, against the black barrier, the destructive Super Big Ball Rasengan vanished like melting snow.
The black staff struck, and Minato, heeding Kyosuke's warning not to make contact, teleported far away.
"Is this the Six Paths-level powerhouse Kyosuke spoke of? Power on the same level as the Sage of Six Paths... truly troublesome."
"Since single attacks don't work, I'll use overwhelming numbers and continuous bombardment to see if I can crack that turtle shell."
With this thought, Minato, possessing half of the Nine-Tails' chakra, crossed his index fingers. Poof! Hundreds of golden shadow clones were summoned.
Not stopping there, each clone held a Super Big Ball Rasengan. Driven by the main body's will, the hundreds of clones used the Flying Thunder God to appear instantly above the enemy, launching a continuous assault.
"Sage Art: Super Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres!"
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The devastating exchange stunned everyone on the battlefield. Both Konoha ninja and Ninshu members watched in awe.
Konoha was shocked that Minato could unleash power rivaling Kyosuke's, but they were even more shocked that the enemy could take every hit unscathed.
The Ninshu members were also surprised. When they saw Minato in his Kurama Sage state, they thought he possessed power similar to their memory of Tōrira. Although their leader had the Rinnegan as a winning card, they expected a hard fight.
Unexpectedly, Tōrira, emerging from the void, directly activated Six Paths Mode. As members of an ancient organization, they understood what this meant.
Victory, in the eyes of the Ninshu members, was a foregone conclusion.
Moon Palace, a desolate plain.
"Begin, Cho."
"Yes."
Hearing Kyosuke's command, the purple light in Cho's eyes intensified. She wove hand signs, and a massive figure, many times larger than a Tailed Beast, was summoned.
"Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
"BANG!"
Dust settled, revealing a bizarre, gigantic object on the plain—the husk of the Ten-Tails, sealed in the moon by the Sage of Six Paths.
"Well done." Kyosuke praised her, signaling the drained Cho to rest. He moved his hands, summoning a massive machine.
Looking at the nine masses of chakra sleeping in the cultivation tanks, Kyosuke manipulated the machine. Several conduits pierced the Ten-Tails' husk, continuously pumping the Tailed Beast chakra into it.
Soon, the chakra of the nine Tailed Beasts returned to the Ten-Tails' body. However, deprived of its consciousness by the Sage of Six Paths, it stood still despite regaining its world-destroying power.
Swish!
Kyosuke teleported to the top of its head. His eyes flashed crimson, and the Ten-Tails' massive body began to twist and distort, rushing frantically into Kyosuke's body.
Seconds later, the Ten-Tails vanished, leaving only Kyosuke standing with his eyes closed.
Of course, his internal state was far from calm.
Perhaps because he became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki before awakening the Rinnegan, the Ten-Tails' chakra was far more violent than he anticipated. Although the Eternal Mangekyo could suppress it to an extent, it was still lacking.
But Kyosuke wasn't panicked. He had prepared thoroughly before daring to absorb the Ten-Tails.
First was the liquid being pumped into his body from the machine—a suppressant developed over time specifically to control chakra.
Second, and most crucially, Kyosuke's physical strength far exceeded that of Obito or Madara in the original story.
In terms of constitution alone, he believed he had surpassed the Sage of Six Paths, approaching the level of Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Sage Body LVL 20.
This was the fruit of Kyosuke's years of hard work, and his greatest confidence in absorbing the Ten-Tails.
Initially, he hypothesized that reaching this level of Sage Body would allow him to enter the Six Paths realm independently. However, something was missing, preventing him from breaking through.
Surrounded by powerful enemies, he had to abandon his original plan and use the Ten-Tails to break through that sky-high barrier.
Under the control of the suppressant and his Sage Body, the violent Ten-Tails chakra soon stabilized, and Kyosuke opened his eyes.
"BOOM!"
Looking at the Konoha village leveled by a single strike, Minato felt a pang of pain, even knowing it was mostly property damage.
"BANG!" Minato punched the cracked ground, feeling angry at his own powerlessness for the first time.
Against the enemy's black barrier, no attack method worked. Even senjutsu-infused attacks, effective against Six Paths constitutions, caused little damage due to the sheer gap in power.
having exited his "Kurama Sage" mode, Minato could only pray for Kyosuke's quick return.
"Sorry I'm late."
Suddenly, a gentle voice sounded behind Minato. Overjoyed, he turned to see Uchiha Kyosuke.
However, his appearance had changed drastically. Simply put, his features were now almost identical to the enemy opposite them.
"You... finally succeeded," Minato murmured happily.
"Yeah. Leave the rest to me." Kyosuke said, floating into the air and arriving beside Tōrira.
Tōrira spoke for the first time since entering the battlefield. "I didn't expect you to reach such a realm. I sense the Ten-Tails within you. Did you summon it?"
Purple light flashed in Kyosuke's eyes. He had no intention of wasting words. The sword formed from his Truth-Seeking Orbs pierced through Tōrira's defensive barrier and into his body in one move.
"...Forget it. Since you don't want to talk, I will execute you in the name of the Ninshu." Tōrira flew back, disengaging from the blade. Dense lightning appeared in his hand; clearly, he was preparing to use his true strength.
But before Tōrira could unleash his jutsu, Kyosuke appeared instantly in front of him again. After stabbing him several times, Kyosuke severed Tōrira's left arm with a slash.
Unlike Madara in the original story, who could regenerate even if half his body was destroyed, Tōrira couldn't restore his arm no matter how he pushed his healing abilities. His calm expression finally cracked.
"Heh, ignorant fool." Noticing the imperceptible panic in Tōrira's eyes, Kyosuke clapped his hands together. A gigantic wooden titan appeared out of thin air.
"Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands."
But he wasn't done. A layer of violet-red light suddenly enveloped the Thousand-Armed Kan'on.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo · Sage · True Several Thousand Hands."
Staring at the titan, which was larger than the entire Konoha village, Tōrira raised his staff blankly, unsure how to continue fighting.
At this moment, he suddenly regretted his decision immensely... but it was too late.
Thousands of fists rained down. The seemingly indestructible Truth-Seeking Orb barrier lasted less than three seconds before shattering. A fraction of a second later, Tōrira's body was beaten into its constituent atoms.
With this, the Ninshu rebellion was declared over.