Swoosh!
The Tailed Beast Chakra that was forcibly extracted from Obito's body transformed into the respective Tailed Beasts.
Seven colossal Tailed Beasts emerged on the battlefield.
"That guy is still alive! Seize the opportunity and kill him!" A Shinobi from the Allied Shinobi Forces spotted Obito lying on the ground and shouted urgently.
So much had been sacrificed for this war.
Sasuke immediately took out his kunai and rushed towards Obito.
Seeing this, Naruto quickly caught up with Sasuke and shouted, "He's no longer a threat, and..."
Before Naruto could finish his sentence, the space next to Obito suddenly distorted, and Kakashi emerged from there while holding his kunai.
Because Obito had stabbed him in the shoulder with a Black Receiver, he was severely injured and he couldn't mould his Chakra.
"Sasuke, although I'd love to catch up with you, can you leave Obito to me? He was my my friend. I'll be the one to put an end to this."
Kakashi tightened his grip and aimed for Obito's heart.
He'd be the one to end it all.
Obito had no desire to dodge. He simply stared at his own hand with an empty look on his eyes.
That hand was stained with blood.
"Rin..." Obito murmured the name he longed for the most.
"Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto wanted to stop Kakashi. When he extracted the Tailed Beasts out of Obito's body, he saw some images in Obito's heart. One of them was Obito wearing the Hokage attire, a scene where he became Hokage.
Obito still had the dream of becoming Hokage, so he could still be saved. That was Naruto's inner thought.
But Kakashi was so fast thatbefore Naruto could finish, Kakashi's kunai was already so close to Obito's heart.
In the crucial moment, a yellow figure appeared next to Obito, grabbing Kakashi's hand.
The sharp end of the kunai had pierced Obito's skin, and a slight push would drive it into his heart.
"Now is the perfect time to finish that guy off," the Allied Shinobi Forces shouted.
"Kill him!"
The Shinobi Alliance was puzzled by the fact that even Minato was preventing Kakashi from killing Obito. They couldn't fathom this and yelled.
"Silence! Just watch quietly," Tsunade frowned. In her opinion, the issues should be resolved between themselves.
Kakashi also looked at Minato in astonishment. Minato shook his head and lifted Kakashi's hand.
Seeing the state Obito was at, Minato spoke softly, "Obito, when I made contact with your Chakra earlier, I saw into your heart. You still want to become Hokage, don't you?"
Obito remained unfazed, still gazing at his hand as if he didn't hear Minato's words.
"Do you remember when we used to go on missions together? You and Kakashi were so immature and reckless back then that Rin had to put in a lot of effort to treat you both. Rin probably won't be pleased to see you two fighting like this."
Minato continued, reminiscing about Obito, Rin, and Kakashi's past.
When Rin was mentioned, Obito's body trembled slightly, showing that he wasn't as calm as he appeared.
Listening to Minato's words, Kakashi seemed to lose his strength. He let go of the Kunai. Maybe Obito was a bad person, but he also failed to keep his promises.
"But, I also bear great responsibility that things have come to this. I wasn't a good teacher. Despite being known as the fastest Shinobi, I was always late at crucial moments," Minato laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Dad, you're not late," Naruto defended Minato, not allowing him to belittle himself.
"Naruto, go help Lord Hashirama to seal Madara," Minato said, releasing Kakashi's hand and transferred his Nine-Tails Chakra to him.
With his right arm gone and his strength greatly diminished, Minato believed that Naruto had already surpassed him, so he decided to pass on all his Chakra to Naruto for the final battle.
"Oh, right, we still need to seal off that guy!" Naruto clenched his fist, suddenly remembering that there was one more enemy to deal with.
So, Naruto and Sasuke went together to confront Madara.
After the battle with Obito, Nagasawa had depleted his Senjutsu Chakra. He believed that Naruto and Sasuke, along with Hashirama, could handle Madara, so he stayed behind.
Nagasawa walked over to where Kakashi and Minato were, ready to witness how Minato would help Obito change his ways and learn from his experience.
If he could make the Obito from his world see the error of his ways and return to Konoha, it would be an excellent outcome.
Since the Obito from over a decade later still had the dream of becoming Hokage, it should be easier for the Obito from his time.
If Obito couldn't see the error of his ways, Nagasawa would have to send Shisui to give Obito the taste of ultimate Genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami.
Minato kept talking about the past with Obito and Kakashi, finally laughing and saying, "Looking at Naruto now, I really think he's a lot like you. But the difference is he's on the right path."
Hearing this, Obito couldn't remain calm any longer. He didn't stare at his hand in a daze anymore. After waiting for a while, he spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice:
'Why do you all think that Naruto's path is the right one and it won't fail him, while mine is wrong?"
Kakashi let out a sigh and then said, "There's no such thing as absolutely right, and no one is guaranteed to succeed. But I can say that compared to you now, Naruto's path is more correct, more likely to succeed because I and everyone else will help him!"
Obito's eyes showed a hint of emotion. That was it. He failed because he was alone, without any companions by his side. The only companion he got was through deception and manipulation, while Naruto had so many companions.
"Why, why did you help him..." Obito stared wide-eyed, shouting in a hoarse voice.
"Because he never gives up on his dreams, because he won't stop even if he encounters difficulties, and he can always face everything with optimism... It's precisely because of those that everyone is attracted to him, gathers around him, subconsciously wanting to help him," Kakashi replied to Obito's question.
Obito closed his eyes, contemplating Kakashi's response.
He used to be like that, never giving up on his dreams, even if he was a bit behind and remained optimistic no matter what he faced.
Unfortunately, he had changed. He no longer trusted others, and everything was a tool for him. On top of that, when things didn't go his way, he would become furious and didn't even think twice to kill.
'It turns out I have lost something so precious before I know it…' Tears welled up in Obito's tightly closed eyes.
He quickly wiped away the tears. Even though the Ten-Tails had been extracted, he had to at least show a bit of dignity. He did not want Kakashi and Minato see his weak side.
However, at such a close distance, no matter how fast Obito was, how could they not notice? They just didn't mention it.
Obito wanted to use Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive the fallen Allied Shinobi Forces in exchange for his own life.
Although it was impossible to resurrect those who had died because of him a long time ago, he would revive as many as he could. This was his atonement, his salvation.
He had committed too many mistakes, and such a person was no longer worthy of living in this world. Death was his destiny.
If this world had a hell, he would surely be thrown into to the lowest level and suffer the most severe punishment for his crimes.
But it didn't matter; that was fitting for a sinner like him.
The only regret he had was that he couldn't visit Rin's grave. Kakashi might forget about Rin once he had a family.
'Rin, I'm coming. No, you're kind, you surely won't be in hell. A sinner like me probably will fall into the abyss alone.'
Obito suddenly opened his eyes and made hand seals, planning to use Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect all the Allied Shinobi Forces who had died in this war.
"Obito, what are you planning to do?" Kakashi noticed that Obito was about to make hand seals and quickly took out a Kunai from his pouch.
Obito smiled and said, "I'm going to use Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect the Allied Shinobi Forces who died in this war."
"That technique is... " Kakashi was about to say that using that technique would cost him his life, but when he saw Obito's determined eyes, he decided not to say another word.
He realized that Obito wanted to redeem himself using his own life.
While Obito was preparing to use Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect the Allied Shinobi Forces, the battle between Hashirama and Madara was coming to an end.
Madara had pierced Hashirama's chest with the Black Receivers, and Hashirama's two wooden dragons had immobilized Madara.
In the end, Hashirama had a slight advantage. His wooden dragons were rapidly absorbing Madara's Chakra. Without Chakra, even if Madara had pierced Hashirama's chest with the Black Receivers, he couldn't use any Ninjutsu.
Madara was bound by Hashirama's wooden dragons and couldn't move.
Naruto, who had rushed over, notice that Madara was bound and his eyes lit up. He directly threw the freshly created Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken at Madara Uchiha.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Rasenshuriken hit Obito, emitting a dazzling white light.
The white light drew the Allied Shinobi Forces' attention, and they all rushed towards the source of the light, ready to seal this final enemy and end this brutal war.
Gaara manipulated the sand to fly over to where Shukaku was and said, "I need your help."
Shukaku laughed and said, "Is it Great Sand Mausoleum Seal to seal Madara?"
"I'm no longer bound to my Jinchuriki's order now, are you still trying to order me around?'
'It's not an order, just a request,' Gaara said casually.
Just like his friend Naruto, Gaara didn't treat Tailed Beast as a tool anymore.
'If you don't want to, I'll just ask someone else." Gaara was about to turn around.
"Are you going to look for that Naruto guy?' Shukaku asked.
Gaara nodded.
At this moment, Shukaku, who wasn't interested at first, suddenly became interested. Naruto was someone the Tailed Beasts acknowledged.
Through a conversation, Shukaku learned that Gaara was Naruto's friend and decided to help Gaara seal Madara.
Sai drew a giant bird and gave Naruto a ride to get to Madara closer.
The terrain was uneven because it bore the brunt of various Ninjutsu that was used in the war. Because of that, traveling was troublesome, so flying was much faster.
"Madara, your ploy has failed. Prepare to be sealed!" Hashirama maintained his wooden dragons and spoke with a heavy tone.
By now, Naruto and Sai had arrived next to Hashirama. Sai had already started making hand seals to use a Sealing Technique.
"Haha!" The soon-to-be-sealed Obito didn't show any fear. Instead, he laughed heartily.
"Thank you, all of you! You've saved me the trouble of weakening Obito by extracting the Tailed Beasts from him. Now I don't need to waste my time to weaken Obito," Madara said with a smirk.
He had made quite a few preparations for facing Obito in his Six Paths Senjutsu.
Hashirama furrowed his brow slightly and said, "Madara, don't act tough now. You've already failed, and you'll be sealed shortly."
"Haha, you have no idea how much preparation I've done for today. There's no way I could fail. It's time for a switch," Madara laughed wildly.
"Sealing Technique: Crouched Tiger Bullet!" Sai swiftly drew a tiger on the enormous scroll.
As soon as the tiger was drawn, it instantly came to life and pounced Madara.
Once the tiger bit the target and dragged them back to the scroll, the target would appear on the scroll's drawing, and only then was the sealing considered successful.
However, something that Hashirama and Sai couldn't fathom happened. Madara's body suddenly underwent a drastic change, and he crushed the black tiger that Sai drew effortlessly.
"Finally I can fight seriously," Madara smiled.
Let's rewind time slightly.
Just as Obito was preparing to use Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect the Allied Shinobi Forces, a pair of black hands emerged from below the ground.
"Hehe, Obito, long time no see," at this moment, the black hands ruthlessly pierced into Obito's chest.
This sudden change startled Minato, Kakashi, and even Nagasawa to some extent.
He couldn't sense Black Zetsu's presence at all; he only realized when Black Zetsu appeared.
Nagasawa considered it for a moment, then reluctantly loosened his grip on the sword handle. It was too late to try to stop it now.
Even if he made a move now, it would only kill Obito and wouldn't prevent Madara's revival.
Originally, he had thought he had gained a lot from this battle. He planned to end the Challenge Mission with a slightly better ending by allowing Obito to resurrect the fallen Allied Shinobi Forces.
It seemed that he still had another battle with Madara Uchiha.
"Black Zetsu!" Obito yelled menacingly before he fell into silence. He had lost control of his body.
While Minato and Kakashi was still overwhelmed by shock, Black Zetsu finished the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique that Obito was doing a moment ago!
But instead of resurrecting the fallen Allied Shinobi Forces, the one who was revived was the legendary Shinobi, Madara Uchiha!