In the past few days.
Following Black Zetsu's advice, Uchiha Madara not only personally approached Uchiha Fugaku but also bestowed upon him a counterfeit Blazing War Fan, investing serious effort in nurturing the younger man.
Yet unexpectedly, instead of feeling grateful, Fugaku actually turned to assist that "Little Tobirama" against him.
Such an ingrate—truly a traitor who'll never learn loyalty.
Thinking thus, he cast a dark glare toward Fugaku and immediately activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, launching a genjutsu from afar.
Flop!
Fugaku fell backward, unconscious.
"Quickly, take Fugaku away."
Several elite ninja from the Uchiha clan hurriedly lifted the unconscious body and vanished without looking back.
Worthless dogs, all of them.
Uchiha Madara coldly remarked, too indifferent to bother with these fleeing wastes of space.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, three fireballs flew swiftly from an unexpected angle, directly targeting Madara.
Pakura had made her move.
[Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!]
She activated Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder remotely using chakra, slamming it straight into Madara's back. The ambush succeeded.
This technique instantly evaporated the opponent's bodily fluids upon contact, turning the enemy into a dried corpse.
Hissing sounds filled the air.
The moisture within Madara's body rapidly evaporated. The once smooth and tender skin of this sacrificial vessel became shriveled, making him look terrifying.
"What a group of endlessly annoying insects."
Uchiha Madara spoke aloud. With so much fluid lost, his entire face had become a skeletal frame, his throat hoarse from extreme dehydration.
But he didn't care in the slightest.
After all, the Wood Release cells of Senju Hashirama couldn't possibly be destroyed by mere Scorch Release.
Still, his body obeyed him perfectly.
With a casual wave of his hand, multiple Wood Release spears shot toward Pakura. Although she desperately evaded, one spear pierced through her shoulder.
Letting out a stifled grunt, she tumbled down like a broken kite into the massive lake beneath the waterfall.
Her fate remained unknown.
Meanwhile, another battle raged in the distant woods.
The combatants were none other than Hyuga Hiashi and a group of fellow Hyuga clan members, facing off against... Black Zetsu.
Earlier, when Uchiha Madara appeared,
Black Zetsu realized the Valley of the End would soon erupt into chaos and quietly slipped into the bushes, intending to leisurely enjoy the spectacle.
At that moment, everyone's attention was fixed on Madara, so nearly nobody noticed him.
Except for Hyuga Hiashi.
The Byakugan of the Hyuga clan could easily spot enemies from over a kilometer away and even track their chakra by seeing through obstacles.
Upon detecting Black Zetsu, Hiashi immediately made his decision:
Join the battle and capture this enemy.
After all, as a Konoha ninja, how could he possibly retreat from confrontation?
Currently, the Hyuga forces had tightly surrounded Black Zetsu, launching coordinated attacks under Hiashi's command.
[Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!]
Hiashi Hyuga launched a relentless assault, driving Black Zetsu into a desperate corner. His palms struck repeatedly, hitting every meridian and acupoint across the latter's body.
Bang!
Without uttering a sound, Black Zetsu collapsed onto the ground—paralyzed.
"It worked."
Panting heavily, Hiashi wiped sweat from his forehead. Overall, this battle had been easier than he expected.
He stopped paying attention to the fallen Black Zetsu and instead turned his gaze toward the waterfall direction. There, Madara Uchiha was cutting a path straight toward Heiyan.
Hiashi couldn't help but furrow his brows, a deep sense of worry spreading across his face.
"Hiashi, watch out!"
Suddenly, a warning rang out from one of his Hyuga clansmen nearby.
Huh?
Upon hearing that, Hiashi turned his head just in time to see shockingly how Black Zetsu had transformed into a pool of black liquid, burrowing underground under everyone's watchful eyes.
Before disappearing completely, the entity secretly unleashed a subtle mental shockwave directed at Hiashi.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Hiashi staggered backward several steps, his face turning pale before finally collapsing unconscious.
Fell into the same fate as Fugaku Uchiha before him.
At this point,
Facing the formidable pair of Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu, powerful ninja threw themselves one after another into battle—Tsunade, Sakumo Hatake, Fugaku Uchiha, Pakura, Hiashi Hyuga...
Without exception, they all lost.
Even more despair-inducing, despite their desperate efforts to stop them, Madara Uchiha still successfully reached Heiyan right before the very last moment.
Crack!
Clutching his fist tightly, Heiyan said nothing—but his rage had surpassed all limits.
In just a few short minutes,
he had watched helplessly as Tsunade was wounded, Nawaki slain, Sakumo Hatake trapped by Wood Release, the Anbu wiped out, Fugaku Uchiha ensnared in genjutsu, Hiashi Hyuga struck down by Black Zetsu and left unconscious, and Pakura plummeted from the waterfall.
And yet—he could do absolutely nothing.
Underfoot, the Sharingan pattern inside Three-Tails' eye sockets gradually faded away. Just a little longer, and Heiyan would have succeeded in freeing it from Madara's control.
But now, nothing remained standing between him and Madara.
Madara clearly understood this too.
Therefore, he wore the victorious smirk of a triumphant predator.
Looks like I'll have to use that method after all.
In the nick of time,
To reverse the situation, Heiyan steeled his heart and resorted immediately to a brutal but direct approach.
Namely—using Adamantine Sealing Chains to drag Three-Tails directly into his own body.
Becoming a jinchuriki for Three-Tails!
Everyone knows there are huge risks in becoming a jinchuriki.
The tailed beast will devour the jinchuriki's consciousness, even causing them to lose sanity and enter a berserk state.
Moreover, Three-Tail's abilities didn't align with Heiyan's techniques at all.
But he had no other option now.
[Rip!]
With a single motion, Heiyan tore open his upper garment, revealing the markings of the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Then, under Madara's stunned gaze, Heiyan began to sink into the massive body of Three-Tails.
Right before Madara's eyes, the two began rapidly merging—about to become one being.
"So... this is what a Tailed Beast's chakra feels like?"
Heiyan mused inwardly. The massive amount of Three-Tails' chakra surged continuously into his body, stimulating every cell throughout him.
Crack!
A soft sound echoed in Heiyan's mind.
It turned out that within his body, the second Tomoe on the surface of the long-dormant Six Tomoe necklace had developed a crack...
Madara Uchiha remained unaware of this change occurring inside Heiyan.
But he knew one thing for certain—he absolutely could not allow Heiyan to become the Three-Tails' jinchuriki, or else it would bring enormous trouble.
So the moment he regained his senses, Madara immediately formed hand seals without hesitation, directly canceling the Summoning Jutsu.
Then, something bizarre happened.
"Release!"
With Madara's sharp and urgent shout, the massive Three-Tails, just about to fuse completely with Heiyan, transformed into a puff of white smoke.
With a "POOF," it vanished entirely.
No, wait—that wasn't quite right.
Actually, only part of the Three-Tails disappeared.
The other part transformed into a massive, pure chakra mass that remained within Heiyan's body, absorbed by his Six Tomoe necklace.
Heiyan didn't become a jinchuriki—but still ended up with a flood of tailed beast chakra.
This situation wasn't unprecedented.
Back then, the Nine-Tails swallowed Kinkaku and Ginkaku, two warriors from the Cloud Village. The two didn't die but instead fed upon the Nine-Tails' internal organs until the beast could no longer stand it and spat them back out.
Because they had eaten the Nine-Tails' flesh, the brothers gained access to its chakra.
However, what was happening to Heiyan now was even more unique.
Throughout the entire ninja world, only Madara, who possessed the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, could summon tailed beasts as summoned beasts.
Likewise, only Heiyan, who held the Sage Transformation, could forcefully seal a tailed beast within himself using the Adamantine Sealing Chains and become a jinchuriki.
Right now, these two individuals—who should have been bitter enemies—had unintentionally executed perfect coordination:
Just at the moment when Heiyan nearly completed fusing with the Three-Tails after absorbing part of its chakra, Madara canceled the summoning technique, interrupting the process of becoming a jinchuriki.
For Heiyan, this was practically a divine assist delivered straight by Madara.
He gained massive amounts of Three-Tails chakra effortlessly—without paying any price.
Moreover, this chakra quickly brought Heiyan enormous benefits—
The energy surged forward, greedily gulped down by the Six Tomoe necklace like a whale swallowing seawater.
His Sage Transformation evolved once again.
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