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From his perch above the clouds, Neji watched the battlefield below.
The [Reanimation] hordes were already carved into isolated pockets; at this pace, the Alliance would finish the clean-up soon.
"Looks like it's time to pen Obito in," he murmured.
He paused brows knitting. With a tap, the floating island's viewing grid snapped to a jagged ridgeline.
Two White Zetsu propped up a coffin and slid its lid aside.
A warrior in Warring States armor opened his eyes, Uchiha Madara.
"Hm? Why am I back like this? Where's Black Zetsu? Obito? Nagato?"
A breath. "No matter. I'll handle it myself."
Madara flashed through seals—
Release [Reanimation Undo]!
The summoner's tether shattered.
Miles away, Danzo felt the recoil, scowled, and clicked his tongue. Of course, Madara wouldn't be bound. He'd expected as much but even so, to see the technique broken so casually…
---
Neji rose, [Tenseigan] iris blooming. A sweep of chakra sight pinned a cane-bearing figure beneath Konoha's shadow.
"The old viper still won't quit," Neji said softly. "So he's the one who brought Madara back."
Konoha's Dark, student of the Second, long-time accomplice of Orochimaru, Danzo, knowing [Reanimation] was no surprise.
"Lilith—notify Sasuko. Her chance to end Danzo is now. Send coordinates."
[Lilith]: Acknowledged, Master.
In a hidden base, Sasuko received the ping.
Her eyes hardened. She grabbed Jūgo and Suigetsu. Kabuto could watch himself.
Neji's note included a postscript: Ignore Kabuto.
Sasuko cast Kabuto a single, flat lookvthen vanished with her team.
Kabuto pushed his glasses up, lenses flashing. A slow smile crept across his face.
"Just as you predicted—they're gone."
"Of course," purred Black Zetsu from the wall. All around, puppets went slack as White Zetsu seeped into their joints and took control.
A bound kunoichi was tossed at Kabuto's feet unconscious, a curse sigil peeking from her neck.
"So this is the apprentice Orochimaru discarded," Kabuto mused.
"Unremarkable… and yet lucky enough to survive the [Cursed Seal of Heaven]. Useful."
He peeled back the collar at Anko Mitarashi's nape; tomoe swirled in the inked brand.
Kabuto's grafted, serpentine arm pressed to the mark, Orochimaru's chakra flooding in.
The seal bulged white flesh blossoming and Orochimaru slid out of the mark, pale and smiling.
Kabuto bowed and offered a cloak, erasing the indignity of rebirth.
Orochimaru's amber eyes lingered on Kabuto's altered body, then on Black Zetsu.
"Well done, Kabuto," he rasped.
Kabuto startled at the praise. "Lord Orochimaru, it was only natural."
Orochimaru chuckled, reading the story on Kabuto's skin. "You've been busy. And yet some things do not change."
"I am forever your subordinate," Kabuto answered simply.
Orochimaru let the moment pass, gaze swiveling to a projection where Madara danced through battalions. His smile cooled.
Finally, he turned to Black Zetsu.
"It's been a while… Zetsu. Collaborating with Kabuto now? Then the man behind your mask isn't Madara after all."
Black Zetsu didn't bite. Instead, he produced a sealed letter. "Read this, and you'll know your move."
Orochimaru's smile thinned. Kabuto unfolded the note for him.
Snake eyes flicked over the contents; Orochimaru snorted.
"Danzo, still clinging to life and schemes even after being caged and stripped of office. Tireless old ghoul."
If Danzo had heard, he would only have muttered, It's for Konoha.
Orochimaru waved the letter away. "With that man on the board, you have no path to victory. Kabuto, we're leaving an old place."
"As you wish."
They slipped into the trees. Black Zetsu watched them go, mind turning. He understood enough but not enough to relax. He sank back into stone.
---
"Destination?" Kabuto asked as they moved.
Orochimaru didn't answer, scanning the woods as he traveled.
He'd watched everything from inside Sasuko before Itachi had torn him out he knew D-Organization's face, their BOSS: Neji, and the truth of the evolved Byakugan.
He'd chosen well and the white eyes could evolve further than anyone guessed.
All he wanted now was simple: take back his hands.
Whatever Danzo intended to balance the scales with a certain resurrection, Orochimaru didn't care.
---
Above, Neji watched the plotline snap back toward its familiar groove and smiled without humor.
Perhaps this world only looked full of choices; in truth, the river had very few channels, and hearts pushed the current to the same delta every time.
"Skip to the finale," he said. "No more wasting time. Lilith—tell Obito: if he brings the [Gedo Statue] onto the field, I'll hand him the final piece he's missing."
[Lilith]: Yes, Boss.
Across the warfront, Obito stood up as the message reached him, eye glinting.
"If Madara is here, then it's time."
A spiral swallowed him. Space closed.
On the plains, Madara wove through the Allied ranks at peak form untouchable, untiring, unstoppable.
You should stop fighting now, his presence seemed to whisper—because the storm itself had taken the floor.
Then the world roared.
A tower of smoke geysered from the earth.
The ground shook.
Every head turned.
The colossal [Gedo Statue] clawed its way into the open, screaming its return to the sky
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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