In front of everyone's eyes, the Ten-Tails quickly formed into a sphere, looking like a white cocoon that wrapped Uchiha Obito's body inside.
Crack... crack...
Clear fissures appeared on the shell. In the next moment, it began to split open. The white casing shattered into countless chakra crystals that floated through the air, and a pale figure hovered quietly among them.
The figure still resembled Obito, but his hair had turned white. A long horn and a short horn protruded from his forehead. His eyes held both the scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan and a Rinnegan, but his gaze was blank and dazed.
He looked... almost like a newborn child.
His own white flesh morphed into a haori covering his front, with black tomoe symbols appearing on his chest. White horns grew from his chest and back. Several pitch-black Truth-Seeking Balls floated behind him, and in his hand was a black staff, as if he held the very power to change the world.
At this moment, Obito's appearance had completely transformed. The difference between the Ten-Tails jinchuriki and any other jinchuriki was shockingly obvious.
"This chakra..."
The reanimated First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, watched Obito warily, an uneasy look on his face. "I feel... he might actually be stronger than me."
"..."
The other reanimated Hokage remained silent. They could all feel how insignificant they were compared to him.
"Orochimaru has already escaped," the reanimated Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, brought up, and quickly began forming hand seals. "For now, let's break free from the control of the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu."
"Yes." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, began sealing in unison.
Orochimaru had used the Impure World Reincarnation to bind them once again, controlling their bodies with seals and claiming it was to fight against Shirou Emiya.
This gave the Hokage a reason to work with him. In a sense, they needed Orochimaru and Obito to deal with Shirou as much as Orochimaru needed them.
Now, Orochimaru had abandoned them.
Everyone knew the reanimated Hokage couldn't stand up to Shirou. With Orochimaru gone, it was up to them to judge the state of the battlefield and decide which side to join, though at this point, both sides were their enemies.
"Wait and see," Tobirama said coldly as he showed them the signs to break free from the Edo Tensei's control. "It's not time for us to jump into battle..."
"After all... we might only have one chance left."
Even with its improvements, the Impure World Reincarnation technique required corpses.
Aside from the First Hokage, Orochimaru didn't have other Hokage corpses in reserve. Tobirama glanced secretly at the confused Ten-Tails jinchuriki, then at the man in the wheelchair across from them. His face grew even more serious, slightly tense.
"Is it just me?"
"Is something wrong, Second Hokage...?" Hiruzen asked, looking at Tobirama with surprise.
Tobirama frowned, voicing his suspicion. "Obito has become the Ten-Tails jinchuriki, and I can feel his power. But when I just tried sensing Shirou, for some reason, it felt like he's even stronger than Obito is now..."
"It's not just you." Hashirama shook his head, giving a definitive answer as his expression turned serious. "Tobirama, your strength is still too far from theirs, but I can tell for certain—Lord Shirou really is stronger than Obito, even now."
Everyone strong enough to sense it could feel it. And so could Obito, who was still dazed like a baby.
Obito scanned the group, tilting his head as he looked for an enemy. But when his gaze landed on Shirou, his body instinctively leaped backward, trying to escape to a distant spot.
This guy! He just became the Ten-Tails jinchuriki and he already wants to run!
"What is this?" Uchiha Madara's expression grew strange.
"It's an animal instinct to avoid a natural enemy," Black Zetsu explained quietly, glancing toward Shirou. "Shirou's power now outclasses his. It looks like he's temporarily scared him off... Obito hasn't mastered the Ten-Tails' power yet. He can't control it, so his body is just moving on instinct..."
But Obito didn't get far. His body distorted strangely, beginning to stretch and swell.
"Obito still can't control the Ten-Tails!" Black Zetsu was delighted, quickly figuring out the problem. "The Ten-Tails is fighting for control of his body!"
This was their chance. If they could defeat Obito now and rip the Ten-Tails out of him, they could reclaim it. It was never a good bet to trust Obito; there was no way his will could control the ferocious Ten-Tails.
But Black Zetsu underestimated Obito's resolve.
Inside him, the Ten-Tails kept tearing at his mind, but Obito stubbornly held it together, determined to win this fight for control. Besides, he was convinced he would triumph. He had lived through far more brutal mental torment than this.
This pain was nothing.
Madara leaped forward first. He quickly performed hand seals and pressed his hand against Obito's chest, a cold glint in his eye as he tried to wrench the Ten-Tails out.
"Madara!" Hashirama instinctively moved to stop him. He knew Obito was dangerous as the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, but he was even more worried about the bigger problems: Madara and Shirou.
With Obito barely controlling the Ten-Tails and running wild, Hashirama actually felt this was the safest the situation could be.
"Hashirama..." Madara slowly turned toward his fellow reanimation, his voice cold. "Are you really going to stop me now? Obito can't control the Ten-Tails, and..."
And Hashirama isn't even a match for me now.
In their reanimated state, Madara's power wasn't weakened much, but Hashirama was greatly diminished. Last time, Madara had completely suppressed him.
Now, with Shirou around, fighting Hashirama and the others would be trivial. Jumping in now wasn't the smart move.
"Madara..." Hashirama shook his head, speaking quietly. "Right now, letting Obito die along with the Ten-Tails would be the best thing for the ninja world."
"Hah?" Madara laughed as if he'd heard the most ridiculous joke. He hadn't worked so hard for so many years just to kill the Ten-Tails.
"Are you..."
"Watch out!" Just as Madara was about to lecture Hashirama about his hard work, the rampaging Obito suddenly stretched out his body and attacked Madara with a Truth-Seeking Ball.
"Damn..." Madara was rattled. This guy... he still had some instinct to attack. He was so fast, Madara couldn't react in time.
But just then, a pitch-black space-time gate appeared before Obito. He tilted his head at the gate, not daring to go in, and carefully retreated from it.
"Stay back. I'll handle what comes next." Shirou's voice came from inside the gate, quietly instructing the Akatsuki members and Madara to get away from Obito.
The moment he finished speaking, a hand stretched out from the portal.
Wrapped in glowing green chakra, it slapped Obito on the chest, instantly blasting the new Ten-Tails jinchuriki across the ground and making him spit blood.
"How... is this... possible..."
Obito's eyes widened, clutching his chest as the pain cleared his mind. He felt the Ten-Tails inside him had nearly been knocked out by that single blow.
No... it's not impossible...
Obito rapidly gathered his thoughts, staring fiercely at the wheelchair visible through the space-time gate. His face grew even paler.
"How could this..." Obito's eyes narrowed sharply.
He didn't want to admit it, but he finally had to face reality. Shirou's chakra was still stronger than his, even after becoming the Ten-Tails jinchuriki.
Was this some kind of cruel joke from fate?
Until he became the Ten-Tails jinchuriki, Obito had always thought that if he really fought Shirou, they'd be evenly matched.
But now, he finally saw the gulf between them—and realized their difference had always been huge.
"Now... you also have Six Paths-level strength," Shirou said, his eyes covered with a cloth like a blind man's.
He tilted his head slightly and asked Obito quietly, "Do you still want to fight me for control of the Eye of the Moon plan, like before?"