The Allied Shinobi Forces had finally arrived on the battlefield.
In a way, their timing was perfect. Now they didn't need to fight Obito Uchiha as the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki—they only had to face the Akatsuki.
On top of that, Orochimaru's escape left all his reanimated shinobi on the field. Freed from his control, these powerful shinobi now served as valuable allies for the Allied Forces.
"Grandpa! Great-Uncle!" Tsunade felt a wave of relief wash over her upon seeing Hashirama and the others. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Old man!" Jiraiya shouted a greeting to the Third Hokage.
For the moment, he ignored Shirou and scanned the battlefield for Orochimaru. "Where's Orochimaru?"
"He escaped," the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, replied, looking a bit helpless.
He didn't want to talk about his wayward and overly talented student, but he felt he had no choice. "Orochimaru ran after he saw Obito Uchiha losing…"
"That's just like him…" Jiraiya muttered, then turned his gaze to the reunion between the Fourth Hokage and Naruto Uzumaki, his eyes filled with emotion.
"Dad!" Naruto exclaimed, his body glowing in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. He never expected to reunite with his father at a moment like this.
But Minato wasn't in high spirits. His face suddenly grew serious as he looked toward Madara Uchiha and the others. "Naruto, it's dangerous here…"
For Naruto, this really was a dangerous place. All the Hokage on the battlefield knew that the Akatsuki's next target would be Naruto and the Nine-Tails sealed inside him.
But Naruto didn't care. He ran toward Sasuke Uchiha, who was standing nearby, to greet his friend.
"Sasuke! Long time no see!"
"..." Sasuke remained silent, his red Sharingan fixed on his glowing, golden friend. He wasn't sure what to say.
What could he say? That he'd finally gotten his revenge, only to find it all meaningless?
"Fight with us!" Naruto didn't seem to notice Sasuke's stiff expression and loudly invited him, "Sasuke, stay and fight by our side! Let's stop Shirou together!"
"..." Sasuke continued to stay quiet, letting Naruto pull him back into their old group of friends.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Obito had invited him to fight Madara, and now Naruto was asking him to help stop Shirou.
Sasuke didn't reject either offer.
He was just going with the flow. It felt like nothing really mattered anymore. He had no family and no real purpose left, so nothing he did seemed to make a difference.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura Haruno was delighted to see Sasuke back.
The others in their generation had mixed feelings about Sasuke's return, but they couldn't say much as they watched Naruto joyfully greet their old classmate. After all, they had all grown up together.
It seemed the Allied Shinobi Forces had gained powerful support. Even Obito Uchiha had been rescued by Kakashi Hatake.
Meanwhile, the Akatsuki had very little backup. People were even abandoning their side.
Only Madara Uchiha remained to face the Allied Forces alone, his only help coming from a White Zetsu clone delivering a Rinnegan that Kabuto had stashed away.
At the center of the battlefield, Madara Uchiha calmly reached out and took his second Rinnegan from the White Zetsu.
"Perfect timing." Madara pressed the eye into its socket.
His gaze slowly scanned the battlefield, landing on Minato Namikaze and Naruto Uzumaki—the father and son. A dangerous smile crossed his face.
"It's… just perfect. All the Nine-Tails' chakra is here."
Right now, Madara was in his prime.
No—in fact, for Madara, this moment surpassed any previous peak he had reached before becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki. His resurrected body was stronger, and his Rinnegan was more powerful than ever.
"Watch out!" Hashirama was the first to sense Madara's movement. Ignoring Tsunade's greeting, he rapidly gathered his chakra and shifted into a battle stance.
"All units, stay alert! Hold your formation!" the captains of the Allied Forces shouted, preparing their lines to fight the Akatsuki.
"Everyone! Hold formation!" As commander, the Fourth Raikage swept his arm and shouted to all the shinobi, "Wait for the strategists' instructions!"
This was critical. This battle couldn't be a reckless brawl like in the past. Before the fighting started, the Allied Forces needed a strategy from their intelligence division. Madara Uchiha and Shirou were not shinobi who could be defeated with ordinary methods. A reckless charge would be a massacre.
"Ready?" A cold smile stretched across Madara's lips. He began walking slowly toward the Allied Forces, a glint of killing intent in his eyes.
-----
At Allied HQ, Shikaku Nara was sweating as he gathered frontline reports, trying to piece together a battle plan against Madara.
"Only Madara Uchiha?" Shikaku confirmed the final piece of intel with Inoichi Yamanaka, then gave a bitter smile. "The enemy sure is confident…"
"Too much pressure, Shikaku?" Inoichi asked, sensing the heavy burden on his friend.
"It's huge," Shikaku admitted, his wry smile growing as he felt the crushing weight. "After all, this time it's the lives of tens of thousands and the future of the entire shinobi world…"
But Shikaku quickly recovered his composure. There were too many lives in the balance—including his comrades, his friends, and even his own son. Now was not the time for hesitation.
"Alright. I'll brief everyone on the intel we have on Madara Uchiha. I'm sure no one is unfamiliar with the name. In the Warring States Period, he was the fierce rival of the First Hokage, Hashirama, and their rivalry was so intense that not even death could settle the score…"
"First, absolutely do not look directly into his eyes during the battle. We need to avoid anyone getting caught in a genjutsu by accident and having our formations broken."
Shikaku couldn't predict what Madara would attack with first, but he made sure to get his battle plan to the frontline commanders as quickly as possible.
"Next, Water Style shinobi, be ready. Madara Uchiha is the strongest Fire Style user in the world…"
But this was about all that could be prepared. War never goes according to anyone's wishes.
As Shikaku briefed his field commanders, the four reanimated Hokage were already leading the charge against Madara.