Chapter Thirty-Two: The Final Battle!

“So, it turns out all of this was caused by Black Zetsu…” After listening to the recording, Mizukage Mei Terumi murmured to herself. The blood mist of the Hidden Mist Village, all along, had been the result of Obito’s revenge.

For the sake of a single woman—even if the Hidden Mist Village had erred—was it not enough to kill the real culprit? Instead, he unleashed his hatred upon the entire village, annihilating countless bloodline clans. His methods were truly ruthless.

Hearing of Obito and Black Zetsu’s actions, Onoki and A grew ever more convinced that they ought to join the Land of Fire’s reform efforts. After all, if the feudal lords continued to incite conflict, who could say whether their own villages might someday produce one or two such extremist shinobi? Should another Uchiha Obito arise, their villages could never withstand the devastation that befell the Hidden Mist.

Don’t believe it? Look at Konoha and its Hokage—one village left with no shadow-level ninja, another nearly wiped out entirely. Nowadays, which village does not have at least one or two rogue shinobi? Sasori, Deidara, Zabuza—they are living examples.

Reform! Reform is essential! Constant wars, missions, assassinations—none of it aligns with the ideal of peaceful village development.

What? You say the Hidden Cloud values strength above all, and the Hidden Mist rises through bloodshed… We are Kage; we know our own villages best. And ours yearns for peace above all.

“Black Zetsu, damn him!” Onoki made his decision at once. The cannon fodder brought by the allied forces had likely all been turned into White Zetsu by now, so he would return to Iwagakure and mobilize his elite. Unless Black Zetsu dies, the shinobi world will never know peace.

Moreover, there’s the matter of the Goddess Kaguya lurking somewhere, waiting to emerge.

“I agree. I’ll have Killer Bee lead the elite forces here immediately!” The Fourth Raikage, A, declared. Their Hidden Cloud Village had special methods of transmitting intelligence, allowing them to dispatch troops to the Land of Fire at a moment’s notice.

“No problem on my end. The elders have long wanted to eliminate the mastermind. Now that the truth is revealed, I believe every bloodline clan will send their strongest shinobi!” The three great hidden villages simultaneously resolved to send their armies into battle. As for whether the three nations’ feudal lords would fall under White Zetsu’s control—well, even if they did, so what?

Ordinarily, they might heed the lords for the sake of money, but when a decisive action was needed, the Kage’s influence far outweighed any so-called feudal lord.

“Very well! General Staff!” Tsunade, receiving clear support, wasted no time and issued the order to begin the war.

“Chairwoman, the General Staff awaits your command!” Shikaku Nara stood straight, ready for Tsunade’s directives.

“Begin mobilization for war at once. Open the borders of the Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, and Land of Water, allowing entry to the elite forces of the three nations! Also, order the Third and Fourth Army Groups to advance to the allied battlefield immediately, and declare war on Black Zetsu, Uchiha Obito, and Uchiha Madara!”

“As you command!” The war directive was dispatched by the ruling party, and all of Konoha—no, all of the Land of Fire—sprang into action.

At this moment, as the Mizukage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage rested in the Land of Fire, waiting for their armies to arrive, they finally witnessed the advantages of the Land of Fire’s reforms.

With the entire populace working together, war supplies were prepared in just one day—a speed nearly ten times greater than before the reforms. Roads were repaired, enlistment soared. In merely three days, the Third and Fourth Army Groups rushed to the battlefield, joining with the First and Second Army Groups. Meanwhile, the homeland immediately formed the Fifth and Sixth Army Groups, whose strength was only slightly less than the regular army.

Such swift mobilization, with the whole nation’s effort, was beyond anything they could achieve.

Indeed, after a full ten days—even Konoha’s intelligence reported the enemy was ready—the armies of the other three great hidden villages finally reached the border.

“Chairwoman, the armies are assembled. When do we begin the battle?” As soon as the armies arrived, Jiraiya could not contain himself and rushed over to ask.

After this battle, the shinobi world would embark on comprehensive reform, enter a new era, and step into the peaceful age he had long dreamed of. If not for the presence of the other villages’ Kage, he would have already clung to Tsunade’s leg, begging for war.

Tsunade looked to Onoki, A, and Mei Terumi… All three nodded—they had already rested on the way, and were ready to depart at any moment.

“Transmit my order: commence the battle!”

At the border of the Land of Fire, the gates of the Konoha military camp swung open, and countless shinobi surged forth, each launching their group jutsu according to their assigned positions.

“First Army Group, launch jutsu: Grand Fireball!”

The First Army Group struck first, leaping into the air in formation developed by Hao Yun’s intelligent system, and simultaneously unleashed Grand Fireball jutsu.

Countless fireballs spewed forth, resembling the judgment of the apocalypse. The White Zetsu under Black Zetsu’s control had no time even to react, and were instantly scorched—vast numbers fell at once.

“Second Army Group, jutsu: Water Dragon Technique!”

A thousand water dragons soared skyward, the combined power of a C-rank jutsu forcibly producing the effect of a forbidden technique. The camp ravaged by the apocalyptic fire was immediately struck by the deluge of water dragons, followed by freezing jutsu from the allied bloodline clans—the combined jutsu unleashed in full force.

“Mist Army, launch jutsu: Hidden Mist Technique!”

Dense fog engulfed the field, obscuring everything—even White Zetsu. After all, no matter how powerful Black Zetsu was, he could not flawlessly control one hundred thousand White Zetsu to act freely in the mist.

“Hidden Cloud Village, Third Army Group, taijutsu assault!”

“Lightning Release Armor!”

“Eight Gates, Fifth Gate, Open!”

Now came the close combat. Following Hao Yun’s military guidance, they first swept the field with large-scale jutsu, then engaged in close-quarters taijutsu, and finally finished with medical jutsu.

This time, under Shikaku’s coordination, the battle achieved perfect unified cooperation.

At the enemy command, Black Zetsu saw the casualties among the White Zetsu and ground his teeth in rage.

These were the legacy his mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya, had left him—a hundred thousand White Zetsu! This was not the end of the original story, where Kabuto could summon powerful ninja with Reanimation Jutsu to resist the allied forces.

Now, they had only one hundred thousand White Zetsu. Mindless, capable only of a few basic jutsu, unable to be finely controlled!

“Black Zetsu, the White Zetsu are almost all dead. What do we do now?”

Obito, too, seeing their crushing losses, urgently voiced his concern.

Black Zetsu glared at him. What else could they do? With only the Seven-Tails Chomei and Three-Tails Isobu in hand, shadow-level strength limited to himself and Obito, all others turned against them, there was only one option—summon the big boss!

“I’ll go awaken Uchiha Madara. You go hold them off!”

With a command, Black Zetsu sank into the earth, racing toward Madara’s corpse. Obito stared fiercely at the allied position, gritted his teeth, and sent his Sharingan spinning wildly, seizing control of the Seven-Tails and Three-Tails and hurling them into battle.

“Kakashi, I’m coming!”