At this moment, everyone on the battlefield had their attention completely focused on the imposing figure of Madara Uchiha and Suijin's group. Faced with Suijin's sudden warning, some reacted swiftly, while others were still in a state of utter bewilderment. Among them, Fu was one of those completely caught off guard.
Not far from Fu, Shiboku and the others couldn't detect any movement at all when one of Madara Uchiha's Limbo clones flashed past him.
THWACK!
Immediately after, Fu's body was struck by a heavy blow. She was sent flying diagonally, then quickly dragged towards Madara Uchiha, who was outside the examination grounds.
"Stop her, quickly!" Seeing this, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and the others all prepared to intervene.
At that moment, however, a long chakra chain shot out from the mouth of the Gedo Statue beneath Madara Uchiha's feet. One end of the chain directly pierced into Fu, latching onto the Seven-Tails within her. Then, with a powerful tug, the chain began to rapidly extract the Seven-Tails from Fu's body. As the Seven-Tails was forcibly removed, Fu's life force also began to rapidly dwindle.
On the other side, Naruto suffered a nearly identical attack. Perhaps because he had trained in sage techniques, Naruto's senses were somewhat sharper, yet he still couldn't evade the attack of the Limbo clone. A chakra chain plunged deep into Naruto's body, and the Nine-Tails within him also began to be rapidly extracted.
Seeing the situation completely reversed in the blink of an eye, both Suijin and Jizo were aghast. Suijin's golden sword of light materialized once more in his hand, and he swiftly slashed towards the chakra chain binding Naruto. Jizo also commanded his Susanoo to swing its massive blade towards the other chakra chain.
However, it was all to no avail.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
After the tremendous booming sounds, massive gouges appeared in the earth on both sides. But the two chakra chains remained completely undamaged; they had already dragged the Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tails completely into the Gedo Statue's gaping maw.
"Naruto!" With the Nine-Tails extracted, Naruto collapsed weakly to the ground. Beside him, Hinata was the first to rush over, catching him in her arms. Immediately after, Sasuke, Sakura, and the others also hurried over, forming a protective circle around Naruto. Naruto weakly opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but not a single word could escape his lips.
Suijin, hovering in mid-air, and Jizo, standing within his Susanoo, couldn't spare any attention for Naruto's condition at this moment. Their gazes were both fixed intently on Madara Uchiha, who stood imposingly on the Gedo Statue's shoulder.
On the high wall behind them, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Mitarashi Anko, Yuhi Kurenai, Might Guy, Kakashi, and the others all wore expressions of utter dejection and grave concern. Although many of them couldn't fully comprehend Madara Uchiha and the Gedo Statue's actions, it didn't prevent them from clearly seeing the dire state of the current situation. From Madara Uchiha's appearance to the capture of the two Tailed Beasts, an incredibly short amount of time had passed. If even the powerful members of the Divine Court couldn't stop Madara Uchiha's actions, how could they possibly hope to resist?
Whoosh~
Just as the atmosphere at the scene grew heavy and stagnant, a swirling spatial vortex suddenly appeared out of thin air on the Gedo Statue's shoulder where Madara Uchiha stood. Obito's figure emerged beside Madara.
"Finally, they're all gathered!" The moment Obito's feet touched down, he stated indifferently. As he spoke, he was carrying someone on his shoulder. It was Gaara!
Hearing this, Madara Uchiha glanced coolly at Obito, then his hands formed a seal. Clank! Another chakra chain extended outwards, plunging directly into Gaara's body. Soon, the One-Tail Shukaku was also absorbed by the chains into the Gedo Statue's mouth. After Shukaku was extracted, Gaara's life force also began to rapidly fade, and Obito casually tossed his limp body aside.
At this point, Akatsuki had successfully collected all nine Tailed Beasts.
ROOOOAR!
Accompanied by a heaven-shattering roar, the Gedo Statue's body began to undergo a violent transformation.
BOOM!
Intense chakra fluctuations radiated outwards in all directions. The Gedo Statue's nine eyes slowly began to open. Immediately following this, its physique started to rapidly expand and continuously morph. Soon, the form of the Ten-Tails, possessing ten tails and a single, massive eye, appeared before everyone's horrified gaze. Around its body, ten long tails rose menacingly towards the sky. Its gaping maw and that single, grotesque eye were enough to make anyone's heart freeze with terror.
With another deafening roar, a colossal, crimson sphere of energy began to condense above the Ten-Tails. This was the Ten-Tails forming a Tailed Beast Bomb, its sheer volume far exceeding any Tailed Beast Bomb created by the Nine-Tails or any other Tailed Beast. The Ten-Tails, formed from the fusion of all nine Tailed Beasts, had bared its ferocious fangs to the world the moment it appeared.
"Get back, quickly!" Seeing this, everyone cried out in alarm, desperately trying to evade the impending attack. The scale of the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb was simply too terrifyingly exaggerated!
Suijin's golden sword of light quickly formed in his hand, and he slashed it directly towards the massive energy sphere. The sword of light was blocked by an almost tangible wall of chakra several meters away from the Tailed Beast Bomb, then shattered into nothingness in mid-air.
Jizo commanded his Susanoo to charge forward, its massive blade swinging to meet the attack. The colossal Perfect Susanoo hadn't even gotten close when the giant Tailed Beast Bomb shot forth like a cannonball.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
A series of violent, deafening roars and a blinding, searing light engulfed the entire world. The earth trembled violently. Seconds later, the explosions and the intense light finally subsided.
The survivors, looking up, saw the Perfect Susanoo, half of its body shorn away, slowly dissipating in mid-air, revealing Jizo's figure within. The massive Tailed Beast Bomb of the Ten-Tails, however, was nowhere to be seen.
A few more seconds passed, and then, from the distant horizon, a violent explosion suddenly thundered. In the western sky, a crimson mushroom cloud billowed upwards, and a powerful shockwave radiated outwards from the point of detonation, rapidly spreading across the ground. Like a wind sweeping through a field of wheat, everything in the path of this shockwave was instantly pulverized into dust.
"How… how can we even fight this?" After the shockwave dissipated, everyone looked at the utterly devastated battlefield and the mushroom cloud still lingering on the distant horizon. Someone murmured in a low, despairing voice. Faced with this kind of world-destroying destructive power, everyone felt a profound sense of hopelessness.
With the appearance of the Ten-Tails, the Konoha ninja had all lost their courage to continue fighting.
Suijin and Jizo, who had landed not far away, however, did not simply give up. Looking at the colossal form of the Ten-Tails, and at Madara Uchiha and Obito standing atop it, both Suijin and Jizo's expressions were exceptionally grave.
Swoosh~
A sound of air being cut echoed, and Fujin also rushed over to their side. With the combined strength of the three of them, if it were just the Ten-Tails, they might still have a way to restrain it. But with Madara Uchiha and Obito added to the equation, the situation looked incredibly bleak.
"I wonder how things are going over there?" Thinking this, Suijin's thoughts couldn't help but turn to Demon Sealing Mountain. Everything they were doing now was merely to buy time for their original body, Tatsuya.
"Not bad at all! To actually redirect the Tailed Beast Bomb's attack like that," Madara Uchiha, standing atop the Ten-Tails, remarked, a hint of excitement on his face, his voice calm and indifferent. "Then let me be the one to thoroughly end this battle!"