Mount Myōboku.
Shinju followed Gamakichi toward the temple, searching for the Great Toad Sage.
At this moment, the Great Toad Sage was sleeping, snoring thunderously...
Shinju and Gamakichi finally found him, but no matter how many times they called out, the Great Toad Sage didn't respond at all...
Shinju looked at the Great Toad Sage's old, deeply wrinkled face, guessing that he probably didn't want to interfere with his decision, so he stopped calling.
In the end, the toad and the man thought it over and finally decided to go to the ninja world to take a look!
...
At the same time, on the battlefield.
The radiance of Infinite Tsukuyomi continued! Everyone shrouded in its light fell into genjutsu and lost their senses!
Except for the Edo Tensei shinobi.
Genjutsu manipulates the chakra in a ninja's brain to control them, but Edo Tensei shinobi have long since died; only their souls exist in the present world...
Second: "Infinite Tsukuyomi has been activated. We might be the only ones not caught in the illusion..."
Fourth tightened his forehead protector, expression complicated: "So that means... saving this world is up to us now..."
Third felt the Fourth was being a bit too optimistic: "Don't get ahead of yourself (Fourth), right now we have no ability to fight Madara... ㅍ_ㅍ"
The clever Second suddenly thought of something: "That female ninja who used a really strong Water Release before — isn't she still trapped in that different dimension!?(°ー°〃)"
"If we release her from that dimension, maybe she can..."
Third: "Only Obito's two eyes can use Kamui. One is under Black Zetsu's control, and the other was just stolen by Madara — who knows where he threw it..."
Fourth: "We can steal Obito's other eye..."
Third: "Even if we steal it, we can't use it. We're dead — how are we supposed to use a living person's eye..."
Saying this, Second and Third both sighed heavily.
So many years of protecting the Will of Fire, only for everything to fade to bubbles under an endless dream!
The Fourth shared the same despair, looking up at Madara in the sky...
Suddenly, his expression changed sharply! He pointed at the purple warrior-god above!
"Up there, look up there!! (Ő∀Ő)ﾉ"
At the same time, the radiance of Infinite Tsukuyomi ended!
Second and Third looked up and found that the Susanoo summoned by Sasuke was still there!
Its massive wings were wrapped around its body, clearly shielding against the light just moments ago!
As the blazing white light of Infinite Tsukuyomi faded—
Whoosh!
The enormous purple wings of Susanoo shook, spreading open, revealing Sasuke inside — untouched by the illusion!
"Damn you, Madara... Naruto should be okay..." Sasuke muttered, scanning the battlefield for Naruto's figure!
Soon, he saw Naruto — wrapped in a golden cloak of chakra!!
But when he noticed the ripple-pattern of the Rinnegan reflected in Naruto's eyes, Sasuke's heart sank!!
Damn it for real! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)
Now that Madara had become a Sage-like existence, he was practically immortal. The only way to defeat him was to seal him away.
And sealing Madara required Sasuke and Naruto to use the Yin and Yang powers granted by the Sage of Six Paths...
But Naruto was now trapped in genjutsu — no one could perform the seal with him... (｡•́︿•̀｡)
"Hey, Naruto..."
Sasuke refused to give up. Controlling Susanoo, he flew to Naruto's side, trying to wake him from the illusion...
Cutting off chakra, ocular control...
Sasuke tried every method, but nothing could free Naruto!
Finally, accepting reality, Sasuke stared helplessly at the vacant-eyed Naruto before him:
"You could've at least blocked it with a Truth-Seeking Orb or something... Forget it, it's also my fault — if I had gotten down sooner to protect you..."
As Sasuke sank into despair, a voice sounded beside his ear — the Second Hokage:
"Young man!"
Sasuke turned around in surprise and saw the Edo Tensei shinobi who had not been caught by Infinite Tsukuyomi!
"You guys aren't controlled..." A flash of relief crossed Sasuke's face — but it faded quickly.
"So what if you're not controlled?"
"With that tiny bit of strength, you're completely useless! (´- へ -,)"
Second: "..."
From Madara to Obito, and now Sasuke!
Every Uchiha is more unbearable than the last!! (▼ヘ▼#)
Finally, the kindhearted Third spoke:
"We are, after all, already dead. Our usefulness in this battle is limited. So the burden of saving the ninja world falls on you, Sasuke. ∩_∩"
"Obito is under Black Zetsu's control, but he still has one Sharingan that can use Kamui. We'll help you steal that eye. Then you can use Kamui to release Rin from that distant dimension..."
Sasuke: "She's also an Edo Tensei. How much help can she even be? (￢‸￢)?"
Hearing the disdain in Sasuke's tone toward Edo Tensei, the Second instantly snapped:
"Kid! I've tolerated you long enough! Who do you think you are to look down on Edo Tensei? You get a little stronger and suddenly you're so arrogant!! ヽ('⌒´メ)ノ"
Sasuke just spread his hands, indifferent: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Fourth and Third: "..."
Seriously?! At a time like this, you two are fighting again...
...
Somewhere else.
After the radiance of Infinite Tsukuyomi faded and the entire world fell into illusion—
Madara slowly descended to the ground. Forming hand seals, he didn't even bother with the few still-free individuals.
Those worthless scraps — what waves could they possibly make? ┐(´-｀)┌
Soon, Madara completed the seals and shouted:
"Divine Tree: World Birth!!"
Rumble rumble rumble—!!
The ground shook violently!
Half a second later—
Whish whish whish—!!
Huge tree roots burst from underground!
They released countless flat vines, wrapping around the ninja trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi!
At the same time — everywhere the radiance had touched — these giant roots appeared!
Every living thing caught by Infinite Tsukuyomi was wrapped into a cocoon and hung upon the roots — countless, everywhere!!
Second and Fourth wanted to help free them, but the vines grew far faster than they could cut them!
Very quickly — the entire battlefield was cleared by the vines!!
Watching this scene, Sasuke remembered what the Sage of Six Paths once told him:
"Those trapped by Infinite Tsukuyomi will be wrapped in the vines of the Divine Tree. They will forever sink into illusion, becoming puppets under the caster's control..."
"And in the end..."
Sasuke looked at the few White Zetsu nearby:
"They become monsters like that."
Third, still chopping vines, asked:
"So White Zetsu were once people trapped by Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
Sasuke nodded: "Exactly!"
...
I recommend checking out my new Pokémon fanfic, "Pokémon System: Me, the Strongest Champion of the League"! It features a system that isn't overpowered, keeping the story balanced and engaging. The main character isn't Ash, but an original, cool MC, which makes it even more enjoyable to read. I'd love to hear your feedback!