The desert battlefield fell into an eerie silence.
The Allied Forces shinobi huddled behind cover, and even the sound of swallowing was clearly audible.
Minato Namikaze gripped his kunai so tightly that his fingertips had turned white, his gaze locked firmly onto the lazy figure seated on the throne.
The sight of the Collector extracting the Nine-Tails from Kushina churned through his mind. Any rash move now could invite utter disaster.
Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, floated in midair. The glow of Dust Release flickered uncertainly in his palm before finally fading away in defeat.
Raikage A's Lightning Release Armor crackled. His furious fist ultimately smashed into a nearby stone pillar, sending rubble flying, yet he did not dare take even half a step toward Minamoto Takuya.
The Akatsuki Organization's side was equally silent.
Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan stared at Minamoto Takuya. He knew that the best outcome was for the other party to remain an observer, but could he really count on him continuing to watch from the sidelines?
He had never understood what the other party's true goal was.
Things had already reached this point, yet he still had no intention of acting?
Could it be that what he said back then about wanting the Divine Tree Fruit... was true?
Minamoto Takuya had no interest in this frozen battlefield.
He lazily adjusted his posture, fingertips lightly tapping the armrest of his stone throne. Yet his gaze rested on the incomplete Ten-Tails roaring in the distance, as if he were assessing a newly acquired collectible.
The stalemate was shattered by a shrill roar.
The Ten-Tails broke free from its brief silence and was the first to disrupt it.
Yet its roar was not aimed at the Allied Forces shinobi, but at the Collector.
Its ten massive tails suddenly went taut. The