The Choice of Reincarnation

The dark red sphere in the Ten-Tails' mouth was still gathering power. But this time, its rate of formation had clearly slowed—not because the Ten-Tails lacked strength, but because its body was undergoing a visible transformation.

Its skin began to crack.

These were not cracks caused by attacks, but fissures swelling outward from within, like something was about to break out of its shell. Countless fine, glowing cracks appeared across its dark red hide. Blinding orange-red light, like molten lava, shone through every fissure. The Ten-Tails' body continuously expanded, contracted, then expanded again, like a beating heart.

"The Ten-Tails... is changing?" Shikamaru's voice rang through the communication network, carrying rare uncertainty.

Madara, standing atop the Ten-Tails' head, frowned slightly. His Rinnegan stared at the trembling beast below, and a complicated emotion flashed through his eyes—not surprise, but more the helpless resignation of someone thinking, So it has finally come.

"Obito." Madara's voice was not loud, yet every word reached Obito's ears clearly. "The Ten-Tails is reviving faster than I anticipated. It has already begun entering the second stage."

Obito's Sharingan turned slightly. He looked down at the Ten-Tails, his face carved by three scars devoid of expression.

"The second stage?"

"The Ten-Tails has three stages after its revival." Madara's voice was as calm as if he were explaining a textbook. "The first stage is its form immediately after awakening, when its power has yet to fully recover. As time passes, it gradually enters the second stage—its body shrinks, but the density of its power increases drastically, and its attacks become more varied. In the final third stage, it condenses into its ultimate form. That is when it truly reaches its peak."

The Ten-Tails' body shuddered violently again. The cracks grew wider and brighter, and its dark red outer skin began