Million Evacuated!

"Little brat, having Madara's foul temper without his skills will only get you killed."

Forced back to his senses, Ōnoki couldn't help but snort, a single thought dominating his mind:

Kill the Fifth Hokage at any cost.

Do not give him any room to grow!

As for the embarrassing memories of his youth? He had outlasted time itself; Madara and Hashirama had died long ago. In that regard, he had won completely.

Besides, this old man's Dust Release was not to be trifled with!

If only Madara hadn't died so early; otherwise, he would have reduced him and his Susanoo to particles together.

With that thought, looking up at Uchiha Xiu standing atop the Wood Dragon, Ōnoki straightened his back, though he honestly didn't hold back his chakra:

"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

The next instant, with the Third Tsuchikage at the center, a dazzling white barrier flashed three times, devouring all organic matter in its vicinity.

But just as it was about to touch Uchiha Xiu, the space rippled.

Void Great Collapse!

Transferring an attack through space?

Flying Thunder God?

Subconsciously, Ōnoki, whose strike had missed, thought of the Fourth Hokage's signature ninjutsu.

He immediately created several lifelike Earth Clones to confuse the enemy's judgment.

"Konoha has so many users of space-time ninjutsu; they didn't go extinct after all. This is troublesome."

Wood Release, Mangekyo Sharingan, plus some inexplicable space ability.

The situation had reversed at lightning speed!

Ōnoki, who had originally felt quite confident, suddenly felt he couldn't keep his opponent contained.

Especially with speed-type space ninjas like Minato Namikaze who excelled in close quarters; for a ninja like him, whose physique and defense had no special bonuses, it was easy to suffer a one-hit kill.

"In any case, let's test him first."

Dividing his chakra equally, the six Earth Clones—indistinguishable from the original—formed seals in unison, summoning massive rock monsters into the air:

Earth Release: Gōryūka Technique.

Facing Uchiha Xiu's oppressive gaze, Ōnoki didn't expect these clumsy rock puppets to accomplish much.

As long as they could withstand a few blows while the massive Wood Dragon and the potentially appearing Susanoo rampaged, it would be enough to buy time and opportunity for his true body.

The battlefield was his own Iwagakure, after all.

The greater the losses, the more his heart would ache.

"Idiot, I told you to retrieve your left eye sooner. Now look, your vital weakness is in someone else's hands!"

At the same time.

In an inconspicuous corner of Iwagakure, the Pitcher Plant Monster poked half its body out from a tree root, its mouth full of complaints.

"I don't understand how the intelligence regarding Kamui was leaked!"

Uchiha Obito, wearing a single-eyed swirl mask, leaned against a large tree, staring up at the Wood Dragon. "Who is the mole? It's not like I leaked it myself while talking in my sleep."

"It certainly wasn't me. You know we are on the same side, all for Lord Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan."

Zetsu hurriedly denied it.

That space distortion move just now was quite flashy, wasn't it?

But, that is my goddamn eye.

Currently, having his signature ocular jutsu stolen by an enemy and used to show off in public, Uchiha Obito felt worse than if he had eaten excrement.

The left eye could freely adjust its focal point, causing any target within the field of vision to undergo spatial distortion and be transported into the exclusive "Kamui" dimension.

The right eye focused more on defense, allowing the user to turn intangible, placing the body in the rift connecting this dimension to the "Kamui" dimension, rendering it immune to all damage.

Their shared ability was the back-and-forth transfer of oneself and surrounding objects within marked spaces.

Originating from the same source, they interfered with and countered each other!

"What should we do? How about I interfere when Xiu uses Kamui to distort space?"

Obito hatched a plan, moved by the thought: "Let this guy be smug for a while, let him become completely reliant on my Kamui. Heh, at the critical moment, the ocular jutsu will fail, and he'll be pulverized into atoms by Ōnoki's Dust Release."

"Sacrificing an eye for that is nothing... it's still better than it being in the hands of an enemy."

"Fine, find your opening. If the interference fails, retreat immediately," whispered the Pitcher Plant Monster, whose behavior differed from the other dim-witted White Zetsu.

In the distant sky.

"Sage Art: Goemon!"

As Uchiha Xiu engaged Ōnoki, Jiraiya began to exert his power, pouring out chakra-infused oil that instantly covered the rock walls.

The two Sage Toads coordinated in perfect synchronization.

Fire Release ignited the boiling oil, while Wind Release fanned the flames, sending waves of burning oil surging forward with temperatures reaching thousands of degrees.

A new round of slaughter began.

Hard rock softened, cracked, and melted into magma under the extreme heat.

The joint defenses that the Iwagakure ninja excelled at shattered instantly.

As the sea of fire swept outward, dozens of elite Iwagakure ninja were swallowed by the flames, their screams cut short before they could even dodge.

The entire battlefield transformed into a purgatory once more.

"Susanoo!"

The third power residing within the Mangekyo Sharingan was unleashed before the crowd.

Compared to when Shisui had forcibly used it with a single eye, the dark green half-body warrior now possessed two additional arms, with a layer of ethereal armor manifesting over its exterior!

A high-speed rotating spiral sword appeared before the giant and was slammed down with immense force.

BOOM—

The rocky mountain split open.

Two giant beasts broke free from their restraints, becoming even more berserk.

"ROAR!!!"

"Damn it." Ōnoki was overwhelmed, using Body Flicker to dodge a barrage of wooden spikes.

Those stone giants were being entangled by Wood Dragons.

Every time he attempted to clear the field and turn the tide with Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World, the white light was swallowed into a mysterious dimension.

After a few exchanges, he felt the pity of his advanced age, forced to compete in chakra and recovery against a youngster!

"Tch, Kamui is truly a cheat in terms of mechanics." Uchiha Xiu's face was covered in black veins as he temporarily erupted with a magnitude of chakra surpassing his previous limits. Layering the devouring power of Wood Release, he grew stronger the longer he fought.

Did I calculate a small life-stealing blade?

Unfortunately, there was a backdoor.

Not long ago, the sudden palpitations in his heart and the abnormal twitching of his optic nerves made him realize that the persistent Obito had come knocking.

Otherwise, what else on him could resonate with the outside world?

That bastard definitely wasn't planning anything good!

In the original plot, Obito could prevent Kakashi from using Kamui to twist or teleport objects, and Kakashi could likewise freely enter the other dimension, attack Obito's intangible form, and even interfere with his intangibility.

With this in mind, Uchiha Xiu was on high alert.

The old routine—find an opportunity to distribute chakra and ocular power, and hand the battlefield over to a high-level Wood Clone in advance.

"Besides... the strategic goal has been achieved; there's no need to keep wasting time."

"Search, strike, and retreat—only those who can complete all three steps are true heroes."

Steam, lava, and burning oil; looking down from above, a large area of Iwagakure was ablaze. Even in areas where the war had not yet spread, the temperature was three to five degrees higher than usual.

Their war potential had plummeted!

Without three to five years of recuperation, they would never recover.

If there were a KDA ranking in the Ninja World, the name Uchiha Xiu would certainly be at the top of the list.

"Troublesome Uchiha brat."

"Super Added-Weight Rock Technique."

Ōnoki, having lost the heart to fight but forced to continue, performed hand seals. A short, earth-yellow figure flashed out from a large boulder that had shattered and flown by during the battle, attempting to petrify him.

However, the trick had already been seen through.

Figures crossed.

Now!

Obito roared internally. As Uchiha Xiu, who had used a substitution to swap positions, landed on a tree trunk, the space behind him twisted without warning.

Exceeding his neural reaction time, Hyuga Tokuma was unable to issue a warning.

"Uchiha... Flame Formation!"

A ring of scorching fire walls exploded out of thin air, tightly wrapping around him in a circle.

The high temperature of the flame barrier was searing, a power that even a Tailed Beast-level lifeform would not dare to endure.

Nearby, those Wood Release vines carbonized the moment they touched the barrier.

"It's over, you idiot who stole my eye."

Obito felt triumphant, looking up to shout at the sky:

"Ōnoki, do it!"

Ōnoki, hovering in mid-air, didn't understand the situation, but he wanted to kill Uchiha Xiu far too much.

Whoever helped him take down the Fifth Hokage was an ally!

Without needing an explanation, the Tsuchikage, sensing that the mysterious masked man had restricted space-time abilities, immediately unleashed the Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu.

White light condensed, aimed directly at Uchiha Xiu, who was trapped in the center of the Uchiha Flame Formation, and was fired without hesitation—there was no wind-up.

Playing around with mechanics is fine, but one must never actually get hit by this thing.

In the future timeline, Ōnoki used this very strike to annihilate the Susanoo of twenty-five Wood Release clones of Uchiha Madara.

Taking this head-on was equivalent to suicide.

"Fifth!"

Jiraiya, having ended his Sage Mode, caught sight of this scene and felt a premonition of disaster.

"Xiu!" Shisui used the Body Flicker, attempting to rush back to the main battlefield.

Pure white light soared into the sky.

A cube enveloped the Uchiha Flame Formation.

Everything inside was completely evaporated, reduced to microscopic particles that even the Sharingan could not perceive.

"Ha... ha, killing the Hokage before the war—my Land of Earth has not lost," Ōnoki said, clutching his waist as he slowly descended from the sky, his gaze simultaneously locking onto the masked man, Obito.

Enemy?

Friend?

Yet another evil Uchiha.

The exposed eye matched the pattern of the Fifth Hokage's left eye!

"..." Obito, intangible, narrowed his eyes and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a pity to lose the aggressive potential of an original Mangekyo, but even if I only have one eye, I am still invincible in the Ninja World!

"Taking out a Hokage who exceeded our control is barely worth it," Black Zetsu muttered. "Mother, the days you suffer in the Moon Dimension are coming to an end. In fifteen years at most, I will rescue you."

For a moment, the two Tailed Beasts, which were more eye-catching outside the combat circle, became unimportant.

Except for the Konoha side, everyone felt that they were the ones winning.

However—

"How could an Uchiha die to his own clan's inherited ninjutsu?"

In the span of a single night, a voice that Ōnoki would never forget for the rest of his life rang out.

From an inconspicuous large tree, Uchiha Xiu crawled out. "Don't you agree, our little hero of Konoha, Obito?"

Color returned to Shisui's face.

The "immortal clone" strategy!

That's right, it was the Cautious Hero Tactics that the Hokage loved most—the personal style that had driven Sarutobi Hiruzen and Monkey King Enma absolutely mad that night.

Only a ninja with massive chakra reserves, the ability to use large-scale Wood Release to create favorable terrain before a battle to form a brilliant smokescreen, and innate powerful perception could pull this off.

"You beast who knows nothing of respecting your master and elders, do you even deserve to be called a hero of Konoha? Die!"

Jiraiya, holding a Rasengan, silently lunged forward.

Intangibility.

After his identity was exposed, Obito, whose mind was shaken and who had become dependent on his personal abilities, instinctively wanted to escape.

However, just as he had used his right eye as a simple medium to interfere with Uchiha Xiu through ocular power resonance, his trump card skill briefly failed.

"Wood Release: Mayfly Technique." Black Zetsu attempted to rush over to save him at the first opportunity.

"Dojutsu, Kotoamatsukami!"

Unless the Flying Thunder God was used, Body Flicker Shisui was the fastest.

Only the Raikage could contend with him.

Face to face.

Three eyes met!

In an instant, the four-bladed pattern on Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly.

Thump, thump...

The moment Shisui activated Kotoamatsukami without asking for permission, Uchiha Xiu, who was using his left eye to resonate and counter-interfere with Obito, seemed to hear a rhythmic heartbeat.

However, he knew this was not the sound of a real heartbeat, but rather the result of Shisui engaging in a resonance of will with Obito.

In less than a single breath, it connected!

Admittedly, while Kotoamatsukami is invading the opponent's brain to modify their will, it can be detected by the Byakugan—just as Danzo was exposed by Ao, who possessed a Byakugan, while attempting to modify the will of the Land of Iron's General, Mifune, at the Five Kage Summit.

But once the modification of the will is complete and the ocular power is withdrawn, the controlled target becomes indistinguishable from a normal person, with no abnormal chakra lingering in their brain.

This is why Kotoamatsukami is hailed as the strongest genjutsu.

It only requires one success; there is no need to expend effort to maintain it afterward.

Moreover, Shisui himself was not an outsider like Danzo who was not an Uchiha; he could exert its full potential one hundred percent.

Bang!

Jiraiya changed his move mid-air, slightly adjusting his trajectory to slam the amplified Big Ball Rasengan into Black Zetsu, forcing the mysterious Pitcher Plant Monster to retreat.

"Lord Hokage, I have already infiltrated his brain. How should I modify his will?"

Looking at Shisui, whose performance earned him a metaphorical pat on the back, Uchiha Xiu weighed the situation and commanded:

"Be loyal to me!"

Xiu = Konoha.

The equation held true.

No flaws there!

Shisui's vision blurred, his sight becoming extremely hazy as a sensation of his head about to explode tore through him.

"No, impossible!" Black Zetsu, who had retreated into the ground, was going mad.

What has happened to this world? It feels so alien. I have plotted for over a thousand years, finally waiting for the moment to close the net.

And yet, the tool failed me!

Should I attempt a forced remedy?

After Mother created me, she bestowed upon me a portion of Kekkei Mōra-level chakra to alter the stone tablet left by the Sage of Six Paths, incite the opposition between Indra and Asura, and deceive Uchiha Madara.

The thought flashed and vanished; Black Zetsu fled.

The final layer of the millennium-long plan, known only to me, must never be exposed.

If a pawn is broken, I shall simply replace it.

It is merely a matter of extending the timeline!

One hundred years, two hundred years—I can wait.

Obito can at most reveal the disguise that I was created by Madara.

Because I deceived Madara as well.

"Stupid tools are better replaced. Pain, Rinnegan, Nagato... aside from you, whom I cannot discard, I still have cards to play."

"..." Uchiha Xiu breathed a secret sigh of relief.

Even the Sage of Six Paths-empowered Madara couldn't withstand a heart-piercing strike from the "Filial Son."

It is best that he ran.

Regardless, I hold the advantage in intelligence; I have seen through everything, from your secrets to those of Kaguya.

--I can return to the Main God Space to evolve; the snowball effect will only accelerate!

Ōnoki, his face grim, remained silent.

"Kill!"

"Take down the thieves from Konoha!"

Outside the village.

Black shadows came flying in one after another.

Another Iwagakure unit stationed outside had returned to reinforce, numbering over a thousand.

Should I imitate the Third Raikage and fight ten thousand Iwagakure ninja alone, only to die of exhaustion after three days and nights?

Not worth it.

The Four-Tails and Five-Tails, which had been wantonly wreaking havoc a second ago, rapidly returned to their respective Jinchuriki.

Swish, swish. The two top-tier Iwagakure combatants, their pupils imprinted with Mangekyo patterns, took their places beside Uchiha Xiu of their own accord.

Left and right guardians, in position!

"Iwagakure's Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu is, in fact, a bit more interesting than I anticipated."

"It is just that this so-called Will of Stone is nothing more than a stubborn rock that shatters at the slightest touch when faced with true power."

Standing behind Uchiha Xiu, Hyuga Tokuma realized something, his expression turning subtle.

Shisui and Jiraiya returned, having no heart to deliver a parting speech.

Both were utterly exhausted.

They had no idea how they were supposed to retreat.

Should they manipulate Obito and use the Kamui dimension?

Uchiha Xiu, however, was very generous, proactively giving his teammates who had performed well their moment in the spotlight:

"Before us, there are no enemies."

Standing in the air, Ōnoki gasped for breath like a defeated dog, secretly mobilizing his chakra.

Blah, blah, blah, what is he babbling about!

Next, it is time for this old man's final Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu.

If three thousand ninja troops inside and out aren't enough to grind you down?

Then five thousand, eight thousand, ten thousand...

Hum!

A beam of golden light crashed down from the firmament.

"Obito, the fool who delivered the Kamui eye right to my doorstep, carrying high-value White Zetsu cells, plus Son Goku and Kokuō, two Tailed Beasts."

"Heh heh, a massive success. A million-fold extraction~"

With Uchiha Xiu at the center, everyone began to float.

Item: Negacion applied.

"You are too arrogant, Ōnoki."

"No one has stood in the sky from the very beginning."

"Not you, not me, not even the Sage of Six Paths."

"But this unbearable vacancy on the 'Throne of the Sky' ends now."

"From this moment on—

I shall stand in the heavens!"