Blood Coffin Breaks Ground, Madara Descends!

The Land of Iron's meeting hall was blazing with underfloor heating, yet the air was freezing cold.

The parchment scroll lay flat in the center of the solid wood round table, and five seals representing the highest authority in the Shinobi World had just been placed on it. Before the ink was even dry, a hole suddenly appeared in the floor in the corner of the hall, Kakashi's Ninja Dog, Pakkun, rushed out covered in blood and mud.

"Naruto! There's a self-destructing explosion underground..."

Before the words were even finished, the floor tiles in the center of the hall vanished silently. They didn't shatter, but were directly erased by some spatial rule, turning into a mass of blackness.

The black vortex expanded rapidly. Mifune were drawn, and a chilling glint of light slashed down towards the center of the vortex.

"When!"

The crisp clang of metal clashing against metal was deafening. A jet-black Uchiha Gunbai steadily blocked the blade, sparks flying everywhere.

Obito, dressed in Akatsuki cloak, slowly rose from the distorted space. Behind his orange Spiral Mask, his single eye coldly swept over the scroll on the round table. Several remnants of his army, draped in dark gray cloaks, stood behind him like ghosts.

"A beautiful signature." Obito's voice was hoarse, tinged with condescending mockery. "Unfortunately, rules on paper can never stop a real war."

The Five Kage guards instantly Hand Seals, and various Chakra lights illuminated the hall, completely locking onto the center with killing intent.

Naruto didn't move.

He leaned back in his chair, his long legs crossed, his knuckles tapping rhythmically on the table. "A loser who doesn't even dare show his true face, yet he's so desperate he's flipping the table." Naruto raised his eyelids, his icy blue eyes staring directly at the mask. "Looks like this treaty really did cut off your tail."

Obito didn't get angry; instead, he laughed. He raised his right hand, which was covered by a black leather glove, and casually snapped his fingers.

Click click click!

Three black spatial rifts suddenly tore open outside the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows of the hall. The rifts were not located in this heavily guarded venue, but rather in the civilian refuge area on the north side of the Land of Iron, a kilometer away.

The three-headed, mountain-sized, Stitched Summoning Beast crashed onto the snow with a deafening roar, its massive shadow instantly engulfing countless unarmed refugees.

"These three stitched-together beasts are stuffed with Explosive Tag." Obito spread his hands, relaxed. "Choose, everyone. Go save those civilians who are of no use to you, or stay here and surround me?"

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

Obito's single eye swept across the round table. "By the way, whoever leaves this table first will have their village become the next main target of the White Zetsu army's all-out attack. I think you all understand the principle of making an example of someone."

This is an open strategy.

Going to rescue them would scatter the defenses, making them easy targets for the Akatsuki to defeat one by one; not going to rescue them would allow civilians to die before their eyes, causing the newly established alliance's trust to collapse instantly, and the Land of Iron, would definitely turn against them on the spot.

The Raikage crushed the armrest of his chair, his usually explosive temper now frozen in place, his body crackling with lightning. Ōnoki Gaara violently, and as he tried to get up, Temari his shoulder and pressed it down firmly.

Obito watched this scene with satisfaction, his gaze finally settling on Naruto: "Choose, Nine-Tails. To be the savior, or the butcher?"

Naruto stood up straight.

Without Hand Seals, with a loud boom, dazzling golden Pure Yang Chakra shot into the sky, and the materialized shockwave directly overturned the heavy round table.

"Only children make choices." A glint of rage flashed in Naruto's eyes. "I want them all."

Bang bang bang!

Dozens of Shadow Clone appeared out of thin air. Each clone held a specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai in its palm. Without uttering a single word, golden light flashed, and the hall was instantly emptied by more than half.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, a kilometer away lies the refuge area.

As soon as the Giant Stitching Beast raised its foot, dozens of golden streaks of light descended from the sky like a meteor shower.

"Immortal Technique· Super Big Ball Multi-Rasengan!"

A violent roar slammed against the glass through the wind and snow. The three giant beasts were instantly blasted into a bloody pulp. Even the Explosive Tag inside their bodies, which had an astonishing capacity, were frozen to death on the spot by Chakra's Extreme Cold Ice Release, which was mixed with his Naruto, without even a spark.

Inside the venue, Naruto himself did not retreat an inch.

He suddenly thrust out his right hand, and five Chakra Chains burning with golden flames pierced the void like venomous snakes, forcefully locking up all the spatial barriers around Obito.

"I've absolved you of your guilt." Naruto tightened his grip on the chain, making a teeth-grinding grinding sound. "Now, it's your turn."

Obito's single eye beneath his mask suddenly contracted. He hadn't expected Naruto's Flying Thunder God to not only carry people, but also to make his clones perform such precise spatial jumps.

He didn't struggle; instead, he let out a low, cold laugh.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you're so strong it's an eyesore."

The few remaining members of Obito's group who hadn't moved suddenly ripped off their cloaks.

Those were not living people at all. They were deathly White Zetsu shells covered in dark red runes. Deeply embedded in the chest of each shell was a Black Rod that shimmered with an eerie light.

Pakkun's pupils constricted sharply in the corner. "Exactly the same as the suicide bombers in the underground troop transport tunnels!"

"Those beasts were just trying to keep you here." Obito instantly formed a strange hand seal.

Buzz!

The Black Rod on the chests of several White Zetsu simultaneously erupted with destructive red light, their Chakra compressed to the extreme.

At the same time, Obito's body began to become ethereal within the chains. He even went so far as to sacrifice his entire right arm, allowing the Adamantine Sealing Chains to shred it directly, and using the gushing blood and the instant the space was torn apart, he forcibly escaped into Kamui.

"The Fourth Shinobi World War has officially begun." Obito's hoarse voice echoed in the collapsing space. "Enjoy this opening ceremony."

Naruto shook off his broken arm from the chains and was about to use Yang Release to extinguish the self-destruct runes of the White Zetsu.

"Naruto!"

Hinata had been standing at the back, suddenly stepped forward, pressing her hands sharply to her temples, veins bulging around her pure white eyes. Her usually gentle voice became unusually sharp and urgent. "Never mind what's above! Beneath the earth's crust... an extremely terrifying source of Chakra is forcibly breaking through the rock layers! The venue is going to collapse!"

The moment he finished speaking, golden Sage Mode eyeshadow suddenly appeared around Naruto's eyes.

Without Byakugan, his terrifying perception had already caught that chilling, sinister aura.

It's not a self-destructing puppet.

Obito's move wasn't about using a few White Zetsu to kill the Five Kage. All these deceptions were to conceal the true commotion underground.

Three hundred meters underground.

A massive, dark red wooden coffin, like a raging battering ram, pierced upwards through the dead rock layer at a terrifying speed.

On the heavy coffin lid, a large, arrogant character was written in black blood – "Spot".

Boom!

The floor in the very center of the venue suddenly shattered, sending endless rubble and dust billowing into the sky and obscuring all the light.