Obito's Struggle

At this moment, within the Four Red Yang Formation, Neji's evolution was complete.

He had already extracted nearly two-thirds of the Incomplete Ten-Tails' Chakra. The Ten-Tails began to resist the remaining portion instinctively and struggle violently, but Nagato's Rinnegan and the barrier created by the four Hokage firmly suppressed it.

Neji stopped drawing.

It's not that we can't continue, it's that we don't need to anymore.

He hovered in mid-air—not with Chakra, not with Ninjutsu, but with the power of the Tenseigan itself, an almost instinctive manipulation of gravity and repulsion. A bluish-green light flowed around him, and his eyes were fully formed: bluish-green pupils with the trajectory of rotating stars deep within them, and pale golden sacred patterns around the eye sockets.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Her skin was fair, her fingers were long and slender, and she had no Curse Mark or restraints.

He raised his hand and touched his forehead.

Smooth skin, nothing at all.

The Caged Bird is really gone.

It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination; it truly and permanently disappeared.

Then, Neji smiled.

It started with soft chuckles, then turned into loud laughter, and finally into a near-manic, hysterical burst of laughter.

"Hahahahahaha--!!!"

Laughter echoed within the Four Red Yang Formation, across the battlefield, and in the ears of everyone present.

There was so much in that laughter—the pain of seventeen years of suppressed suffering, the torment of three years, the fear of countless struggles on the edge of life and death, the ecstasy of finally breaking free from fate, the elation of gaining absolute power, and a kind of... almost divine arrogance.

The Three Laughing Heroes of Konoha?

No, we can add one more person now.

Neji Hyuga, possessor of the Tenseigan, breaker of the Caged Bird, thief of the Ten-Tails Chakra.

He floated in mid-air, arms outstretched, laughing heartily as if declaring to the world:

I am free.

I'm finally free!

Meanwhile, in the distance, in that forest that had been razed to the ground.

Obito finally broke free from the chaos caused by Kotoamatsukami.

It wasn't that he defeated Kotoamatsukami's will, but rather that he "resolved" Kotoamatsukami's effects in some extreme way—he forcibly stripped away, compressed, and sealed the implanted "new will" into a corner of his consciousness. It was like removing a tumor and then stitching up the wound in the most brutal way.

This allowed him to preserve his self-awareness and his belief in the Eye of the Moon Plan, but at a heavy price.

His mind suffered permanent damage, his Chakra control became extremely unstable, and even the most basic thinking was accompanied by severe headaches.

And what's worse is --

A sharp, excruciating pain shot through my side.

Obito lowered his head and looked at his side. There, his black robe had been kicked open with a large hole, and there was a clear footprint-shaped bruise on the surface of his skin. Deeper inside, at least three ribs were broken, and there were signs of internal bleeding.

That kick...

It was "alcohol" that kicked it.

That "Jiu" who had always been respectful to him and had never made any suspicious moves, that "Jiu" whom he had just admired and considered a valuable assistant in the Eye of the Moon Plan—

She betrayed him.

Moreover, he used a method he never expected.

Kotoamatsukami Crow).

Orochimaru's gift.

Everything was a scheme, everything was a trap.

Obito's body trembled violently with extreme anger and humiliation. He raised his head, looking towards the direction of the Four Red Yang Formation, towards the figure laughing maniacally suspended in mid-air, and then—

He was stunned.

Because in his perception, the figure's Chakra...

Familiar, yet strange.

What's familiar is the texture of Yin Release, the Byakugan Chakra fluctuations belonging to the Hyuga Clan.

What was unfamiliar was the intensity, the purity, and that... godlike sense of oppression.

Furthermore, the Ten-Tails 'Chakra...

Obito suddenly turned his head and looked at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

The golem was still there, but it had lost nearly two-thirds of its Chakra. Moreover, the throbbing sensation of the Ten-Tails' imminent full awakening had become extremely weak, as if a giant whose blood had been drained had fallen into a deep coma.

The Ten-Tails 'Chakra has been stolen.

It was stolen by that "alcohol".

But the true identity of "alcohol"...

Obito activated his Rinnegan at full power, piercing through the distance and the light of the Four Red Yang Formation, and saw that face clearly.

Young, handsome, the face of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy.

There was no Caged Bird Seal on his forehead.

But Obito recognized that face.

Three years ago, at the Chunin Ninja Exams Konoha, he had seen him from afar through the spores of White Zetsu. That boy known as the "genius of the Hyuga Clan," that Branch House member who defeated Uzumaki Naruto and displayed astonishing potential.

Neji Hyuga

It was you.

It turns out it was you all along.

"Neji... Neji..." Obito spat out the two names through gritted teeth, each word filled with deep-seated hatred, "How dare you... How dare you--!!!"

He wanted to rush over, to tear the thief to pieces, to reclaim his Ten-Tails Chakra, and to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan.

But he couldn't move.

It's not that my body can't move, it's that my reason tells me: I can't move.

That Neji Hyuga, his Chakra fluctuations now surpass Kage Level, surpass Tailed Beast, and even surpass the Incomplete Ten-Tails. Those emerald green eyes, that ability to levitate, that oppressive feeling that made his heart tremble just from their gaze...

It is at least infinitely close to the Six Paths Tier.

No, that's the Six Paths Tier.

He himself suffered mental trauma, severe physical injuries, and his Chakra was out of control; Susanoo not even be able to maintain a stable Susanoo.

Charging forward would be suicide.

Just as Obito was gripped by extreme anger and helplessness, a shadowy mass began to wriggle on the ground.

Black Zetsu slowly emerged from the shadows at Obito's feet. Its face was expressionless—its half-black, half-white face was inherently difficult to be expressive—but a complex emotion flickered in its yellow eyes.

There was shock, there was anger, but deep down, perhaps there was also a hint of... frustration at having one's plans disrupted?

"Obito," Black Zetsu's voice was still hoarse, but this time, there was an unusual calm in it, "You've lost control of this situation."

Obito whirled his head, his crimson right eye fixed on Black Zetsu: "What did you say?"

"That brat from the Hyuga Branch Family," Black Zetsu looked towards the Four Red Yang Formation, then at Neji, who was still laughing maniacally, "He stole the Ten-Tails' Chakra and evolved some kind of... similar to the Rinnegan, but different Dōjutsu. Now, his strength is already above yours. Moreover, Orochimaru, Nagato, and the Reanimated Body of the four Hokage —are all with him."

It paused, its voice growing even colder:

"You've already lost, Obito."

"No--!!!" Obito roared like a wounded beast, "I haven't lost! The Eye of the Moon Plan hasn't been completed yet--!"

"But you can't win now." Black Zetsu interrupted him, his yellow eyes turning to Obito, devoid of any emotion, only pure, cold calculation. "Now, there's only one way, perhaps, to turn the tide."

Obito stared intently at it. "What method?"

Black Zetsu remained silent for three seconds.

Then, it slowly uttered that name:

"Resurrect Madara Uchiha."

Obito's pupils contracted sharply.

Spot.

Madara Uchiha.

The true legend who entrusted him with the Rinnegan, passed on the Eye of the Moon Plan to him, and left the control formula on his heart.

Resurrected... Madara?

"Only Lord Madara," Black Zetsu continued, his voice carrying a strange, seductive quality, "Has the ability to fight that Hyuga Clan brat, the ability to regain control of the Ten-Tails, and the ability to... complete the Eye of the Moon Plan."

"As for you, Obito..."

Black Zetsu looked at Obito, his yellow eyes narrowing slightly:

"You've done enough. But now, it's time... to give the stage back to the real stars."

Obito stood there, his body trembling violently with anger, humiliation, and resentment.

He couldn't accept it.

Unable to accept his defeat, unable to accept that everything was stolen by a Hyuga Branch Family brat, unable to accept... He wanted to revive Madara, to hand everything over to that old man.

But as he looked at Neji within the Four Red Yang Formation, at the figure suspended in mid-air like a god, at those terrified, bluish-green eyes—

In the end, Obito fell silent.

He lowered his head, looking at his trembling hands, the wound on his side, and the forest he had destroyed.

Then, he slowly raised his head, and the last glimmer of light in his right eye behind the mask went out.

All that remained was a deathly silence, a darkness called "despair".

As Black Zetsu observed Obito's reaction, a barely perceptible glint of satisfaction flashed in his yellow eyes.

The plan, though disrupted.

But the ultimate goal is still on the right track.

Next, all that's needed is to revive Madara...

It's not too late for everything.

Within the Four Red Yang Formation, the voice of Edo Tensei Nagato suddenly rang out, "Can we deal with Uchiha Obito now?"

Nagato's voice interrupted Neji's maniacal laughter. Neji returned to the ground and first greeted Orochimaru, "Lord Orochimaru, thank you!"

Then, glancing in Obito's direction, he said calmly to Nagato, "Go."

Orochimaru then controlled the four Impure World Reincarnation Lord Hokage to dismantle the Four Red Ray Formation: Modified. At this moment Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, although still with its eyes open, looked as if it had just woken up, with each eye only slightly open. Neji was just thinking about whether to destroy the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path when suddenly it disappeared.

Ignoring Black Zetsu's advice to recall the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Summoning Technique, looking towards Konoha, Obito he hadn't lost yet. As long as he could capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki — Uzumaki Naruto — the Eye of the Moon Plan could still proceed. Obito Nagato rushing towards him, he ordered Black Zetsu, "Send the 100,000 White Zetsu troops back first."

Black Zetsu gritted his teeth in anger, but even Obito in his current state couldn't control himself and could only helplessly obey, "Understood."

Then Obito, carrying the half-dead Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, returned to the Akatsuki base through Hollowfication.