Chapter 150 (Patreon)

“Giving up? Hm... a sensible decision.”

When Madara saw that Mihawk had stopped pursuing him, he made no attempt to continue the battle.

The wings of his Perfect Susanoo folded as the enormous blue warrior descended from the sky.

Instead of returning to the cliff, Madara landed upon a barren stretch of land far from the main battlefield.

His Perfect Susanoo gradually dissolved around him.

Whoosh!

The moment Madara touched the ground, one of Hashirama’s Wood Clones separated from the battlefield and rushed toward him.

Mihawk observed all of this through his Observation Haki.

He made no attempt to interfere.

Madara could occupy himself with Hashirama for the time being.

Mihawk sat down upon the remaining section of the cliff and looked through the transparent walls of the Four Red Yang Formation.

His gaze settled upon the reunited members of Team 7.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had recreated the legendary Three-Way Deadlock, each displaying power that had already reached the level of a Kage.

However, no one on the battlefield could have imagined how dramatically that balance would change before another day had passed.

Naruto and Sasuke would soon receive the power of the Six Paths, leaving the Kage level far behind and becoming the two shinobi upon whom the fate of the entire world depended.

“Mihawk-kun.”

Hinata descended from the sky and landed behind him.

Mihawk looked up at her.

The seriousness he had displayed during his confrontation with Madara disappeared, replaced by a faint smile.

“Hinata, when did you learn Tengai Shinsei?”

The principle behind the technique was not difficult for Mihawk to understand.

Many of the highest-level dōjutsu abilities did not need to be developed through years of experimentation. Once the user’s eyes evolved and reached the necessary level, the required understanding could appear almost instinctively.

The Edo Tensei could reproduce the abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Itachi’s ability to continue using Amaterasu after being reanimated had already proven that.

Madara’s recreated Rinnegan could also use the standard techniques of the Six Paths, including Banshō Ten’in and Chibaku Tensei, even if it could not reproduce every ability of his original living eyes.

Tengai Shinsei appeared to be a unique Rinnegan technique, but its principle was far simpler.

Madara merely applied gravitational attraction on an enormous scale, drawing meteorites down from beyond the atmosphere.

The multiple arms of his Susanoo formed the necessary hand seals and reinforced the gravitational pull.

Hinata did not need to do the same.

The Tenseigan’s control over gravity far surpassed Banshō Ten’in. Once she understood the principle, she could reproduce the technique without relying upon Susanoo or additional hand seals.

Hinata gave him a gentle smile.

“To be honest, I wasn’t certain it would work.”

She placed her hands behind her back.

“But I decided to try it anyway. It turned out to be much easier than I expected.”

Mihawk studied her for a moment.

“Hinata, you’ve changed.”

Hinata blinked, looking innocent.

“What do you mean?”

Mihawk did not answer.

He merely smiled and returned his attention to the battlefield.

The once-timid girl had finally learned how to hide things from him.

That trace of defiance he had noticed before they returned to the battlefield had not been his imagination.

Hinata had clearly understood how much stronger her Tenseigan had become, yet she had deliberately kept it a secret so she could surprise him.

Mihawk was genuinely pleased by that change.

The stronger Hinata became, the more confidence she gained.

Her light was no longer hidden behind her former hesitation.

Just how far had her control over gravity and repulsion advanced?

Hinata covered her lips and gave him a quiet, knowing smile.

That expression was beginning to resemble Hanabi more and more.

She sat down beside Mihawk, and the two watched the battle from the cliff.

Within the Four Red Yang Formation, Team 7 and the Allied Shinobi Forces unleashed a storm of ninjutsu against the Ten-Tails.

Although the Ten-Tails had been pinned beneath Hashirama’s crimson torii gates and the shattered remains of Hinata’s meteorite, it could still separate parts of its body at will.

Countless smaller creatures broke away from its immense form and rushed toward the Allied Shinobi Forces.

The Ten-Tails contained the complete chakra of seven tailed beasts, along with portions of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.

Even its divided bodies possessed considerable strength.

However, they could not threaten Naruto in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode or Sasuke with his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

Sakura charged through the smaller creatures with the Strength of a Hundred Seal spread across her body, destroying several with every punch.

Naruto raised a Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, while black flames gathered within Sasuke’s hand.

The two attacks combined and struck the exposed head of the Ten-Tails.

BOOM!

A violent explosion of wind and black flames erupted within the barrier.

Hinata watched them with visible amazement.

“Mihawk-kun, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun have both changed so much.”

“No matter how much they’ve changed, it doesn’t compare to you.”

Mihawk’s words were sincere.

Hinata’s current strength had already surpassed both Naruto and Sasuke as they were now.

Had her Byakugan followed its ordinary path, she might only have reached the level of an elite jōnin at this point.

The Tenseigan had instead carried her beyond the limits of an ordinary Kage.

Hinata’s smile grew brighter after hearing Mihawk’s praise.

Regardless of whether she used another large-scale gravitational technique or revealed even greater control over repulsion, Mihawk would no longer be surprised.

Hinata had clearly been concealing more than she had shown.

Mihawk suddenly raised an eyebrow.

His attention shifted away from Team 7 and moved toward the area behind the Ten-Tails.

Space began to distort.

A pale spiral appeared in the air and rapidly expanded into a circular vortex.

Hinata immediately activated her Tenseigan.

“Mihawk-kun, that’s space–time ninjutsu!”

A figure fell from the distorted space.

Obito crashed to the ground, clutching his chest.

A massive hole had been torn straight through his body by Kakashi’s Raikiri.

Despite the terrible injury, Obito was still alive.

The artificial half of his body created from White Zetsu and Hashirama’s cells had kept him from dying immediately.

More importantly, Kakashi’s attack had destroyed the curse tag Madara had placed upon his heart.

“AAAAAH!”

Obito forced himself upright and released a scream filled with pain.

Black markings spread across the artificial right half of his body.

Far from the battlefield, Madara activated the black receivers hidden inside Obito and attempted to take control of him remotely.

Obito’s hands were forced together.

Madara intended to make him perform the Outer Path: Rinne Rebirth and restore Madara to life.

However, Obito resisted.

His fingers trembled violently as he fought against Madara’s control.

The hand seal began to change.

Madara’s expression immediately darkened.

Obito had no intention of resurrecting him.

Instead, he was turning the technique toward the Ten-Tails.

“AAAAAAAH!”

Obito released another agonized roar as he completed the new hand seal.

The imprisoned Ten-Tails suddenly convulsed.

Its enormous body began twisting around a single point as though it were being drawn into Kamui.

The massive creature distorted into a spiralling vortex.

WHIRRRR!

Its body broke apart into a fluid-like torrent of chakra and poured into Obito.

The crimson torii gates and the shattered meteorite remained behind as the Ten-Tails vanished from beneath them.

A pale spherical membrane formed around Obito, completely enclosing his body before rising into the air.

Hinata’s expression became serious.

Her Tenseigan penetrated the outer membrane and saw what was happening within.

“Chakra...”

Hinata’s eyes widened.

“An enormous amount of chakra is gathering inside him. It’s even greater than the Ten-Tails’ chakra was before.”

Madara had failed to control Obito.

Not only had Obito prevented Madara’s resurrection, but he had seized the Ten-Tails for himself.

He was becoming its second jinchūriki.

Mihawk slowly rose to his feet.

The moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.

“Hinata, prepare for battle.”

“Yes!”

Hinata stood beside him.

In the next instant, both figures vanished from the cliff and rushed toward Obito.