Chapter 177 - Shinigami's Peak

Obito doesn't focus on his cut arm or the fact that Ren insulted him, he focuses his gaze on the cut Shinju (God Tree) as he heard a voice say 'Take me in, the Shinju, the Juubi... Absorb it all', then he quickly flies toward the falling tree, and as soon as his hand touches it, the tree is once again being absorbed into his body, once done he stands on the sky and says "I see... So this was the Shinju... Hahahaha... The time has come for everything to become one!".

At the same time, Ren clicks his togue then he saw that Sakura is already focusing on healing Sasuke, but with his heart damaged the only thing that she can do on the battlefield is keep him alive, so Ren quickly moves next to him and starts using Kaido as he says to his sister "I'll fix his heart, you focus on the rest!".

Meanwhile, Shinigami's Mala (Buddhist Prayer Bead) enlarge and quickly binds Orochimaru, preventing him from moving, then all of a sudden, light returns in Orochimaru's eyes, and looking around confused he asks "What happened? Why am I here!? Why can't I move!!?", Shinigami looks at him and replies "You were under your enemy control... Well, technically you still are... This is some nasty technique, it doesn't hypnotize your mind but your soul, and is so entrenched into it that removing it is equal to destroying your soul, you are only sane now thanks to my Mala and my control over souls".

Hearing that Orochimaru begins to panic and yells "Does that mean that I will be that kid's puppet forever!!??", but Shinigami shakes his head and replies "No, not forever... this technique last only for 30 min... But you don't have to worry about that..." and the cursed seal on his right arm light up once again as he says "I told you before, 'Once I regain my power, I'll take my throne back', well... This is the time".

And without hesitation, he trusts his arm into Orochimaru's huge body, then from it, he pulls out a transparent giant white snake with a body composed of many smaller snakes, that powerlessly tries to wriggle to escape Shinigami's firm grip while his face is stuck in a soundless scream, Shinigami looks at Orochimaru's soul and says "Itadakimasu" before biting on it, and absorbing Orochimaru's soul.

Once Shinigami ate his soul, Orochimaru's body turns into ash and disperse, while at the same time, Shinigami's Chakra spikes to unimaginable levels surpassing even Obito in his full Jinchuriki form, "Finally I'm complete once again!" and the cursed seal on his body starts to disappear and his form changes.

His tanto transforms into a dreadful scythe with a slit-eye purple gem on its heel, this gem begins to generate numerous jet-black and purple flames, which, burn away Shinigami's flesh, reducing his entire body to little more than a skeleton, with his head becoming a horned skull and his hands and arms being reduced to bone, though he retains both his Mala and priest-like attire.

In the meantime, while Naruto and Sasuke are out of combat, together with Ren, Sakura, Minato, Karin, and Kabuto who are rescuing them, Jugo and Itachi focus on protecting Sasuke's healing team, and Yakumo uses her illusions to hide Naruto's one, two groups forms to fight the new threat Shinigami, and Obito who is now getting ready to start his Infinite Tsukuyomi.

In one group, Kakashi, who dressed his injuries, came out of Kamui Dimension and regrouped with Gai, Gaara, and Hashirama while explaining to the others that Ninjutsu does not work on him and that only Senjutsu and Taijutsu can hurt him, hearing that Gai once again opens the seventh gate, The Gate of Wonder, and yells "In other words... It's time for the youthful beast to take charge!!".

As Gai quickly rushes toward Obito, Minato warns him of being careful of the Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Ball) and the shakujō (Buddish Staff), Gai's quick offensive force Obito back and spotting an opening he uses the Hirudora (Daytime Tiger), but Obito use his shakujō to counter-attack, crashing Gai into the ground as he is blown back a few meters, then Obito attack with his Gudōdama to finish him off.

But some wooden branches grew out of the ground taking Gai to safety back to the group while behind Obito, a huge wooden statue of an amphibian with a turtle-like shell on its back and a fedora hat on his head with an inflated belly and thick limbs appears, and attack Obito with an open palm, forcing him to jump away, this is Agent P's Senpō Mokuton: Mokukamonohashi no Jutsu (Sage Art Wood Release: Wood Platypus Technique).

Seeing that Hashirama exclaims "Oh! A Wood Platypus!! I thought they were exint... Some of my Jutsu took them as my inspiration!" then he joins the fight using the Senpō Mokuton: Shin Sūsenju (Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands) which creates a titanic, many-handed wooden statue, that soon starts attacking Obito.

At the same time, Mecha-Naruto came flying and starts bombarding Obito with Missiles forging him to use the Gudōdama to make a shield then he uses Shinra Tensei to blow away both Agent P and Hashirama, he also takes advantage of this to pin Hashirama next to his brother with a volley of black stakes.

Meanwhile, Kakashi asks Gai if he is okay, and Gai replies that he only has a broken arm and rib, then Kakashi seeing that all their attack are useless says "It seems that all our attacks didn't work... What should we do... He's just... Too strong...".

But Gai stops him and says "Wai Kakashi... it's still too soon to completely give up! The springtime of our youth has yet to fade away!! Don't lose hope! We may not always be able to accomplish all the things we wish for... but if we only do the things we want to do, we'll never start... Just like my challenges to you... This is by no means just some show of bravery or courage...".

Hearing this Kakashi realizes something and yells "You... Couldn't be...?!" and walking forward Gai says "The green days of Konoha are over, the time has come to become the red beast" then Gai gives a thumb up to Kakashi, and the others and runs forward as he pushes his thumb into a particular point in his torso where his heart is located, and a Steam of Blood is emitted from his pores and hair, resembling a flaming red aura Gai yells "Release!!! Hachimon (Eight Gates) Released Formation!!!!".

Meanwhile, while Gai is about to start another fight with Obito, the battle against Shinigami is going even worse, Dosu, Haku, Tajiro, Yahiko, and Konan, and the remaining Kages, plus the rest of the Ninja Alliance are already out of breath, no matter how they attack, they are totally unable to hurt Shinigami, his Hierro is so strong that he can tank all of their Jutsu without even moving, in fact until now he in fact didn't move at all not even to attack he is just looking at Obito's fight as the rest exhaust their Chakra on him, not even acknowledging their existence, leaving them in despair as he reached a level that they can't even dream of.