Chapter 248: The Great War—On the Brink of Eruption

Half a month later.

Inside Ryūchi Cave.

A figure was sent flying with immense force.

After crashing hard against the wall, he tumbled heavily to the ground.

"Hiss—Damn, that hurts…"

Obito gritted his teeth as he picked himself up, wincing from the dull pain that throbbed through his entire body.

TAT.

Watching his grandson's disheveled state, Madara crossed his arms and burst into hearty laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha! Don't make that face, Obito."

"What? Getting sent flying a hundred times a day makes it look like I'm abusing you or something?"

"So, how do you feel? Do you sense any improvement?"

Obito recalled his relentless beatdowns over the past half month and nodded earnestly, his expression filled with emotion.

"I can feel it. At first, I couldn't even last ten moves against you. But now, I can survive a hundred rounds!"

Madara performed a graceful mid-air flip, landing effortlessly in front of his grandson.

As he patted the dust off Obito's clothes, he smiled in satisfaction.

"You used to rely too much on your dōjutsu and abilities, neglecting the most fundamental—and most crucial—aspects of combat."

"But after this special training, I've made up for that shortcoming."

Obito scratched his head with a goofy grin, his gratitude genuine.

"Heh heh, thanks, Grandpa Madara."

During these grueling training sessions, Madara had spared no effort in passing down all his lifelong battle experience to Obito—dumping everything on him like an intense cram school from another life.

Even though Obito had only grasped a fraction of it, his gains were still immeasurable.

His ability to control the flow of battle had already leveled up significantly.

Seeing that Obito had adjusted his stance, Madara chuckled and beckoned him over.

"Come on, let's continue, Obito."

Obito, however, shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I want to head back to the Shinobi World for a bit. I'm worried about Konoha."

"The commotion we caused when capturing the Five-Tails and Eight-Tails was huge. I'm afraid it might have affected the village."

Madara had no objections to this and simply shrugged.

"If you're worried, then go take a look. Just remember—don't reveal your identity as the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki."

Obito nodded slightly and made an "OK" gesture.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. I'm just gathering intel. It's not like anyone's going to notice me."

"By the way, do you want to come with me? We could take out Black Zetsu while we're at it."

Madara hesitated for a moment, his expression showing interest. But then, he waved his hand dismissively.

"Forget it. Knowing Black Zetsu, he's already hiding somewhere unknown. We'll deal with him after we take care of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."

"I'll stay here and continue my training. I want to see if I can create a new set of Truth-Seeking Orbs."

Hearing that, Obito glanced at the orbs floating behind him, suddenly realizing something.

'Is Madara… feeling insecure because I have more Truth-Seeking Orbs than he does?'

Obito made a slight pushing motion with both hands.

The four small black spheres behind him floated toward Madara.

"Grandpa Madara, these four Truth-Seeking Orbs stand out too much. I'll leave them with you for now."

"You're studying them anyway, right? You can use mine for research. I don't mind if you consume a few."

Madara took the orbs with a faint smile.

"It's enough that you have the thought, but there's no way I'd actually take yours."

"Alright, hurry up and go. Be quick about it."

Obito turned away, raising a hand in farewell as he grinned.

"Got it. I'll bring you some oranges when I get back."

...

At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

Inside the Land of Grass.

The combined forces of the Wind, Cloud, and Earth nations had gathered, forming a vast army that stretched across the entire border.

The sheer number of heavily armed and battle-ready shinobi made it impossible to see where the iron tide ended.

...

Inside the Land of Fire.

Minato and the others stood at the forefront of Konoha's forces, their expressions grave, their brows heavy with concern.

Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, his face dark as storm clouds.

"A combined force of forty thousand troops? Hah… They really do hold Konoha in high regard."

(For reference, the Fourth Great Ninja War—where the entire fate of the ninja world was at stake—only gathered eighty thousand troops across six nations.)

Yamanaka Inoichi's expression remained stern as he spoke in a sharp tone.

"The enemy outnumbers us nearly two to one. If we engage in a direct battle, our chances of victory are slim."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and turned to Shikaku.

"Shikaku, in your opinion, is there any chance of negotiating with them?"

Shikaku slowly shook his head, answering with a hint of regret.

"They didn't come here to 'hold Konoha accountable.' They're just using that as an excuse to initiate a new round of power struggles."

"The Five Great Nations have been cutting military spending for years, exacerbating both internal and external tensions. And with the growing imbalance between the shinobi villages…"

"These three nations need a war. They crave a war. A war that will allow them to reclaim their former positions."

Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"I support Shikaku's analysis. As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like a large-scale war is inevitable."

Minato let out a quiet sigh and turned to Hiruzen.

"Lord Third, I'll leave things here to you. Please make sure everyone is ready for battle at any moment."

Hiruzen put away his pipe and nodded.

"Leave it to me."

After giving Hiruzen a brief nod, Minato turned to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, take an ANBU squad and come with me. We'll make one last attempt at negotiation."

Kakashi gave a silent nod and selected several elite ANBU members.

"(Uchiha Itachi), (Yamato), (Yakushi Kabuto), and (Uzuki Yugao)."

"You four, come with me. Our job is to protect the Fourth Hokage."

The four shinobi stepped forward from the ranks without a word.

Quietly, they followed behind Kakashi and Minato.

As the six of them walked out from Konoha's ranks, heading toward the three-nation coalition, Kakashi's face remained calm—but his mind was racing.

"Obito, where the hell are you?"

"Even if you show up, though… against an army of forty thousand, what can you possibly change…?"

Sigh…

He let out a quiet sigh.

There was no time to think about that now. He had to focus on protecting Minato.

...

Not far away.

Inside the ranks of the three-nation coalition, Ōnoki and the other leaders had already received word of Konoha's movements.

After a brief discussion, they also sent out a small envoy team to meet Minato.

Ōnoki's gaze remained fixed on the approaching Minato, his expression complicated.

He had already learned the truth about the attack on Iwagakure.

The mastermind behind the Yoru Village was not Uchiha Obito.

Nor was it Namikaze Minato.

It was Uchiha Madara—somehow resurrected from the dead!

But just as Shikaku had predicted, Iwagakure needed this war.

So Ōnoki had deliberately concealed the truth.

Together with the furious Raikage and the embattled Kazekage, they had chosen to ignite the flames of the Fourth Great Ninja War!

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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