"Sasuke, what are you planning to do?" Hiruzen asks with worry.

"Don't do anything stupid, Sasuke!" Kushina also reminds him.

Sasuke ignores them and continues to forcefully remove the black receiver rods from his body.

Thump… Thump…

Several faint pulses of chakra invade his body, harming his vitals.

Guffaw…

With the removal of the final chakra rod, Sasuke's wounds spurt out a large amount of blood. Sasuke's consciousness turns dizzy, and he falls to the ground.

"Sasuke, this kid!"

Sigh….

Kushina shakes her head.

"He shares a very close bond with Naruto. Both of them grew well under Izuna's care. Naruto and Sasuke are not only rivals but also brothers."

"Their friendship reminds me of…"

Tobirama creaks his neck towards a heartbroken Hashirama and Madara in the distance.

"That's… that's not Madara. He… he…" Hashirama mumbles to himself, ignoring others around him.

"Brother! Brother!"

"Husband! Husband!"

"Sensei! Sensei!"

"Lord First! Lord First!"

The group calls Hashirama's name several times, but he is lost in his thoughts.

"GRANDPA!"

However, Tsunade's shout wakes him out of his reverie.

"Tsuna…"

Hashirama turns around and glances at Tsunade and Minato.

"What happened here?"

Minato and Tsunade glance at the state of shinobis around them.

"It's Madara. He did this!" Mito sighs and quickly explains the details of the battle to them.

"He captured all the Nine-tailed beasts, including the Eight-Tails and Nine-tails from their jinchurukis."

"Then that means Naruto… he…" Tsunade clenches her fists.

"Naruto will be alright!" Minato finally opens his mouth.

"Right now, Izuna is taking care of him." He adds.

Phew…

"If it's him, then everything will be alright!" The group heaves a sigh of relief.

"But why isn't he taking action and stopping Madara?" Mito asks.

"Even I can't fathom his limits." Tobirama shakes his head.

"He is much stronger than me. And even perhaps Madara…" Hashirama glances in Madara's direction.

After capturing all the tailed beasts, Madara makes a series of hand signs and slams his palm on top of the Gedo Statue's head.

The eight eyes around its head shine with a bright hue. Only the ninth eye is a bit lacking compared to the rest.

Poof…

With a puff of white smoke, the ten-tails reappear on the battlefield.

"It's the Ten-Tails!"

The shinobis who had lowered their guard after exhaustion from the previous battle panic again.

The current Ten-tails is already in its final complete form. Its massive size is comparable to the time it used cataclysm to wipe out and separate an entire chunk of a continent.

The only noticeable change it has is the nine tomoes in its large, bright red Rinne-Sharingan instead of the previous seven.

ROOAR…

The Ten-tail releases a powerful, destructive roar upon resurrection. Its tendency to create chaos and destruction reawakens. The memories of its previous battle and defeat flood in and it casts its attention to the Allied Shinobi Force.

"Damn it, things aren't looking good."

Ever since the resurrection of Madara, to his eventual battle against the tailed beasts and their capture, the Allied Shinobi Force Headquarters has been in a state of constant panic. Not even Shikaku, with his intelligence, could search for a solution to the current problem.

"The current problem is already beyond our limit." Shikaku shakes his head.

"It's the situation where sheer power suppresses all schemes and ploys. We are helpless to do anything. But still…"

Shikaku ponders for a moment and his expression turns serious.

"Looks like the current situation is what we feared the most. Inoichi… connect me to the messengers stationed in all the villages."

"Very well!"

Inoichi connects Shikaku to the Messenger Corps of all villages.

"Initiate the 'SEED' plan."

After issuing this order, he cuts off the connection. Shikaku turns his attention to the rest of the personnel in the HQ.

"Issue the emergency evacuation order on the battlefield."

Shikaku clenches his fists and takes a deep breath before he continues.

"The Allied Shinobi Force lost the Fourth Great Shinobi War."

After a brief pause to muster his feelings, Shikaku announces the new instructions.

"All combat and non-combat personnel still present on the battlefield evacuate as far from the battlefield as you can. This is an order of highest priority. Abandoning the battlefield won't be considered desertion. So, I repeat, all shinobis evacuate as far as possible from the battlefield."

Gulp…

The various personnel in the HQ gulp their saliva. An eerie silence envelops the entire HQ.

"Shikaku-san, we…"

Finally, an elder of the Kirigakure breaks the silence.

"This is an absolute order collectively decided by all the Five Kages and the Supreme commander. We fought this war to protect the tailed beasts. And now Madara has already captured and subdued them and even awakened the Ten-tail. The Allied Shinobi Force doesn't stand a chance anymore. So, it's futile to gamble with the lives of our shinobis."

Shikaku shakes his head.

On the night before the First day of the battle, the current five Kages, heads of small villages, Rasa, Minato, Kushina, and Shikaku, had a confidential meeting.

They didn't want to stake everything in their chance of victory. So, the group proposed a backup plan. In the worst-case scenario, if the Allied Shinobi forces lost the war, the Akatsuki might destroy all the villages.

To prevent the destruction of their legacy, the group made an arrangement.

The few young, talented shinobis from each village will gather in the emergency shelter of the village with sufficient resources. When the war is lost, this group will immediately teleport to the ships stationed within the North Sea using a one-way teleportation fuinjutsu formation to prevent any pursuit. These ships are the vassals of the Trinity Corp and will carry all these shinobis to the Redaku island.

The powerful barrier isolating Redaku is durable enough to withstand anything that happens in the Shinobis world, even if it means the end of the world.

This proposal was immediately agreed upon by all the villages and soon a quota of shinobis was decided from each village. Overall, a population of three thousand young shinobis will evacuate from all villages.

This wasn't the most humane plan since none of the Kages considered civilians as a part of their plan. However, with limited resources and the interest of their village, they could only continue this way. Thus, such an arrangement was made.

This plan was then carried out by the members of Seven Shadow Sins when they traveled from place to place, suppressing riots, bandits, and cult members.

"Then what about us? What should we do?"

The personnel within the HQ asks with tense nerves.

"Initially, the barrier surrounding the HQ was durable enough to withstand almost anything. However, the continuous attacks by Ten-tails had dried our resource reserves. So, we can only escape to a faraway place using the one-way teleportation formation."

Shikaku leads all the HQ personnel in front of a secret trapdoor. He takes out a Fuinjutsu talisman, infuses some chakra into it, and tosses it at the door.

The talisman releases a blue light and deactivates the sealing restriction.

"Let's go!"

---------------

Back on the battlefield,

GROOAR…

The Ten-tail opens its eyes and pounces on Madara to bite him.

Hmm…

Madara's Rinnegan flickers with a purple light, and he raises his right hand.

A massive inverted seal appears on top of the Ten-tail's head, calming it down.

"Now then!"

Whoosh…

Madara leaps on top of the Ten-tail and makes a series of hand signs.

BAM…

He places his hand on top of the Ten-tail.

FWOOSH…

A powerful suction force emerges from Madara's body and slowly engulfs the Ten-tail.

Madara takes slow steps toward Obito's body. White serpentine crystal scales spread across Madara's body.

Crack… crack… Bang…

The serpentine crystal scales shatter into countless fragments.

After becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, Madara gains the appearance of a Ōtsutsuki. His hairs turn white. His skins turn pale skin. The chakra around his body envelops him, manifesting into physical clothing.

He wears a full-bodied black garment with black pants, gloves, and boots draped over by a flowing white robe with six black magatama markings across his chest and the familiar pattern of a black Rinnegan and nine black magatama markings in rows of three on his back. A gray horn-like protrusion grew out of his left temple and overlapped his forehead akin to a protector with an upward curve on the right temple.

Ten Truth-seeking orbs manifest around his back. A truth-seeking orb turns into a black Shakujō, a rod-like weapon. The remaining nine truth-seeking orbs float in a halo behind his back and follow him along.

"So, this is the Six Paths' Power!"

Madara clenches his fist as an overwhelming power course through his body.

"Now it's time to recover that left eye."

Shoom…

Madara leaps in the air and flies in Obito's direction.