XX-level Hokage

"You don't seem surprised at all, which is truly unexpected." The Sixth Sage looked at Mashiro, especially her pale blue Rinnegan, and said softly. "Although I didn't show it, I was indeed quite surprised. In my memory, I don't seem to be the reincarnation of anyone." Mashiro said calmly.

"This is your spiritual world. You seem to know a lot, which is why I specifically brought you here," the Sixth Sage said. "Oh?" Mashiro looked at the Sage of Six Paths, still unable to discern his purpose.

"You should know my mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki." The Sage of Six Paths used the cane formed from the Truth-Seeking Ball to lightly tap the water on the ground. Ripples appeared, and Kaguya's figure was reflected in them.

Looking at the familiar figure in the reflection, Mashiro smiled and nodded gently.

"My mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki, came here from a very far place to obtain the fruit of the Divine Tree, the same Divine Tree you saw in this war. It is the fruit that was born after it matured, the Chakra Fruit."

Kaguya ate that fruit and gained immense power, ruling this land. People called her the Goddess of the Rabbit, worshipping and fearing her. Later, with the blessings of the people, Kaguya gave birth to two children, one of whom was me. My name is Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

The Divine Tree, whose chakra fruit was taken, went berserk in an attempt to reclaim it, causing immense damage. My brother and I fought against the Ten-Tails, an incarnation of the Divine Tree, to atone for our mother's sins, and sealed it within our bodies.

After that, I had two children, an older brother named Indra and a younger brother named Ashura. I taught them the Ninjutsu, but a huge gap emerged between them: one had the genetic material of my power, and the other did not. This lineage had two extremes.

"You probably already know what happened after that. Indra and Asura fought a great battle after my death. Two completely opposite ideologies began to clash, and that struggle continues to this day." The Sage of Six Paths slowly recounted the story, as if telling a long-ago tale.

"So, you're telling me all this so I can help you seal the Ten-Tails again?" Mashiro said softly.

In Mashiro's view, the Sage of Six Paths had been secretly watching the battlefield all along. Originally, he was supposed to entrust this matter to Naruto and Sasuke, but after seeing her power, he decided to entrust it to her instead.

The Sage of Six Paths didn't speak, but reached out and opened a door not far from Mashiro.

Mashiro didn't pay any attention and walked towards the door, saying softly, "I will try my best. Of course, if I can't do it, I'll ask for your help." Just as Mashiro stepped into the doorway, a sudden chill swept over her. Mashiro turned her head and saw a black spear piercing through her chest. A sharp pain shot through her, and Mashiro collapsed to her knees.

"Why?" Mashiro looked at the Sage of Six Paths and said coldly.

She had no doubt about the Sage of Six Paths' purpose, and the Sage of Six Paths had no reason to attack her.

"I've pondered this many times: why my mother, with such immense power, still pursued more power, and why she suddenly became cold and distant. I never found the answers to these questions until recently, when I think I understand why," the Sage of Six Paths continued.

Mashiro tried to pull the spear out of her chest, but to no avail; her soul was shattering.

My mother did not come into this world alone. She belonged to her own race, which had destroyed countless planets in the universe. She came to this world with the orders of her race and another member of her race, intending to destroy it.

For some reason, the mother couldn't bring herself to do it. She secretly killed another member of her tribe, ate the fruit of the divine tree, and intended to remain in this world. This is why the mother was so obsessed with power; she knew that her people would eventually discover the problem, and she needed enough power to confront it.

"Regarding all of this," the Sixth Sage said, landing on the water's surface and walking lightly toward Mashiro.

So, you believe I'm a member of Kaguya's clan, prepared to destroy this world? Ha, what brilliant reasoning. "Mashiro was incredibly weak at this moment, let go..."

He abandoned the action of drawing his spear, looked at the Sage of Six Paths with a mocking expression, and said.

"I also questioned that person's unfounded suspicions, but he produced evidence—evidence that left me no room for doubt," the Sage of Six Paths said calmly.

"That person? I understand." Mashiro instantly understood the reason, and then shattered in an instant. At this moment, in the Cloud Village, near the headquarters of the Allied Shinobi Forces, on a huge tree.

The true self gently opened her eyes and murmured to herself, "I didn't expect it to be completed so easily, really..."

Immediately afterward, Mashiro vanished from the spot.

The Commander's Office, this is Mashiro's room, but since Mashiro went to the battlefield, only Izumi is in the room at the moment. Izumi is idly flipping through a book of illusions in her hands.

"If you're learning illusion magic, it's best to practice a lot. Just relying on book experience won't make much progress." A voice suddenly came. "Who!" Quan instantly stood up and assumed a fighting stance.

"Every time we meet, it ends so unpleasantly," the true self revealed, saying with deep regret.

"It's you again. Who are you?" Izumi instantly activated his Square Flower Sharingan, staring directly at True Self. True Self looked at Izumi with an incredibly complicated expression, and gently snapped his fingers.

In an instant, more than a dozen black tentacles appeared, binding Quan tightly. "Goodbye," True Self said softly.

Then he shoved the kunai into Izumi's chest.

Feeling intense pain, the two figures began to overlap.

Quan remembered the figure that had killed her before.

Before he could finish speaking, Quan fell silent.

"I hope this time it can end everything." After saying this, Zhen disappeared from the spot.

In a daze, Mashiro opened her eyes, feeling herself drifting aimlessly. "Am I... dead?" Mashiro whispered.

"You are not dead." A somewhat cold voice came.

"The system?" Mashiro's voice was tinged with emotion; she had almost forgotten about the system's existence. "Your favorability reward, [The Cat Has Nine Lives], has been automatically triggered," the system said.

Only after the system notification did Mashiro remember this, and she brought up the system panel, where the reward item for "The Cat Has Nine Lives" had changed.

[Cats have nine lives (1): Cats have nine lives, humans have three lives. Passive skill, can revive twice, 1 life remaining.] Just then, a white light flashed, making Shiro close her eyes.

When she opened the door again, Mashiro found herself in an unfamiliar place.

At that moment, a voice rang out: "Before you stands the Lord of Chakra, the God of Shinobi, the Emperor of the Shinobi World, His Majesty Uchiha Zero. Who are you, and why are you here?"

Mashiro looked up and saw a strange ninja staring fiercely at her. Looking further up, she saw an extremely familiar face.

"Hahaha, this is really interesting." Mashiro chuckled softly. Then Mashiro became chaotic again.

"System, what just happened?" Mashiro asked. The system remained silent.

"Hmph, you really have no trust at all," Mashiro whispered.

"Host, the mission is about two-thirds complete. You will understand everything afterward. I am going to sleep again." After saying that, the system fell silent. Mashiro didn't say anything.

A flash of white light appeared again, and Mashiro gently opened her eyes. Sakura, Kushina, Hinata, Ino.

Four beautiful faces, filled with deep sorrow, were looking at her with great concern.

Seeing Mashiro open her eyes, the four of them were overjoyed. Hinata even hugged her and cried, while Sakura and Ino also shed tears. "What happened?" Mashiro asked Kushina, who was calmer.

Chapter 213: The Eight Gates Formation

"After you defeated Obito, Obito was suddenly controlled and used the Rinnegan to revive Madara. Then Madara kidnapped Minato and became the complete Tengu."

As the Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beast, that's when you suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Madara wanted to kill you, and we tried to save you, but it was too late. Just as you were about to be killed by Madara, Obito used a space-time technique to block Madara's attack for you. Taking advantage of that moment, the Second Hokage used Flying Lightning to save you.

At first, we thought you had overused your chakra, but no matter how Sakura treated you, you didn't respond at all.

Just now, Sakura suddenly burst into tears, saying that you had passed away. "Kushina said, tears also streaming down her face, her expression filled with shock and worry. "Is that so?" Mashiro reached out to wipe away the tears of the four of them, then stood up and looked towards the battlefield.

At this moment, Madara had already used his black rods to stab the ground, and Hashirama had also lost an arm. Naruto and Sasuke could only struggle to defend themselves against Madara's attacks, while Obito, who was controlled by Black Zetsu, stood aside.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of all this," Shinji said softly to the four of them, then walked lightly toward the battlefield.

Mashiro didn't understand why Obito saved her. Perhaps it was because Obito didn't want Madara's plan to succeed, or perhaps Obito was being controlled by Black Zetsu, who wanted to use Mashiro to achieve his own plan, so he saved her.

It didn't matter; Obito had indeed helped him, and Mashiro remembered that. He approached Miki's side; at that moment, the black rod was pinned to the ground, unable to move an inch. "You're awake," Miki said.

"It seems the situation is not optimistic," Mashiro said softly.

“He’s very strong now, even stronger than the previous guy,” Mi Jian said seriously.

“Don’t worry, I’m strong too,” Mashiro said softly, then reached out and pulled out the black rod stuck in Ma’s body.

Freed from the black rod's restraints, Kishima instantly rose from the ground, rubbed his arms, and asked Mashiro, "What are you planning to do?" Since his battle with Obito, Kishima now completely treated Mashiro as an equal.

“We just need to injure Madara, and someone will take care of him for us,” Mashiro said softly.

"I understand." Despite some doubt, Miki believed Mashiro's words. After saying that, Mashiro continued walking forward.

At this moment, Madara easily knocked Naruto and Sasuke to the ground again. As for Hashirama, he had already been shattered by Madara using a Truth-Seeking Ball and was lying on the ground unable to recover.

"So you're not dead after all." Madara floated in the air, watching Mashiro approach, and said. "Actually, I was dead, but I was resurrected by my own abilities," Mashiro said softly.

"I just don't know what your chances are against me now." Madara clearly didn't believe Mashiro's claim of being resurrected, and continued, "What are the chances? To be honest, I'm not very confident." Mashiro replied.

Madara doesn't want to be like Obito. His original power was already incredibly strong, and now that he has become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and attained Six Paths Manifestation, his combat power has increased several times over, and he doesn't have to worry about the Tailed Beast's backlash.

Madara looked at Mashiro, stretched out his hand, and a black rod shot out instantly. Facing the shot-out black rod, Mashiro lightly dodged it.

But Madara laughed, and suddenly a black thread appeared on the ground, tightly binding Mashiro. Immediately afterwards, three Truth-Seeking Balls appeared in front of Mashiro.

"After your battle with Obito, how much chakra do you have left? The Rinnegan and Truth-Seeking Balls are both incredibly chakra-consuming abilities. Without the power of the Tailed Beasts, you should have been completely exhausted by now," Madara said.

Mashiro didn't refute, she just quietly looked at Madara.

Just as Madara was about to kill Mamoru, Naruto and Sasuke rushed over.

"You're not allowed to hurt Mashiro!" Naruto shouted, attacking Madara. Sasuke also struggled and activated his Susanoo.

But in just a moment, Naruto and Sasuke collapsed heavily to the ground again, and Iori was on the verge of death. Seeing this...

Kai rushed over with Xiao Ji and Tian Tian.

Kushina also rushed over with Sakura and Ino.

Even if reinforcements arrive, you'll be nothing more than tiny grains of sand; it will all be too late. "Looking at the approaching group, Madara said with absolute confidence.

By this time, Hashirama and Mashiro had both been defeated by him, and Madara no longer had any fear. "He's Madara?" Gai asked in disbelief, looking at Madara's current appearance.

“That’s right, he is Madara.” Kakashi, who had somehow escaped from the Kamui dimension, said weakly beside Hashirama.

Looking at Hashirama, Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and the bound Mashiro, Guy got up and jumped in front of Madara.

"In other words, it's my turn, Azure Beast, to make my appearance! Eight Gates of Armor, Seventh Gate of Shock, open!" Kai instantly opened seven gates, and a powerful wave of energy swept outwards.

Madara looked at Guy and said, "Blue steam, the Eight Gates, the gate before the Gate of Death? It's not red steam. I've really been underestimated."

Just then, Kai rushed in front of Madara and threw several punches, but Madara dodged them all. "Don't touch those black balls and black sticks!" Kakashi hurriedly warned.

Kai relentlessly attacked, but Madara easily dodged his attacks. Finally, Kai suddenly accelerated and struck Madara heavily. "Daytime Tiger"!

Madara only took a dozen steps back without sustaining any injuries, but Guy was thrown back and crashed heavily to the ground.

Madara stopped in his tracks, and a Truth-Seeking Ball shot towards Guy from behind. "Oh no!" Kakashi exclaimed in alarm.

But after the smoke cleared, the Truth-Seeking Balls didn't hit Guy; Rock Lee, who had opened the Eight Gates, dodged them while holding Guy. "Guy-sensei, are you alright?" Rock Lee asked anxiously as he landed on the ground with Guy in his arms.

"Sorry, Lee," Kai said, regaining his senses. "Are you alright?" Kakashi asked.

"Just a broken right arm and a few broken ribs," Guy said, turning to Kakashi. Just then, Madara floated into the air again.

“Even our only hope, taijutsu, is ineffective. He’s too strong,” Kakashi said, his face pale.

“Wait, Kakashi, it’s too early to conclude that taijutsu is ineffective,” Guy said seriously to Kakashi. “But…”

"Our youth hasn't faded yet, let's not give up hope," Kai said solemnly. "Teacher Kai," Xiao Li said excitedly, hearing Kai's words.

“Wishes can be fulfilled, but if you don’t even have wishes, how can you do what you want to do? Just like the challenge I gave you, and I did it not out of force.” Kai quietly clenched his fist.

"You, could it be..." Kakashi instantly realized what Guy was about to do.

"The Azure Beast of Konoha has vanished. The time has come for it to transform into the Red Beast." As Kai spoke, he closed his eyes, and memories of the past surfaced in his mind. He thought of his father.

"Open! The Eight Gates Dao Armor Formation!"