Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The Seeking Truth Jewel is precisely the object located in Kirito's right palm.

Since the White Zetsu clone successfully obtained the Tenseigan and created the Truth-Seeking Balls, Kirito's understanding of Yin-Yang Five Elements Escape Techniques has progressed rapidly. This is because it allows for a comprehensive and insightful study of the Truth-Seeking Balls, eliminating the need to painstakingly search for the optimal ratio of these seven different chakra types.

Through his research on the Truth-Seeking Balls, Kirito has now raised all seven of his escape techniques—Yin Yang and Five Elements—to level five, completely mastering the power of all things in the universe.

As soon as the black Seeking the Way Jewel appeared, it immediately transformed into a black lightning bolt and struck the White Serpent Immortal between the eyebrows.

The White Snake Immortal's powerful body, nurtured and tempered by immortal arts for thousands of years, was instantly pierced through, leaving him defenseless like tofu.

Then, starting from the tiny hole between the white snake immortal's eyebrows, numerous cracks quickly spread across the entire white snake immortal's head, before rapidly turning into black ash.

After being hit by the Truth-Seeking Ball, Madara Uchiha's Preta Path Pain was surprisingly vulnerable.

With the White Snake Sage, Madara Uchiha's Preta Path Pain, being defeated, a large number of Ryuchi Cave's summoning beasts in Konoha instantly turned into clouds of white smoke and disappeared, leaving only some Impure World Puppets to continue wreaking havoc in Konoha.

"The rest is up to you."

The next second, Kirito used the secret mountain technique, Mind Transfer Technique, to notify the Konoha ninjas in Konoha. Then, amidst the excited shouts of the many Konoha ninjas, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique and disappeared from the spot.

The site of the Five Kage Summit, where the battle had ended, was now a scene of devastation. A giant stone sphere stood on the ravaged ground left by Pain's Chibaku Tensei. Not far from the stone sphere, Tsunade, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, was pinned to the ground by a black rod.

Further away, Hinata Karen was also nailed to the trunk of a large tree by a black rod.

Suddenly, Kirito appeared in front of Karen. He looked at Karen's eyes, which had lost their light, and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

He was too late after all.

However, he did not lose his composure, because he knew that being resurrected from the dead was not an impossible thing in this world.

He took the black stick, then wrapped Hua Lian off the tree trunk, and then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear next to Tsunade, who had also lost her life.

"When I get back, I will bring you back to life as quickly as possible."

Kirito carefully placed Hana beside Tsunade, then pulled the black rod from Tsunade's chest and said with a gloomy expression.

Things have come to this point, which is somewhat beyond his expectations.

Fortunately, the plan he had discussed with Tsunade and the others did not completely fail.

Madara Uchiha's attack on the Five Kage Summit meant that Tsunade, Karen, Minato, and others were in grave danger—a terrible outcome that Kirito had already anticipated.

After all, he is not a god and cannot predict everything. He can only make the worst-case scenario plan and prepare in advance.

Time was of the essence. After Kirito set up a powerful sealing barrier around the two corpses, he created a pair of chakra wings and flew into the sky, quickly heading towards the Land of Snow.

Meanwhile, Pain was flying rapidly through the swirling snowstorm, pressing down on the dying Minato.

He was getting closer; he could sense that he was not far from the demonic statue of the heretics.

"As long as the Gedo Mazo absorbs half of the Nine-Tails inside this guy, the speed at which the Gedo Mazo transforms into the Ten-Tails will definitely increase greatly. At that time, no one will be able to stop me from realizing the Eye of the Moon Plan."

Pain gazed at the distant sky, thinking with immense excitement.

Soon, the blizzard disappeared, and Pain finally saw the Gedo Mazo, whose appearance had changed considerably.

At this point, the Gedo Mazo had transformed from a giant wooden figure into something resembling a tailed beast, with ten enormous tails growing from its back, its body becoming extremely bloated, and its head transforming into a monster's head with a giant, blood-red Rinnegan.

As Pain and Minato approached, a chain shot out from the mouth of the Gedo Mazo, piercing Minato's abdomen with pinpoint accuracy.

The next moment, a giant fox with nine tails was forcibly pulled out of Minato's belly; it was none other than Yin Jiuwei.

"You bastard, you won't get away with this."

Yin Jiuwei was forcibly pulled out of Minato's body by the Outer Path Demon Statue. It immediately let out an angry roar, and then its entire body rapidly expanded like a balloon, seemingly about to self-destruct and commit suicide so that the Outer Path Demon Statue would not have the chance to devour it.

"You're still as overconfident as ever, Nine-Tails."

Just as Yin Jiuwei was about to self-destruct, a familiar, cold voice appeared in its ears.

Then, it saw a flash of red light appear in the giant blood-red Rinnegan of the Outer Path Demon Statue, and then it knew nothing more.

Chapter 373: The Final Battle (The End)

"It's finally done. I've absorbed the Nine-Tails. Even if the Ten-Tails is missing most of the Eight-Tails' power, it's not a big deal. Compared to the other eight tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails is the closest to the Ten-Tails and is also the most important component of the Ten-Tails."

Madara Uchiha smiled with satisfaction as he watched the Gedo Mazo easily absorb the Yin Nine-Tails from Minato's body.

After losing the Nine-Tails, Minato's life also vanished as quickly as a candle flickering in the wind.

The Gedo Mazo then tossed Minato away like trash.

Just as Minato was falling from the sky and being smashed to pieces, a person suddenly fell rapidly from the sky and successfully caught him before he hit the ground.

"Sorry……"

Minato recognized the person who had come in, opened his mouth with difficulty, and said with a guilty expression.

As the bodyguard who was supposed to protect Tsunade, he failed to protect the Hokage and even lost the Nine-Tails. He was extremely irresponsible and deserved to die.

"No, you've done enough. It's the enemy who's too despicable and cunning, and it's also because I arrived too late. Get some sleep and leave everything to me. Don't worry, just sleep it off, and everything will be alright when you wake up."

Kirito looked at the dying Minato and said with equal remorse.

Although he had anticipated the worst-case scenario, he still did not want it to happen. If possible, he would definitely have stepped in to save him. However, this time Madara Uchiha did not play by the rules and caught him off guard.

Upon hearing Kirito's words, Minato finally closed his eyes in relief.

He had complete faith in his friend's abilities; if even he couldn't stop Madara Uchiha, then there was probably no one else in the world who could.

"You think you can get better after a good night's sleep? Hahaha~, you've got quite the nerve. If you had arrived earlier, your words might have had some merit, but now you still think you can defeat me, who has already obtained the power of the Ten-Tails? Arrogant brat!"

At the same time, upon hearing Kirito's words, Madara Uchiha burst into laughter, then suddenly roared in anger.

As they spoke, Pain and Hashirama Senju, who was guarding the place, simultaneously unleashed their ultimate attacks.

Pain raised his hands, causing a massive dent in the earth and unleashing a powerful repulsive force.

Shinra Tensei!

Hashirama Senju clapped his hands together, instantly entering Sage Mode. A giant Thousand-Armed Wooden Kannon appeared beneath his feet, followed by thousands of enormous fists that lashed out at Kirito with a howling wind.

Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!

A Buddha appears on the crown of the head!

Facing the powerful attacks of Pain and Hashirama, Kirito showed no intention of dodging. Two black spheres quickly appeared, which were Truth-Seeking Balls.

The two Truth-Seeking Balls quickly transformed into a thin, round shield, which was placed above Kirito's head and behind him respectively.

For a moment, neither the terrifying repulsive force created by Pain's Shinra Tensei nor the fist thrown by Hashirama's top-down Buddha could break through the two thin round shields.

The Seeking Truth Jewel truly lives up to its reputation as a power born from the fusion of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, surpassing both bloodline limits and bloodline elimination. It can be both an invincible spear and an unbreakable shield.

Ordinary ninjutsu no longer has the potential to break through the shield formed by Truth-Seeking Balls.

"Truth-Seeking Balls! A mere ordinary human has actually studied the mysteries of chakra to this extent. These Truth-Seeking Balls were created purely based on the understanding of Yin-Yang and Five Elements techniques, rather than the power of the Otsutsuki clan's bloodline."

Hidden in the shadows, Black Zetsu was shocked and disoriented. He could hardly believe that the Truth-Seeking Balls, a power that clearly belonged exclusively to the Otsutsuki clan, would be wielded by a native of the ninja world.

Black Zetsu, who inherited many of Kaguya Otsutsuki's memories, was naturally familiar with the Truth-Seeking Balls. This was a powerful skill that only those who had mastered the power of the Divine Tree or had completely mastered the fusion of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements could wield.

In its mind, only its great mother and those two hateful, rebellious brothers possessed the Truth-Seeking Jewel.

In that protracted battle, it was precisely because those two despicable and rebellious older brothers possessed this powerful skill that they were able to contend with Mother and ultimately seal her away with a sealing technique.

Therefore, Black Zetsu is well aware of the kind of power Kirito has now mastered—a terrifying power capable of threatening his mother.

Will Madara Uchiha be able to withstand this terrifying power?

This question instantly arose in Black Zetsu's mind, and he became deeply worried about it.

The Gedo Mazo has now swallowed half of the Nine-Tails and is only a short time away from truly transforming into the Ten-Tails. However, it is precisely because of this short period that the enemy has been given an opportunity.

Moreover, it was quite certain that the despicable Konoha ninja would definitely notice this.

"My Pain's full-power Shinra Tensei and Hashirama's Top Transformed Buddha were blocked so easily. What exactly is that little black ball?"

Although this wasn't the first time Madara Uchiha had seen Kirito use Truth-Seeking Balls, he was still utterly shocked by their power once again.

He considered himself extremely powerful, but the White Snake Sage Pain died from this very move. With just one strike, his White Snake Sage Pain puppet's body completely collapsed.

This shows that the black ball was not only extremely powerful, but also had the effect of spreading its attack.

Upon seeing it again, it was discovered that this small black ball possesses astonishing defensive capabilities.

Of course, with his keen eyesight, he could see that the black ball's amazing defensive power was built on its powerful offensive capabilities; the black ball seemed capable of obliterating everything.

So, what will be the kid's next goal?

not good!

Madara Uchiha reacted instantly. In a flash, he used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, and then made all the shadow clones use Susanoo, and enter the fourth stage of Susanoo.

Almost simultaneously, a small black arrow shot out from Kirito's hand, its target being the Gedo Mazo that was devouring and absorbing the Nine-Tails at an alarming speed.

If the Gedo Mazo is destroyed, Madara Uchiha's plan will completely fail.

Madara Uchiha noticed the small black arrow with his Rinnegan and instantly realized that it was something Kirito had created with Truth-Seeking Balls. He immediately ordered many shadow clones with Susanoo activated to block it.

The black arrow was indestructible. No matter how powerful Madara Uchiha's shadow clones used various defensive ninjutsu to resist it, or how the Tengu Samurai tried to block it, they were all as fragile as paper and could not stop its path.

Finally, the Truth-Seeking Ball black arrow successfully struck the head of the Outer Path Demon Statue.

The Gedo Mazo immediately let out a deafening scream, and then endless chakra began to erupt from its mouth.

Kirito did not show a happy smile upon seeing this, because he knew that the enemy was not so easy to defeat.

Sure enough, a moment later, the demonic statue in his eyes suddenly returned to its original state.

At the same time, one of Madara Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan eyes lost its light.

It was Izanagi, the signature move that Madara Uchiha used to turn the tide of battle.

With the massive chakra support provided by the Gedo Mazo, which devoured the chakra of the nine tailed beasts, Madara Uchiha no longer needed to worry about not being able to use Izanagi multiple times.

In fact, one of his purposes in sending the Animal Path Pain to attack Konoha was to collect the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.

Unfortunately, the Uchiha clan's strength increased significantly after Kirito Tohsaka and Chizuru Uchiha got together, and with Chizuru protecting him within the clan, his goal of harvesting Sharingan eyes was not successfully achieved.

That's his fault too.

His sudden acceleration of the Eye of the Moon project caught the enemy off guard, but many previously finalized plans were also rendered useless. Without prior planning, the gains were naturally not very high.

Including his accumulation over the years, he now has only about fifty three-tomoe Sharingan eyes.

Even with only this much, he was confident that he could use it to withstand Kirito Tohsaka's attack for a while, delaying until the Gedo Mazo completed its evolution into the Ten-Tails.