221 Naruto: Snatching the Mangekyō

Rumble... Rumble...

A continuous series of roars echoed as massive roots writhed and emerged from the ground, forming long, snake-like tails.

As the roots broke through the surface, the entire cavernous room trembled violently, as if on the verge of collapse.

However, this room had been deliberately reinforced by Akira and his team. Despite the violent shaking, the structure held firm.

With each tail emerging, the massive Divine Tree began to transform, its form becoming fluid, cascading downward like an earthen flood.

The muddy, ochre flow shifted and contorted, gradually taking on the humanoid shape of the Ten-Tails—a form Uchiha Akira had seen in the ancient past.

The earthen fluid of the Divine Tree wriggled and pulsed, and before long, the humanoid figure of the Ten-Tails stood in the enormous chamber.

At first glance, it resembled the Ten-Tails Akira had witnessed in ancient times—its muscular frame bulging, with ten tails whipping behind it.

But Akira immediately noticed the stark differences between this Ten-Tails and its ancient counterpart.

The Ten-Tails of old possessed the Rinne Sharingan adorned with nine tomoe, its gargantuan form towering over a thousand meters tall—a truly colossal entity.

This version, however, had only three tomoe in its crimson eye, clearly indicating a significant disparity in power.

Moreover, its size was notably smaller, roughly two-thirds of the original Ten-Tails' massive frame, despite Akira having fed it the majority of the tailed beasts' chakra in his possession.

Without that chakra infusion, it would likely have been only half the size of the original.

As the Divine Tree fully assumed its Ten-Tails form, Akira's spiritual projection returned to his body. He then retrieved Ōtsutsuki Toneri's clone from the Kamui dimension.

With the critical moment approaching, Akira didn't want any unforeseen complications.

Just as he secured the clone, Tsunade, Fugaku, Shisui, and Kaori rushed into the chamber.

Sensing the disturbance, the four had immediately made their way here.

When they entered, they were struck dumb with shock.

The colossal Ten-Tails sat cross-legged like a meditating monk, its hands pressed together in prayer.

It was eerily serene, its scarlet tomoe-adorned eye devoid of any trace of savagery.

"Fifth Hokage... what is this?"

It took the four of them a moment to recover their composure.

With a faint smile, Akira addressed them.

"As you can see, this is the Ten-Tails—formed from the Divine Tree."

"You actually created a Ten-Tails? For a moment, I thought you'd somehow stolen Nagato's!" Tsunade said, her voice tinged with awe.

"So this was your plan all along, Akira?" Fugaku remarked, his tone filled with admiration.

If this was the result, then it had indeed been worth the wait.

The four could sense it—the Ten-Tails' power was like an infinite ocean, vast and immeasurable. It exuded an overwhelming presence that felt synonymous with nature itself.

Akira shook his head. "This is far from a complete Ten-Tails. The original was much more powerful."

"How powerful are we talking?" Shisui asked, his face pale with disbelief.

To him, even this Ten-Tails seemed absurdly strong. He couldn't fathom what a complete one would be like.

"It's hard to quantify, but you can tell just by looking at the eye," Akira replied, gesturing toward the Ten-Tails' head.

"A tomoe-bearing Rinnegan... Is this the Rinne Sharingan?" Kaori asked, puzzled.

As a core member of the village, she had been briefed on most of these matters, including the Ten-Tails.

Akira shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. From what I know, the Rinne Sharingan should have nine tomoe. Whether this qualifies, I can't say."

"Even if it's not, it feels like it surpasses the Rinnegan," Fugaku said gravely. He could sense the immense ocular power radiating from the eye, far exceeding even the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan augmented by Six Paths chakra.

"In any case, this is good news," Tsunade said, her previous concerns easing as she gazed at the Ten-Tails.

With this, the worst-case scenario could be averted.

The four felt a renewed confidence in their chances against Nagato.

In their presence, Akira used Kamui to transfer the Ten-Tails into his dimension.

He turned to them. "The village's safety is in your hands. I need three days to make my final preparations."

Tsunade nodded solemnly. "Go. Leave the village to us."

Once they acknowledged his departure, Akira vanished.

When he reappeared, he was in the vast caverns, located within the Land of Frost.

This place was where he would await the solar eclipse needed to perform the Chimera Technique.

Mount Sumeru's hollow core contained a massive altar, surrounded by five pillars—originally constructed by Hiruko to enhance the ritual's grandeur.

However, Akira had little use for theatrics.

With a thought, the materials for the ritual began emerging from his Kamui dimension:

Jūgo's clone, representing a Sage Body. A clone of Senju Hashirama, representing Yang Release. A clone of Ōtsutsuki Toneri, representing the Ōtsutsuki lineage. The Ten-Tails. A Tenseigan.

These five elements were the key to completing the ritual.

Looking up through the cavern's open ceiling, Akira could see the moon high in the night sky.

"All that's left is to wait."

Time flowed onward, bringing him to the final day of the 55th year of the Hidden Leaf calendar.

Night fell, and Akira's heart began to race.

...

Meanwhile, in Amegakure, within the Rain Village...

In a dark, cavernous space, the massive Gedo Statue loomed.

All members of the Akatsuki had gathered.

"Summoning: Edo Tensei!"

With Orochimaru's raspy chant, gray dust swirled and covered two White Zetsu.

Moments later, two figures emerged: one with golden hair, the other with silver. Both had horns and six whisker-like marks on their faces—Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

This iteration of the Edo Tensei had been perfected by Orochimaru, allowing the deceased to wield their full strength from life.

As Kinkaku and Ginkaku materialized, chains of eerie blue light shot from the Gedo Statue, binding the duo.

Despite their roars and curses, the brothers were swiftly dragged into the statue's maw.