Naruto: Unlocking Kaido Template

The Eight Gates technique unleashes immense power, scaling with the user's physical strength and recovery ability. The stronger the body, the more devastating the attack—but at its highest level, the final stage demands the user's life in exchange for a single, overwhelming blow.

Luckily, this wasn't that moment. Zixu had no intention of sacrificing himself just yet. Thanks to his powerful physique, the Eight Gates had become even more formidable. The kick that sent Black Zetsu flying had landed hard—but it hadn't come without a cost.

Black Zetsu groaned as he clawed his way out of the crater he'd made upon impact. Black mucus oozed from his mouth, blood masked his face, and his long, matted hair gave him a ragged look.

"My ribs are shattered... Even with my ability, I can't completely disperse that kind of power..." he coughed, spitting out another glob of black blood. If Orochimaru hadn't fused Hidan's body into his own, things could've been far worse.

As for Zixu, there were no visible injuries at first glance, but the damage was there. Even with Armament Haki reinforcing his leg, the recoil from that monstrous kick had left his foot throbbing in agony.

In fact, it was far worse than just pain. On closer inspection, his foot was bleeding steadily—he was simply recovering faster than it could be noticed.

Zixu turned his eyes toward Madara, who had now shed his Impure World Reincarnation body. He furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

"Why would he abandon his immortal body?" Zixu wondered. "A living body isn't bound by the same sealing techniques as one summoned through Impure World Reincarnation, sure—but trading away an immortal body for that advantage doesn't add up."

Now wasn't the time to make assumptions. With enemies on all sides, a single mistake could be fatal—even for him.

"No..." Zixu's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't adding up. He muttered under his breath, trying to piece it together.

"Releasing the Impure World Reincarnation only severs Kabuto's control—it doesn't revive the soul. And yet... Madara's body clearly detached from the jutsu at that moment..."

His eyes widened.

"Someone revived him... someone sacrificed their own life to bring Madara back."

Meanwhile, Hatsuizumi stood at a distance. Her movements were sharp and agile, as fluid as a white snake dancing under moonlight. During the earlier scuffle with Obito, she noticed something strange—Madara had been subtly guarding a patch of forest under his feet.

She didn't know what he was hiding, but instinct told her to destroy it. Without hesitation, she summoned a swarm of world-eating termites to gnaw through the area.

Sure enough, the second the bugs started chewing, Madara reacted. He abruptly abandoned his surprise attack on Zixu and redirected his efforts. A swarm of sharp blue spikes erupted from the ground—originally meant for Zixu—but not ideal for handling insects.

Still, this posed no real problem for Madara. A veteran of countless battles, his adaptability was second to none.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Madara's version of the jutsu was on another level entirely. Flames didn't just scorch the forest—they poured out like an ocean, drowning the termites in liquid fire. Despite the destruction, Hatsuizumi remained unfazed. She knew her instincts had been right—there was something hidden beneath that tree.

As the scorched remains of the termites decomposed into nutrients for the fungal mat beneath, more insects began to crawl from their nests. Zixu, unseen, used Inorganic Reincarnation to assist her, speeding up the breakdown of the debris.

Then, from beneath the ruined trees, something began to stir.

Small tails twitched... then more appeared. The figure hidden underground grew larger and larger, until the woods could no longer contain it. At last, the truth was revealed.

Ten slender tails writhed like tentacles, and a massive eye bearing the nine tomoe pattern opened wide on its forehead.

The moment the creature emerged, everyone reacted differently.

"...The Ten-Tails?" Zixu muttered, stunned. "But I crushed its eye before—shattered it completely. So why... is it back?"

Obito, who had been losing his grip just moments ago, suddenly steadied himself. His eyes lit up with a sliver of hope. If the Ten-Tails had returned, then his dream wasn't dead—he could still become its jinchūriki.

Farther away, Black Zetsu stared in disbelief before breaking into a grin. The pain in his chest seemed to vanish entirely as excitement surged through him. He tried to contain it, but his trembling fingers betrayed him.

While everyone else struggled to comprehend what they were seeing, Madara seemed completely unbothered—like he'd been expecting this all along. He finished forming hand seals just as the Ten-Tails fully emerged.

"Six Paths: Ten-Tails Coffin Seal!"

Before the beast could even roar, the jutsu activated. An overwhelming suction pulled it toward Madara's body. The Ten-Tails flailed and resisted, but its massive form was drawn in relentlessly—tails and all—until it vanished inside him.

It all happened in an instant.

Obito stood frozen. He had been just a step away from performing the same seal, hoping to usurp Madara. But the chance had slipped through his fingers—Madara didn't even give him a window to try.

"Resurrected Madara... a Ten-Tails that should've been destroyed... Was this all your plan from the start?" Obito lowered his head in defeat. If Madara's body had been revived when the Impure World Reincarnation ended, someone must've done it. Likely someone from Orochimaru's camp.

But there was another explanation.

"An illusion," Zixu murmured. "He must've cast one on all of us back then. If it was only visual, we wouldn't have noticed anything wrong. The 'eye' I crushed... it might've been nothing more than a stone."

Only a living body could contain the Ten-Tails and become its jinchūriki. And if Madara had used illusions to trick them, that meant everything they saw was calculated—carefully planned and flawlessly executed.

Zixu clenched his fists as he watched Madara, now wrapped in a black cocoon. The same ominous shell that once encased the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He considered using Bloodline Fusion again to shatter it—but his chakra was in complete disarray after the last attempt. For now, he had no countermeasure.

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