Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 281: A Strange World, The Show Begins

As the five great ninja villages and their allies were summoning powerful Reanimation warriors and amassing the largest ninja coalition ever, Hagoromo Gengetsu stood alone before the Gedo Statue, waiting for Uchiha Obito's arrival.

Knowing White Zetsu's surveillance abilities, Gengetsu set no traps nor did he bring any subordinates, fearing it might scare Obito away.

Drip! Drip!

Water droplets occasionally fell from above.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

The moment the sound of dripping water suddenly ceased, Gengetsu opened his eyes.

In front of him, a ripple in space appeared in an instant.

As water droplets fell into it, they disappeared without a trace.

Before a second drop could fall, a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds and an orange spiral mask stood there.

Uchiha Obito, as promised, had arrived.

At first glance, Obito noticed the familiar Rinnegan in Gengetsu's eyes and the Gedo Statue behind him, with seven and a half eyes open.

With a smirk under his mask, Obito said mockingly, "One of the three great heroes of the Warring States era, a man said to rival gods, reduced to stealing others' Rinnegan and the Gedo Statue. It's laughable."

Gengetsu raised an eyebrow slightly and responded calmly, "History is written by the victors. Pain was like this, and so are you."

"Is that so?"

Knowing there was no one else within five kilometers, Obito, confident in his dominance over Gengetsu, sneered, "Overconfidence isn't good. You should know that..."

Before he could finish, Gengetsu, uninterested in the banter, interrupted, "Did you bring the Two-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Obito's expression, hidden behind his mask, was unreadable, but he remained silent.

"No answer? Never mind, I'll do it myself."

Not interested in waiting any longer, Gengetsu moved his right arm. Just as something was about to fall into his palm from within his sleeve, Obito, sensing something was amiss, shouted sharply, "Zetsu!!"

Black Zetsu immediately emerged from beside Obito, holding a crystal ball with nine tomoe that contained the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Beasts, and handed it to Obito, saying, "The jutsu is complete, thanks to Madara's secret passage!"

The so-called "secret passage" actually meant that Black Zetsu had higher authority over the Gedo Statue than Madara. Being Kaguya's "third child," he was intimately familiar with the Ten-Tails' vessel, his mother in another form.

In the brief moment unnoticed by Gengetsu, Black Zetsu had quietly stolen the chakra from the One-Tail to the Nine-Tails from the Gedo Statue and condensed it into the crystal ball with a special technique, transforming it into the current nine-tomoe form.

Without hesitation, Obito took the nine-tomoe crystal ball and smashed it on the ground.

Noticing this, Gengetsu instinctively reached out, attempting to pull the crystal ball towards him. Just as the gravitational pull of the Rinnegan's technique touched the nine-tomoe crystal ball, unexpectedly, it cracked like a spider's web upon contact.

A blinding white light erupted from within.

At the speed of light, Gengetsu couldn't dodge and was engulfed by the light instantly.

When the sound of the crystal ball shattering fully resonated, the blinding light that almost drowned the entire space faded away.

Looking around, both Gengetsu, Obito, and Black Zetsu had completely disappeared, leaving only the massive Gedo Statue standing coldly, observing the scene.

Once again, silence returned.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

When the white light that even the Rinnegan couldn't penetrate finally dispersed, Gengetsu looked forward again, finding himself still in the same place, but Obito and Black Zetsu were gone. Not only that, the Gedo Statue behind him had also vanished.

Gengetsu's expression changed.

Had Obito and Black Zetsu taken the Gedo Statue while he was distracted?

Gengetsu quickly surveyed the surroundings.

Suddenly, noticing something, he walked to the area where the Gedo Statue had stood before.

Looking at the thick dust-covered ground, Gengetsu frowned.

Given the Gedo Statue's massive size, it couldn't have left no trace if it had been standing there.

There was only one explanation.

This place seemed like where he had been before, but it actually wasn't.

"Am I trapped in a genjutsu?"

Gengetsu immediately thought of the nine-tomoe crystal ball that had suddenly emitted blinding light.

Wasting no time, he formed hand seals, proficiently dispelling the genjutsu as he had done many times before.

However, as time passed, there was no reaction around him, unlike when he could break even the strongest genjutsu of the Great Toad Sage.

Noticing this, Gengetsu put his hands down, realizing any further attempts were futile.

"Not a genjutsu? Or is there a specific way to break it this time?"

After pondering for a moment, Gengetsu took one last look at the familiar surroundings and walked decisively outward.

He needed to gather information.

Soon, Gengetsu emerged from the darkness.

As the glaring sunlight shone down, he saw a landscape of rolling green hills.

Just as he remembered.

No.

There was something slightly different.

Gengetsu's gaze shifted to the eastern edge of the hills.

With his excellent Rinnegan vision, he saw a bustling town standing there, with the sound of whistles blowing from a distance.

"There shouldn't be a town here."

Gengetsu's eyes flickered, and he quickly headed towards the town.

A few minutes later.

Walking down the main street of the town, Gengetsu listened to the familiar Warring States accents around him and observed the Sengoku-style clothing everyone wore. He felt a bit disoriented.

Until he locked eyes with a pair of men and women walking towards him, each with the emblems of the Senju and Uzumaki clans embroidered on their clothing.

This man and woman, who were from the Senju and Uzumaki clans, didn't hesitate and immediately greeted him respectfully:

"Greetings, Clan Leader Hagoromo!"

Gengetsu suddenly smiled.

He seemed to know where he was.

At the same time, a thousand miles away.

"Who would have thought our true selves would end up here too."

Looking at the familiar yet strange world before him, Obito checked his body and spoke.

"The effect and range of the Limited Tsukuyomi, powered by the chakra of the Nine-Tails, exceeded my expectations."

Black Zetsu, clad in black and expressionless, replied,

"Moreover, dealing with someone like Hagoromo Gengetsu requires utmost caution. To lure him in, we inevitably got caught up ourselves."

Obito nodded in understanding.

Though the outcome differed slightly from the original plan, he quickly accepted the reality and gazed into the distance, saying thoughtfully:

"Fortunately, this mirrored world is constructed from Hagoromo Gengetsu's consciousness. With our true selves here, it will facilitate our actions."

"That being the case, let's start immediately and prepare a grand gift for Hagoromo Gengetsu."

"Where to?" asked Black Zetsu.

Obito's lips curled into a smile:

"Naturally, to the other Hagoromo Gengetsu."