Attack

As the fighters close by look on in shock, Tobirama yells for Hiruzen and Minato to spring away. Catching the signal instantly, the two whirl to see Obito coated in explosive tags. Tobirama calls to Hashirama, whose Wood Release clamps Obito in place, then detonates the tags, drawing a remark from Minato on how quickly his predecessor acted. As the man who invented the Impure World Reincarnation summoning, Tobirama recalls that he also devised the reckless, near-suicidal fighting style meant to accompany it, and he lets loose his Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags to smother Obito in one relentless blast.

When the smoke clears Obito stands unharmed, guarded by a tough and endlessly adaptable material. Puzzling over its nature, Hiruzen flings a massive weapon at him through the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, yet the stuff shrugs the strike off and wipes out the blades. From that, Hiruzen ties the material to the Dust Release wielded by Onoki and figures it draws on no fewer than four nature transformations. While Naruto agonizes over shielding the Hokage, Sasuke points out that the deathless leaders have been probing Obito's abilities with their own immortal frames to uncover a weakness, and he tells Naruto to quit stressing over them. Admiring that insight, Minato observes that their bodies are slow to knit back together, so he must carve out a gap for them on his own.

Away from the central fight, the real Hashirama moves up to join the front, only to be blocked by Madara, who declares he is through idling while his Senju rival keeps him waiting. Seizing the moment while Obito has yet to master hosting the beast, Minato warps his clone beside him to prepare a devastating Rasengan-derived attack alongside it. Obito darts at Naruto, only for Sasuke's Susanoo to bat the strike aside. With his torso now stretched halfway over the field, Obito still catches Minato off guard and knocks him back. As Sasuke moves to strike, Obito blindsides both him and Naruto, smashing through the Susanoo's guard to land his blows, and Minato, readying another teleport, prays he reaches them in time. One art slip crept into this chapter, showing Onoki in the Hokage's hat rather than the Tsuchikage's, later corrected in the tankobon edition.