The first time Kai entered Muzo was during a raid on the Senju . At that time, Muzo was an insignifit figure among the Senju.

  Following the s of the Warring States, he and his smen attacked a young Senju child.

  Muzo's younger brother was hacked to death by them. sidering that both the Senju and Uzumaki s were known for their robust vitality, they made sure the body was unreizable before stopping.

  Unfortunately, they missed the ce to kill Muzo himself. Through the chaos and blood, the older brother slipped away. The Senju ninja returo retaliate.

  This was the greatest regret of Kai's life.

  Years ter, Muzo reappeared, but he was no lohe same person. The trauma had hollowed him out pletely.

  He became known for his swift, ruthless attacks, and even his own stopped using his birth name, referring to him simply as Muzo—the self meaniy, formless, like the shell of a man he'd bee.

  Yes, he was no longer human.

  People often beled the Uchiha as evil, but Muzo was far worse.

  Kai had never minded being called evil. Insults from enemies were, after all, it just proved how strong he was. Within his , only the patriard Izuna were strohan him.

  But to be outdone in evilness by a Senju? That was uable.

  Especially when this judgment came from the leader he admired most.

  Kai had always hoped to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, but he never succeeded. The leader bluntly told him to give up, g he cked the ruthlesso harm his own friends.

  Eventually, he did harm others—not just friends but even close kin—but by then, he was no longer alive.

  Kai uood Muzo all too well, just as Muzo uood him. They knew how to make each other wish for death again.

  Watg Killer B transform in the distance, he made no effort to stop him, quietly waiting for B to plete his transformation.

  As B transformed, the violent chakra began affeg the surrounding air, drawing the attention of other people.

  "Kai, are you toying with him?"

  "Looks iing. A 'vessel,' huh." Another Edo Tensei ninja nded beside Kai, dark fkes falling from his regeing form.

  "Fighting with his own will? How satisfying!" A third joihem.

  Several Edo Tensei ninjas gathered around, f a loose circle around their prey.

  Most of them had already spread throughout the fortress, leaving no survivors in the southern district.

  Everywhere they went, they ravaged like locusts, their destru the only way to alleviate their torment.

  By one of the current victims were ected to the s that formed Kumo. So, killing Kumo ninjas posed hical dilemma for the resurrected dead, who saw this as their final ce to indulge.

  ---

  Meanwhile, in Killer B's spiritual world...

  "B! Calm down! Fighting them is pointless. You don't know sealing teiques!" the Eight-Tails warned.

  "Yo, I know what's at stake, but the caster we gotta locate, before it's too te."

  "No, that's not it. You o leave immediately!"

  The Eight-Tails realized B hadn't grasped the urgency.

  "Listen carefully. These individuals surrounding you were terrifying when alive. While weaker now, their abilities remain the same in other ways!"

  "Are you speaking to your vessel, tailed beast?" one of the Edo Tensei shinobi interrupted, his hands already f seals.

  B and the Eight-Tails abruptly ceased their internal dialogue, not by choice.

  The Eight-Tails was the first to notiething wrong. The air had grown thick with an a, malevolent chakra.

  B, attack that person now!

  Halfway through his transformation, enveloped in dark red tailed beast chakra, B charged at his enemy without hesitation.

  The movement alone caused the earth to quake. Deep fissures spread outward like spider webs.

  B's bd-red form, surrounded by destructive chakra, unleashed shockwaves that carved deep gashes into the ground.

  The enemy smirked coldly.

  The instant, they were torn apart, their bodies scattering like paper in the wind.

  This is bad... Eight-Tails groaned. It reized the teique.

  There once was a renowned for sacrificial sealing jutsu.

  Sure enough, straadpole-like curse marks appeared on B's body as his chakra plummeted. The marks burned bck against his skin, spreading like poison.

  Simultaneously, the air began to coalesce with dust-like particles.

  For the Edo Tensei ninja, a sacrificial teique was just another jutsu.

  Above B, Kai emerged, pressing his csped hands downward.

  A gust of wind smmed B into the fractured ground. The impact crater spread for meters in every dire.

  Sharp wind bdes pierced through B's tailed beast cloak, slig deep into his body, turning him into a bloodied mess.

  A bone spear followed, aiming straight for his head.

  Roar!

  A guttural, inhuman cry erupted as B vanished, repced by a fully maed tailed beast. The Eight-Tails' massive form rose like a mountain of flesh and chakra.

  To save his partner, it forcibly took over B's body and fought at full power.

  The massive beast shattered the enemy's sealing teique, flinging several Edo Tensei ninjas far away with brute force.

  But another surge of chakra-infused energy met the Eight-Tails head-on.

  It looked up to see a colossal sand sphere above, blog out the sky.

  The sphere burst open, dreng the Eight-Tails in casg sand.

  Shukaku, you idiot. Why did you let them learn this? the Eight-Tails cursed internally. B's current strength was far from enough to utilize its true power.

  Before it could react further, a massive rock pilr shot up beh it, sending it airborne.

  The pilr was backed by seven ht Edo Tensei ninjas, their hands pressed against the earth.

  More enemies emerged, their bloodthirsty eyes fixed on the Eight-Tails.

  Knowing it had no time left, it prepared to flee.

  The fortress had already fallen silent. There was o guess—the inhabitants had all been sughtered.

  Before it could stabilize, dozens of Edo Tensei ninjas piled onto its massive form.

  Fmes obscured its vision.

  A series of explosions rippled across its chakra-cloaked body, pushing it to its limits.

  ---

  After throwing a group of Edo Tensei ninjas in the southern fortress, Masashi paid no further attention.

  Regardless of their retionships during their lives, this first round had made their coordination incredibly adept. Wiping out the fortress was only a matter of time.

  However, the bat zone had to remain fio the city itself, preventing any spillover.

  In the shinobi world, killing opposing ninjas in war was justified.

  But when it came to ordinary civilians, ninjas avoided harming them if there was any choice, even during national flicts.

  For the fortress, he had no qualms about deploying all Edo Tensei ninjas because the vilge tained only ninjas.

  The three fortresses, though located in the Land of Frost, were managed and garrisoned by Kumo.

  Simirly, Konoha maintained garrisons in key military points of its allied nations.

  This was standard practice.

  However, outside these three fortresses, the majority of the coastal corridor's popution was made up of ordinary citizens of the Land of Frost. These people couldn't be sidered enemies.

  The culture of hiring ninjas inated in the Warring States Period. Uhis system, ninjas didn't harbor notions of patriotism.

  They had no nationality, only affiliations or vilge allegiaheir aspirations weren't global unity but achieving higher social status and ihrough their strength. Fighting for their try was just part of their job.

  Naturally, he didn't see the Land of Frost's citizens as enemies.

  He earned money from Konoha, which earned money from the Land of Fire—nothing to do with the Land of Frost.

  Even in his first life, where he was just a w stiff, he found this ninja mi—"I'm here to make money, just pay me"—very appealing and easy to accept.

  Ninja vilges embodied this ethos to the extreme, both internally aernally. If these ninja vilges were thrown into a world like Earth, they'd probably be ridiculed by corporate moguls.

  Such a fine anization—why wouldn't he proted tribute to it?

  Standing outside the fortress' northern gate, Masashi dispelled the ice barrier he had previously erected.

  No one had escaped. They must have all been wiped out effitly.

  The road outside the gate was now a mess, with craters dotting the ground. Kumo ninjas remains y scattered everywhere, with few intact bodies.

  During his past life, he had designed a specific teique to maximize the advantages of Edo Tensei, avoiding the need for excessive preparation.

  Using this teique, he could seal Edo Tensei bodies for repeated use. A single Edo Tensei body only o be created once.

  During bat, he could share their vision, trol their movements, and eveeiques that were beyond rea his previous life.

  Teiques like Tandem Paper Bombs art of this system.

  Although he sometimes felt a fleeting urge to revisit unfinished pns from before, it was just that—a fleeting thought.

  This wasn't the enviro of the First Great Ninja War. The objectives and demands of the current bat were entirely different.

  Moreover, he was no longer Muzo. Many ditions no longer applied. The current deployment of Edo Tensei was already pushing the limits.

  One fortress was enough to earn the 50 million ryō. Losing these Edo Tensei bodies didn't bother him.

  The biggest lesson he learned in his past life was that external power was temporary, but one's own strength was reliable.

  Had his inal self possessed the power he had now, he wouldn't have died.

  Nor would Tobirama have fallen, as the Gold and Silver Brothers would've been sin on the spot.

  With this thought, Masashi prepared to end the teique.

  Right as he lifted his hand, a huge explosion shook the whole vilge, making the ground rumble uheir feet

  "Is there still someone in the vilge?" Pakura asked, surprised. Her stance shifted instinctively to bat-ready.

  She had seen the Edo Tensei ninjas in a and found it hard to believe someone could hold their ground for so long against them. And the power of this ninjutsu—wasn't it excessive?

  "It's not enemy ninjutsu—it's from the Edo Tensei ninjas," Masashi crified.

  Through their e, he realized that the Edo Tensei ninjas had triggered the Tandem Paper Bombs.

  Each Edo Tensei ninja had been imbued with numerous explosive tags, making them walking scrolls of destru. Using the teique, they could self-activate the explosive tags—a far more ve approach than having to step in himself.

  With Edo Tensei ninjas, keeping a distance was always better than making an appearance.

  But... they weren't all used up yet? Judging by the iy, they should be depleted this time.

  Beyond the northern wall, the tinuous explosions paihe sky a fiery red.

  Masashi activated his shared vision.

  What he saw stunned him.

  A massive figure was surrounded by the Edo Tensei ninjas, relentlessly bombarded.

  The Eight-Tails is here?

  He had pletely missed this while cirg around to cut off their retreat and ing chakra sensing.

  Nearly missing this opportunity was almost a blunder.

  Instead of rushing in, he tinued through oensei ninja.

  He was alive, not a reanimated body. Getting caught in Tandem Paper Bombs could genuinely result ih.

  One by ohe Edo Tensei ninjas exhausted their stockpile of explosive tags.

  The Eight-Tails was being gradually reduced in size by the repeated explosions. While it still retais form, its dition itiful. Its massive body bore tless burns and wounds.

  Having stopped moving, all Edo Tensei ninjas encircled the Eight-Tails, their chakra fluctuating.

  Though far weaker than in life, none of them feared the tailed beast. Their fideemmed not from their reanimated state but their past prowess.

  Fures like Kai, taking down a jinchuriki in life had been routine.

  Though their strength had dimiheir mastery of power and bat experience remained unscathed.

  The Eight-Tails, now much smaller and gasping for breath, y sprawled in the ter of the Edo Tensei ninjas.

  None of them showed derision; for the Eight-Tails to lose to them was only natural.

  A jinchuriki limited both the beast and its host—a lose-lose situation. Especially in the case of this young and inexperienced jinchuriki.

  Kai stepped forward, fmes f a long sword in his hand.

  This was Kagutsuchi, the most powerful ninjutsu he had mastered in life.

  Though he cked the Mangekyō Sharingan, his exceptional spiritual talent allowed him to use this mighty ocur teique through his three-tomoe Sharingan. With it, he had aplished great feats for the Uchiha , though ultimately sin by Masashi.

  Still, during that fateful battle, he had simply been unlucky.

  Who could've predicted that in their duel, a stray log would fly into his jaw at just the right moment...

  It was a twist of fate that even Madara and Izuna couldn't have foreseen while handling Hashirama and Tobirama nearby.

  Looking at the young Yotsuki boy, Kai felt a rare twinge of pity. The boy must be furious about losing like this.

  "Rest in peace, young one. My sword is swift." The fmes of Kagutsuchi bzed brighter as he raised the bde.

  Swinging the fme bde, he decapitated Killer B.

  But before the head hit the ground, Masashi appeared.

  "Are you here to fulfill your promise?" Kai asked coldly.

  "Yes, but…" Masashi g the fme bde. "You went all out with Kagutsuchi, huh?"

  "Any objes?"

  "Not really. Just letting you know you hit a e."

  With a swift kick, Masashi struck the severed head, shattering it into an octopus tentacle.

  Killer B's body disied before them, leaving only a severed tentacle behind.

  Kai spun around, hurling his fme sword, which morphed into a fiery dragon in mid-air and surged toward the northern ruins—where Killer B was fleeing at full speed.