Impression
Naruto’s chakra transfer has really saved the allied forces – it’s given them all an increased chance to fight back against Obito and Madara, who seem to be letting the Juubi do all the fighting while they stand there watching while immobile. Although it doesn’t explain why the alliance all managed to fly before successfully severing their connection with the Juubi. Everyone now looks like Naruto did in his initial Jinchuuriki form, when his emotions got the better of him after a bit of goading from the Kyuubi – and the power boost that form offered him seems to translate over here as well. Even so, the fact still remains that they’re incredibly disadvantaged – Obito and Madara only really have to wait until Kurama’s chakra runs out again before taking the alliance out for good. In fact, they can probably do that even without waiting – they can both now move again, for one. And Madara alone can wreck havoc if he feels up to it.
We won’t get to see this pummelling quite just yet though, as iirc we’re actually going to be moving away from the front lines and following Sasuke’s side of things for a while. As violent as Orochimaru’s been in the past when things have involved Sasuke, he sounds fairly docile this time round – at least, I doubt his intention is to destroy Konoha when he’s not taking any action at all even when it’s at its most vulnerable state. Or maybe he’s doing it indirectly, as observing and helping Sasuke may end up leading to Konoha’s destruction regardless. Anyway, Orochimaru’s agreed to summon the shinigami using an old, oddly unguarded Uzumaki mask, with himself acting as the sacrifice (it’s okay, he can revive himself) in order to slice open its stomach. The reward he gets is the use of his arms back, and the reward Sasuke gets is to talk to the four deceased Hokage (whose souls have amusingly all ended up in the same location) in order to reaffirm his revenge. It almost feels like a bit of an asspull, especially as all throughout this series, summoning the shinigami has been treated as the ultimate act of self-sacrifice that goes past the point of no return. And with all the knowledge Kabuto had before, during and after his gravedigging, I seriously doubt he’d have been unaware of this method.
Oh well – putting that aside, it’s actually really cool to see all four of the previous Hokage in one place! I trust Hashirama and Tobirama won’t be as nerfed as they were the previous time Orochimaru summoned them – and if certain cards are played right, the Hokage may very well become valuable assets in the fight against Obito and Madara.