Madara's features darkened with frustration as he suddenly raised his head, his Rinnegan eyes seeking to lock onto Minato's position through sheer force of will. The expression on his transformed face carried the cold fury of someone whose fundamental superiority was being challenged by what should have been an inferior opponent.
Just as he prepared to reshape his Truth-Seeking Orbs into new configurations of attack, Minato's form flickered and vanished once again, reappearing beside one of the more distant chakra markers with the casual ease that had made him legendary throughout the ninja world.
Using natural energy to create leverage points in mid-air, Minato executed a complete rotation that defied normal physics before disappearing yet again into the network of spatial anchors he had established.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Brilliant streams of chakra light erupted outward in all directions from his rapidly shifting position, creating a dense web of Flying Thunder God markers that surrounded the massive crater their previous exchange had carved into the landscape. The marks appeared not just on the ground but suspended in the air itself, three-dimensional anchor points that transformed the entire battlefield into Minato's personal domain.
Minato's figure began crossing between these markers with supernatural speed, his form shifting from position to position so rapidly that it seemed as though dozens or even hundreds of identical copies were materializing and vanishing throughout the crater simultaneously.
Buzz!
As Minato continued his dizzying pattern of spatial displacement, each transition left behind a faint trace of chakra energy at both his departure and arrival points. These weren't random movements or desperate evasion—they were the deliberate actions of someone implementing a strategy that required precise timing and perfect spatial awareness.
Minato understood with crystalline clarity that he could not defeat Madara in a direct confrontation. The Ten-Tails Jinchuriki's raw power was simply too overwhelming for any conventional approach to succeed. But the real purpose of this battle wasn't to achieve victory through superior force—it was to extract the Tailed Beast chakra that Naruto needed from Madara's enhanced form.
And for that objective, pure defensive maneuvering would be insufficient.
The chakra traces he was leaving at each position were the residual signatures of a complex technique he was building piece by piece as he moved. Each teleportation added another component to a ninjutsu that was being constructed across multiple dimensions of space and time.
Ding! Ding!
The distinctive sound of a Rasengan reaching completion echoed from multiple positions simultaneously as the spherical technique took shape in Minato's hands. But this wasn't the end of the process—additional elements began incorporating themselves into the attack as wind blades materialized around the chakra core, their vibrations creating the sharp harmonics that had become synonymous with his most devastating techniques.
Madara's enhanced perception worked desperately to track Minato's true position, but the Fourth Hokage's enhanced nervous system allowed him to maintain reaction speeds that matched even divine capabilities. Combined with the temporal distortions created by his space-time techniques, even Madara's cosmic awareness found itself unable to predict where his opponent would appear next.
Witnessing Minato's clear intention to mount a counterattack despite the overwhelming power differential, Madara's expression darkened further. His ancient features twisted with something that might have been respect for his opponent's persistence, or perhaps merely irritation at an insect that refused to acknowledge when it had been swatted.
With decisive force, he drove the Truth-Seeking staff in his right hand downward, the cosmic weapon striking the ground with a sound like reality itself cracking. The impact sent tremors through the earth that extended far beyond the immediate battlefield, announcing to every living being within miles that divine power was being unleashed.
Simultaneously, Madara raised his left hand with fluid grace, and a sphere of black chakra began condensing in his palm with the speed of thought made manifest. The technique that formed was instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Tailed Beast capabilities, but this version carried an intensity that transcended anything normally achievable.
A Tailed Beast Ball—but one crafted from the combined essence of all nine Tailed Beasts and enhanced by the cosmic power of a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
In appearance, the sphere was virtually identical to the Truth-Seeking Orbs that served as his primary weapons. The dark energy pulsed with malevolent life, containing enough concentrated destruction to reshape entire landscapes with its release.
The black Tailed Beast Ball in Madara's palm suddenly blazed with light that hurt to observe directly, its surface crackling with energy that made the air itself seem to scream in protest.
Then it exploded.
When Minato's enhanced perception detected the nature of the attack being prepared, his pupils contracted with recognition and growing alarm. Madara had realized that tracking a single target moving at cosmic speeds was proving difficult even for his divine capabilities, so he had opted for a different approach entirely.
This was a covering attack designed to overwhelm the entire battlefield, creating an area of devastation so complete that evasion would become impossible regardless of speed or spatial manipulation techniques.
As for the damage that would be inflicted on Madara himself by the explosion, the Truth-Seeking Orbs that surrounded him would render such concerns irrelevant.
BOOM!
The detonation that followed was less an explosion than a fundamental rewriting of local reality. Blazing energy erupted outward with such intensity that it filled the entire crater—dozens of meters in diameter—almost instantaneously. The flames continued expanding beyond the original depression, consuming everything within their reach as they sought to sterilize the battlefield completely.
Whoosh!
But even as the devastating energy swept across the landscape, strange phenomena began manifesting within the heart of the conflagration. Dense patterns of spatial distortion appeared throughout the flames, each one marking a location where reality itself was being folded and redirected.
Each tiny gap in the fire corresponded to one of Minato's Flying Thunder God markers, the spatial anchors he had distributed throughout the battlefield. Looking more closely, the marks weren't simply points on the ground—they extended up the crater walls and hung suspended in the air itself, creating a three-dimensional network of escape routes.
Black lines of spatial energy spread between the markers simultaneously, forming miniature dimensional passages that diverted the explosion's force away from their anchor points. The destructive energy that should have overwhelmed everything in its path was instead channeled through these spatial tears, redirected into empty dimensions where it could dissipate harmlessly.
Ever since Minato had developed the Third Stage of the Flying Thunder God technique, virtually every opponent who had faced him in battle had eventually discovered that large-area covering attacks represented the most effective counter to his spatial manipulation abilities.
But Minato had never been content to leave such an obvious weakness unaddressed.
He had gradually learned to combine the Third Stage with the Second Stage, granting each individual marker the temporary ability to function as a dimensional barrier. Rather than being simple anchor points for teleportation, they became active defensive installations capable of redirecting attacks through space-time manipulation.
Even as the Tailed Beast Ball exploded, Madara had encased himself once again within a protective sphere formed from his Truth-Seeking Orbs. The cosmic implements flowed around his body like liquid mercury, creating absolute defense against the devastating energies he had just unleashed.
Moreover, the violent chakra fluctuations created by the explosion should have rendered Minato's scattered marking signatures virtually undetectable. Under such chaotic conditions, even enhanced sensory abilities would struggle to track individual chakra traces amid the overwhelming background interference.
From within his protective barrier, Madara couldn't observe the external situation directly, but his cosmic awareness remained capable of detecting Minato's energy signature even through the dimensional distortions surrounding them.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
But the markers hadn't been destroyed as Madara had anticipated. Instead, Minato's form began appearing at various anchor points throughout the expanding explosion, his spatial network intact despite the overwhelming force that should have obliterated it entirely.
"What!?"
Genuine shock colored Madara's mental voice as his enhanced perception processed what should have been impossible. In that moment of devastating attack, he had been certain that the Tailed Beast Ball's explosion would have eliminated all of Minato's carefully placed markers.
The fact that the Fourth Hokage was still capable of spatial manipulation despite the chaotic energy environment challenged Madara's understanding of how space-time techniques could function under extreme conditions.
"Sage Art: Super Frog Kumite!"
Just as Madara struggled to locate Minato's current position amid the swirling energies and spatial distortions, a devastating blow struck his Truth-Seeking Orb defense with the force of a falling mountain.
BANG!
The power of the senjutsu-enhanced attack, now amplified by the reality-affecting properties of Yin-Yang Release, exceeded anything that conventional techniques could achieve. As Minato's enhanced strength made contact with the cosmic barrier, hairline cracks began to appear across the previously impenetrable surface.
As the fractures spread and deepened, Minato smoothly transitioned his attack from a closed fist to an open palm. Black and white chakra erupted from his hand in a concentrated stream, the Yin-Yang energies seeking any weakness in his opponent's defenses.
The pulse of balanced cosmic power followed the developing cracks with surgical precision, penetrating into the Truth-Seeking Orb's defensive matrix through gaps that were barely visible to normal perception.
The moment Madara's enhanced awareness registered Minato's current position, he also detected the tiny fissures that had appeared in his supposedly absolute defense. For the first time since achieving his transformation, his protective barrier had been compromised by a mortal opponent.
Whoosh!
Almost immediately afterward, a brilliant stream of black and white energy shot through the gap that Minato's attack had created, carrying with it the compressed power of techniques that had been building throughout their entire exchange.
"This is bad!"
The realization struck Madara with the force of divine revelation as his cosmic perception identified the nature of what was penetrating his defenses.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Because in the next moment, a wind-style ninjutsu suddenly materialized within the already cramped space inside his Truth-Seeking Orb barrier. The technique seemed to expand instantly, filling every available inch of the protective sphere with cutting winds that had been enhanced by senjutsu and Yin-Yang Release.
Minato had used his Flying Thunder God technique to directly transfer the complex ninjutsu he had been preparing throughout their battle, bypassing Madara's external defenses entirely by inserting the attack directly into the space his opponent occupied.
BANG!
The technique detonated immediately upon materialization, its effects magnified by the confined space within the Truth-Seeking Orb barrier. The explosion that resulted was contained and concentrated, turning Madara's own defenses into a pressure chamber that amplified the attack's destructive potential.
By the time all these coordinated operations had been completed, Minato had already withdrawn to safety outside the massive crater, his enhanced speed allowing him to escape the expanding zone of destruction before the delayed effects could reach him.
The explosion effects from the original Tailed Beast Ball continued to paint the sky in shades of orange and red, but they were now joined by new sources of light—brilliant white and blue energies that intertwined and competed with the initial conflagration.
Explosions within explosions created a chain reaction that rapidly expanded the zone of devastation, the combined effects reaching a diameter of over one hundred meters as multiple sources of cosmic power fed off each other's energy.
He couldn't maintain control over so many simultaneous spatial transfers for an extended period. The technique he had just executed represented the absolute limit of what his enhanced abilities could achieve under combat conditions, requiring levels of chakra control and spatial awareness that would have been impossible before his recent transformation.
At the same time that this cosmic battle reached its climax, other members of the Allied Forces who had been engaged with the God Tree's expanding trunk network suddenly found their opponents' assault momentum decreasing noticeably.
Itachi, Shisui, Mei Terumi, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and the other elite shinobi who had been fighting the animated branches noticed that the tentacle-like appendages were moving with less coordination and aggression than before. It was as though the tree's attention had been diverted to more pressing concerns.
Simultaneously, the sound of the massive explosion reached their positions, carrying with it implications that sent chills through even the most experienced warriors among them.
Fukasaku and Shima, the ancient toad sages perched on Jiraiya's shoulders, suddenly cried out with voices filled with amazement and disbelief.
"That's Minato's chakra signature!"
"He's actually managed to reach this level in his confrontation with the current Madara!"
Although they couldn't observe the battle directly due to distance and the chaotic energy interference, their enhanced sensory abilities could clearly detect that it was Minato's techniques that had completely enveloped Madara's position.
This meant that the Fourth Hokage's ninjutsu had not only reached their target but had achieved sufficient penetration to create the kind of devastating effects they were witnessing.
For the first time since this cosmic confrontation had begun, it was Minato's attack that had found its mark rather than Madara's.
"Minato..."
A smile gradually spread across Jiraiya's weathered features, replacing the grim expression that had dominated his face since witnessing Madara's transformation. The legendary Sannin could clearly perceive through his enhanced awareness just how vast the power gap between his former student and the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki truly was.
Minato's strength was already beyond the comprehension of most people in the world, representing the pinnacle of what mortal training and innovation could achieve. But Madara's current capabilities transcended such limitations entirely, operating on a level that belonged to the realm of gods rather than men.
Even faced with such an overwhelming disadvantage, even confronting an opponent whose very existence challenged the fundamental laws of reality, Minato had somehow managed to seize the initiative and land a meaningful blow.
It was exactly the kind of impossible achievement that had defined his legendary career.
Meanwhile, at the position closest to the battle between these cosmic forces, Naruto and Sasuke were processing the shocking intelligence that Minato's shadow clones had just delivered to them.
"Indra..."
"Asura..."