Just as Minato and Madara's outstretched hands approached the point of contact, a sudden fluctuation in the Fourth Hokage's enhanced perception sent alarm bells ringing through his consciousness. The disturbance wasn't coming from the obvious threats surrounding them—it was emerging from directly beneath their feet.
"Black Zetsu!"
The realization struck Minato with the force of divine revelation, his analytical mind immediately understanding the implications of what his enhanced senses were detecting. The pale creature was moving rapidly upward through the earth itself, approaching from the position directly opposite where he and Madara faced each other.
It seemed that Black Zetsu had been concealed deep underground from the very beginning of their confrontation, hidden at depths that exceeded even Minato's enhanced perception range. The entity's patience had been absolute, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge when its intervention would have maximum tactical impact.
This meant that Madara had seen through Minato's purpose from the start, understanding that the Fourth Hokage sought to prevent the retrieval of the missing Rinnegan. The Ten-Tails Jinchuriki had deliberately allowed Minato to approach him, using the promise of close combat to lure his opponent away from the spatial manipulation techniques that could have prevented Black Zetsu's approach.
If they had continued fighting at a distance, Minato's legendary speed combined with his mastery of space-time ninjutsu would have provided countless methods for intercepting any approach to the battlefield. But at this range, with both combatants committed to direct engagement, such preventive measures became impossible to implement.
Minato still possessed the capability to stop Black Zetsu's ascent, but doing so would require abandoning his current position and sacrificing what might be his only opportunity to achieve close contact with Madara's enhanced form.
Even with his newfound mastery of Yin-Yang Release allowing him to contest Madara's cosmic abilities, the previous series of active attacks had consumed enormous amounts of his chakra reserves. The enhanced techniques required exponentially more energy than conventional ninjutsu, and his body was already showing signs of strain from channeling forces that belonged to the realm of divine beings.
After weighing the tactical implications with lightning speed, Minato made his decision. He would continue with his current plan regardless of the consequences. The most crucial objective remained unchanged—obtaining the missing Tailed Beast chakra for Naruto's use.
Madara's palm made contact first, his fingers closing around Minato's left shoulder with enough force to crush normal human bone. Immediately, an invasive power began surging into Minato's body—not the chakra-negating ability from their previous encounters, but something far more aggressive and destructive.
However, Minato had anticipated such an assault and prepared accordingly. The Yin-Yang energies circulating through his enhanced physiology formed protective barriers around his vital organs and chakra pathways, creating resistance against Madara's invasive force with the same cosmic principles that governed Truth-Seeking Orbs.
In the next instant, Minato's palm made contact with Madara's abdomen, and something extraordinary occurred.
"What!?"
Genuine shock colored Madara's ancient features as Minato's hand didn't simply touch his transformed body—it penetrated directly through his enhanced skin and muscle, reaching toward the sealed space where the Ten-Tails' power was contained.
The moment of contact sent chaotic fluctuations through Madara's normally stable chakra system, disrupting patterns that had been carefully maintained since his transformation into a divine being.
"He actually understands the nature of my seal?"
The surprise in Madara's mental voice was profound and deeply unsettling. The sealing technique required to become a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki was among the most complex and esoteric arts in existence, incorporating principles that even the Uzumaki clan—legendary masters of sealing arts—might not fully comprehend.
The knowledge of how to manipulate such cosmic-level seals should have been impossible for any mortal to acquire through normal means.
Of course, the method for interfacing with Madara's seal had been provided to Minato by the Sage of Six Paths himself, cosmic wisdom passed down from the original creator of the techniques that governed Tailed Beast containment.
Recognizing the immediate danger posed by this unexpected development, Madara suddenly extended his free hand toward Minato's position. The Truth-Seeking Orb floating before his palm began flowing like liquid mercury, transforming into a weapon configuration designed for close-range elimination.
Swish!
But Minato was already in motion, his enhanced reflexes allowing him to leap backward just as Madara's counterattack materialized. As he withdrew his hand from the seal matrix within Madara's abdomen, he also released a carefully prepared stream of his own chakra into the cosmic containment system.
That chakra carried with it the spiritual signatures necessary to establish connections with the nine Tailed Beasts contained within Madara's transformed form, creating links that transcended the normal boundaries between separate consciousness.
With focused intent, Minato immediately located the missing components of power that were absent from Naruto's spiritual makeup—the chakra signatures of the One-Tail, Six-Tails, and Seven-Tails that would complete his son's connection to the full spectrum of Tailed Beast energies.
By utilizing the reality-affecting properties of Yin-Yang Release, he could establish contact with the Tailed Beasts even without having previously absorbed portions of their chakra. The cosmic principles that governed creation and form allowed him to reach across dimensional barriers and touch consciousnesses that existed within Madara's sealed space.
However, Minato had no intention of limiting himself to extracting only the chakra that Naruto required. By pulling additional Tailed Beast power from Madara's enhanced form, he could potentially weaken the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki's overall capabilities.
Such an outcome would represent an unexpected strategic bonus that could tip the balance of their entire confrontation.
But even as Minato began the delicate process of chakra extraction, Black Zetsu completed its ascent through the earth. The pale entity emerged beneath Madara's feet as a stream of liquid shadow, flowing upward along his body with supernatural speed.
Black Zetsu merged directly into Madara's enhanced form, its consciousness integrating with his own as it spread across half of his body like some cosmic parasite achieving perfect symbiosis.
"Lord Madara, I apologize for the delay, but given the current tactical situation, this method represents the most efficient approach to completing our objectives."
Black Zetsu's voice emerged from within Madara's transformed body, the entity's consciousness speaking through shared vocal cords as its influence spread throughout the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki's enhanced physiology.
Madara's expression darkened with fury, but not at Black Zetsu's presumptuous merger—rather at the implications of what was about to occur. As the black coloration completely covered the left half of his body, the eyelid that had remained tightly closed since his original resurrection suddenly opened with deliberate slowness.
The second Rinnegan was revealed in all its terrible glory, purple irises marked with concentric circles that seemed to contain the wisdom and malice of eons. Both of Madara's eyes now blazed with power, their combined capabilities representing the complete mastery over the Six Paths techniques that had been developed by the Sage himself.
When that dual gaze fell upon Minato, the Fourth Hokage couldn't suppress an involuntary shudder that spoke to instincts developed over years of facing impossible odds.
Whoosh!
Understanding that his window of opportunity was rapidly closing, Minato immediately severed the chakra connection he had established with Madara's seal. Three distinct streams of energy—each carrying the unique signature of a different Tailed Beast—rushed toward his palm with the speed of lightning seeking ground.
Madara launched his counterattack in the same instant, cosmic power gathering around his enhanced form as he prepared to eliminate this persistent threat once and for all.
Swish!
But before the attack could reach its target, Minato's figure vanished from its current position with the characteristic displacement of the Flying Thunder God technique. He materialized beside Naruto's position, the extracted Tailed Beast chakra still flowing between his fingers like liquid starlight.
However, the transfer of power couldn't be completed immediately, because Madara's enhanced perception had already locked onto their new location with the precision of divine awareness.
After regaining access to both Rinnegan, Madara's capabilities had increased exponentially beyond their already cosmic levels. The enhancement wasn't simply additive—it was multiplicative, representing the difference between partial and complete mastery over forces that had shaped the world since its creation.
The massive forms of the Nine-Tails avatar and Perfect Susanoo that had dominated the battlefield moments before simply vanished from Madara's enhanced sight, their pilots understanding instinctively that remaining in one location had become a death sentence.
Minato led both young shinobis to a position on the opposite side of the God Tree's massive trunk, using the entity's enormous bulk as temporary concealment while he completed the power transfer that would change everything.
Without hesitation, he extended his hand toward Naruto, rich chakra flowing from his palm in streams of concentrated energy that carried the spiritual essence of the missing Tailed Beasts.
Naruto, who had been briefed on the plan during their brief respite, offered no resistance to the procedure. He allowed Minato to guide the extracted chakra directly into the seal matrix contained within his abdomen, trusting completely in his father's expertise and judgment.
"It's finished!"
A hint of joy flickered across Minato's features as the transfer reached completion, the last traces of Tailed Beast chakra settling into their proper positions within Naruto's spiritual architecture.
But even as satisfaction over this achievement warmed his consciousness, Minato felt the enormous pressure of Madara's approach bearing down on their position with the inexorable force of a collapsing star.
He looked up at Naruto with eyes that carried both pride and urgent concern.
"Remember what I explained to you about the process. Even though our situation is desperate, these matters must be confirmed directly by the Sage himself."
Because the war's progression had been so urgent, Minato hadn't possessed the luxury of asking the Sage of Six Paths all the questions that burned in his analytical mind. There were aspects of the power transfer that remained unclear, protocols that needed to be followed to ensure the cosmic energies would integrate properly.
"I understand!"
Naruto's response carried the absolute conviction that had defined his approach to impossible challenges throughout his young life.
The moment the acknowledgment left his lips, Naruto's expression suddenly froze in place, exactly as Minato's had during his own encounter with the Sage of Six Paths. He stood motionless as if lost in a trance, his consciousness clearly transported to realms that existed beyond normal perception.
The same phenomenon occurred with Sasuke, who had been positioned at a different location around the God Tree's massive circumference. The towering forms of both the materialized Nine-Tails and the Perfect Susanoo vanished simultaneously, their controllers no longer present in the physical realm to maintain such complex manifestations.
Both young shinobis, after that brief moment of transition, found their awareness transferred to a spiritual space that transcended the boundaries of the physical world.
Naruto and Sasuke raised their eyes to observe the figure seated before them in the metaphysical realm, their voices carrying a mixture of awe and recognition as they spoke.
"Are you the old man that Dad mentioned—the Sage of Six Paths!?"
"The Sage of Six Paths..."
BOOM!
The moment that Naruto and Sasuke's consciousness entered the spiritual dimension, the ground surrounding the God Tree began experiencing violent seismic activity that extended for dozens of miles in every direction.
Buzz!
Madara ascended into the sky with the fluid grace of someone for whom gravity was merely a suggestion rather than a physical law. Several Truth-Seeking Orbs condensed before his palms one after another, their dark surfaces pulsing with energies that belonged to the realm of creation myths rather than conventional warfare.
The cosmic implements spread outward in perfect formation, each one generating repulsive forces that began affecting the fundamental structure of the earth itself. The ground within a dozen kilometers started to disintegrate, not through violent explosion but through the gradual negation of the forces that held matter together.
"Why aren't we being pulled upward?"
Itachi, Shisui, Mei Terumi, and the other elite shinobi who remained conscious during this cosmic display watched in horror as the landscape around them came apart at the molecular level, yet somehow they remained unaffected by the gravitational forces that should have drawn them into the maelstrom of destruction.
They raised their eyes in shock and growing terror. High above them, the massive chunks of disintegrated earth were gathering together under Madara's direction, condensing into perfect spheres that grew larger and more defined with each passing moment.
These weren't simple rocks or debris—they were meteorites, each one measuring hundreds of meters in diameter and containing enough mass to obliterate entire cities upon impact. The spheres hung suspended in the air above their heads like the judgment of angry gods, radiating an aura of destruction that made the very air difficult to breathe.
"Is this the true power of a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki?"
The question came from Fukasaku and Shima, the ancient toad sages whose centuries of experience had never prepared them for witnessing power on this cosmic scale.
Their voices carried the stunned recognition of beings who had lived through countless wars and catastrophes, yet had never encountered forces that could literally reshape the laws of physics according to personal will.
Faced with such overwhelming demonstration of divine authority, they possessed no techniques or strategies that could offer meaningful resistance. This was power that transcended the categories of ninjutsu entirely, operating according to principles that belonged to the realm of creation mythology rather than martial combat.
And the trajectory of all those massive meteorites, their paths calculated with mathematical precision that accounted for every possible evasive maneuver, pointed directly toward the locations where Minato, Guy, Naruto, and Sasuke had taken refuge.
Madara's gaze swept downward with the cold indifference of a god observing insects, ancient fury blazing in his enhanced eyes as he prepared to deliver judgment upon those who had dared to challenge divine authority.
"Now then, let's see you try to use your space-time ninjutsu against this!"
The violent declaration seemed to pronounce a death sentence upon everyone below, his voice carrying the weight of cosmic law as he delivered his ultimate judgment.
In the sky above, Madara swung the Truth-Seeking staff in his hand with deliberate ceremony, and the massive meteorites—each one carrying the destructive force of billions of tons focused into a single point—began their inexorable descent toward the earth below.