"Results are everything. If he didn't die then he didn't die, 'almost' and 'far from it' are no different," Natsuro said, panting slightly as he stared at Madara of the Six Paths, especially the latter's wounds, which were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It was clear that it wouldn't take Madara long to fully recover. So, since he hadn't been killed, no matter how serious the injuries looked, they were meaningless to Madara in his current state.
"Natsuro Shindōkawa, to push someone equal to the Sage of Six Paths to this extent, you should be proud," Madara laughed heartily.
"I don't see it that way," Natsuro replied, casting a glance at him.
"Hmph… Hahahahaha! That unyielding spirit is worthy of praise. But surely you're running on fumes now?" Madara smirked, eyeing the flame armor on Natsuro's body, which could no longer hide its cracks.
Natsuro didn't respond immediately, because, as Madara said, his mode was indeed about to reach its limit.
And the greatest result this mode had achieved was probably killing one of Madara's Limbo: Border Jail shadows, though it could regenerate, it still required time.
As for Madara's seemingly severe injuries, they were meaningless given his ability to naturally regenerate. The only effect was making him look a bit miserable.
Natsuro sighed inwardly. The explosion from the Truth-Seeking Orb had left him a little disappointed. Not only had it failed to kill Madara, it hadn't even destroyed the other three Limbo shadows.
If those three had been taken out, the Dimensional Blade might have had a real chance to work, but there are no ifs.
This entire maneuver had been a major failure for him.
Despite how battered Madara looked, the situation might have actually turned into a dead end for Natsuro.
When it came to techniques capable of killing a Six Paths-level opponent, he had only two real options: Dimensional Blade and Truth-Seeking Orb explosion. But with Madara's Limbo shadows active, the Dimensional Blade could never reach him.
That left the explosion and he had crafted his entire plan around it, and it still failed. A big, decisive failure.
So now, he questioned—was there still a chance?
Natsuro found himself revisiting a plan he had originally shelved, using Flying Thunder God.
Of course, Madara would never give him the opportunity to mark him directly, and any Flying Thunder God kunai would be shattered instantly by the shockwaves of their battle.
At this level, only materials like those of the Truth-Seeking Orbs could survive the battlefield. Even the Mōei Sword would have shattered mid-battle if not reinforced with Nine-Tails chakra and Susanoo's armor.
In other words, normal kunai stood no chance of surviving here.
And even if they did, they wouldn't help much. At Madara's level, there was no way he'd be caught off guard by a Flying Thunder God teleport. Without a direct mark, the response time was more than enough for Madara to counter, or even turn the tables.
But he still had a potential ace, he could use Yin-Yang Release to convert a Truth-Seeking Orb into a Flying Thunder God marker.
As long as the orb existed, Natsuro could teleport to it.
And Madara didn't know this was possible, so it could serve as the perfect sneak attack.
Originally, he had planned to use use a Truth-Seeking Orb to teleport, then follow up with a Dimensional Blade while Madara was unprepared.
However, during the fight, he abandoned the plan.
After repeated clashes, he realized that Madara's reflexes, especially after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, had vastly improved.
Even if the teleport caught him off guard, Madara would still react in time to swap positions with a Limbo shadow.
That would expose his use of the Truth-Seeking Orb as a marker, and also waste the Dimensional Blade.
So, the plan was rejected in favor of the explosion strategy.
In hindsight, both plans may have yielded similar results. In fact, the teleport plan might have spared him from being caught in the blast and taking damage himself.
Still, if given the choice again, he would still pick the explosion.
Because it was the only plan with a real chance of killing Madara. The teleport combo might, at best, destroy a shadow.
"Huff…"
Suddenly, determination returned to Natsuro's eyes.
Even if this was truly the end, even if all his abilities had been exposed, he would fight on.
Until he spent his very last ounce of strength, the outcome was still undecided.
In the next moment, Natsuro's chakra surged, not because it had increased, but because he was burning almost all of what remained.
Around him, the very space distorted in the blaze. Natsuro's body was engulfed in flames so red they were turning white.
He stared at Madara. Two flames burned visibly in his eyes.
And then Natsuro grinned.
"Come on, let's finish this!"
In an instant, his body shot upward, like a streak of fire soaring into the sky.
Madara didn't stop him.
His expression had turned serious. He could see it, this would be Natsuro's final strike.
If he could withstand it, the fight would be over.
But he also knew… this strike would not be easy to endure.
As Natsuro flew higher, the entire sky turned blood red.
Clouds ignited into firestorms, roiling above, streaked with arcs of lightning, like a meteor shower of flame about to descend.
"What power…" Madara murmured.
He could tell, Natsuro had abandoned all techniques, even the space-rending Dimensional Blade, and chosen to unleash pure, overwhelming force.
Or perhaps, he had realized that the Dimensional Blade couldn't simultaneously lock onto Madara and all his shadows, and so gave it up.
Madara nodded.
Had it been a Dimensional Blade, he wouldn't have dared to clash head-on, it was too savage and too sharp.
Even without it, this inferno that engulfed the heavens had already surpassed Kage-level, it had reached the Six Paths realm.
And this range, it encompassed the entire Limbo activity zone.
Natsuro was forcing Madara to take the hit directly.
"In that case… how could I not accept the challenge?!" Madara roared with excitement. Beneath the flaming sky, he could feel his blood boiling.
There were still questions in his mind, like how Natsuro, without being a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, could use Truth-Seeking Orbs.
But none of that mattered now.
Madara hovered in mid-air, laughing, his Rinnegan flaring with power.
Then, blue flames burst forth from him.
They rapidly formed his complete Susanoo.
And not just that, his three shadows were also cloaked in blue fire.
In a flash, four colossal, complete-body Susanoo with crow tengu masks stood across the sky.
Madara's true body gripped two Susanoo blades, while the other three Susanoo merged their energy into the swords, creating an aura of terrifying chakra.
Even the simple act of swinging these blades twisted the surrounding space, as if it could no longer contain their power.
"Pity… one shadow is still gone," Madara muttered, sensing the force within the blades. His eyes burned with a fanatical gleam.
This, this was the power he had always pursued.
Invincible power.
At this moment, Madara of the Six Paths stared into the sky and from that flaming sky, an overwhelmingly terrifying figure emerged.
It was like the god of fire, its body engulfed in flames powerful enough to burn all of existence. Now, this undying bird hovered in the sky, absorbing every last spark of fire around it. Then it let out a deafening, piercing cry.
Natsuro stood inside the flaming phoenix, taking a deep breath. He had initially planned to incorporate Kirin, the Lightning Release technique, into this final strike, but the sheer destructive force was beyond his control. He had no choice but to abandon that idea.
Now, looking down through the phoenix's flaming body and the crystalline lenses of Susanoo, Natsuro locked eyes with Madara once again.
The two smiled faintly at each other, and in that fleeting exchange, both saw the battle intent blazing in the other's gaze.
Come, on lets fight!
"Sage Art ~ Blaze Release: Undying Phoenix!"
Following the cry of the bird, the phoenix flared its massive wings which were vast enough to blot out the sky and dove toward Madara, descending with unstoppable force.
As if the god of fire launching its final judgment upon the earth. Or a burning sun crashing from the heavens.
Madara laughed boldly in response. His Susanoo's wings flared open, and his massive avatar charged upward to meet the phoenix head-on.
Compared to the immense Undying Phoenix, Madara's Susanoo looked tiny, like a mayfly striking a mountain.
But…
Faced with such titanic power, Madara showed no fear. He surged forward and swung his two Susanoo swords.
"Limbo: Susanoo — Divine Twin Blades!"
In that instant, both blades radiated an energy even greater than Susanoo itself.The sword light slashed upward, aiming to cleave through the descending phoenix.
"BOOM!!"
At the moment when the blades collided with the Undying Phoenix, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
Not because there was no sound but because the sound had reached a frequency beyond the limits of human hearing.
Explosions erupted across the sky in countless blooms, becoming the most dazzling fireworks ever witnessed.
The endless flames ignited the very air, dyeing the entire sky a fiery red.
Within that inferno appeared flashes of blue light, as the aura of the Susanoo blades still shimmered.
Though the battle raged at the highest edge of the sky, the clash of power between these two transcendent forces was felt everywhere...
The earth trembled.
Space itself warped.
Hurricane-force winds turned into flaming cyclones, sweeping across the land.
At this point, every member of the Allied Shinobi Forces closed their eyes.
The light from this clash was brighter than the sun, they couldn't even look directly at it.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke, having mostly recovered, stared at the explosion.
They wanted to rush in to help him, but had no idea what they could possibly do.
So, they turned their focus to protecting the nearby shinobi from being annihilated by the aftershocks.
Even just the shockwaves were beyond what the army could endure.
And at this point, it wasn't just Naruto and Sasuke.
Everyone knew... this was the final clash.
And so...
Who would win?
Who would fall?
Every heart in the Allied Shinobi Forces was trembling.
They hoped. They prayed. That Natsuro would emerge victorious.
That he would deliver them a final win in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
That he would save the world, from Madara of the Six Paths.
Because if Natsuro failed… No one could imagine how they could turn the tide.
The explosion went on for a long, long time.
Eventually, the flames in the sky died down, turning into tiny flickering embers that rained down upon the earth like drops of liquid fire.
Silence fell.
Only a single radiant point of light remained in the center, brighter than the sun.
Even with his Rinnegan, Sasuke couldn't see through the blinding glow to what lay inside.
But even the sun must eventually set.
Even light must fade.
And when it did, the Undying Phoenix was gone.
The Susanoo had vanished.
Only two figures remained, floating in the sky.
Madara of the Six Paths and Natsuro, whose Nine-Tails Mode and Susanoo armor had both disappeared.
The two stood very close to one another.
And in the end…
The Undying Phoenix had fallen just short.
Because Madara's Six Paths staff had pierced straight through Natsuro's heart.
If you want to read more...
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Next Chapter: Madara and the Despair He Invokes