As the words of Six Paths Madara fell, dozens of energy spheres resembling black holes began to emit an intense gravitational pull.
The earth trembled and cracked.
And under the influence of that gravitational force, the broken chunks of land began to float upward.
Condense, combine!
Soon, in the sky above, dozens of enormous orbs composed of dirt and stone, each the size of a mountain appeared.
These were Chibaku Tensei satellites, and each one was even larger than those Nagato had created!
One could imagine that if these Chibaku Tensei spheres were to crash down like a meteor shower, the result would undoubtedly be catastrophic.
Six Paths Madara looked at Natsuro. He naturally understood that these Chibaku Tensei spheres couldn't threaten his life, but if they were to fall toward the Allied Shinobi Forces, they could buy him some time.
He glanced at the towering God Tree beside him. By this point, he had mostly accepted the fact that he was no match for Natsuro.
Madara was a proud man, and not one to admit defeat easily. However, if someone defeated him head-on and honorably, he wouldn't stubbornly deny it either.
Although Natsuro hadn't technically defeated him yet, Madara had already acknowledged that Natsuro's power surpassed his current self.
Therefore, given the situation, all Madara could do was stall for time and wait for the bud atop the God Tree to bloom, projecting the Rinne Sharingan onto the blood-red moon!
If that happened, his Infinite Tsukuyomi plan would succeed, and even Natsuro wouldn't be able to stop it!
Madara didn't even consider the possibility that the Infinite Tsukuyomi might be ineffective against Natsuro. In his view, as the ultimate technique of the Sage of Six Paths, nothing could withstand it.
Moreover, this was Madara's only chance. If he didn't try, what else could he do?
At this moment, Natsuro looked at the massive orbs floating in the sky, then glanced at Madara and the ancient God Tree formed from the Ten Tails behind him. He stretched his back casually.
The sound of joints cracking echoed from his body. As he stretched, his body had already entered its fully tense, final combat state.
He had finished testing his Six Paths Senjutsu, so it was time to end the battle with Madara.
At that moment, the Ink Blade reappeared in Natsuro's hand. In an instant, the blade began to tremble and emit a strange light, a glow so bizarre that space itself seemed to avoid it.
"Next, I'll end this in one blow," Natsuro's voice echoed in Madara's ears.
Suddenly, Madara's eyes widened as a strong sense of foreboding surged through him. He knew Natsuro never spoke nonsense, which meant what was coming next would be his most ferocious attack yet.
At once, Madara summoned the four shadows of Limbo: Border Jail again, deliberately spreading them out so he could swap places with them instantly.
Furthermore, blue flames surged around Madara and his Limbo shadows, quickly forming a Complete Body Susanoo.
It seemed Madara still intended to use Susanoo for defense. And not just that, his Truth-Seeking Orbs also shifted into a defensive formation around him.
All of this was done in hopes of either blocking or dodging Natsuro's next attack.
But in Natsuro's eyes, none of it mattered.
Because...The fluctuation of space-time had already been determined.No one could stop Natsuro's next sword strike.
"Dimensional Blade!!"
At that moment, Natsuro took a deep breath, and his eyes snapped open.
Time seemed to freeze in his view of the world, this was a realm of divine speed, where even a single instant was stretched infinitely.
Natsuro vanished from where he stood. A white sword light pierced through every Chibaku Tensei in a flash, tearing through the dirt and stone around them as if they were made of paper, unable to offer even the slightest resistance.
The gravitational core at the center of each Chibaku Tensei was pierced and neutralized, rendering the spheres unsustainable.
Their forms began to collapse. Before long, they would shatter, and countless tons of earth and rock would rain down upon the land.
But in Natsuro's world, the Chibaku Tensei spheres still remained intact, for disintegration took time.
And within that span, he could do anything he wanted.
Seeing Madara beginning to react, he couldn't help but feel impressed. As expected of a Six Paths-level foe, he could still respond even in this accelerated state.
But ultimately, it didn't matter anymore. he had already leapt forward.
Madara had been fully alert, but even his Rinnegan hadn't detected the moment when every Chibaku Tensei core had been destroyed.
All of them.
But how? When?
Madara was dazed, but he had no time to ponder.
Because in his eyes, a fierce white sword light suddenly appeared. Under that blade, the world lost its color, and space itself began tearing apart under its force.
At that moment, all Madara could see was the sword light.
"This slash... it's as if it came from another dimension..."
That thought flashed across Madara's mind. Before this interdimensional slash, he had no time to resist.
His Complete Body Susanoo was sliced apart in an instant, like paper before a blade. At this level of combat, its defense was no longer worth mentioning.
Even his Truth-Seeking Orbs, positioned in a defensive posture, had finally found a use—standing between him and the blade.
But Madara had a terrible premonition:
Even the Six Paths-enhanced Truth-Seeking Orbs might not be able to stop this blade.
Sure enough, despite surviving previous clashes without a scratch, the orbs were now sliced cleanly apart, as if a sword capable of cutting through steel had passed through fruit.
"What a dazzling light... a symbol of ultimate power," Madara wanted to mutter.
But reality gave him no time to do so.
In an instant, Madara attempted to swap places with his shadows to escape the slash. His mind could still initiate the thought.
However, he suddenly looked confused.
At that moment, he realized that all four shadows had lost contact with him.
Not because the connection was severed but because, in that very instant, all four had already been slain.
So now, facing the incoming blade, with all his defenses pierced, and no time to deploy new ones—
Even the option to dodge was gone.
There wasn't even time to go all-in.
Because under that sword light, there was no opportunity to resist.
Madara could only watch helplessly as the light swallowed his body.
Then, another slash followed.
But this one cleaved through the God Tree, once the Ten Tails in its ancient form.
In an instant, the sword light pierced the God Tree.
After finishing all of that, Natsuro returned to his original position, as if he had never moved at all.
However, his body was visibly trembling, as though he were enduring intense, nerve-wracking pain.
"Hah…"
Natsuro exhaled deeply. Even with his current strength, using consecutive Dimensional Blades—which sliced through space itself—meant he had to bear the excruciating pain of his body being torn apart at extreme speed.
Fortunately, his recovery ability had already reached a near-broken, almost cheat-like level. The tearing pain was rapidly healing.
But even so, as the number of slashes increased, the tearing outpaced his healing. Natsuro still couldn't stay in this super-divine speed state and unleash Dimensional Blades indefinitely.
"But… this is the true Dimensional Slash!"
A fervent gleam appeared in Natsuro's eyes. That feeling, of mastering everything under ultra-speed, of controlling the entire world, made him feel like a god. There was nothing he couldn't do.
The Dimensional Slash used by his previous spiritual clone had only been a single strike, and even that was dodged by Madara using Limbo: Border Jail.
But the true Dimensional Slash would never leave Madara any chance to escape. As long as the space was within Natsuro's line of sight, it was within the reach of his sword.
As Natsuro's words fell, the Chibaku Tensei satellites in the sky began to collapse. Dirt and stone rained downward. Though the fragments still caused tremors on impact, they could no longer unleash large-scale destruction.
At the same time, where Six Paths Madara had been, the five blue-flamed Susanoo avatars dimmed, then disappeared from everyone's view.
Madara seemed like he wanted to say something, but now, no words came out.
In the next instant, countless sword lights erupted across the sky. These were the traces of Natsuro's Dimensional Blades. They had already been unleashed, but only now did they appear to explode before the eyes of the onlookers.
The sword lights had erupted everywhere, including where Madara and the God Tree stood.
Everyone looked toward the shattered sky in the distance. It was like peering through a cracked, transparent crystal ball. From different angles, they could even see different scenery.
This visual distortion made it clear just how dangerous that space had become, it had been utterly sliced apart.
The entire section of space looked like it had been divided into multiple segments, and was recovering at an extremely slow pace.
"What… kind of power is this?"
Even though they were already numb to powers that defied logic, everyone couldn't help but be shocked again.
This was the first time they realized that space itself could be so fragile, so easily sliced apart like tofu by a human being.
"If… this is the level of power involved, then Madara Uchiha must be dead, right?"
That thought—exciting and full of anticipation—arose in everyone's mind.
At that moment, Madara's body began to fall from the sky. His form was no longer whole. Even though Natsuro's slash had been vertical...
Madara had moved slightly at the last moment, so he managed to retain his upper body from the chest up.
With such an injury, someone like Natsuro could still survive if he retrieved his body in time. But Madara… didn't have that kind of ability. At least, the Yang Release power he had gained through absorbing the Ten Tails wasn't enough.
Still, Madara's consciousness hadn't faded. His eyes were full of confusion, unable to understand how Natsuro could unleash such a divine, myth-like sword strike.
Falling from the sky, looking at the space shattered like broken glass…
"It's kind of… beautiful."
That sudden thought emerged from Madara's fading consciousness.
Perhaps… dying under such a strike… was enough?
But…
Madara clenched his teeth and raised his head, looking toward the God Tree.
Just a little more... just a little bit more...
In Madara's vision, the God Tree seemed to be getting closer, and it wasn't an illusion.
Because at the base of the God Tree, space had also been cut through. The tree had been severed from below—and now, with its base gone, it was toppling toward Madara's position.
"Absorb us…"
Suddenly, a voice rang in Madara's ears.
"Who is it?" Madara's vision had already gone blurry, but the voice rang directly in his mind.
"Absorb the God Tree. Absorb the Ten Tails. Swallow everything!"
Madara looked dazed as the God Tree toppled toward him. He reached out with his severed arm—and made contact.
The moment his hand touched it, the God Tree became fluid, flowing into him like a liquid.
As this happened, Madara's severed lower body and arms began to regenerate—until he had absorbed the entire God Tree.
And then, Madara once again stood in the sky in his complete form.
He looked at his restored body and hands, then touched the newly opened eye that had emerged from his forehead…
"I see… so you are the God Tree itself…"
Madara suddenly burst into laughter. He had thought he'd reached a dead end—but now, the clouds had parted, and a new path was revealed.
"Sixth Hokage… I have you to thank for this power!"
Madara shouted and raised his hand, snapping off the horn-like forehead protector on his head.
Then, on his exposed forehead, a clear vertical line split open, revealing a red eye with six tomoe: the Rinne Sharingan!
Madara roared with laughter, this was his new power. With it, he believed he once again had the strength to face Natsuro head-on.
"Come on, Sixth Hokage! Let's keep fighting!"
Six Paths Madara with the Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan… has returned!
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Next Chapter: Infinite Tsukuyomi