The black Truth-Seeking Ball in Kawakaze's hand transformed into an incredibly heavy warhammer, which he brought down hard against Madara's chest.
The sheer force of the strike seemed to compress the very air, producing a deep, resounding boom.
Madara hastily raised his arms to block, but the overwhelming power crashed over him like a tidal wave, sending him hurtling backward.
His arms hung limp at his sides—the bones had been completely shattered by the impact.
However, thanks to his formidable regeneration, wisps of white smoke immediately rose from his injuries as his arms began to slowly heal.
"You can kill me."
"But take me alive? Impossible."
A cruel smile crept across Madara's face. He already knew he was outmatched.
But this time, he wouldn't run.
If he was going to die here, he was certain Kawakaze wouldn't walk away unscathed either.
"If you want to die, it won't be that easy."
Kawakaze swung the massive hammer with one hand, striking the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path several times.
Suddenly, five rays of light shot out from the statue's mouth, and an overwhelming surge of Tailed Beast chakra flooded the entire island like an unstoppable tide.
The Tailed Beasts were just about to curse, but the words caught in their throats.
Their gazes flickered between Madara and Kawakaze.
At that moment, their hearts were filled with unease, their bodies trembling slightly with fear.
"Lord Kawakaze, do you need my help?"
The Seven-Tails, ever perceptive, thought himself to have some degree of rapport with Kawakaze.
He flapped his wings and flew closer, his voice filled with flattery—there was even a trace of obsequiousness in his tone.
"Sure, go ahead."
Kawakaze's lips curled slightly as he pointed at Madara, but from the way the insect hesitated, he could already see its reluctance.
The Seven-Tails blinked, his antennae twitching as if caught in indecision.
"Forget it. Get out of here."
"If you die here, don't blame me."
Kawakaze let out a small chuckle, waving his hand to dismiss the Tailed Beasts.
"Thank you."
They weren't ungrateful. After offering their thanks, they bolted away like arrows released from a bow.
Chōmei was the last to leave, flapping his wings as he slowly disappeared from Kawakaze's sight.
Madara simply watched in silence. The Tailed Beasts meant nothing to him anymore.
"Limbo: Border Jail."
Even though he knew he couldn't defeat Kawakaze, surrender was never an option.
As his Rinnegan widened, four shadowy figures emerged alongside his original body, all attacking Kawakaze in unison.
The Limbo clones moved with lightning speed, as if phasing through different dimensions of space and time.
Their attacks were sharp and lethal, each strike carrying devastating power.
Yet, before Kawakaze, it was all in vain.
The four shadows of Limbo: Border Jail, normally unseen, were fully exposed under Kawakaze's sharp perception—like ghosts dragged into the light, unable to hide.
The All-Killing Ash Bones in his hand gleamed with a deathly gray radiance.
The fight was over in an instant. The four shadows were struck, one after another, each vanishing upon impact.
Bang—
With a powerful kick, Kawakaze sent Madara flying. The gray bone staff in his palm retracted back into his hand.
He had no intention of letting Madara die just yet.
"Why didn't you finish me off?"
"Are you scared? Haha~"
After landing, Madara wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his fingers, a wild grin spreading across his face.
"Yes, I'm scared."
Kawakaze's response was as swift as lightning—his figure vanished even faster.
A sharp slicing sound echoed as a flash of cold steel cut through the air. In the blink of an eye, Madara's entire right arm was severed. The strike was so fast that he had no time to react.
Blood gushed from the wound like a fountain, staining the ground a deep crimson.
Madara rolled instinctively, barely avoiding Kawakaze's follow-up strike. The second slash passed dangerously close, the wind pressure alone making his hair whip wildly.
"If I didn't have these eyes, would you still hesitate to kill me?"
Madara regained his footing, swiftly widening the distance between them, his severed arm still bleeding profusely.
"You dare!!!"
Hearing Madara's words, Kawakaze's heart tensed with alarm.
If Madara no longer had the Rinnegan, then everything would be beyond salvation.
"You're actually flustered?"
"Hahaha~"
Madara suddenly raised two fingers and thrust them toward his own eyes with force.
If I die, none of you will ever be revived.
"Ah—!"
A sharp cry of pain rang out as Madara's fingers were abruptly sliced apart before they could reach his eyes.
Kawakaze's Truth-Seeking Orb sword had intercepted him at the last moment, cutting not only through his fingers but through his entire hand.
Before Madara could react, Kawakaze twisted the blade, severing both his hands completely, the dismembered limbs falling lifelessly to the ground.
Then, under Kawakaze's will, the Truth-Seeking Orb morphed into chains, wrapping around Madara and restraining him entirely.
With his chakra suppressed to the point where he could no longer control it, Madara collapsed, unable to rise again.
"To be safe, I'll take your eyes first."
As he spoke, Kawakaze reached out and carefully extracted both Rinnegan from Madara's sockets.
"Kawakaze Hatake…"
"I've lost. I accept that."
"But there's something I've always wondered."
Blood streamed down Madara's cheeks from his empty sockets, yet his expression remained composed, as if he had come to terms with his fate.
The victor reigns, the defeated fall—this was an unchanging truth.
"You can ask."
"Whether I answer or not, that's up to me."
Kawakaze lifted Madara and vanished from the battlefield.
"How did you know that Nagato's eyes were mine?"
"How did you know about the Moon's Eye Plan?"
"I never once suspected Black Zetsu's true identity—how did you?"
"And Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's seal… there's no way you could have known about that."
…
Madara asked question after question. Over the past few days, he had gone over everything again and again.
No matter how he looked at it, it felt as though Kawakaze had predicted his every move from the start.
What he once believed to be a game played from the shadows had, in truth, been completely exposed under the light.
He couldn't figure it out.
How did Kawakaze know all of this?
He had lost, but he refused to accept defeat.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I'm afraid you won't believe me."
Kawakaze flickered forward, covering a great distance as he neared Konoha.
"If you dare to say it, I dare to believe it."
Madara scoffed. As if he didn't have the ability to judge truth for himself.
"I come from a place called Earth."
"There, you are nothing more than stories in a book—fictional characters."
"I know the fate of every single one of you."
"Does that make sense to you now?"
Kawakaze never expected Madara to believe him—he was simply indulging his curiosity one last time.
"In the book you speak of… do I die?"
"Was I really just a pawn, used by Black Zetsu to resurrect Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?"
Just when Kawakaze thought Madara had dismissed his words as nonsense, his voice rang in his ears.
"Yes."
"Haha… cough…"
"So from beginning to end… my fate was never my own."