Chapter 313: Might Guy Makes His Move
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki struggled to stand up from the ruined debris of the mountain wall. Golden blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The spot on his chest where the Sage Staff had struck was torn, revealing the slightly collapsed wound beneath, which was entwined with the annihilation power of the black Truth-Seeking Orbs. His face, which had been as cold as ice for ten thousand years, finally showed a clear crack—it was shock, anger, and a trace of hard-to-believe... apprehension.
"Ten-Tails Jinchuriki... I never thought a lower creature could reach this step..." he whispered hoarsely. The chakra circulation in his body had become sluggish due to the erosion of the Truth-Seeking Orbs. Weighing his options for a moment, his cold Byakugan took a deep look at the god-like, indifferent Uchiha Madara floating in the air, and then swept over the Konoha forces in the distance, who were on alert but already battered.
"Hmph, I'll let you be proud for a moment. When I have recovered, I will turn all of you, along with this planet, into nourishment for the God Tree!"
Without any hesitation, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki clapped his hands together, and the space around his body instantly and violently twisted, forming a bizarre vortex.
"Daikokuten!"
In the next moment, his figure, along with the twisted space, disappeared without a trace, leaving only a spatial fluctuation that had not yet calmed down and that venomous threat.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who controlled time-space dōjutsu, had chosen to temporarily retreat. If he was determined to escape, even the current Uchiha Madara would find it difficult to stop him!
In the center of the battlefield, only Uchiha Madara, who had swallowed the Ten-Tails and transformed into a pseudo-Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Konoha allied forces below, who were physically and mentally exhausted yet had to face this final despair, remained.
"He fled? A wise choice," Uchiha Madara commented indifferently. He didn't seem to care much about Isshiki's escape. His gaze once again turned to the ant-like crowd below.
"It is time to welcome the new era of peace."
He slowly raised his hands. The nine Truth-Seeking Orbs behind his back began to rotate slowly like living black stars.
"Stop him!" Senju Hashirama roared. Disregarding the damage to his reincarnated body, he once again erupted with powerful Sage Art chakra. "Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands Top Transformed Buddha!"
The giant thousand-handed Buddha rose from the ground again, carrying an unstoppable momentum, its countless giant fists smashing towards Madara in the sky like a torrential rain!
"Flying Thunder God Mutual Instantaneous Revolving Technique!" Minato Namikaze and Senju Tobirama, golden and blue lights flashing and intertwining, attempted to interfere and launch a surprise attack at high speed.
"Kurama! Sasuke! Neji!" Naruto roared. His golden Nine-Tails chakra body instantly condensed. Sasuke's complete Susanoo drew its bow. Neji's Tenseigan Truth-Seeking Orb transformed into the sharpest weapon. The three of them joined forces to launch their strongest combined attack!
Sarutobi Hiruzen unleashed the Five-Element Great Combo Bullet Technique. Kakashi's Kamui focused, twisting the space around Madara with all its might...
The people of Konoha unleashed all their power and launched a final, desperate charge!
However, facing all this, Uchiha Madara just gently, with a hint of pity, shook his head.
"Don't you understand? The gap in levels is no longer something that can be compensated for by numbers and hot-bloodedness."
He didn't even move an inch.
"Truth-Seeking Orb: Protective Wall."
Three Truth-Seeking Orbs instantly flew in front of him, expanding into a thin, seemingly ethereal black barrier.
In the next moment, the torrent of world-destroying attacks arrived!
The countless heavy punches of the True Several Thousand Hands, the shining Tailed Beast Ball, the purple Susanoo arrow, the blue Tenseigan shockwave, the violent five-element ninjutsu, the twisting power of space... all of this, the moment it came into contact with that thin black barrier—
Silently, it disappeared.
It was like a drop of water merging into the great sea, a snowflake falling into a flame, directly decomposed into the most basic particles and completely annihilated, without stirring up a single ripple, without producing any explosion!
"What?!" Everyone's pupils contracted abruptly, and a bone-chilling coldness surged in their hearts.
"It's over," Madara announced indifferently. He pointed his finger lightly.
A Truth-Seeking Orb, like a black god of death, instantly shot out, its speed surpassing visual capture!
Crack!
Senju Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands, that giant Buddha, was easily pierced through the middle by the Truth-Seeking Orb, and then its entire massive body began to collapse and disintegrate like a sand sculpture!
"Pfft!" Hashirama's main body was as if hit by a heavy blow, and even his reincarnated body flickered unstably.
Another Truth-Seeking Orb shot towards Minato and Tobirama.
"Not good! Flying Thunder God..." Minato tried to teleport, but was horrified to find that the surrounding space seemed to have been completely frozen and locked! The power of the rules contained in the Truth-Seeking Orb had already interfered with, and even suppressed, time-space ninjutsu!
Boom!
The two were directly hit by the Truth-Seeking Orb. Half of their reincarnated bodies were instantly annihilated. Although they were slowly recovering, they had completely lost their combat effectiveness in a short period of time.
The third Truth-Seeking Orb, on the other hand, went straight for Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji!
"Damn it!" Naruto pushed his Nine-Tails chakra to the extreme, trying to resist.
Sasuke's complete Susanoo desperately blocked at the very front.
All of Neji's Truth-Seeking Orbs gathered into a shield!
However—
Swish—!
The complete Susanoo was pierced as if it were made of paper!
Neji's Truth-Seeking Orb shield trembled violently, held for only a moment, and then shattered with a boom!
The golden Nine-Tails chakra body was directly blasted apart!
"Puha!!"
"Ugh!!"
The three of them simultaneously spurted blood wildly, falling from the sky like broken kites. They slammed heavily onto the ground, their auras instantly weakening to the extreme. It felt as if every bone in their bodies was shattered, their chakra pathways broken inch by inch, already on the verge of death.
A crushing defeat! A complete and utter, suspense-free crushing defeat!
After becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, even if the Ten-Tails' power was incomplete, Uchiha Madara's power had already entered another dimension. With a wave of his hand, he had defeated all of Konoha's resistance.
Madara slowly descended from the sky, stepping on the broken earth. The Truth-Seeking Orbs behind his back slowly rotated, emitting a desperate aura.
"It's over. This meaningless struggle that has lasted for a thousand years, let me put an end to it," Uchiha Madara raised his head to look at the moon, which had already turned crimson, and said in a low voice.
Naruto's and Sasuke's consciousness had already begun to blur. Their vision grew dim. They could only see that demon-god-like figure continuously approaching, and the shadow of death completely enveloped them. They had fought with all their might, but they couldn't even move a finger.
However, just at the moment Uchiha Madara was about to deliver the killing blow—
A sudden change occurred!
On the dying bodies of Naruto and Sasuke, a faint, soft white light suddenly appeared without any warning. This light was not dazzling, but it carried a warm, sacred aura, as if from the source of the world.
"Hmm?" Madara's movement paused. His Rinne Sharingan shrank abruptly. He sensed a chakra fluctuation from this white light that was both familiar and extremely hateful!
In the next moment, under the shocked gazes of everyone, the souls of Naruto and Sasuke, which were about to dissipate, were actually wrapped in this soft white light and slowly floated up from their broken bodies!
"This is... soul traction? Who is it?!" For the first time, Madara's face showed a look of shock and uncertainty.
The white light enveloped the souls of the two and, as if ignoring the distance of time and space, slowly rose up, gradually fading, as if heading to some distant, unknowable place.
In the instant before their souls completely disappeared, Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be in a pure white space, seeing a blurry but incomparably towering figure. He was dressed in ancient white robes, holding a sage staff. Two horns grew from his forehead, and his eyes were Rinnegan. His face was kind, yet carried an endless majesty.
The Sage of Six Paths! Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo!
Although there were no words, a warm and vast power was injected into their soon-to-dissipate soul consciousness. An old and gentle voice sounded directly in their hearts:
"Indra and Asura... it is not yet time to give up... the true future needs you to create..."
With a flash of light, Naruto's and Sasuke's souls completely disappeared from this world.
However, just in this brief moment when he was distracted by the intervention of the Sage of Six Paths—
"UCHIHA MADARA!!!"
A roar like that of a fierce beast, like a clap of thunder on flat ground, exploded on the silent battlefield!
A green figure, at a speed that surpassed the limit, dragging a brilliant blue steam, like a comet crashing through the smoke and dust, charged recklessly to the front of Uchiha Madara!
That figure's whole body was crimson red. The steam was instantly dyed blood-red. A blue energy dragon was wrapped around his body, and his hair stood on end, like a burning flame! He opened his bloodshot eyes. In those eyes, there was no fear, no hesitation, only the purest will to burn everything in order to protect the most important things!
"Eight Gates Released Formation: Eighth Gate! Gate of Death, Open!"
It was Might Guy! He had opened the Eight Gates Released Formation—the Gate of Death!
"Hmm?" Uchiha Madara's attention was attracted by this suddenly appearing figure that was emitting an astonishing amount of energy and a tragic aura. He temporarily put aside his confusion about the disappearance of Naruto's and Sasuke's souls. His Rinne Sharingan looked at Guy with a hint of curiosity. "All Eight Gates are open? Exchanging your life for a momentary bloom? An astonishing taijutsu indeed, but..."
His tone still carried the indifference of a god looking at a mortal.
"There are no 'buts'!" Guy's roar interrupted him. His voice trembled from the extreme pain and power, yet it was filled with an unquestionable determination. "You will not... take another step forward! Konoha's Azure Beast has now evolved into the Red Beast!"
"This is... my final step! Evening Elephant!!!"
Guy fiercely took a step forward, and the ground beneath his feet collapsed with a boom! Facing Uchiha Madara before him, he struck out a punch that burned his life and surpassed his limits!
The air was compressed by the extreme force, forming a huge, visible white air cannon. At a terrifying speed several times the speed of sound, it instantly blasted in front of Uchiha Madara! Its power was so strong that it even caused space to distort!
On Uchiha Madara's constantly indifferent face, for the first time, a trace of genuine surprise appeared.
"Oh? It can even distort space? With just taijutsu?"
BOOM!!!
The white air cannon solidly bombarded Uchiha Madara's hastily condensed Truth-Seeking Orb wall!
An unprecedentedly violent explosion occurred! The terrifying shockwave instantly spread, sending the Konoha crowd, who had managed to crawl up from a distance, flying again!
When the light dissipated, Uchiha Madara was still floating in his original spot, his Truth-Seeking Orb wall intact.
However, the way he looked at Might Guy had completely changed. It was no longer indifference and curiosity, but carried a trace of genuine... gravity and admiration.
"Impressive! In terms of taijutsu, I, Uchiha Madara, am willing to call you—"
"The Strongest!"
Guy did not pause at all. He knew that his time was running out, and every second was burning his life!
He frantically threw punches. One after another, terrifying white air cannons, like a chain of cannonballs, bombarded Uchiha Madara. The speed was getting faster and faster, and the power was getting stronger and stronger! The air emitted an explosive sound, unable to bear the load, and the earth continuously collapsed!
Facing this storm-like attack, Uchiha Madara finally could no longer completely ignore it. He controlled the Truth-Seeking Orbs to continuously block and dodge. One cluster of white airwaves and violent roars after another exploded in the air! Each collision made the entire battlefield tremble!
"This kind of attack... I'd like to see how long you can last!" Madara said coldly while defending.
"Long enough... to stop you here! Aaaaaahhhhh!!!" Guy let out a heaven-shaking roar. Blood was already seeping from all the pores of his body, but the speed and power of his punches were still increasing!
The Red Beast, with the body of a mortal, using life as fuel, had actually managed to temporarily intercept Uchiha Madara, who had already become a "god"!
Morning Peacock, Daytime Tiger, Evening Elephant, within these was Might Guy's day-and-night challenge to the limits of his body's endurance. The Eight Gates Released Formation technique was, in itself, a path for a human to challenge a god.
The remaining people of Konoha, watching the green figure burning his life and fighting a god, all had tears in their eyes, their hearts filled with endless tragic solemnity and respect.
However, everyone knew that this tragic interception was destined not to last long. The flame of life would eventually burn out.
However, even if it was the final firework, it was an attack of the utmost sublimation.
"Night Guy!" Accompanied by Might Guy's roar that resounded through the night sky, Might Guy, wreathed in fiery red steam, sprinted, and then soared into the sky, locking deadly onto Uchiha Madara.
Might Guy's attack came whistling. The violent energy made even Uchiha Madara secretly alarmed. When he intended to avoid this death-defying blow, he found that at this moment, even space was locked by Might Guy's attack. This blow was unavoidable!
Seeing this, Uchiha Madara simply gave up on dodging and met this blow with all his strength.
The blood-red airflow converged into the shape of a dragon, roaring as it charged towards Uchiha Madara. In almost an instant, it swallowed him, and a thick plume of smoke and dust rolled up.
The heavens and the earth changed color at this moment. The eyes of everyone present were focused on this spot.
However, after the rolling smoke and dust dissipated, everyone only saw Might Guy, who was completely scorched black, lying on the ground, on the verge of death. And Uchiha Madara's figure was still standing proudly. Although he was severely injured, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, at this moment, the wound on his chest was slowly recovering.
"Hahaha!" Uchiha Madara threw his head back and laughed loudly. But subsequently, he looked at the already charred Might Guy with a look full of respect and said with a light laugh, "Very good. I acknowledge you. In terms of taijutsu, I, Uchiha Madara, am willing to call you the strongest!"
(End of chapter)