After flying away from Konoha, Uchiha Madara landed on the cliff of a mountain.
Not long after, the space next to him rippled like a lake disturbed by falling stones, forming a fist-sized black hole.
Uchiha Madara's wooden clone and Uchiha Obito emerged from the black hole.
Uchiha Obito removed his mask, took out a vial containing a three-tomoe Sharingan, and directly gouged out his blind left eye to replace it with the Sharingan.
Since the left half of his body was made from Hashirama's cells, his vision recovered instantly.
Looking at Uchiha Madara who was absorbing the wooden clone, Obito asked in confusion, "Why are you so focused on extracting the miko's chakra? She's not strong. How can her chakra help you?"
"I don't know either," Uchiha Madara shook his head and smiled. "But some things, even if not strong, are vitally important."
"This miko's power is the key fragment to open the dimensional gate."
Clapping his hands together, Uchiha Madara declared, "Sage Mode… open!"
Blue flames appeared out of nowhere and penetrated into his body from the outside in.
No red markings appeared around Madara's eyes.
But if his shirt were removed, one would see that on his left chest—the face of Hashirama created from the implanted cells—red markings had appeared.
After instantly activating Sage Mode, Uchiha Madara kept his hands clasped and used Yin-Yang Release to fuse the Sage Chakra in his body with the miko's power.
In an instant, Madara's Rinnegan shone with an intense purple glow.
Just making eye contact with it gave Uchiha Obito chills, and he subconsciously stepped back.
"Wh-What just happened?" Obito asked, breaking out in cold sweat. "Why did I feel like my soul was being pulled out just by looking at you?"
"Hiss…"
Uchiha Madara sucked in a breath.
By normal standards, even getting pierced by dozens of arrows or a sword wouldn't make him flinch.
As long as he wasn't killed outright, any injury was just a scratch in his eyes.
But now he had actually inhaled sharply because of a burn.
Clearly, this burn wasn't just a physical wound—it targeted the soul.
Looking down, Madara saw a white sun had formed in the palm of his hand.
And just like when he first awakened the Rinnegan, a massive wave of information rushed into his mind.
At the same time, a new energy replaced both the Sage Chakra and the miko's chakra in his body—Six Paths Sage Chakra.
"So it's passed through the Rinnegan..."
Izayoi, who had been observing him the whole time, seemed to realize something.
When Madara clasped his hands, Izayoi saw a vision—on the other side of Madara's body, the faint silhouette of the Six Paths Sage.
It was clear: unlike the original timeline where Naruto and Sasuke were brought into a spiritual space, this time, the Sage transmitted power directly through the Rinnegan—a deeper, more secretive method—giving Madara the Yang Power, mending his final weakness, and instantly awakening the true Six Paths power.
Looking intently at Madara, Izayoi saw a dozen bubbles of color floating around him.
Originally, Madara had one red and one colored entry. Now, he had gained four more red entries:
[Sage Body (Red)]
[All-Attribute Constitution (Red)]
[Chakra Control (Red)]
[Bloodline Limit: Wood Release (Red)]
Seeing this, Izayoi was not surprised but rather pleased.
"As expected, same as me," he thought.
Indeed, after unlocking Six Paths Sage Mode on his own without the miko's help, three of Izayoi's entries had also upgraded to red: [All-Attribute Constitution], [Chakra Control], and [Wood Release].
Now, Izayoi was a two-color, six-red existence.
Just as he predicted—mastering the strongest ninjutsu, the Truth-Seeking Ball, caused chakra control and nature affinities to automatically upgrade.
After all, Truth-Seeking Balls are born from the fusion of seven nature transformations. Only with peak-level elemental mastery, perfect chakra control, and Yin-Yang Release can one wield the power to obliterate all things.
Now, with Madara also gaining [Sage Body (Red)], [All-Attribute Constitution (Red)], and [Chakra Control (Red)], his cheat was on par with Naruto's.
Only the method of obtaining it differed.
"Did the Sage do this to guard against me? Or Madara? Or both?" Izayoi wondered.
With Six Paths Sage Mode stacked on top of Rinnegan Chakra Mode, Izayoi's perception was only second to the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Unless someone like Otsutsuki Isshiki used shrinking jutsu or hid in a different dimension, Izayoi could instantly pinpoint even Kaguya's superior.
He could even see the Shinigami of the Reaper Death Seal.
If the Sage's soul appeared, Izayoi would spot it instantly.
So the fact that the Sage hadn't revealed himself meant he wanted to avoid being detected.
He didn't want to let Izayoi know he was helping Madara… nor let Madara know that his soul could interfere with the living world.
After all, Madara was far more rational than Naruto and Sasuke.
If he knew the Sage was watching from beyond death, he might see him as a threat—especially now that the Sage resembled the foreign enemies spoken of by Kaguya.
So it was better to guide him in secret.
Thinking further, Izayoi began to doubt his previous assumption.
He had believed the Sage stood against him because he was becoming too much like an outsider, an Otsutsuki from another world.
But if that were the case, the Sage would have acted more directly—guiding Madara to kill Izayoi.
So… what was the real reason?
"Damn Riddler…" Izayoi couldn't help but curse in his heart.
...
"Is this the power of the Six Paths Sage Mode?"
Feeling the chakra within him, Madara's voice trembled.
"No wonder that brat feels even more dangerous than Toneri despite not having the Ultimate Eye Technique. Same Sage Mode… but Nagato and Hashirama's versions don't compare at all."
The gap was so massive that Naruto and Sasuke had once given up trying to catch up.
Just by standing still, Madara could sense every living being in the ninja world—ninjas, civilians, even animals.
He even had a sense that, if he reached out and infused his chakra into them, something incredible would happen.
And that was just the perception upgrade.
In terms of strength, he now believed he could destroy both Hashirama's wooden constructs and his own full-body Susanoo with a single punch.
He could now easily recreate Hashirama's Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.
And his version would be stronger.
Chakra, perception, power—everything had ascended to a different dimension.
"With this chakra, I'm not afraid of that guy's absorption ability anymore..."
Madara looked down at his hand covered in chakra, then gazed up at the sky.
Only now, after taking a true step into the other dimension, did he realize how weak he'd been.
The Ultimate Eye Technique had only just gotten him through the door.
Powers like repulsion, attraction, and chakra absorption could still work on peers—but were useless against those ahead of the curve.
"Round two… begins now!"
Madara grinned, and his figure shot into the sky.
With Six Paths Sage Mode, he now had flight as well.
And the chakra cost was almost nothing—not even one percent of the cost of maintaining his Susanoo.
So, this time, he wouldn't use space-time jutsu.
He would fly to the moon himself.
As he flew, the information in his head gradually settled. Several black orbs floated from his body and transformed into nine black spheres—Truth-Seeking Balls, each containing the power to erase the world.
"Is this really the path you've chosen?"
Watching Madara fly away, Izayoi smiled to himself.
He passed the information to his wood clone guarding the Yin Nine-Tails.
Soon after, the clone, now also in Six Paths Sage Mode, teleported to Izayoi's side.
Izayoi placed his hand on the clone's shoulder, absorbing the chakra of Otsutsuki Toneri, then entered the basement and stood on a magic circle.
In the next instant, the scenery around him spun—
When it stopped, he was no longer on Earth, but on the moon.
After gaining full Yin-Yang Release and Six Paths Sage Mode, Izayoi's Sky (Red) entry was finally put to practical use. While he couldn't open a full space channel, creating something like a Flying Thunder God-style magic circle was now easy.
Otsutsuki Hamura had shown him how.
On the moon, Izayoi released Sage Mode and used Wood Style Transformation to disguise himself as Otsutsuki Toneri.
He entered the palace made of chakra beads, stowed away the Toneri puppet, and sat on the throne, eyes closed, awaiting Madara.
Less than half an hour later, he opened his eyes and looked at Uchiha Madara entering the hall.
"You just got your new power and couldn't wait to come here to restore your dignity?" Izayoi asked flatly.
"You don't seem surprised," Madara said. "Can your eyes even read my state?"
"In that case, your eyes are just the eyes of a loser." Izayoi instantly entered Rinnegan Chakra Mode and raised a black orb filled with universal destruction.
"The power you spent so much effort to gain, I got effortlessly. That's the difference between pureblood and half-blood."
"Have you gotten stronger again? Or were you holding back?"
Madara narrowed his eyes. "You once said that the duty of your Otsutsuki clan is to observe and judge the ninja world. When it's deemed hopeless, you'll destroy it and rebuild it. So, when do you determine the world is hopeless? When I become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki?"
At that, Izayoi sneered: "When did you get the illusion that God fears monkeys becoming fake gods? As the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, you can't even restore the Outer Path Golem if I strike you right now."
"Then what is your criterion?"
Madara's expression sharpened. "Is there a threat greater than the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki hidden in the ninja world?"
Izayoi was briefly surprised.
Noticing this, Madara smirked. "So it's true?"
"How did you guess?" Izayoi asked, suddenly curious.
"A brat told me," Madara said. "If I hadn't listened to him, I wouldn't have figured it out."
"Izayoi?"
"Yes."
Madara nodded. "He pointed out the logical flaws in your narrative. If the ninja world is hopeless because I became the Jinchuriki, then you could've destroyed it already. So why didn't you? You could've stopped it by killing or sealing a single Tailed Beast… but you didn't."
"You're arrogant—but you've got the power to be."
"Your ace in the hole... even the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki can't stop it. That's why you scorn the Rinnegan."
Seeing Izayoi's look of approval, Madara grew more certain.
Then, with a sinking feeling in his heart, he asked:
"What is this threat that's greater than the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki?"
"You're one of the smartest monkeys I've seen," Izayoi said with a rare compliment. At the same time, he passed information to his wood clone in the ninja world, letting it scan the moon and the artificial sun for hidden souls.
After confirming no one was watching, Izayoi smiled playfully.
"I just called the Jinchuriki a false god. So… what do you think is greater than a false god?"
Madara's expression changed.
Before he could respond, Izayoi said coldly:
"The truth I showed you last time… was missing the prologue."
"Now, I'll show you the real truth of the world."