The light that should have been devoured by Orochimaru's Bankai had reappeared at this moment—completely intact, not even slightly damaged.
In her Quincy: Vollständig, Uchiha Hikari manifested her true form, the giant eye. Crimson beams of spiritual particles shone like a crown, her wings radiating an overwhelming aura—nothing like the weakened state she had shown earlier.
"Impossible!"
Orochimaru roared in disbelief.
"Where did you get this spiritual power? Those people inside Kirigakure can't possibly have any spare power for you to draw from—how could you still wield such terrifying strength?"
He himself had orchestrated Hikari's devouring. He was certain Uchiha Hikari had no remaining source of spiritual power—nothing to fuel her Eight Thousand Spears. That was why he'd proceeded with consuming her.
And yet, here she stood, brimming with spiritual power, shattering his White Serpent's consumption technique with ease. This was beyond anything Orochimaru had calculated.
"You're mistaken."
Hovering above, Uchiha Hikari looked down upon him, her tone calm.
"As you said, while they are being held back by Uchiha Obito, I cannot draw upon the spiritual power from them. Those in Kirigakure were also nearly depleted after the village was last razed."
"But there is one source of power you overlooked."
"Who…? Wait, don't tell me—!"
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply as realization struck.
"Seems you've figured it out."
From Uchiha Hikari's Vollständig form surged a tidal wave of spiritual power—equal to that of Uchiha Madara at his peak, and even of Orochimaru after devouring her.
There was no doubt: this was the aura of the Six Paths Realm.
"Orochimaru, you should know by now where all of us Quincy draw our power from—it's from Lord Yoru. That is a power fundamentally different from you Shinigami."
"You Shinigami rely on the merging of your own souls with Lord Yoru's power, making your souls the core. But the power we wield—the source lies in Yuki Yoru himself!"
"Kimimaro's Miracle… Miroku's Recreator… even my own power—everything comes from him. We are only channels through which his power manifests."
"As long as Lord Yoru exists, Kimimaro's faith will always be answered, and Miracle will never cease. As long as Lord Yoru exists, Miroku's reconstruction will never end, and Quincies will continue to emerge endlessly in this world."
"And the same holds true for me."
The overflowing tide of spiritual power around Uchiha Hikari grew ever stronger, crimson light flooding out, reflecting on Orochimaru's pale face. The glow also caused the magatama-shaped mark on his neck—the seal of the Eight Thousand Spears—to shine even brighter.
"Through my Eight Thousand Spears, I too can endlessly draw spiritual power from Lord Yoru. Even if it is somewhat disrespectful… he still answers me."
"…."
Orochimaru fell silent.
The serpent was the greatest hunter in the world—patient enough to linger in shadows, waiting only for the chance to strike down its prey in one fatal bite.
But all his calculations had failed to account for Yuki Yoru.
Indeed, with the Master of Souls himself as Hikari's wellspring of power, how could she ever run out of spiritual power? The answer was obvious: she wouldn't.
"So that's why you let yourself be consumed—just to watch me make a fool of myself?" Orochimaru's hoarse voice deepened, strangely heavy. "Even your display of exhaustion when fighting Madara earlier—it was all just bait to lure me out, wasn't it?"
"No. You were only secondary."
Hikari shook her head.
"Your so-called mysterious Bankai is no secret among the higher ranks. But the Ōtsutsuki aura flowing within Uchiha Madara—that, we had not yet been able to confirm."
"At first, I thought that aura came from Uchiha Obito, or perhaps from Ōtsutsuki Toneri.I even suspected the Sage of Six Paths and his brother. But the power Madara showed earlier… it made everything clear to me."
That aura should belong to none other than Ōtsutsuki Isshiki—the one Yuki Yoru himself had once treated with the utmost caution!
And yet, in the intelligence that Yoru had left behind within Kirigakure, Isshiki's existence was ranked as the highest-level secret in the shinobi world—even above the Sage of Six Paths. How could that man's traces suddenly appear on Madara?
Worse still, in that instant just now, when Madara clearly held the advantage in battle but suddenly fled in haste, Hikari had sensed from him a vast, indescribable presence!
As though, for a brief moment, some terrifying existence had truly begun to awaken within Uchiha Madara's body.
Orochimaru did not know what Hikari was thinking. But her words alone left his eyes wide, his fists clenched.
All the things he believed to be hidden secrets… were in others' eyes already exposed. He realized he had been nothing more than a clown upon the stage, struggling in vain—only to play out a script others had written long ago.
How utterly… laughable.
"What do you plan to do?" Orochimaru asked slowly. "Will you execute me here as the traitor I am?"
With the overwhelming spiritual power Uchiha Hikari now displayed, killing him would be effortless. These royal guards—each one was a monster. This was the power Yuki Yoru had granted them.
Hikari glanced at Orochimaru and did not pay him much mind. Instead, she directly activated the Eight Thousand Spears, seizing control of Orochimaru.
She had long known what this rotten serpent truly was. Not only her—even the higher-ups of Kirigakure, and Yuki Yoru himself, were aware. Yet she had to admit: the serpent's abilities were exceptional. In fact, in the realm of research, he alone could match Hiromi and Yukiko together.
At present, the Kirigakure could not afford to lose Captain-level combat power like this. Rather than killing him, it was better to use his strength to resist external enemies.
"Since you have answered me… then return quickly."
Hikari cast a glance at the endless, ethereal sky, sighing softly before turning her gaze back toward Kirigakure.
She could feel it—Kimimaro's vast spiritual pressure, nearly tearing through the heavens themselves. And yet, even so, he was still locked in bitter struggle, without even the faintest hope of crushing Uchiha Obito.
Her wings of spiritual power trembled, and with Orochimaru in tow, Uchiha Hikari sped back toward Kirigakure.
That battlefield… needed her power.
...
Meanwhile.
Having just withdrawn from the battlefield, Uchiha Madara was now entirely under the control of an unknown power. Even his eyes had completely changed.
Landing upon a desolate island within the Land of Water, he felt the energy coursing inside him. "Uchiha Madara" exhaled deeply. The next moment, his hands formed rapid seals before slamming down onto the earth.
"Summoning Technique!"
Boom!
As the smoke dispersed, a Ten-Tails appeared—not of immense size, but nonetheless real.
The fresh air and open space sent the beast, long confined within its sealed space, into a frenzy of excitement. It let out a sharp, piercing cry.
Seeing the Ten-Tails unharmed, "Uchiha Madara" finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Damn Kaguya's descendants—almost ruined everything for me!"
The reason he had lurked in the shinobi world for a thousand years was not only to recover from his wounds and search for a suitable vessel for rebirth, but also to cultivate a new Ten-Tails. This Ten-Tails—and the pair of eyes being nurtured within Hyūga Hanabi's sockets—were his chance to overturn the game. Fortunately, he had summoned them away in time. Otherwise, if these things had fallen into Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's hands, he might truly have been forced out of the great game entirely.
"That's… the Ten-Tails?!"
Within the consciousness space, Uchiha Madara's eyes widened in disbelief. "You… also have a Ten-Tails?!"
"What's so strange, so shocking about that?" Ōtsutsuki Isshiki snorted coldly. "It's merely a spare seed. The main seed meant to devour this planet is already inside Obito, and its true source still rests within that wretched Kaguya."
"The Ten-Tails… are seeds?"
Madara fell silent. At last, he began to understand just what kind of beings the Ōtsutsuki really were.
But the reality now was clear—his body had already been usurped. He was being devoured.
So this… was the price.
"Don't overthink it. Your body is decent, but still falls short of my standards," Isshiki said calmly, as if reading Madara's thoughts. "Until my true vessel fully matures, you'll just have to endure a time of two souls sharing one body."
"As compensation, I can grant you greater power. But mind yourself—if you overload, and I'm forced to directly revive using your strength, that will be your own responsibility."
Even as he spoke to Madara's consciousness, Isshiki's body moved in the outside world. He stepped before the Ten-Tails and barked sharply:
"Behave."
The Ten-Tails gave a low growl, but soon fell quiet, letting "Uchiha Madara" climb onto its body.
"What a nuisance."
Isshiki muttered under his breath, his gaze settling upon a massive wooden cocoon wrapped entirely in Ten-Tails' flesh.
Inside the cocoon, two figures could be seen—Hyūga Hanabi, her eyes closed, and Ōtsutsuki Toneri. But now, both of their forms were already being completely enveloped by the Ten-Tails' tissues, gradually merging together.
It was obvious: once the two fused completely, what would emerge was a new being—the perfect vessel, the flawless body that Isshiki had been waiting for.
For now, however, the vessel was still in its incubation stage—just like Isshiki himself, still within the cocoon before the butterfly's emergence.
But planting a Karma mark at this stage was no problem.
Isshiki extended his hand, and his unique Karma was once again etched into the cocoon, awaiting the day when it would be activated by a celestial's descent.
Watching Isshiki use his body to finish all this, Uchiha Madara's voice finally echoed from within the consciousness space:
"So what's your plan now? Just wait idly?"
"Of course not."
Isshiki sneered coldly. "Those wretched descendants of Kaguya dared to surprise me like this… How could I possibly just let it go?"
To not return what was given is rude—at least, that's the courtesy I've learned after lurking in the shinobi world for thousands of years!
Even if I don't know what you've planned in the Pure Land, destroying everything there should be the right move, right?
"The Pure Land... the Master of Soul... Hehehe." A mocking look appeared on Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's lips. He really wanted to see the scene that was about to unfold.
...
Within Kirigakure.
Kimimaro, facing Obito Uchiha, the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, had now acquired unparalleled power through the endless miracles.
It was an endless fighting capacity that burst forth from his absolute trust in his God.
His body had been crushed by Obito countless times, yet under the power of Miracle, he continued to fight. Even though he no longer retained the characteristics of a human being at his peak—even though his form had twisted into something unrecognizable—still, he fought on.
Even if he died, he would be resurrected again by the swing of his God's sword. This was the manifestation of Kimimaro's devotion to the Master of Soul, the resonance of his unwavering faith!
"Your desperate resistance is meaningless—there will be no such thing as a so-called miracle!"
Uchiha Obito raised high the Sword of Nunoboko. A strike capable of splitting the world apart erupted at that moment, descending upon Kimimaro with an unstoppable force.
Kimimaro raised his arm, a sword of pure spirit-light forming to block the strike. But in an instant, that holy sword of spirit particles was shattered—along with his body, which was cut apart as though nothing at all.
BOOM!
Kimimaro's body split, and the blinding light of the Sword of Nunoboko shook the world. As it passed, the very ground of Kirigakure split apart like tofu, dust rising to the heavens.
When the aftermath cleared, the shinobi of the village looked on in disbelief. Before them stretched a bottomless canyon, carved all the way to the edge of the ocean. Seawater poured backward, flooding into the abyss.
The sight was so terrifying it felt as if the entire world itself had been cleaved apart by that single blow.
"What… what kind of power is this?"
Hōzuki Mangetsu tried desperately to keep his composure, but his expression was grim and ugly.
"Is this the power of Kami?"
Kisame Hoshigaki tightened his grip on Samehada as he stared at Kimimaro's broken form. "Kimimaro… can you still hold on?"
"He can… right? After all, this 'miracle' was granted by Lord Yoru himself."
Someone spoke those words, though even he sounded unsure of them.
The miracle was powerful—but Obito's strength was far beyond comprehension. With bare hands he could forge a moon; with a single gesture he could rend the heavens.
For him, "destroying heaven and earth" wasn't a metaphor—it was reality.
Against such an opponent, who could dare say with confidence that they could "resist"?
The faces of all around were tense with dread. Yet Kimimaro did not let them down.
The brilliance of the Miracle flared again. Even though he no longer resembled a human being at all—his form now like a giant of light condensed purely from spiritual power—still he stood up, gathering strength once more.
He stood tall, sword of light forming anew.
The Miracle shall never wither!