A series of concentric circular patterns appeared across the surface of Kiyohara's eyes, with each ring slowly rotating.
However, Kiyohara's Rinnegan was different from the Rinnegan that had evolved from the Sharingan through the lineage of Indra. Kiyohara's Rinnegan simultaneously contained the power of the Tenseigan, the spacetime power of the Dragon Vein, and the source chakra of Kaguya.
Because of this, nine tomoe also appeared within the rippling patterns of Kiyohara's Rinnegan.
However, unlike the crimson Rinne Sharingan of Benevolent Kaguya, Kiyohara's Rinnegan remained purple.
"It should probably be called the 'Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.'"
Kiyohara thought to himself.
With a wave of his hand, Water Release chakra formed a mirror in front of him.
This allowed Kiyohara to see his own appearance directly.
Kiyohara raised his right hand and slightly spread his five fingers.
After activating the "Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan," his sensory perception had increased several times over.
He could clearly sense the chakra fluctuations of living beings within a radius of a million li.
The few lizards hiding among the cracks in the rocks at the entrance of the distant canyon, as well as the suppressed Impure World Reincarnations beneath the roots of the God Tree, were all within his perception.
Even the chakra flowing within the soul of Benevolent Kaguya, and even farther away, the chakra properties of every shinobi in Konoha, tens of thousands of kilometers away, were all exceptionally clear to him.
And that was still not everything.
His Rinnegan possessed a unique ability.
Kiyohara felt that it was somewhat similar to Madara's "Limbo: Border Jail."
It was called "Amatsu-Kamitsukami."
With a thought from Kiyohara, his shadow split away from beneath his feet and transformed into a clone that existed within the gap between the real world and an alternate dimension.
Only someone who possessed the Rinnegan could sense the existence of this shadow clone. Ordinary people could not even perceive that it was there.
Furthermore, Kiyohara could feel that he could create multiple clones at the same time, with each clone possessing a portion of his original body's power.
That was not all.
Kiyohara could also sense that the alternate dimensions where these clones existed could exchange positions with him.
In other words, Kiyohara now possessed countless "Kamui dimensions."
As long as Kiyohara had enough chakra, he could create more and more shadow clones.
And the more shadow clones he created, the more alternate dimensions he could enter.
"Could I eventually reach another world, or perhaps a place where other living beings exist?"
Kiyohara was curious about this possibility.
Moreover, Kiyohara could feel that he possessed another Rinnegan dōjutsu.
That was right. Other people only had one, but Kiyohara possessed two.
However, Kiyohara was not in a hurry to test it.
Instead, he began examining his other abilities.
After activating the "Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan," his ability to absorb and release chakra had undergone a qualitative transformation.
He could feel the natural energy around him automatically gathering toward his body. It was not like Sage Mode, which required him to actively absorb natural energy. Instead, his body itself had become a gravitational center for natural energy.
Any chakra that approached him, whether it was part of a ninjutsu attack or simply chakra being released, would automatically be absorbed by his Rinnegan the instant it came into contact with his body, after which it could be used by him.
This ability was similar to the chakra absorption of the Preta Path, but it was far more efficient. It was almost like a passive physiological reaction.
Kiyohara could also feel that his chakra now contained a special quality.
It was soul energy originating from the Pure Land, something he had unconsciously absorbed while he was staying there.
Now, this power had completely merged into the ocular power of his "Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan," allowing him to directly control the flow of energy on the level of the soul.
If necessary, he could even do what the Sage of Six Paths had once done, summoning souls from the Pure Land back into the living world, or directly sending the soul of a living person into the Pure Land.
Kiyohara slowly clenched his right hand and withdrew his ocular power back into his body.
The purple glow of the Rinnegan gradually faded from his eyes, causing them to return to their original black color.
Kiyohara did not know why his "Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan" could still transform back into ordinary black eyes.
It was different from the Sage of Six Paths. Once the Sage of Six Paths activated his Rinnegan, he could only use the Rinnegan and could not even use his Byakugan anymore.
"You succeeded."
Benevolent Kaguya spoke.
"This is what a complete Rinnegan should look like. Hagoromo's Rinnegan was simply an awakening of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, but your Rinnegan has merged with the power of the Tenseigan and the Dragon Vein. It is stronger than Hagoromo's."
"Mm."
Kiyohara nodded.
"Next, I plan to go out for a walk and take some time to get accustomed to this new power."
Kiyohara spoke.
It had also been some time since he had seen Big Sister Hinata.
Besides, Kiyohara still needed to find a place where he could inherit another will.
At the same time, in the Land of Rain, deep within the former Akatsuki base.
When Madara walked out of the secret chamber, the walls of the entire base were trembling slightly.
A layer of chakra unlike anything he had ever possessed before covered his body.
The Yin-Yang Release power bestowed upon him by the Sage of Six Paths had completely merged into his chakra. That power was now transforming his Edo Tensei body at an unprecedented rate.
He could feel that his chakra pathways had expanded several times over, while his ocular power had risen to an unprecedented height. Even beneath the grayish-white skin of his Edo Tensei body, a faint reddish color resembling the complexion of a living person had begun to emerge.
He stopped in the training ground at the deepest part of the base.
At the opposite end of the training ground, the Edo Tensei body of Hashirama was already waiting for him.
Impure World Hashirama stood with his arms crossed.
Behind him stood three former Kage who had also been revived through the Impure World Reincarnation.
"Madara."
Hashirama's voice was low and solemn.
"You have accepted the power of the Sage of Six Paths. I do not know what exactly you intend to do, and I cannot simply stand by and watch you walk even farther down the wrong path."
"The wrong path?"
Madara repeated those two words, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
"Hashirama, you have never understood me from beginning to end. You think I am walking down the wrong path, but the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of Ninshū, has chosen to stand on my side. He entrusted his power to me. That alone proves everything."
He walked down the stone steps.
With every step he took, the stone floor beneath his feet cracked.
When he reached the center of the training ground, he raised his right hand.
The purple glow of the Rinnegan illuminated his eye sockets.
"All four of you can come at me together."
"Madara, you truly are a genius rarely seen in the Uchiha clan even once in a century."
The First Mizukage, Byakuren, spoke.
"But your arrogance is even greater now than it was during the Warring States Era. Do you really think that possessing the power of the Sage of Six Paths means you can ignore every opponent?"
He had also been revived through the Impure World Reincarnation, along with all the other Mizukage throughout history.
Madara shifted his gaze toward Byakuren, his expression remaining completely unchanged.
"Byakuren, the reason you are able to stand here and speak to me is because Hashirama stopped me from attacking Kirigakure back then. Your Water Release is indeed among the best in the entire shinobi world, but in front of me, Water Release is nothing more than a few extra drops of water."
"Enough talk. Attack together."
Tobirama moved first.
His "Flying Thunder God Technique" activated much faster than anyone had anticipated. He threw the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hands toward the surrounding area, instantly forming a dense Flying Thunder God formation.
His figure then began moving rapidly between the kunai.
Every afterimage he left behind carried an explosive tag, and the explosive tags connected together in midair, forming a dense web of explosions.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of explosive tags detonated simultaneously.
Flames and smoke completely swallowed Madara's figure.
But Tobirama did not stop.
At the same time as the explosions erupted, he formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
A high-pressure stream of water as thin as a needle shot from his mouth.
The pressure of the water was so high that it was capable of cutting through steel. It produced a piercing shriek as it tore through the air, shooting directly toward the location where Madara stood within the smoke.
The Water Severing Wave pierced through the smoke and passed through the lingering shock waves of the explosions.
Then it was blocked by something.
Madara walked out from within the smoke.
The rib-like skeletal frame of Susanoo had already appeared around his body, completely shielding him from both the explosions of the explosive tags and the impact of the Water Severing Wave.
There was not even a trace of dust on his clothes.
He raised his right hand.
The blue skeletal hand of Susanoo rose at the same time, its five fingers spreading open before making a slight grasping motion in Tobirama's direction.
An invisible force rose from beneath Tobirama's feet.
"Universal Pull!"
Tobirama only had enough time to throw a Flying Thunder God kunai in the opposite direction.
But his body had already been pulled toward Madara by an irresistible force.
He attempted to escape through the Flying Thunder God Technique while in midair, his fingers already forming the necessary hand seal.
But Madara was faster.
The blue skeletal hand seized Tobirama and lifted his entire body into the air before violently smashing him into the ground.
The stone floor exploded apart.
Tobirama's Edo Tensei body was smashed into pieces, grayish-white fragments scattering several meters away.
His head rolled into a corner.
His red eyes were wide open, and his lips continued to move slightly as if he wanted to say something.
However, the regeneration speed of his Edo Tensei body could not keep up with the rate at which it was being destroyed.
The fragments of his body slowly wriggled across the ground, attempting to reassemble themselves, but they always fell just short of completely reforming.
"Tobirama, your Flying Thunder God Technique is indeed extremely fast, but your fighting style is too easy to predict."
Madara withdrew the skeletal hand of Susanoo.
Seeing this, the Second Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu, immediately formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Gun Technique!"
He spat out thousands of liquid water bullets, each roughly the size of a fist.
The water bullets flew through the air at high speed, simultaneously bombarding Madara.
Immediately afterward, Gengetsu changed his hand seals again.
"Summoning Technique: Clam!"
A gigantic clam emerged from a cloud of white smoke.
Its appearance resembled that of an enormous shellfish, with thick white mist continuously pouring out from between its two shells.
The white mist rapidly spread across the entire training ground, reducing everyone's field of vision to the absolute minimum.
At the same time, Hōzuki Gengetsu's own figure began twisting and changing within the mist.
One became three.
Three became six.
Countless illusions of him swayed within the white mist, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.
"Just a little mist."
Madara did not even raise his eyelids.
He simply waved one hand.
The white mist was torn open as though an invisible hand had ripped a gigantic hole straight through its center.
And standing directly in the middle of that opening was Madara himself.
He raised his left hand.
"Truth-Seeking Orb!"
A black sphere roughly the size of a fist appeared in his palm.
The "Truth-Seeking Orb" rotated once before suddenly expanding, transforming into a gigantic black shield.
Dozens of Water Gun projectiles slammed into the black shield.
Yet they failed to create even the slightest ripple before being completely absorbed by the "Truth-Seeking Orb."
The liquid water bullets were broken down into the most basic form of chakra before dissipating into the air.
Gengetsu's pupils suddenly contracted.
His Water Gun Technique was powerful enough to pierce through a city wall.
Yet in front of that small black sphere, it did not even possess enough power to make it tremble.
What kind of technique was that?
Byakuren heavily struck the ground with the monk's staff in his hand.
The tomoe-shaped ornament at the top of the staff erupted with dazzling blue light.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Grand Waterfall!"
A gigantic water dragon, even larger than Hashirama's Wood Dragon, condensed into existence from empty space.
With overwhelming momentum, it charged toward Madara.
"Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade."
The Third Mizukage also attacked.
A rapidly spinning javelin condensed in the palm of his hand.
The speed at which the javelin rotated was so tremendous that it twisted the surrounding air into a spiraling white vortex.
He gripped the water javelin with one hand and rotated his body halfway around before throwing the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade toward Madara in the manner of a javelin throw.
The water javelin carved a straight white trail through the air.
Everywhere it passed, the vortex cut a deep trench several meters into the ground.
The two enormous Water Release techniques struck toward Madara simultaneously.
"Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang."
A thin purple beam of light shot from Madara's mouth.
The beam split into two in midair, with each portion heading toward one of the incoming Water Release techniques.
Both Water Release ninjutsu were sliced cleanly through the middle.
The cuts were smooth as mirrors.
Once severed, the water lost the chakra controlling it and transformed into ordinary liquid water, cascading down from the air.
"I'll handle this!"
Hashirama's voice came from behind.
His "Sage Mode" was already fully activated.
The markings around his eyes extended from the corners of his eyes all the way toward his chin, while a dark circular mark appeared on his forehead.
He brought his hands together with tremendous force.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Countless thick tree roots burst from the cracks in the ground.
Huge flower buds grew from the roots, and the moment the buds came into contact with the air, they blossomed, releasing vast amounts of yellow hallucinogenic pollen.
The pollen spread through the air, covering the entire training ground in a hazy pale-yellow color.
At the same time, roots and vines wrapped themselves toward Madara.
The bark covering the vines was rough and cracked, while the resin seeping from those cracks contained a toxin capable of paralyzing the nerves.
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
A gigantic wall of fire more than fifty meters wide erupted from Madara's mouth.
The pollen was instantly burned to ashes by the intense heat.
The vines struggled violently within the sea of flames, while the roots were burned black.
The entire area created by Deep Forest Emergence was transformed into a raging sea of fire beneath the coverage of Majestic Destroyer Flame.
Hashirama's Wood Release was completely suppressed by the Fire Release enhanced by the "Rinnegan."
Hashirama's body was forced backward several steps by the shock waves from the flames.
A bitter smile appeared across his Sage Mode face.
His Wood Release was naturally weak against Fire Release due to elemental properties.
In the past, whenever he encountered a Fire Release user, he could compensate for that elemental disadvantage through the enhancement provided by senjutsu.
But Madara's Fire Release had now been amplified by the "Six Paths Power" to an entirely different level.
It was no longer something that could be overcome through ordinary elemental compensation.
"Indeed, I can't beat you anymore, Madara."
…
In the Limited Tsukuyomi World, Konoha.
Kiyohara's figure appeared on the main street of Konoha.
The shops on both sides of the commercial district were open.
Smoke drifted from the chimney of a yakiniku restaurant, while several children stood in line outside a dango shop.
Kiyohara had only taken two steps when a dark-blue figure suddenly came running toward him from the direction of the training ground across the street.
Big Sister Hinata was running extremely fast.
Several pedestrians were so startled by her aggressive momentum that they hurriedly moved aside.
She ran directly up to Kiyohara and stopped in front of him.
Placing both hands on her hips, she slightly raised her chin.
Her pure white eyes examined Kiyohara from head to toe.
The expression on her face changed from surprise to displeasure, and then from displeasure back into even greater surprise.
"Master, you disappeared again for several days!"
Big Sister Hinata's voice was extremely loud, causing several passing shinobi to turn their heads toward them.
However, she did not seem to notice them at all.
She simply stared at Kiyohara's face.
Her hands moved from her hips to her chest as she crossed her arms, her lips slightly pursed.
She looked as though she had been deeply wronged.
(End of Chapter)