Sasuke and Naruto didn't really believe what Natsuki said.
They knew Natsuki was strong, but Madara was Six Paths-tier. That wasn't someone you could just casually beat down. And Natsuki claiming he'd beaten Madara until he couldn't fight back at all—honestly, it sounded like bragging.
Still… no one else reacted like it was nonsense. Which made it feel like it might actually be true.
It was hard to tell.
Neji said, "Now's not the time to chat. Madara got driven underground by Natsuki—he must be injured. We need to wipe him out while we can!"
With that, Neji flew straight above the massive crater—
—and Madara was gone.
"He vanished? Where did he go?"
Neji pushed his Tenseigan to its limit, sweeping his gaze across the land. Almost instantly, he locked onto two presences.
Black Zetsu was dragging Madara underground, slipping away through the earth. Madara's body was mangled—clearly wrecked by Natsuki—and he was in the middle of regenerating.
Strike while he's sick. Finish him.
Neji lifted a hand and unleashed gravitational pull, ripping the earth up and yanking them out by force.
Madara and the Black Zetsu clinging to his shoulder reappeared.
Black Zetsu was still controlling Kabuto. Just now, he'd used a "mayfly" underground technique to quietly carry Madara away, and being exposed like this instantly sent him into a panic.
Maybe Black Zetsu truly hadn't expected the allied forces to produce so many monsters.
Neji had entered the Six Paths level. Natsuki could blow apart a Six Paths body with just the Seventh Gate. Kakashi's Kamui was a cheat-code support. And now two even more ridiculous people had shown up.
It was suffocating.
Sasuke stared at Neji's transformed presence and finally caught up. "Neji… you're Six Paths too?"
Naruto jolted. "Neji's Six Paths?! How did you do that? We only got there because the Sage of Six Paths grandpa helped us—how did you—?"
It wasn't their fault they didn't know. They'd been knocked out. Neji had stepped up afterward.
But Neji shook his head. "Not now. We kill Madara first. Black Zetsu too. And we destroy the Divine Tree. Whatever it takes—stop Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi)!"
"Got it! That thing's the Divine Tree, right? Then watch this!"
Naruto locked onto the towering tree and immediately entered Six Paths Sage Mode—still blazing gold, except now he had several Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs) floating beside him.
He enlarged one Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs), cupped it in his palm, and began compressing a chakra sphere with Tailed Beast chakra.
He only had a severed fragment of the Nine-Tails left inside him, so his Tailed Beast chakra reserve wasn't huge—but combined with a Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs), it was more than enough.
"Tailed Beast Bomb Rasengan Shuriken! Take this!"
Naruto didn't know the proper name for Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs), so he named it after a Tailed Beast Bomb. The instant he threw it, space seemed to warp—and in the next breath, it cleaved through the Divine Tree from its lowest trunk.
BOOM!
The enormous Divine Tree crashed down.
The tree was unbelievably tough. Without overwhelming power, you couldn't even damage it.
But for Naruto, that was trivial.
Meanwhile, Sasuke locked onto Madara. His six-tomoe Rinnegan activated Amenotejikara, swapping places with a rock beside Madara and appearing in front of him in an instant.
"Chibaku Tensei!"
He slammed a hand forward, intending to trigger it centered on Madara—to bind and seal him right there.
But Madara wasn't about to let that happen. Sasuke didn't even have Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs); he only had the six-tomoe Rinnegan. Madara judged it manageable.
He simply opened his mouth and fired a Sage Art "laser" straight at Sasuke's face, interrupting the technique.
Sasuke barely dodged in time. If he'd been even a fraction slower, he would've shown up, tried to look cool, and been instantly erased.
He immediately transformed into his final Susanoo form—using the Rinnegan's power to fuse the small amount of Tailed Beast chakra inside him into Susanoo, making it truly flesh-and-blood, like a real giant. Its attack and defense surged dramatically.
With one swing, the ultimate Susanoo blade looked like it could split mountains.
Madara originally meant to block with Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs), but sensing something abnormal in that slash, he chose to fly away and evade instead.
As for Black Zetsu… he could fend for himself.
Black Zetsu, still controlling Kabuto, tried to run—
—but a gravitational pull seized him.
From far away, Neji yanked Kabuto back with attraction, dragging him toward the battlefield as Sasuke's Susanoo blade descended.
But Madara used Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull) as well—snatching Black Zetsu and Kabuto away even more forcefully. Because Madara was closer, he stole them right out from under Neji's grip.
BOOOOM!
Sasuke's sword cleaved down, tearing the earth open and triggering a violent quake.
If Madara hadn't dodged, he would've been shredded by the sword's force.
Naruto yelled, "Sasuke, be careful! What if you split the whole shinobi world in half?!"
…
Sasuke didn't bother replying.
Of course he understood how terrifying his strength was now. If he truly wanted to, destroying the shinobi world wouldn't be difficult—but he could control his power. He wasn't going to casually bisect the planet.
Naruto was just talking nonsense again.
Madara looked disheveled, but he didn't despair. He'd waited in the shadows for years just to reach this moment—there was no way he'd give up now.
Black Zetsu urgently warned him, "Madara-sama, it's time to gamble everything!"
Madara knew time was running out. And he was close to the severed Divine Tree—close enough to hear it calling him.
So he decisively drew the Divine Tree into his body.
Natsuki looked utterly exasperated and barked, "Hurry up and absorb it already!"
Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji rushed in—
—but Madara poured everything he had into it. He absorbed the Divine Tree completely at top speed, achieving an undying body.
At the same time, his will exploded outward. He unleashed Rinbo: Hengoku (Limbo: Border Jail) at full power, blasting Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji away.
Then he shot into the sky at maximum speed—his sheer killing intent alone scattering the thunderclouds into nothing.
Moonlight flooded down again.
And it looked… blood-red.
As if the crimson moon itself were Kaguya's Rinne Sharingan, radiating a dreadful omen that made your skin crawl the moment you looked at it.
Madara stared up at that blood moon and, without hesitation, opened the Rinne Sharingan in his brow.
He began the ocular technique.
"Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi)!"
HMMMM—!
The blood moon reflected the pattern of the Rinne Sharingan, then exploded in white light that instantly swallowed the entire shinobi world. In that moment, nearly everyone's eyes turned into spirals as they fell into the illusion.
Orochimaru stared up at the sky, dumbstruck.
I finally have a Rinnegan…
Sasuke had sensed the danger in advance. He immediately raised his special Susanoo, shielding Naruto and Neji inside it—only then did the three of them avoid being caught by Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi).
Natsuki, however, merely lifted a brow.
He showed no sign of being affected at all.
Because he was genuinely immune to genjutsu.
And he wasn't panicked. If anything, he looked like he'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Ōtsutsuki are invaders from outside. Someday, we'll have to face them again. I'm sure I won't be caught by Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi), and I'm sure I can beat Kaguya… but this kind of thing still has to be tested first, doesn't it?"
(End of Chapter)
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