Madara Uchiha's expression was grim.
He had planned to become the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, to gain the power of the Sage of Six Paths, believing that this would elevate him to the combat level of an "Ōtsutsuki." In fact, he felt that he had indeed transformed—but just one move, and he had already lost an arm?
Although this wasn't a major issue at his level, as he could easily regenerate, the disparity between them was undeniable. Suddenly, he realized something.
"Could it be because of that so-called 'Ascending God's Long Path'?"
Madara pondered silently, while his left arm regenerated. Glaring at the ever-calm Kitagawa Minamoto, his gaze turned vicious. He refused to accept this reality—no matter what, he would not yield!
"Hah!"
With a furious shout, Madara charged forward again, his Truth-Seeking Ball transforming into a black staff as he swung it aggressively at Kitagawa Minamoto.
"Oh?"
Minamoto seemed slightly surprised, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.
"I didn't expect you'd dare to strike back."
"Die!"
Madara roared, wildly swinging his Sage Staff infused with overwhelming power. But Minamoto merely raised an eyebrow calmly. In the next instant, his own Truth-Seeking Ball, transformed into a ninja blade, gleamed with golden light once again.
Clang—
In the blink of an eye, to Madara's astonishment, his Sage Staff, crafted from a Truth-Seeking Ball, was shattered!
"What?!"
"You don't understand the gap between us. You've only reached this point by relying on the power of the Ten-Tails."
Minamoto's voice remained gentle, as if he were patiently explaining something.
"The Ten-Tails is indeed impressive, but do you know? The Ten-Tails is merely a pet of the Ōtsutsuki clan, used to cultivate Divine Trees."
"Divine Trees..."
As the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, Madara naturally understood the concept of Divine Trees. The knowledge had appeared in his mind the moment he fused with the Ten-Tails. But in his understanding, weren't Divine Trees just tools to activate Infinite Tsukuyomi? What did "cultivate" mean in this context?
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion."
Without directly answering, Minamoto's golden blade suddenly dimmed. In the next moment, an intensely concentrated Chakra whirlwind began to form in his hand.
"Damn..."
Madara instinctively retreated, immediately summoning other Truth-Seeking Balls to form a defense.
Boom—
Before his defense was fully constructed, the terrifying Chakra storm had already erupted. The surging Chakra flood swept Madara away, his body carving a deep trench into the ground. Under the razor-like Chakra turbulence, his flesh was torn apart, leaving him severely battered. If not for the Ten-Tails' power constantly regenerating his body, he would have looked like nothing more than a corpse.
"Is that all you've got?"
Despite his injuries, Madara's resilience shone through. He quickly climbed back to his feet, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth as he spoke softly.
"I haven't reached my limit yet. I'm far from done!"
With a roar, Madara thrust his right hand forward, unleashing an overwhelming surge of natural energy combined with the Ten-Tails' power.
"Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!"
Although Madara hadn't absorbed Hashirama's Sage Mode, the Ten-Tails itself was a massive reservoir of natural energy. As its Jinchūriki, Madara naturally gained access to such power!
"Not bad."
However, Minamoto walked leisurely through the lightning storm, his calm demeanor unshaken. He steadily approached Madara, smiling faintly as he spoke.
"I told that 'Ōtsutsuki Nagato' long ago—your willpower is indeed commendable. No matter the enemy, you always display extraordinary courage. Especially when protecting something precious, you unleash unimaginable strength. But..."
Minamoto paused briefly, and in the next moment, the Truth-Seeking Balls orbiting behind him shot forward.
Thud—
With a muffled sound, the Truth-Seeking Balls transformed into black rods, pinning Madara firmly to the ground!
"You..."
Madara's eyes widened slightly. His Limbo clones hadn't even had a chance to act before he was completely immobilized.
"Don't insult me with such pathetic tricks."
Minamoto remained composed, tilting his head to glance into the distance. The Sage of Six Paths seemed to be dealing with some issues, and amusingly, he appeared to have forgotten about Minamoto and Madara altogether. Even Minamoto's Divine Tree clone wasn't included in the Sage's "discussion."
"But it doesn't matter. The battle over there is nearing its end, Naruto's situation is also wrapping up, so it's time for me to conclude things here."
With this thought, Minamoto's gaze returned to Madara.
"Aren't you curious about something? Your current state is identical to ours. And do you know the truth about the so-called Sage of Six Paths?"
"My current state... the Sage of Six Paths?"
Madara couldn't understand Minamoto's words. But he never considered giving up or compromising, always searching for an opportunity.
"The so-called Sage of Six Paths is actually an Ōtsutsuki."
Minamoto smiled faintly, calmly revealing a piece of information that shook Madara to his core! In that instant, Madara's mind wavered. He couldn't believe this was true. His body trembled slightly, his expression filled with disbelief as he stared at Minamoto.
"You... you're spouting nonsense!"
"Kaguya's Chakra—what are you waiting for?"
Instead of responding to Madara, Minamoto turned his attention elsewhere. Suddenly, a powerful suction force erupted, dragging Black Zetsu out of the ground despite his protests!
"Zetsu? Kaguya's... Chakra?!"
Madara stared blankly at the scene, suddenly recalling something Obito and Nagato had told him.
"Ōtsutsuki Minamoto once said that Zetsu was created from Kaguya's power, and mentioned something about a 'truth'... this..."
"Madara!"
Zetsu was equally stunned. He had been carefully maintaining his distance, waiting for the right moment. But now, he had been caught, and worse, Minamoto seemed intent on revealing things that should remain unsaid.
"Do you remember the 'truth' I once mentioned?"
Minamoto's Chakra surged slightly, causing Zetsu's body to stiffen. His gaze grew distant, as if his mind were unraveling.
"This 'truth' might not be what you think. But since you've taken something from me, I have a favor to ask of you."
"A favor..."
Madara looked bewildered, completely lost as to what Minamoto was saying. But soon, Minamoto continued with a smile.
"The Divine Tree is an essential tool for harvesting a planet's energy. Once a planet's energy is depleted, the entire world becomes a lifeless wasteland."
"Depleting planetary energy... a lifeless wasteland..."
Madara murmured, clutching his stomach in disbelief. Was this the true nature of the Ten-Tails?
"How is this possible? If that's true..."
"And that's where the story of your 'Sage of Six Paths' begins."
Minamoto continued smiling as he approached Madara. In that moment, Madara felt his breath catch—the Ten-Tails within him was resisting, and with increasing intensity.
"It's... rebelling? And growing more violent by the second?"
"Don't be surprised. I told you the Ten-Tails is our pet. Its fear of me is only natural."
Minamoto continued casually, as if discussing something trivial.
"Kaguya Ōtsutsuki extracted the planet's energy, but this world contained far more power than anticipated, and some unexpected events occurred."
"She chose to betray the Ōtsutsuki clan and made a decision: to create Divine Tree war machines to expand her military might and confront the Ōtsutsuki."
"So, can you guess what her army consisted of?"
As Madara listened in confusion, Black Zetsu, his eyes now distant, began to speak.
"Humans. She planned to trap all humans in Infinite Tsukuyomi, using their bodies combined with the Divine Tree's power to form an army against the Ōtsutsuki."
"!!!"
Madara's breath caught in his throat. He stared at Black Zetsu in disbelief, then turned to Minamoto with a bewildered expression. After a moment, as if understanding something, he asked with a mix of shame and anger:
"Who exactly are you? What are you talking about? And what are those White Zetsus?"
" ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨ patreon.com/GoldenLong]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━