The moment the Ten-Tails entered his body, Jie felt a power several times stronger than the Dragon Vein surge out from the seal and spread through every part of him.
Under the influence of that chakra, his strength began rising at a terrifying speed.
It could directly push someone into the Six Paths level.
But after sensing it carefully, Jie quickly understood the truth behind that power.
It was not as perfect as it seemed.
The increase in strength came from the Ten-Tails itself, not the jinchūriki's own foundation. Once it was extracted, the host would mostly return to their original state, with only minor physical changes from adapting to its chakra.
They might even die from having the tailed beast removed.
More importantly, after becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, Jie sensed something strange gathering around him from the void.
The feeling was extremely faint.
If Jie had not already been close to the Six Paths level himself, he might not have noticed it at all.
"Perhaps this is Kaguya's scattered consciousness," Jie thought.
In the ninja world, most people believed the Sage of Six Paths was the ancestor of chakra.
But in truth, even Hagoromo's chakra had come from his mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
In other words, all chakra in the ninja world carried a faint trace of Kaguya's will.
Now that the Ten-Tails had revived, Kaguya's consciousness had begun to awaken as well.
That was probably why Black Zetsu had not immediately acted in the original timeline when Madara first reached the Six Paths level.
He had waited until the Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast.
Only after all that chakra gathered together and Kaguya's will took shape completely did Black Zetsu have enough confidence to launch his sneak attack and turn Madara into the sacrifice for Kaguya's resurrection.
Since Jie understood that, he naturally would not repeat Madara's mistake.
He had never planned to rely entirely on the Ten-Tails for his strength.
His goal from the beginning had been to use the Ten-Tails' power to complete the final stage of his own Six Paths transformation.
After sensing the power inside him, Jie immediately activated the ability of his Rinnegan.
All chakra surging out from the Ten-Tails was absorbed and refined through his Rinnegan first. Only after stamping it with his own imprint did Jie draw it into himself.
Just like when he had absorbed the Dragon Vein, Jie used the newly refined chakra to push his own transformation forward with full force.
The final barrier that had refused to move finally began to loosen.
As the last stage of his transformation began, his skin gradually turned pale, almost luminous. Black tomoe appeared across his body one after another.
A pure white robe and cloak slowly formed from the void around him.
Then, black spheres began appearing behind him one by one.
Eight black spheres circled behind Jie.
When the ninth appeared, it floated in front of him instead.
After Jie injured Madara, Hashirama had stopped attacking for a moment to protect him.
By the time Madara recovered slightly and Hashirama looked back, the Ten-Tails had already vanished into Jie's body.
It had not been killed by Jie.
It had been sealed into him, and its power was now completely under his control.
The aura rising from Jie became stranger and heavier by the second, pressing down on Madara and Hashirama until even breathing felt difficult.
"What is going on?"
Hashirama stared at Jie in disbelief.
"According to the Sage of Six Paths, shouldn't the Ten-Tails stand with us after awakening and fight him?"
Madara did not speak.
But the blood still staining his eyes showed the same confusion.
At that moment, Jie's tightly closed eyes opened again.
Ring after ring of Rinnegan ripples appeared in his eyes.
Between those ripples, tomoe surfaced one after another.
"Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan."
"Truth-Seeking Balls."
"True Six Paths."
The moment Jie truly stepped into the Six Paths level, his control over his own power became absolute.
Even the power of the Ten-Tails stabilized inside him in an instant.
Right now, Jie was a true Six Paths-level existence, and one standing near the peak of that realm.
In terms of raw chakra, he still could not compare to ancient Ōtsutsuki who had lived for centuries or even millennia.
But in bloodline power and eye techniques, Jie had reached a level that even most Ōtsutsuki would find abnormal.
After all, not every Ōtsutsuki could awaken the Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan, and not every Byakugan could evolve into the Tenseigan.
Even Kaguya had never possessed both at once.
Jie felt the vast power inside him and was extremely satisfied.
With the Ten-Tails' help, he had pushed the Six Paths chakra seed through its final transformation.
He had truly become a Six Paths-level lifeform.
And after stepping into this realm, Jie realized that his previous estimate of the Six Paths level had still been too low.
True Six Paths power was stronger than he had imagined.
The most direct proof was simple.
Even if he returned to his original timeline and extracted the Ten-Tails from himself, he would at most lose some chakra.
He would not suffer any real injury.
This result exceeded even Jie's expectations.
After awakening the Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan, Jie also understood its true secret.
The real secret that allowed the Ōtsutsuki clan to cross the universe.
Yomotsu Hirasaka.
It needed no coordinates, no marks, and no guide.
As long as one had enough chakra and enough control, this technique could silently open a path to almost anywhere.
Compared with Yomotsu Hirasaka, Kamui and Flying Thunder God were several levels lower.
After mastering it, Jie's opinion of Kaguya became even worse.
She had possessed the source of all space-time ninjutsu, yet still lost to two young boys?
Jie could only call it wasteful.
Jie's talent had always been outstanding, and with the help of the system, his chakra control was unmatched in the entire ninja world.
After a short adjustment, he had already brought his new power fully under control.
Then his gaze fell on the black sphere floating in front of him.
A faint smile appeared on Jie's face.
With a thought, the black sphere transformed into a black staff.
The black spheres were naturally the standard power of the Six Paths level.
Truth-Seeking Balls.
They were formed from every chakra nature taken to its extreme.
Aside from senjutsu chakra, almost all ninjutsu and ninja tools would be erased on contact.
Even a body revived through Impure World Reincarnation could not regenerate from damage caused by a Truth-Seeking Ball.
Jie could now create them whenever he wished.
After testing the staff for a moment, Jie reshaped it into the form of the Kusanagi Sword.
Compared with a staff, he still preferred the sword that had followed him for so long.
Holding the Truth-Seeking Sword in his hand, Jie looked at Madara and Hashirama, who were still blocking his path.
After reaching this new level, his view of them had changed as well.
Even before this, Madara and Hashirama had not been much of a threat to him. Now, even if they were the two strongest humans in this era, they were only larger ants in his eyes.
Any interest Jie once had was gone.
Only annoyance remained.
And naturally, that annoyance also included the insect still hiding in the dark.
After stepping into the Six Paths level, Black Zetsu's hiding ability became meaningless.
No matter how well he erased his presence, Jie could sense him as clearly as a bonfire in the night.
"Uchiha Jie, return the Ten-Tails!"
"That is the safeguard the Sage of Six Paths left for the ninja world. It is not something an invader like you can touch!"
Even though Jie had become completely different from before, Hashirama still stepped forward for the sake of the ninja world and shouted at him.
"Too noisy."
Jie did not even bother to answer.
As soon as he spoke, one Truth-Seeking Ball separated from behind him and drifted toward Madara and Hashirama.