Madara scrutinized the two of them, his thoughts meticulous as threads.
"They appeared as if it were only natural, wearing the attitude of predators toying with their prey. This clearly wasn't a chance encounter."
"They were probably hiding in one of the spaces we passed through earlier. They noticed traces of us opening a passage through space and followed us here."
"Most likely the Ice and Snow Space. In Chen's genjutsu, the place where they fought Sasuke was a palace filled with drifting snow."
Momoshiki's Byakugan beneath his veil carefully examined Madara as well.
"Oh? A Rinnegan, and remarkably powerful Chakra. Kaguya's Ten-Tails husk was being controlled by his Rinnegan."
"Kinshiki, go capture him."
"At your service, Lord Momoshiki."
"Buzz!" A massive ring of red light manifested behind Kinshiki's back—the weapon known as Wave God.
He respectfully said, "However, the filthy blood of a lower creature may stain your veil. Please step down from my shoulder for now, Lord Momoshiki!"
Momoshiki rose from his seated position and floated into the air, clearly having no intention of making a move himself.
Madara raised a brow and thought, Oh? He calls himself a higher god and disdains joining forces... Fine. That suits me perfectly.
Because compared to competing for superiority, Chen's safety was the first priority.
Chen had already gone into shock after his heart stopped beating.
Hashirama Cells could significantly delay the progress of death. This was now a race against the Shinigami.
Would he awaken first, or would Chen die first? Madara did not know.
The only thing he could be certain of was that Chen absolutely could not suffer any further injury of any kind!
Madara's gaze shifted to the chest of the 'Demonic Statue'... to the Hashirama Clone that was using 'Twin Flowers' to establish a Life Link with Chen!
Absolutely... absolutely no collateral damage could reach that statue!
One-on-one was relatively safer!
During the fight, I need to stay as far from the statue as possible, but not too far, in case Momoshiki attacks it by surprise.
"Lower creature, this is no time for you to be looking around!"
Kinshiki descended from the sky with overwhelming pressure, gripping a red light blade forged by Wave God in his giant hand as he swept it down!
—Wild Martial Fusion!
Madara swiftly flashed ten meters away, formed Hand Seals at lightning speed, then brought his palms together!
"Boom!" The light blade split the earth, and red sword energy swept forward. It reached Madara's face, only to be forcibly deflected by the raging golden flames blazing between his clasped palms!
"Shing!" His palms slowly separated, stretching the vertically burning golden flames sideways into the shape of a sword!
"This is a fusion of Hashirama's Senjutsu power and Uchiha swordsmanship..."
—Sage Art: Sword of Blazing Divine Radiance!
"Such petty tricks, and you dare flaunt them before a god!"
Kinshiki rushed in, swinging both blades. Despite his massive frame, he moved as nimbly as a butterfly and as swiftly as lightning!
As his body weaved, the twin blades intertwined into deadly trajectories that hunted Madara's vital points with every strike!
Madara, clad in a crimson rose God Robe, darted and flashed freely amid the deadly web of twin blades. The golden flame sword in his hand carved out torrents of scorching fire!
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
With every collision between sword and blade, streams of flame were shaken loose from the radiant flame sword. Yet they did not go out in the air. Instead, they became golden fireballs, floating behind Madara and constantly circling with his sword-dancing movements!
More and more fireballs accumulated, but the radiant flame sword's power did not diminish in the slightest!
"This level of Taijutsu and swordsmanship... can a human really possess it!?"
Unable to gain the upper hand after a prolonged assault, Kinshiki grew increasingly agitated. The ever-growing mass of fireballs gave him an ominous feeling!
The change in his mindset showed in the finer details of his movements. Madara's eyes turned cold as he accelerated his assault, seized an opening, and with a "clang," knocked Kinshiki's twin red blades into the air!
Kinshiki's loss of composure made Momoshiki frown in displeasure.
"Kinshiki, what are you doing!"
"Lord Momoshiki! I'll pass judgment on him at once!"
"Slash!" Kinshiki drew a giant red-light axe from Wave God. His body abruptly transformed into purple lightning as he launched a godspeed charge at Madara!
—Divine Pursuit!
It was the extraordinary instantaneous movement that had once forced Sasuke to use Amenotejikara!
"!" Even Madara was caught off guard by the sudden close-range collision!
—Limbo: Border Jail!
"Whoosh!" But Madara reacted with incredible speed. As his body was sent flying and the giant axe came down at his head, he left a Limbo shadow in place to take the fatal blow for him, while his own body slipped behind Kinshiki like a ghost!
"His Rinnegan ability!?" As the Limbo shadow was cleaved apart and vanished before his eyes, Kinshiki froze in astonishment.
The golden fireballs that had followed close behind frantically merged into the radiant flame sword in Madara's hand... transforming it into a colossal flaming sword comparable to a Susanoo!
Madara gripped the sword in both hands and unleashed a decapitating strike at Kinshiki!!
—Scorching Sun Judgment!
"!!!" In horror, Kinshiki twisted around and dodged with all his strength, narrowly avoiding the decapitating blade by a hair's breadth!
"Crack!!!" His head was spared, but the horn atop it was sent flying a hundred meters into the air before falling toward the distant horizon!
The blazing heat that erupted from the passing blade scorched the exposed left half of Kinshiki's head, along with the Byakugan in his left eye, into charred scars!
Disfigured and blinded!
"Uaaaargh...!" Kinshiki's agonized scream echoed beneath the heavens!
The Sword of Blazing Divine Radiance dispersed from Madara's hand as he coldly said, "You call yourself a god, yet this is all you can do?"
"Raaagh! You've completely enraged me, lower creature!!"
Five red flames ignited on Kinshiki's fingertips as he slammed them down upon the earth!
—Kama-tsuchi!
"Rumble rumble rumble...!!"
Divine strength several times greater than Tsunade's Hundred Healings monstrous power shattered the earth to pieces!!
Madara was thrown away by the shockwave, activating the skeletal frame of Susanoo to steady himself!
—Amatsubasa!
More than a dozen giant red-light weapons created by Wave God shot toward Madara alongside Kinshiki's charging figure!
Madara brought his hands together in the 'Snake' seal!
"Boom boom!" Thick tree roots erupted from the ground, twisting toward Kinshiki to strangle him!
Kinshiki controlled the flying blades from afar, slicing apart every approaching tree. With overwhelming force, he crashed into Madara's Susanoo skeleton!
"Boom!!" The skeleton shattered... Kinshiki gripped both axes and hacked down at Madara, now stripped of Susanoo's protection!
"You walked right into this yourself..."
The light in Madara's twin Rinnegan trembled at once!
—Limbo: Three-Phase Killing Array!
"Slash!" "Slash!" "Slash!"
Three Limbo shadows appeared from three directions, their staff weapons piercing Kinshiki through the chest and ribs, back, and waist, pinning him in place and leaving him unable to move!
Madara formed the 'Rat' seal before his chest!
—Sage Art: Myojin Gate!
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
Three crimson Torii Gates descended from the sky, stacking into a formation that pressed down upon Kinshiki's shoulders and locked his head, completely suppressing and sealing his massive body!
"Take one out first." Madara's eyes were icy as he leaped backward into the air, changing the seal before his chest into the 'Horse' sign!
—Sage Art: Great Fire Destruction!
"Boom!!" A sea of flames filling the sky condensed into an elliptical fireball, like a miniature meteor crushing down toward Kinshiki!
If it hit, Kinshiki would be reduced to ashes on the spot.
"Kinshiki is no match for him..." Momoshiki, wearing high-heeled wooden clogs, drifted down onto the Myojin Gate beam above Kinshiki's head. He removed the black glove from his right hand, exposing the red Rinnegan in his palm as he faced the heaven-burning flames!
"You truly surprise me. To think Kaguya's land could produce someone of your caliber..."
—Kōtakamusubi!
"Whoosh!" The sea of flames was instantly drawn into the Rinnegan in his palm!
Madara narrowed his eyes. "Ah, so that is Kōtakamusubi. His right eye uses an Absorption Technique, then his left eye releases it back at several times the power. I didn't expect it could instantly absorb even Senjutsu."
Momoshiki bit down on the glove of his left hand and pulled it off, revealing the 'Rinnegan' used for release.
"With the power of that Fire Release just now, if it is amplified several times and sent back, it would be enough to break through the defenses of a complete-body Susanoo!"
"Still, it doesn't matter. That attack contains no Yin-Yang Release. This Impure World Reincarnation body of mine can recover in an instant..."
At that moment, a dangerous smile appeared at the corner of Momoshiki's mouth. "I noticed that while fighting Kinshiki, you kept watching the Ten-Tails husk. You... care about it greatly, don't you?"
Grinning viciously, Momoshiki aimed the Rinnegan in his left palm at the Demonic Statue from afar!
Madara's pupils suddenly contracted. "Not good!"
Sage Art: Great Fire Destruction, amplified and released through Momoshiki's left palm Rinnegan, expanded to a scale comparable to Tengai Shinsei and crashed toward the Demonic Statue like an overwhelming tide!
Kōtakamusubi... the amplification factor was at least fourfold!
The instant he realized Momoshiki's intent, the eye of Cloth Blade Life Reversal hidden beneath Madara's blood-red God Robe sucked him in at once!
Just before the flames could engulf the statue, he reappeared along their path and spread his hands, forming an umbrella-lizard-shaped barrier!
Upon touching the barrier, the flames rapidly collapsed inward and poured into it from end to end!
Though the Preta Path: Sealing Technique Absorption Seal was far less efficient than Kōtakamusubi and could not amplify attacks before returning them, its ability to silence techniques could protect the statue behind him. It was the most suitable response at the moment!
"Oh? You use the Rinnegan quite skillfully for a lower creature..."
"Whoosh, whoosh!" A matrix of Chakra rods pierced through the trailing flames and rained down on him.
"How will you absorb these!"
Madara watched coldly as Susanoo instantly condensed into its long-legged form. He flung a string of Yasakani no Magatama forward to intercept the matrix of Chakra rods!
"Clang clang!"
After a lightning-fast collision, one Yasakani no Magatama broke through the formation!
It streaked past Momoshiki amid his stunned gaze...
"Clang!" Whether Madara had intended it or not, that Magatama was given extraordinary range. It flew over the Myojin Gate suppressing Kinshiki and struck a distant mountainside!
Momoshiki pinched the veil cut by the edge of the Magatama and tore it apart through gritted teeth!
"Don't get carried away, lower creature!"
Momoshiki violently swept his sleeve, sending Chakra Black Rods raining down once more. This time, he also used Shinra Tensei to empower them!
Their tremendous piercing force directly punched through Madara's Susanoo—its skeletal form, not its complete body!
"Not good, this time the Black Rods' trajectories... cover the Hashirama Clone!"
At the critical moment, Madara flashed over to block them!
"Smash!" The residual force of the Black Rods shattered the right half of Madara's body. "The robe Hikari made for me is ruined."
Momoshiki flashed down, seized Madara by the throat, and sneered. "So what you care about is not the Ten-Tails husk itself, but this meaningless creature embedded in its chest?"
Ignoring Madara's expressionless face, Momoshiki stared at the dust particles drifting from the ruined right half of his body.
"And this bizarre body of yours, formed by attaching your soul to dust... are you one of the living dead? It seems this is a technique unique to Kaguya's land. Lower creatures sometimes produce sparks of intelligence as well!
"None of that matters to me. You will all become my nourishment! The unknown lower creature behind you, the Ten-Tails husk, and the two hiding away—none of you will be exceptions!"
—Sacrifice Refining Core!
The Rinnegan in Momoshiki's right palm began devouring Madara's Chakra.
Madara remained expressionless. Only his left hand shot up like lightning and clamped around Momoshiki's wrist!
"A lower creature, am I?"
"Hmm? Such strength." Momoshiki frowned and tried to pull his wrist free, only to find that it would not budge...
Then tree roots emerging from the gap in Madara's ruined right side had already crawled over Momoshiki's body!
Madara released his left hand, reached into the gap among the tree roots in his right side, and pulled a 'scroll' covered in densely packed characters for 'explode' from inside his own body. He pasted it across Momoshiki's chest, shoulders, and waist!
That smooth, uninterrupted sequence of movements!
Could it be that he deliberately let me seize him!
Wariness appeared on Momoshiki's face!
He... what is he trying to do!
Madara's gaze darkened. "It would be bad if Chen got caught up in this."
The mechanism of Cloth Blade Life Reversal, this space-time ocular technique, was to transport a 'marked object' to another 'marked object.' The caster himself did not need to teleport with it.
"Whoosh!" A massive vortex released by the eye beneath Madara's clothes sucked in the statue behind him and transported it, following the mark of the 'Yasakani no Magatama,' to the mountainside!
"This is a technique developed by the man I hate most, using the 'spark of intelligence' you mentioned. It was specifically adapted for this Impure World Reincarnation body—a technique for taking an enemy down with me. My Impure World Reincarnation body will revive at once, but you might not."
"Puff!" Madara blew out a breath and slapped the final Explosive Tag onto Momoshiki's uncertain face!
"You keep calling others lower creatures. What kind of creature are you?"
—Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag!
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