Beyond Reach

Four invisible Susanoo Complete Body armors from the Rinbo, conforming to the seated lotus posture of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, merged into a form-fitting inner armor, clad upon it!

The Susanoo Complete Body manifested by Madara himself turned into azure molten liquid, pouring down along the inner armor.

"Set!" Madara clenched his fist.

"Crack!" The azure molten liquid solidified into shape, then countless scale-like armor plates spread outward in all directions, wrapping the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path tightly!

Only the head armor existed independently—one bright, four dark. The five war-god heads of the Five-Wheeled Susanoo Complete Body encircled the outer perimeter of the Demonic Statue's head, like a Wisdom King's dharma crown.

The five forehead chambers corresponding to the war-god heads were like gems and crystals inlaid on the crown!

Madara himself took the center C-position, with the Rinbo standing guard on either side!

—Susanoo: Five Wheel Tribulation!

"Boom!"

The moment this unparalleled ancient and modern ultimate defense took shape!

The tens of millions of explosive flames stirred up by Kōtakamusubi's Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag, like surging waves on a raging sea, instantly engulfed the Uchiha Flame Formation, swallowing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path within the Five Wheel Tribulation!

In such an environment of high explosion, high pressure, and high heat energy convection.

Neither Momoshiki on the outside nor Madara on the inside could control anything anymore!

"Hm?" Amidst the blazing chaos, Madara, synchronized with the statue, sensed the wound on the Hashirama Clone's chest beginning to heal miraculously.

"Good kid, you pulled through, huh!"

"The entanglement of the reincarnators ends with Naruto and Sasuke's generation."

Before Chen's eyes, after the short-haired man finished speaking, the long-haired man he called 'Elder Brother' said in a low voice.

"They've ended it, but our fates have been entangled for a thousand years—is this how it ends? Then where do we go from here? Like that worthless old man Six Paths, unwilling to rest even after death, drifting for a thousand years just to find the reincarnator and seal his Mother again?"

"Elder Brother, I won't allow you to speak of Father that way behind his back!"

"Ha! Father? Does he even deserve that title? If he hadn't been blind back then and chosen you as his successor, none of this mess would exist!"

"Sigh, you can't blame Father for that! The core tenet of the Six Paths Sage Art is cultivating the mind and nature! Elder Brother, you're too obsessed with martial combat! That fundamentally goes against the Sage Art's principles!"

"Cultivating the mind? Isn't that just the skill of Zen Meditation! You have [Samadhi], I have [Dharani]! In the realm of mind cultivation, I'm no worse than you!"

"And compared to your Samadhi's overemphasis on inner peace as 'freedom', my Dharani practice respects the 'self' that people should have—joy, anger, sorrow, resentment—all can become a source of power! Far superior to yours!"

"Freedom or self, let's not argue which is better for now. At least my Samadhi has been passed down. Your Dharani, on the other hand, has been lost..."

"Heh. My previous reincarnator, Uchiha Madara. He was actually the most suitable person to cultivate Dharani. I originally intended to pass it on to him, but unfortunately, that bastard Black Zetsu ruined it. Otherwise, his achievements might have been even greater."

The short-haired younger brother sighed: "These are all things of the distant past now, Elder Brother."

The long-haired elder brother said wistfully: "Yes, a thousand years. We've fought enough, but this 'brotherly love' game is truly nauseating. How about we have a contest instead?"

"A contest? How?"

"We'll compete over who gains the recognition of this young man named 'Chen'."

"Recognition? Hah... Such words actually coming from your mouth, Elder Brother! The sun must be rising from the west!"

"Hmph, you can't deny one thing, can you? His strength and achievements will eventually surpass ours back then! What we might have over him is probably a thousand years of countless experiences and rich knowledge, right?"

"Hmm, no argument there. And Elder Brother's proposal is surprisingly quite reasonable."

The short-haired younger brother rubbed his chin, sizing him up with a smile.

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"This Chen's inner character, though it has a bit of your shadow from back then, Elder Brother, is surprisingly much more adaptable than you! He understands that no matter how strong an individual is, one person alone can hardly accomplish things. So, he's found some very powerful helpers!"

"Hmph! Your words are as infuriating as ever!"

The short-haired younger brother lowered his hand and said seriously: "Elder Brother, I accept this contest. But since it's a contest, we need to set rules."

"Fine. How?"

"We need to agree on three conditions."

"First, each acts on their own. No interfering with the other. When one person steps forward to speak, the other must endure even if they can't stand it!"

"Suits me perfectly. Appearing together with you makes me want to vomit. I feel like throwing up right now."

"Second, on major matters, we must stay aligned. No infighting at critical moments!"

"I'm not sure how you define 'major matters', but go on."

"Third, well, the third..."

The younger brother hemmed and hawed. The elder brother grew impatient: "You've said all the good things. Let me say the third!"

"Fine, go ahead!"

The elder brother said in a heavy tone: "Third! Whether it's the two reincarnators in the present world or that lingering Six Paths old man! From this moment on, we cut ties completely. Can you do that?"

"This, this..."

"Through your resonance with 'Chen', haven't you seen it clearly yet? The old man's philosophy is wrong! The future world needs someone like Chen—unbound by dogma, putting the world first, daring to fight and act boldly!"

"Good... putting the world first above all, Elder Brother! Just for saying that, I'll agree to your third condition!"

This extraordinary conversation came to an end.

The two of them turned their gazes toward Chen in unison.

"However, it seems this match can't start right away."

"Indeed. The timing and the heat still seem a bit off."

"You heard all that, didn't you, Uchiha Chen?"

Chen nodded thoughtfully.

"Then we look forward to the moment we 'for' you!"

The two spoke in unison, their forms dissolving into bubbles and vanishing.

Timing and heat, huh... That makes sense.

But still, that really startled me.

Indra, Ashura.

Both sons of the Sage of Six Paths, these brothers tangled in grudges and bonds—appearing together in my spiritual world at the same time!

In the reflection of his mind, Chen closed his eyes.

Within the Kamui Space-Time, under Obito's watchful gaze, Chen stood up.

The black coating on his skin began to recede, the features of Hashirama's torso started to fade, and the scar on his chest returned!

This was his own body!

The Twin Flower had been undone, but... Chen's power hadn't diminished in the slightest!

"This..." Obito stared in astonishment at Chen's eyes.

Chen smiled faintly. "Let's head outside. We shouldn't keep Uncle Madara waiting too long..."