At that moment, the ripples in Madara's Rinnegan transformed into a black vortex, engulfing nearly ten thousand White Zetsu.
Yet Madara showed no panic. Instead, a sincere curve rose at the corners of his mouth.
"Defective merchandise..." Madara's deep chuckle echoed through the desert. "Even the shackles buried in the depths of the Rinnegan have been released."
The divine might suddenly subsided.
A dazzling, sunlike white light burst from Nagato's chest, and every sound of ninja weapons clashing fell silent at that instant.
As the brilliant light faded, a black-haired man with his upper body bare stepped onto the sand dune below.
The chakra flowing through Nagato's body surged of its own accord. Beneath his skin ran magma-like strength, and every inch of muscle contained the explosive power to tear apart the earth.
This was the perfect peak of his entire life!
"Ha..." Madara slowly clenched his fist, his bones cracking like thunder.
Unprecedented vitality surged through his blood vessels. He could even clearly hear the surging tides of blood driven by his powerful heartbeat.
He suddenly threw back his head and laughed, his laughter scattering into the high desert sky.
"Hashirama! Did you see that? This is the power of the 'God' you once dismissed!"
Within the desert, the lingering aura of Ten-Tails chakra still drifted through the air.
Nagato's tall body collapsed to the ground, white hair scattered like withered grass over his sunken chest.
The innate replacement technique had nearly drained the last trace of his life force, but the remaining power of the Six Paths still clung to his consciousness like a dying candle in the wind.
He struggled to open his eyes, staring fixedly at Madara beneath the bloody twilight.
The man who had used the flesh and blood of his parents and friends to