Six Paths Madara Is About To Become

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's massive mouth opened to its limit, and a suffocating suction force poured from that pitch-black void. Madara stood atop the statue's head, his long hair dragged upward by the pull like a flag being torn apart in a storm. Purple-black patterns surfaced across his body—the sign that Tailed Beast chakra had begun flooding into him. Eight Tailed Beasts—from the One-Tail to the Seven-Tails, plus half of the Eight-Tails—had already been sealed inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path during the earlier battle. Now, that imprisoned chakra spilled from the statue's mouth, surging toward Madara like a tide and wrapping around his body layer by layer.

Black and white chakra intertwined, fused, and split across his body, forming a massive cocoon. Ripples constantly shifted over its surface, like a beating heart.

On the other side of the main battlefield, Naruto's heart had already stopped.

Sakura knelt beside Naruto, both palms pressed against his chest. Green medical chakra flowed from her hands like two tiny streams feeding into a dried-up riverbed. She was using the Mystical Palm Technique to preserve the last traces of life within Naruto—his blood that had stopped flowing, his cells that had begun to die, his chakra pathways that were gradually going dark. The markings of the Strength of a Hundred Seal covered her face, spreading from her forehead to her chin like a torn net. Her chakra was nearly exhausted, but she did not let go.

"Naruto, don't die... don't die..." Her voice trembled as tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto Naruto's pale face. His lips had turned bluish purple, his pupils were unfocused, and his body temperature was dropping bit by bit.

Gaara stood behind her. His sand blanketed the entire field of ruins like a