"ROAR!!!!!"
A piercing roar rang through the night sky. Along with it came the terrifying Chakra surging out from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in every direction. The Demonic Statue, which had been relatively calm until now, began to struggle violently. A faint blue light slowly gathered across its body.
Before long, a layer of deep-blue Chakra Armor covered the Demonic Statue.
The sudden change distracted Uzumaki Kuming, standing atop the statue, and the golden chains stopped pursuing Madara Uchiha. Taking advantage of the opening, Madara quickly put some distance between them, formed the Ram hand seal, and focused on gathering Chakra and controlling the Demonic Statue.
"ROAR!!!!!"
With another roar, the Demonic Statue grabbed the Thunder Dragon coiled around its body with its blue-armored hand. It gave a powerful tug, tearing the Thunder Dragon that had bound it for so long into three pieces. The terrifying lightning flared briefly, then slowly faded into the air.
"It broke free? It was Madara!"
Uzumaki Kuming immediately realized who was behind it. From the very beginning of the fight, Madara Uchiha had used cautious, probing attacks. Even when he faced danger, the Susanoo he summoned had been in its earliest skeletal form—not even a complete skeleton, just a single rib.
Madara Uchiha's goal from the start had been to help the Demonic Statue break free of the Thunder Dragon's restraint. It was clear that Madara had made a brief attempt back in the village and realized it would take a considerable amount of Chakra to free the statue. That was why he had held back during his battle with Kuming. Otherwise, given Madara's style, he would probably have used his Complete Body Susanoo from the very beginning.
By the time Uzumaki Kuming realized what was happening, it was already too