Impenetrable

"...Ineffective?"

Uchiha Madara floated in mid-air, his brow furrowed, his expression more solemn than ever before.

The Susanoo Great Buddha opposite him, like a god descended to earth, with myriad arms spanning the heavens, its might overwhelming, its defense so incredibly strong—even his fully powered Susanoo slash hadn't shaken it in the slightest!

"Stronger than Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands?"

His tone was low, but his eyes burned fiercely, a mixture of excitement, madness, and fighting spirit.

"...Interesting!"

Before his words had even faded, the blue Susanoo suddenly surged upwards again, the air exploding, its blade-wings splayed wide!

From the Susanoo's forehead, Madara leaped out, his figure darting across the skeletal structure like a falcon locking onto its prey!

--Target: Uchiha Yoru!

"Haa!!"

A roar shook the heavens, Madara leaped high, his right fist infused with blue chakra, striking directly at the Great Buddha's brow!

Uchiha Yoru didn't move, merely raising one hand.

Bang!

In an instant, the Great Buddha's palm blocked Madara's heavy punch, not even the Buddha statue swaying in the slightest.

"Heh." Uchiha Yoru chuckled lightly.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!!"

Madara opened his mouth and spewed out a fire dragon, heading straight for Uchiha Yoru's face!

Uchiha Yoru's expression was calm, his right hand lifting slightly, and a similar move erupted!

Boom!!

The two fires met, flames soaring into the sky, igniting the entire high altitude!

At this moment—

Madara's figure flickered, his attack missing, and he instantly appeared behind Uchiha Yoru!

A blade of light swept across!

--It was caught.

Uchiha Yoru gripped it with his backhand, precisely seizing the blade and Madara's wrist, as if he had anticipated it long ago!

"You're too slow."

Madara's expression didn't change; instead, a strange, cold smile appeared.

"You thought... there was only one of me?"

"Limbo: Border Jail!!!"

Buzz!!

Four invisible shadows suddenly appeared, chilling and silent, closing in!

The next second—

"...Huh?"

Madara's pupils contracted; the four shadows of Limbo were actually intercepted in mid-air!

--Black shadows, extremely similar to the Six Paths, appeared in the air, suppressing his Limbo!

"You've also mastered Limbo?"

"It's not imitation."

Uchiha Yoru spoke calmly, "It's a more thorough mastery."

"Your four shadows are too insubstantial."

As he spoke, Uchiha Yoru's Six Paths shadows suddenly attacked—

"Bang!"

The four shadows were instantly crushed!

--Uchiha Madara was sent staggering back, barely stabilizing himself, his battle armor covered in cracks!

He looked down at his own palm, as if sensing the crushing force of that moment.

Silence, for a long time.

"To think... even Limbo has been deciphered?"

He looked up at Yoru's expression and, instead, smiled.

It was excitement, it was fighting spirit.

"Yoru, you are truly outstanding."

"You are more outstanding than countless geniuses I have ever seen!"

"You truly stand at the position of a 'god'."

"But I, Uchiha Madara—"

"Never bow my head."

Having said this, he formed hand seals with both hands.

"Chibaku Tensei!!"

The sky collapsed in an instant as black spheres flew toward the heavens, gathering the power of the earth; even the entire territory of the Susanoo Great Buddha began to shake!

Uchiha Yoru remained calm, six halos appearing behind his back, and he tapped his finger lightly.

"Dispel."

BOOM!!

The gravitational force between heaven and earth snapped instantly, and the six black spheres fell like meteors, exploding one after another in mid-air!

Uchiha Yoru looked at Madara in the sky, his eyes calm:

"Stop struggling."

"This incomplete Six Paths power of yours is not enough."

Madara's eye twitched as he stared fixedly at Yoru.

Every attack he launched at Uchiha Yoru was neutralized by the other's flawless defense...

After a long silence, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha—good, very good!"

"You are the first to be able to push me to this extent."

"After Hashirama, I had thought no one was worth a full-power battle."

"But you are different."

He slowly raised his hand, and the power of the Susanoo condensed behind him once more, his form appearing to transform into a dragon, thick and dark as the encroaching night:

"Next, I will use the true End-Time Power."

Uchiha Madara stood at the peak of the Susanoo, his voice low yet filled with fanaticism.

"Yoru—"

"Let me see if you, this 'god', can truly withstand my final power!"

Just as Madara was about to condense his chakra—

Across from him, Uchiha Yoru's Rinnegan glowed slightly.

In that very moment, Uchiha Madara's figure stalled.

For the first time, a subtle ripple appeared in his expression.

It was as if his soul had been pulled into some unknown space for an instant, only to return in the briefest of moments.

It lasted less than half a breath.

The madness in his eyes vanished for a split second.

But the next second, he had returned to normal, a cold, grim arc pulling at the corner of his mouth, as arrogant and peerless as ever.

"Hmph!"

At the same time—

On the ground, the three Hokage, already bound by Uchiha Yoru's Truth-Seeking Orbs, were all wearing expressions of numbness.

This was not the first time they had been shocked.

Back then, Yoru suppressing their combined efforts with such overwhelming force was already an earth-shattering feat, yet now, facing the true Uchiha Madara, he still did not fall behind, even faintly holding the upper hand.

Senju Hashirama's throat moved, his eyes filled with deep shock: "When he... suppressed us just now... he didn't even use the abilities of the Rinnegan?"

Even they had been crushed so thoroughly, yet Uchiha Yoru—had actually been holding back?

"Madara... has actually awakened new eyes?"

Hashirama muttered, his gaze locked onto Madara in the sky, his brows furrowed tightly.

On the ground, the two figures fell into a deathly silence.

The battlefield had become ruins, and the very space seemed to tremble.

Orochimaru hid behind the shattered rock layers, his snake-like pupils narrowing as he stared fixedly at the battle above the firmament.

"Great Buddha, Susanoo, Rinnegan..."

"This kind of power..."

A hoarse laugh escaped his throat, his voice low and raspy.

"Heh... I heard in my early years that the battle between Hashirama and Madara shattered mountain ranges, and I thought it was just an exaggerated legend..."

"It seems now that they weren't just fighting; they were terrifying enough to forcibly alter the natural environment..."

He licked his parched lips, his face deathly pale, yet his eyes surged with a light of near-obsessive madness.

"Compared to an existence like this... to think I actually harbored delusions of eternal life?"

"Humans... perhaps we were never meant to peer into this level of power..."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Black Zetsu's expression had darkened to the extreme, shock and unease weaving into a web within its eyes.

"That moment just now..."

"Madara's chakra... it actually stagnated!"

Its voice was cold, yet its emotions were nearing a breaking point.

"That brat... what on earth did he do to Madara?!"

"Genjutsu? No... that wasn't a mere mental disturbance! Was he peering into Madara's heart?"

"This is bad..."

"If even Madara loses..."

Black Zetsu shuddered violently, cold sweat streaming down its back as a sense of unprecedented terror spread from its spine to every limb.

"Mother's resurrection... will be reduced to nothing but a pipe dream!!"

Daring not to hesitate any longer, it convulsed, its figure twisting into a mass of black shadow that silently merged into the depths of the earth, beginning a rapid retreat.

"I must secure an escape route."

"This boy... is a variable beyond my control."

"Uchiha Yoru... what kind of monster is he..."

Yet, at the very moment it was about to vanish completely, it glanced up at the sky and felt a sense of relief.

For Uchiha Yoru and Uchiha Madara had both cast aside their Buddha statues and Susanoo, their figures tearing through the air and soaring straight into the clouds!

--Taijutsu!

--Ninjutsu!

--The power of the Rinnegan!

The two transformed into twin rays of divine light, colliding with a thunderous roar high in the heavens!

The clouds detonated, and the sky shattered!