Chapter 48

He was blasted backward, skidding seven or eight meters before steadying himself. "At least three times faster than before," Sasuke muttered, his eyes locked onto the black spheres.

The black spheres did not stop. They flew back at him.

This time, they attacked simultaneously from six different directions.

Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply, and his body instantly shifted onto another boulder.

The black spheres slammed into where he had been standing, overturning the entire patch of ground. "You can dodge for a while, but not forever," Naruto said, forming hand seals.

The six black spheres suddenly fused into one, becoming an enormous orb of light.

Electric currents danced wildly across its surface, and the heat it radiated began melting the ground.

Sasuke sensed danger and immediately activated Amenotejikara.

He swapped places with a distant rock, teleporting more than a hundred meters away.

But the orb of light remained locked onto him.

Naruto raised a hand and sent the orb hurtling straight at Sasuke.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and fully summoned his Susanoo.

A massive purple skeleton enveloped him.

The instant the orb struck the Susanoo, a violent explosion swallowed everything around them.

When the dust settled, more than half of Sasuke's Susanoo had shattered.

He knelt halfway to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. "It's not over yet," Naruto said, as the golden chakra around his body surged even higher.

His hair stood completely on end, and his pupils turned cross-shaped.

Sasuke pushed himself upright with a hand on his knee, his Sharingan filled with gravity. "This is the real power," Naruto said, vanishing from where he stood.

The next second, he was right in front of Sasuke.

His fist came crashing down.

Sasuke instinctively raised his sword to block, but the punch sent both him and his blade flying.

He flipped several times through the air before smashing into the mountain behind him.

Naruto gave him no chance to catch his breath. The six black spheres shot out again, blasting directly toward that mountain.

The mountain collapsed.

Rubble rolled down, and dust filled the sky.

Sasuke burst from the smoke, injured but with even brighter eyes.

His Rinnegan and Sharingan spun rapidly. "Your power... is indeed impressive." Sasuke wiped the blood from his mouth. "But I'm not the Sasuke I used to be either."

He formed hand seals, and black flames spread from beneath his feet.

Amaterasu!

The flames raced across the ground toward Naruto.

Naruto did not dodge. He merely waved his hand, turning his golden chakra into a barrier that kept the flames outside. "Amaterasu is useless against me," Naruto said. "In Six Paths Mode, I can withstand all physical and ninjutsu attacks."

Sasuke said nothing. Instead, he suddenly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his left eye had changed into an entirely new form—a six-pointed star. "Then try this," Sasuke said. "Indra's Arrow."

He drew his bow and fired an arrow woven from lightning and fire.

The arrow tore through the air, shrieking as it shot toward Naruto.

Naruto raised a hand, and the six black spheres formed a barrier before him.

The instant the arrow struck the black spheres, a blinding flash illuminated the entire sky.

When the light faded, Naruto was still standing in place, though cracks had appeared in all six black spheres.

His lips twitched, and for the first time, he looked serious. "Not bad," Naruto said. "Now this is getting interesting."

Sasuke was bent over, his breathing noticeably heavier.

That arrow had nearly drained more than half his chakra. "I haven't even gone all out yet," Sasuke said stubbornly.

Naruto did not respond. Instead, he mobilized the six black spheres again.

This time, the spheres did not spread out. They all merged into his body.

Naruto's body began to expand, golden chakra wrapping around him like armor.

He became a chakra giant nearly ten meters tall.

Sasuke looked up at the giant, his throat moving. "Have you gone insane?" Sasuke said. "At this rate, your body won't be able to take it."

"How else am I supposed to beat you if I don't?" Naruto said as the giant raised its foot.

That foot came down, and the ground caved in at once.

Sasuke could not dodge in time and could only use Susanoo to take the blow head-on again.

Boom—

The purple skeleton was crushed beneath the foot, and Sasuke was driven into the earth.

Naruto did not stop. He stomped down again.

The ground exploded into a crater dozens of meters wide.

Sasuke lay at the bottom of the crater, covered in blood.

He struggled to open his eyes and saw the giant Naruto's shadow. "Give up," Naruto said. "You can't beat me."

Sasuke laughed.

Bloody foam spilled from the corner of his mouth, yet his eyes shone with terrifying brightness. "A Six Paths jinchuriki?" Sasuke slowly pushed himself up. "Mine... is ready too."

He raised a hand, and the sky suddenly darkened.

All the clouds above the battlefield scattered, revealing the phantom image of a gigantic Rinnegan.

The phantom hovered directly overhead like an eyeball gazing down upon the earth.

It was watching Naruto.

Kabuto felt like Madara had screwed him over badly.

He had clearly still been studying the details of the Impure World Reincarnation formula, yet Madara had never explained just how difficult this technique was to control. He had barely prepared those ninja sacrifices when several white bone pillars erupted from underground and hoisted his entire body into the air. "What the hell is this?"

Kabuto looked up and saw old sealing runes covering the pillars, packed together as densely as crawling ants. He instinctively tried to break free, only for his neck to tighten as several pitch-black shadows crawled from between the bones and coiled around him like living snakes.

Was this his own technique?

No. Madara had altered his formula. This was a trap.

Kabuto had just started forming seals to forcefully dispel the technique when that black power had already entered his mind through his chakra pathways. It was as if something had torn open a crack deep within his consciousness, and memories that were not his, along with the wills of the dead revived by Impure World Reincarnation, began flooding in.

It hurt.

It hurt so badly that he bit his glasses to pieces.

A chaotic mass of faces flashed through his mind—revived jonin, Kage-level warriors roaring as they fought, and ordinary people forced to rise again on the battlefield. Their resentment piled together, sawing back and forth across his soul like a dull blade. "Madara... you bastard..."

Kabuto's body convulsed, bloody foam spilling from his mouth along with his curses.

He had thought he could control everything, only to find that someone had tampered with even his technique. Madara had never trusted him from the start. He had merely used Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation to lay out a far grander game.

Over in Konoha, Hanabi stood atop the Hokage Building, narrowing her eyes as she felt the wind blowing from afar.

There was blood in the wind.

Her Byakugan saw it clearly—the distant border had already erupted into battle. Four or five chakra signatures had risen at once from different directions, and at least several hundred people were fighting. This was the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi World War. There was no declaration, no one shouting for the battle to begin. It had simply started. "How could something as fun as the Fourth Shinobi World War leave out Hanabi?"

She leaped from the rooftop. When her feet touched the ground, she made barely a sound, as light as a cat. "Miss Hanabi, you cannot leave the village right now."

An ANBU appeared and blocked her path.

Hanabi tilted her head. "Oh? Says who?"

"This is the Fifth Hokage's order. Any ninja not on the wartime mobilization list is forbidden from acting without authorization."

"Is that so?" Hanabi smiled, then raised her hand and struck with her palm.

The force of her palm strike sent the ANBU's mask flying off from a distance, while the man himself was blown into the wall and rolled several times before regaining his footing. "Then I'll beat you up first. Go report it afterward and send someone who can actually keep me in line to talk to me."

The ANBU climbed to his feet, his expression changing. This little girl was not someone he could stop.

Hanabi dusted off her hands and strode forward, her Byakugan catching the aftershocks of battles at the far end of the shinobi world.

The corner of her lips curled upward.

Madara, Obito, the Shinobi World War—whatever demons and monsters you are, I'll beat every last one of you.

Kabuto's screams gradually faded. A layer of grayish-white patterns spread across the surface of his body like cracked porcelain. The consciousnesses of the dead were still forcing their way inside, but he had given up resisting.

He gave a miserable laugh, his mouth full of blood. "Madara... that scheme of yours... was truly ruthless..."

Madara stood on distant high ground, eyes closed as he sensed the flow of chakra between heaven and earth.

The war had finally begun.

He had waited for this moment his entire life.

The person before him wore dark crimson armor and a twisted mask, revealing only a pair of scarlet eyes.

The pressure he gave off bore down like a mountain.

Everyone watching held their breath.

Someone muttered softly, "That presence... could it be..."

Before he could finish, the person beside him grabbed him.

The masked man slowly spoke, his voice low and hoarse. "Boy, what is your name?"

Su Mu looked up, sizing him up before curling his lips into a smile. "Why do you care what my name is? Tell me who you are first."

"Madara Uchiha."

The three words fell, and the scene went deathly silent.

Cold sweat instantly broke out across the foreheads of the jonin, their legs trembling.

But Su Mu merely tilted his head, looking completely serious. "You're Madara Uchiha? You don't look like much."

"What did you say?!"

A ninja beside him nearly jumped up.

Su Mu waved a hand. "Relax, relax. I mean it. The legendary number one in the shinobi world only has this much presence? It's not quite what I imagined."

He took two steps forward and circled the masked man. "The armor looks pretty cool, but as for your strength... I'd say it's average."

The masked man's gaze turned cold.

Red chakra began surging around him, twisting even the air.

But Su Mu acted as if he had not seen it and continued, "Have you been slacking off in your training? Or have you gotten weaker with age?"

"Courting death!"

The masked man raised a hand, and a terrifying force of attraction reached out directly for Su Mu.

Su Mu flashed aside and easily dodged it. "See? I told you." He patted nonexistent dust from his clothes. "Too slow, and too many openings. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed."

The jonin were completely stunned.

This kid... was challenging Madara Uchiha?

And he even thought Madara was weak?

He was insane. Absolutely insane.

The masked man narrowed his eyes, undisguised killing intent pouring from him. "Boy, you will pay for your arrogance."

Su Mu shrugged. "Pay what price? Why don't you show me what you can really do? Stop talking tough and show me something real."

He stepped forward, and his presence suddenly surged. "Show me whether Madara Uchiha truly deserves that name."

The night sky suddenly split apart.

Three figures emerged from the rift, their bodies wrapped in white mist visible to the naked eye.

Everyone below looked up, their expressions as if they had seen ghosts. "Those are... sages?"

Someone cried out in a trembling voice.

The three figures hovered in the air—two men and one woman—their gazes indifferent, as though they were looking down on a swarm of ants.