BOOM—!
Just then, at the heart of the skies over Sabaody, a thousand miles away, a blast far louder than any previous clash erupted. The sound seemed to pierce space itself, crossing a thousand miles of sea to slam against the eardrums of everyone on Isolated Island.
Natsu looked toward the sound, the smile in his eyes suddenly deepening.
Cracks riddled the sky-blue Susanoo's armor, and blue-green Chakra kept flaking away like shattered stars.
Yet between those cracks, an exceedingly faint ancient presence, utterly unlike Chakra or Haki, was slowly awakening deep within Madara's eyes.
The patterns of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan began to twist, spin, and rearrange themselves beyond his control.
Madara stood at Susanoo's brow, drenched in blood, yet laughed aloud.
His laughter pierced the black mist and demonic soldiers filling the sky, defiant, blazing, and unrelenting.
"Imu! You're right. My power is running dry—"
"But you forgot one thing."
Madara abruptly raised his gaze. His scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan spun at a frenzied speed, and his ocular power surged out like a torrent, forcing the surrounding black mist back thousands of meters.
"I, Madara Uchiha, have never staked victory or defeat on how much Chakra I have!"
Madara Uchiha's wild laughter tore through the black mist filling the sky, crossed a thousand miles of sea, and echoed through every corner of the Sabaody Archipelago.
That laughter carried the proud isolation of decades spent lying in wait, the burning obsession of a lifetime, and the sheer exhilaration of finally breaking free of his shackles.
Cracks continued spreading across the sky-blue Susanoo's armor, and fragments of blue-green Chakra kept falling away like meteors. Yet at that moment, Madara's presence underwent an exceedingly strange change. Amid its decline, something was growing at a frantic pace.
Deep within the black mist, Imu's