Natsu returned!

"Senior Madara is really going too far." The voice, tinged with laughter, descended from the sky. "I went all the way to outer space, finally managed to completely seal away Uranus, and then rushed back without even having a sip of water."

A figure slowly descended from the sky.

His long, jet-black hair cascaded down his back, his pale purple robe fluttered slightly in the flow of Six Paths Chakra, and his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan quietly rotated in his eye socket.

The left and right eyes each had different patterns, with the Ōkuninushi and Takamagahara intertwined deep within the pupils.

Uchiha Natsu.

He landed a few hundred meters to Ban's side, his hands tucked into his sleeves. He glanced at Ban's white hair and gray-white immortal robe, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.

"However, Madara-senpai, congratulations." His tone was light, but the curve of his lips held a hint of sincerity. "Now that you've awakened the Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan, you'll soon be able to fully restore Izuna Uchiha."

Ban snorted coldly, but a hint of smugness flashed across his face. He didn't reply, but his expression clearly said, "Do you need to tell me?"

In the distance, Imu, whose body was pierced through, coughed up a mouthful of blood.

A flash of anger crossed her crimson almond-shaped eyes.

Countless black mists surged into his body, forcefully shattering the dark purple spear.

The wound continued to heal amidst the churning black mist.

Ban noticed.

When he smashed Imu's shoulder blade with his scepter earlier, it took her several breaths to put the broken bone back together.

But Natsu's spear pierced through her chest, and her wound was filled with Demonic Energy in less than two breaths.

The recovery speed is faster than before.

"Uchiha... Natsu!!"

The voice remained ethereal, but it contained a clear hint of anger.

Natsu turned her head and looked at Imu with interest, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

"I never expected this to be your true form. I thought the male body I saw before was you. I never imagined you were a woman!"

Despite this, a hint of seriousness flashed in his eyes.

He sensed it.

As the chains continued to break, more and more Devil Fruit User were unable to withstand the erosion and stripping away of Imu's power, their life force was drained, and they turned into the surging black mist around her.

Imu's strength is increasing at a visible rate.

The fifth chain was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

Natsu stopped smiling and turned her head to look at Ban.

"Senior Madara, we can't let her break it off again."

"Nonsense." Ban gripped his scepter tightly.

Neither of them said another word.

Madara's scepter slashed out from the front, while Natsu's figure cut in from the side, the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan condensing into a dark purple sharp spear in his palm.

Imu's crimson almond-shaped eyes swept back and forth between the two, and he manipulated the remaining weapons to meet the attack simultaneously.

The Heaven's Punishment Sword and the Wrath Sword entangled Ban's scepter, while the Void Sword and the Chaos Sword intercepted Natsu from the flank.

But Natsu did not fight head-on.

His figure weaved among the weapons, his Mangekyō Sharingan predicting the trajectory of each weapon. His body moved like a slippery eel, slipping through the gaps and heading straight for Imu's main body.

Imu raised his hand, and a shield of Demonic Energy materialized in his palm.

Natsu's sharp spear pierced the shield, and the two were locked in a stalemate for a moment.

Natsu's lips curled up slightly.

Instead of trying to pierce the shield, he used the shield's recoil to bounce backward, while simultaneously unleashing three dark purple light wheels from his left hand, which bypassed the shield from the side and slashed towards Imu's ribs.

Imu was forced to withdraw his shield and dodge, as Ban's scepter was already slashing down in front of him.

She didn't have time to reassemble her shield and could only use her injured left arm to block the attack.

The scepter slammed into his left arm, and the sound of bones shattering rang out once more.

She let out a muffled groan and slid to the side for dozens of meters.

But in the very instant she was repelled, her fingers had already reached the fifth chain.

Ban and Natsu the same time.

The cracks on the chain were widening, and dark gold patterns were flashing wildly at the cracks.

And Imu's finger was pointing in that direction.

Uchiha Natsu frowned the moment he saw Imu's fingers touch the fifth chain.

He Hand Seals, and Senjutsu Chakra surged wildly from his body, condensing into a dark red Uzumaki in his palms.

"Sage Art: Heaven-Illuminating Sun Devourer." The Uzumaki exploded, and streams of dark red sun-devouring fire poured out from the palm. Each flame was a spinning Uzumaki, with pure black at Uzumaki center and dark red light surging at the edges, swallowing up even the air in its path.

The flames swept past Ban's side and engulfed Imu.

Ban launched the Kotoamatsukami event at almost the same time.

The Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan suddenly lit up, and crimson ocular power ripples spread out, attempting to lock onto Imu's movements.

But the moment his pupils touched the black mist surrounding Imu, they were forcibly pushed back by an even greater force.

It felt like a punch landing on an entire continent—his Kotoamatsukami was crushed by the rules Scepter of this world.

Ban's pupils contracted slightly, and he gritted his teeth, pushing his eye power to the limit, barely managing to suppress Imu for a moment.

A moment is enough.

Natsu's Heaven-Illuminating Sun Devourer broke through the black mist defense line, and the dark red Uzumaki flames enveloped Imu's figure.

The flames surged, contracted, and compressed, engulfing Imu entirely.

A piercing hiss came from within the flames, as if something was being burned, torn apart, and crushed.

Imu's form twisted, disintegrated, and vanished in the flames.

Ban's Kotoamatsukami was suppressed to its limit and finally could not hold on any longer. The ripples of his eye power shattered and dissipated from around Imu's body.

But the instant he withdrew his strength, Imu's hand had already gripped the fifth chain.

A gash appeared in her palm, and black mist surged from the wound, enveloping the chains. Then her fingers tightened abruptly.

The chain shattered in the middle, sending dark gold fragments flying in all directions.

Imu's figure vanished from the flames that Heaven-Illuminating Sun Devourer.

The flames still burned, suspended empty in the void, burning the nothingness.

Natsu raised his head. His gaze did not fall on the flames, but on the depths of the black mist.

Within the swirling, dark red mist, a pair of crimson-orange eyes shone quietly.

Those are the giant, scarlet eyes behind Imu.

At this moment, in the center of those giant eyes, a figure was slowly solidifying.

Natsu clasped her hands together in prayer.

"Sage Art: Turbid World Annihilation"

The Chakra in his palm turned reddish-orange, like a miniature sun collapsing.

The sun spun, compressed, condensed, and then exploded in his palm.

A crimson-orange light swept across the black mist, annihilating all the Demonic Energy within a radius of several hundred meters.

The black mist was torn open, leaving a huge void, and right in the center of that void, Imu stood.

Her figure was much more solid than before.