As Reto's corpse was completely erased by the Truth-Seeking Orb, the Apocalypse Puppet's steel shell suddenly shook violently, letting out the shriek of metal tearing apart.
The residual Dragon Vein Chakra within the cockpit, like a beast breaking free from its cage, frantically tore at the puppet's inner walls.
"Boom—!"
A purple beam over a hundred meters in diameter burst out from the puppet's wreckage and shot straight into the heavens.
A dragon's roar that shook heaven and earth resounded within the beam. Even Madara's Rinnegan narrowed slightly—the ancient pressure contained in that sound made even the Truth-Seeking Orbs tremble.
The beam exploded into purple crystals that filled the sky, and a thousand-meter dragon revealed its true form amid the crystalline rain.
Its entire body was condensed from liquid chakra, its scales purple crystals flowing with starlight, and the jagged spines along its back resembled an unbroken mountain range.
As it unfurled its body, a vast projection of the galaxy appeared in the sky, as though the entire firmament were welcoming the return of its sovereign.
"Roar—!"
The dragon raised its head and roared at the sky, tangible purple flames blazing from its vertical pupils.
The resentment of decades of imprisonment erupted all at once. Its roar sent out visible circular shockwaves, shattering the clouds within a hundred miles into wispy fragments.
The scattered purple crystals suddenly swept back, condensing into nine rotating Magatama around the dragon's body, each containing enormous energy fluctuations.
Madara hovered high in the sky, the ripples in his Rinnegan spinning rapidly.
He saw the Dragon Vein's soul reconstructing itself—chakra once drained away by the puppet gathered from every direction, forming a brilliant core at the giant dragon's heart.
Patterns of mountains and land emerged across the core's surface, proof that the Dragon Vein had resonated