Hum—
Under the astonished gazes of Naruto and his father, Shinji's words brought a sudden ripple of spacetime energy into the sky.
Then...
Clatter!
Nine pitch-black chains shot from a vortex and slammed into the Nine-Tails' nine enormous tails, pinning them fast!
"Roar—"
The Nine-Tails threw back his head and roared. A trace of despair surfaced on his face. "Shinji Uchiha!!!"
"—What the hell are you trying to do?!"
On the roof of a tall building in Konoha, Madara Uchiha stood with his hands behind his back, watching from afar. "Separating the Nine-Tails' consciousness without touching his Chakra? Heh... That presence comes from the Pure Land!"
"As I thought, he can wield the full Six Paths Reincarnation Power even without awakening his own Rinnegan!"
"Is it through that Rinnegan with nine Tomoe?" Madara rubbed his chin, his gaze thoughtful. "And those black chains... They resemble Black Rods, but they seem to hold an even higher form of energy..."
Hashirama Senju clicked his tongue in amazement.
Though...
He had little idea what Madara was talking about.
On the Plains.
The chains formed from Truth-Seeking Orbs rattled as they pulled with relentless force. Amid the Nine-Tails' agonized howls, an astonishing change gradually came over his body!
"Is that... a soul?!" Minato Namikaze, an expert at manipulating souls, was the first to widen his eyes.
At the tips of the Nine-Tails' tails, the dark chains pulled out nine pointed, golden phantoms.
Then they kept pulling!
A torrent of Chakra spilled off in the process, dripping onto the ground like molten gold. The earth collapsed, and flames surged up from below!
Shinji frowned slightly.
"This is harder than I expected... As expected of the old Six Paths Sage's work. Separating a Tailed Beast's soul would leave its body an empty shell without a will