The Akatsuki's hunting squad had already reached the battlefield.
Meanwhile, far away on the main battlefield of the Fourth Shinobi World War in the Land of Iron, an ultimate showdown that could rewrite the fate of the entire shinobi world had reached its most critical moment.
The sun blazed overhead, spilling its midday light across the battlefield in the Land of Iron. The snow had long since melted away during the earlier clashes, leaving only devastated ground riddled with deep craters and cracks.
Chiya hovered high above the battlefield, his hands behind his back, holding Ryūjin Jakka in its Bankai state. His reiatsu steadily enveloped the entire battlefield. He was completely uninjured. Even after thousands of rounds of taijutsu against Madara with the Gate of Death open, not so much as the hem of his clothing had been disturbed.
In the mountains below, Madara, in his Six Paths Gate of Death form, lay embedded in shattered rock. The wounds left by Chiya's Hakuda: Sōkotsu still marked his chest and abdomen. The cracks in his Six Paths Cloak had yet to heal completely, and the Gate of Death's blood-red steam continued to churn around him.
Chiya had utterly suppressed him during their taijutsu clash. He had failed to touch even the hem of Chiya's clothes, only to be blasted away by two punches and driven into this mountain range. Overwhelming humiliation and rage seethed in his chest, finally turning into a frenzied killing intent that staked everything on one last gamble.
He had lived for nearly a century and fought Hashirama Senju his whole life. He had entered Six Paths Mode, become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world. Yet now, an unknown brat had crushed him in ninjutsu, ocular jutsu, and taijutsu alike. Even the