"Now, it's your turn."
Madara Uchiha's voice held no emotion.
His gaze locked firmly onto the five members of the Akatsuki.
Nagato, too, looked past Madara at the devastation behind him.
Countless ninja floated like duckweed on the lake's surface, where blood mingled with rainwater, their fates unknown.
Among them were no small number of Konoha forehead protectors.
"You came from Konoha. How could you be so ruthless toward your own juniors?" Nagato's voice was icy, his scorn undisguised.
"I am alone. I have no bonds to concern myself with," Madara Uchiha replied indifferently.
"Villages and comrades are nothing but stumbling blocks on the road to absolute power."
His gaze lingered briefly on Nagato before turning to the eight sealing urns nearby, which radiated an ominous aura.
Eight tailed beasts... good, Madara thought. With that nuisance Pero absent, this is the perfect opportunity to reclaim my eyes.
His understanding of Pero's strength remained limited to the incomplete information Black Zetsu had overheard at the Five Kage Summit.
In his view, once he fully revived through Rinne Rebirth and recovered his eyes, even Pero might not be beyond his ability to fight.
As they faced off on the water, the tension reaching its peak, a pitch-black figure glided silently through the depths of the lake, unnoticed by anyone.
Possessing the red-haired Uzumaki Clan member, Black Zetsu approached the eight enormous urns sealing the tailed beasts like a phantom in the water.
Chakra flowed through his fingers as he quietly began unraveling the sealing formulas at the bottoms of the urns.
Above the water, Madara's scarlet Sharingan focused on Nagato again, his eyes like those of a beast eyeing its own possession.
"Brat, it's time you gave me back my eyes."
"Not a chance."
Nagato's reply was blunt and decisive.
Before his words had faded, golden flames erupted all over his body!
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he stomped a massive depression into the lake beneath his feet and became a streak of golden light, charging straight at Madara Uchiha!
"Your speed is acceptable," Madara said, standing motionless with his arms folded. "But I wonder how your strength compares?"
Facing Nagato's chakra-wreathed punch, blue-violet chakra abruptly erupted from Madara's body!
Boom!
A towering Perfect Susanoo rose once more, enveloping Madara Uchiha entirely and radiating a crushing pressure that inspired despair.
Nagato's fist slammed squarely into Susanoo's ribs.
Crack!
A crisp sound of something shattering rang out.
That single punch had actually left a visible crack in Susanoo's ribs!
Violent golden flames collided fiercely with blue-violet chakra, and the resulting shock wave pushed away all the lake water within a hundred-meter radius!
Yet the crack lasted only an instant before Madara's replenishing chakra restored it completely.
"Is that all the strength you have?" Madara's mocking voice came from within Susanoo, tinged with disappointment.
"We're not done yet!"
Yahiko roared as he and Rin became two bolts of golden lightning, attacking simultaneously from either side!
"We're going in, Obito!" Rin shouted as she charged.
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!" In the distance, the Mangekyō in Obito's eyes spun rapidly. He slammed both hands onto the water, and dozens of sharp wooden spikes burst through the surface.
Konan spread her wings in the air, and countless sheets of paper flashing with golden edges poured down like a torrential rain, precisely covering Susanoo's head in a dense chorus of metallic impacts.
At the front, Nagato and Yahiko rained down punches, each blow carrying tremendous power and driving Susanoo back step by step.
Rin moved like a phantom, her elusive figure always finding weak points in Susanoo's chakra flow and striking with precision.
Obito's Kamui was even harder to guard against, periodically twisting parts of Susanoo's armor into another dimension.
Although it could not inflict any substantial damage, it repeatedly disrupted the rhythm of Madara's defense.
For a time, the legendary Madara Uchiha was actually left somewhat beleaguered by the combined attacks of five juniors!
These brats... Madara frowned deeply inside Susanoo.
Just what has that Pero fellow been feeding them?!
He had thought Susanoo would be enough to crush them easily, never expecting their power to be so strange and formidable.
I can't let this drag on!
Black Zetsu, make your move already! Madara roared inwardly.
As though a command had reached him, a sudden change occurred!
Roar!!!!
Behind Nagato and the others, all eight sealing urns suddenly exploded at once!
Eight suffocatingly enormous surges of tailed beast chakra shot skyward. Towering columns of water splashed into the clouds, and amid the deafening roars of the One-Tail through the Eight-Tails, a violent chakra storm instantly swept across the entire battlefield!
"What... why were the seals undone?!" Hearing the commotion, Nagato whipped his head around. His purple pupils abruptly contracted when he saw the eight tailed beasts of differing forms roaring wildly.
"No!"
It was that instant of distraction!
Madara Uchiha seized the fleeting opportunity!
Those six solidified chakra blades in Susanoo's hands!
The instant everyone's attention was diverted, six streaks of blue-violet blade light sliced through the curtain of rain.
Moving faster than anyone could react, they struck the five Akatsuki members with precision!
Even the formidable bodies of the Pero Jinchūriki, faced with this strike in which Susanoo concentrated all of Madara's strength,
suffered grievous wounds, flying backward like kites with severed strings and slamming heavily onto the water.
"Damn it..." Nagato struggled to stand, but a bone-deep slash across his chest left him unable to muster any strength. "Madara Uchiha... how can this guy be so strong?!"
He had misjudged Madara's combat experience. That battle instinct, honed among countless corpses, was simply beyond what juniors like them could match.
The next instant, Madara Uchiha appeared before Nagato like a phantom.
Under Nagato's gaze, filled with shock and unwillingness, Madara extended two fingers and drove them savagely into his left eye socket as fast as lightning!
"Argh!"
Agony struck, and Nagato let out a muffled groan as the Rinnegan that had been with him for years was forcibly gouged out!
Without so much as glancing at the prize in his hand, Madara Uchiha followed up with a kick to Nagato's chest.
Like a battered punching bag, Nagato flew backward again, rolling over a dozen times across the water before stopping, utterly unable to move.
Black Zetsu's figure slowly emerged from the lake nearby.
"Black Zetsu, do it." Madara Uchiha handed over the Rinnegan, still streaked with warm blood.
Black Zetsu took the eyeball, a sickly fervor appearing on his face. Controlling the woman's body, he roughly pressed the Rinnegan into her eye socket.
Then he abruptly clapped his hands together!
Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!
A green light surged from the woman's body and rushed into Madara Uchiha.
"Haha... hahahaha!"
Madara Uchiha stood where he was, throwing his head back in wild laughter.
He could feel the cracks from Impure World Reincarnation rapidly disappearing from his face. Warmth returned to his cold body, his still heart began pounding fiercely, and warm blood coursed freely through his veins!
"That's it! This is the feeling! This feeling of my blood boiling!"
He abruptly raised his arm and bit down hard. His sharp teeth instantly pierced his skin, and bright red blood gushed out like spring water.
"Pain... this real sensation..."
After his ecstasy passed, however, he noticed something wrong.
"Why... hasn't the wound healed?"
He tore off his battle armor, revealing a face on his chest that remained identical to Hashirama's.
But the senjutsu chakra he had absorbed earlier seemed to have disappeared with the activation of Rinne Rebirth.
"Rinne Rebirth... did it eliminate the sage chakra as well?" Madara frowned deeply.
He turned and issued Black Zetsu a new order.
"Reincarnate Hashirama with Impure World Reincarnation again!"
Black Zetsu immediately complied, repeating the same method.
When Hashirama Senju's familiar figure appeared again and regained his will the instant he entered Sage Mode, what he saw was still that same familiar face.
"Madara...! You're doing this again!"
"This time, I won't give you another chance." Madara clamped a hand around Hashirama's neck, furiously draining the senjutsu chakra from his body.
This time, Madara's wounds healed rapidly before the naked eye, and black sage markings appeared on the face on his chest.
"Once my Infinite Tsukuyomi is complete, I'll have a proper chat with you about old times."
Madara Uchiha kicked away Hashirama, who was no longer of any use, letting him dissolve into drifting ash.
He casually took his other Rinnegan from Black Zetsu, who waited respectfully beside him, and pressed it back into his empty eye socket.
Both eyes were whole again, and senjutsu chakra filled his body.
Only now had Madara Uchiha truly returned to the world in his most perfect, most powerful form.
He spread his arms, feeling the power within him that could overturn the world, and smiled.
"Now, welcome the arrival of a god."
Summoning Technique: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!
Before you continue