The enormous white sphere, radiating an aura that made even souls tremble, hovered silently in midair.
Not far away, Pero's clone watched the white sphere, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upward.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of kilometers away, Pero's real body sat with his legs crossed, enjoying a sunbath in the Sun's blazing core.
With his eyes closed, he wore the very same smile, as though their minds were linked.
The next moment, the enormous white sphere trembled slightly.
Layers of white substance began piling up across its surface, gradually outlining a white humanoid figure.
Madara Uchiha's upper body broke out of the cocoon.
His eyes were tightly shut, his face expressionless. But his aura had already transcended the ordinary, surpassing his previous Sage Body.
He snapped his eyes open.
Those pure Rinnegan were different from his ordinary ones of the past, with gleams containing Six Paths Power swirling endlessly within them.
As his eyes widened, Madara Uchiha completely absorbed the remaining white sphere, which held enough of the Ten-Tails' power to reshape the world.
His body began undergoing inhuman changes, gradually developing toward godhood.
A dozen or so pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs, seemingly capable of devouring everything, suddenly appeared behind Madara Uchiha, slowly revolving like satellites.
His wild mane of black hair lost its color at a visible pace, turning into an unrestrained growth of white.
The battered red armor from the Warring States era that he wore had also served its purpose, breaking apart inch by inch and falling to the ground below.
In its place appeared a pure white Six Paths sage robe bearing six black tomoe patterns.
It billowed without wind, snapping loudly.
Madara Uchiha slowly raised his hand and turned his palm upward, and a Truth-Seeking Orb flew into it.
It instantly transformed into a pitch-black monk's staff topped with rings.
Holding the staff, he slowly floated upward, moving this body filled with divine power.
He could feel an unprecedented resonance forming between himself and this world.
He had become the new Sage of Six Paths.
A confident smile appeared on Madara's face, as though everything was in his grasp.
He turned his gaze toward the golden figure hanging motionless in the sky, as though watching a show.
He slowly floated over.
He stopped in front of Pero's clone.
With a faintly condescending tone, he said coolly, "Now, you and I finally stand at the same height."
"I can sense the level of your existence."
"Pero, have your real body come out and face me."
Yet Pero's clone merely shook his head.
On that face composed entirely of golden energy, its features indistinct.
Madara Uchiha actually discerned a trace of pity.
He was pitying me!
The confidence in Madara Uchiha's eyes was instantly replaced by anger.
"You still dare to insult me!" A trace of fury entered his voice as he commanded Pero in a tone that brooked no argument, "Bring out your real body!"
"What... makes you certain you're qualified to stand at the same height as me?" Pero's clone finally spoke.
His voice was utterly flat.
"And who gave you that courage? Liang Jingru?"
A question mark seemed to appear above Madara Uchiha's head.
The next moment.
Pero's clone moved.
He simply threw a plain punch forward.
There was no flashy chakra, nor even a whisper of wind.
But although Madara Uchiha had evolved into a Six Paths Body, his Rinnegan completely failed to track the punch, and he could not react at all.
By the time he realized his opponent had attacked, a burst of searing pain had already struck his face.
Bam-!
In an instant, Madara Uchiha's mind went blank. For the first time, his lofty expression revealed astonishment.
And a trace of self-doubt.
How... was this possible?!
His divine body, which had just evolved to a higher level of existence, flew backward like a discarded rag doll.
Boom-!
He smashed through several hills in succession before embedding himself in a distant mountain range amid a series of thunderous crashes, without any further movement.
The entire battlefield fell into deathly silence once more.
All the allied troops stared blankly at the sky, their brains having stopped working.
"What kind of... immense power is this? Just who are we fighting?"
Just then, Madara Uchiha burst out from deep within the mountains, carrying towering fury.
He had lost all dignity and looked utterly wretched, his pure white Six Paths sage robe covered in dirt and rubble.
A clear fist imprint still marked his face.
"You bastard!!!"
Madara Uchiha let out a desperate roar. He cast aside his former arrogance and took all the power he had just obtained.
And unleashed it without reservation.
Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!
Countless bolts of black lightning shot violently from his hands.
Sage Art: Storm Release: Light Fang!
A beam of light sprayed from his mouth.
Limbo: Border Jail!
Four invisible shadows attacked Pero from four directions at once.
He unleashed one move after another, each technique powerful enough to topple a Tailed Beast with ease.
Yet in the face of all this, Pero's clone merely hovered quietly in the air.
He blew gently, and those sage arts vanished without a trace like candle flames.
As for the four Limbo Clones, they could not even approach his body before an invisible bio-electric field.
Held them firmly outside; no matter how they attacked, they could not budge it in the slightest.
Casual and effortless, he even had a trace of boredom in his eyes.
A bead of cold sweat slowly trickled down Madara Uchiha's forehead.
Why...?
Why, when I had already absorbed the Ten-Tails, become the new Sage of Six Paths, and obtained the very pinnacle of power in this world, could I still... still not even touch the hem of a single clone's clothes?!
"Why!!!"
Madara Uchiha let out a desperate, defiant roar.
"Why the hell is this happening!!!"
"Why would someone like you appear in this world!"
What answered him was that golden fist, appearing before him once again.
Boom-!!!
This time, a single punch from Pero's clone smashed Madara Uchiha straight out of the sky and deep into the earth, leaving behind an enormous crater whose bottom was beyond sight.
Madara Uchiha lay at the bottom of the crater, every bone in his body shattered. His proud Rinnegan had rolled completely back, stripped of all their luster.
"Hah... hah..."
Pero's clone slowly descended from the sky without so much as glancing at Madara at the bottom.
"This clone wasn't left behind to deal with someone on your child's-play level."
He slowly turned his head, directing his gaze toward a mass hiding nearby... Black Zetsu, who was itching to make a move on Madara Uchiha's body.
"Wouldn't you agree, Black Zetsu?"
Before you continue