The black shadow was faster than a snake, crossing the spatial barrier between the moon and the Shinobi World and landing precisely on the surface of the Impure World Reincarnation body already on the verge of collapse on the Turtle Island battlefield.
Madara Uchiha.
Shengu Xuan stood on the moon. The perception granted by the Twelve Talismans let him clearly "see" everything happening on the battlefield in the Shinobi World.
Black Zetsu's mass of black, viscous substance was covering Madara's entire body at an astonishing speed, spreading upward from his ankles like a suit of black armor being forcibly put on him.
"Tch." Shengu Xuan clicked his tongue. "You sure ran fast."
The Shinobi World, the Turtle Island battlefield.
Madara's dimmed Sharingan suddenly opened wide. What shone in his pupil was not his own will, but a more ancient, more sinister presence.
"M-Mother..." Black Zetsu's voice came from Madara's throat, hoarse and excited. "I'm here. I've brought a vessel!"
Naruto was leading several squads through the final cleanup nearby. The sudden eruption of bizarre chakra fluctuations made every hair on his body stand on end, and his golden cloak instantly blazed at full brightness.
"What's going on?! Wasn't Madara already beaten?!"
Kakashi flashed over from the side, his Sharingan fixed on the figure being covered in black substance. His voice was extremely low. "It's not Madara... something else is controlling his body."
Madara's body was undergoing a drastic transformation.
After Black Zetsu completely covered his body, the Ten-Tails' remaining chakra began gathering from deep underground. The Tailed Beast power that had leaked from Six Paths Obito and scattered across the battlefield surged toward Madara's body like rivers flowing into the sea.
"Something's wrong!" Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode allowed him to sense the flow of those energies clearly. "He's absorbing all