“Good! Dance a little more!!”
Madara shouted at Issei, who had transformed into the Ten-Tails. Back when Uchiha Obito became the Ten-Tails jinchūriki on the five ninja continents, Madara’s battle instincts had been so stirred that, if Obito hadn’t been an ally, he would have wanted to test himself against him. There was still an overwhelming gap in power, and yet Madara refused to back down. And now, here and now, he would satisfy the itch he had been unable to scratch back then.
[Limbo]
He deployed four invisible clones in all directions, sending them toward Issei from east, west, south, and north.
Boom!
With nothing more than the downward swing of the [Truth-Seeking Orb] staff, a violent shockwave swept through the area. The clones halted their charge, barely managing to stand their ground against the impact alone.
Then—
“Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Blade.”
Issei leaped into the air, pinning the clones in place, and the purple lightning he unleashed swallowed them whole.
“Looks like that won’t work after all.”
“Something feels off... but...”
All of them were rendered unable to fight. Issei felt an unfamiliar sensation, something like his emotions were being suppressed, but he did not forget what had to be done.
“I suppose I’ll have to fight you with the resolve to kill.”
“If you don’t come at me with that kind of resolve, it won’t be fun. Show me more!”
Floating in the air, Issei looked down at Madara and spoke in a low voice. Madara formed several hand seals, and then—
“!”
Trees burst up from the ground. They gradually took on the shape of a dragon.
“Wood Release that absorbs chakra.”
He instantly recognized it as the dragon-shaped Wood Release technique, and it rushed toward Issei at high speed.
“Useless.”
Just by bringing down the staff, a powerful shockwave erupted, piercing straight through the dragon’s front and shattering it to pieces.
“You let your guard down.”
Madara let out a wild laugh and formed seals again. The shattered wooden fragments surged in from all directions, engulfing Issei completely. In the end, Issei was surrounded by wood. But he did not panic at all, only looking coldly at the branches binding him.
“Hmph!”
He simply forced his body and broke free. Then—
“As expected, your speed and power are overwhelming in every respect. But that doesn’t mean you have no weaknesses.”
Now that he had truly become the Ten-Tails, he understood its strengths and weaknesses well. The attacks he had deliberately launched knowing they would be blocked, and the movements he had made, were all to compare them against his own. And now, just after becoming the Ten-Tails, was the perfect chance.
“If I’m going to win, now’s the time.”
Madara immediately summoned [Susanoo]. Using only the [Boosted Gear] had already shattered things to pieces before, but against a Ten-Tails form, that alone was meaningless. Issei thought of it as a discarded move and prepared his next step, but something was wrong. Rather, the moment Issei had already reached that conclusion—
“!!”
Inside Susanoo’s armor, something red began to form. It gradually took shape, becoming like a fox with nine tails. It was the Nine-Tails. In that brief instant when the dragon had wrapped around Issei’s body, Madara had drawn out part of the Nine-Tails’ chakra from the Ten-Tails. It was a situation worthy of admiration: Madara was instantly making the power of a tailed beast his own and using it.
“As if I’d let you!”
Facing the Nine-Tails Susanoo as it swung a massive blade right before him, Issei had not predicted the Nine-Tails transformation, but he had prepared in advance.
“Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang.”
The purple beam cut the blade in two. As he tried to swing again to split the Nine-Tails Susanoo in half,
[Limbo]
Madara revived the clones he had already retrieved, and they clung to Issei’s arms and legs.
“Ghh!”
Even though he had become the Ten-Tails, these were [Limbo] clones of someone with the [Rinnegan], so he could not shake them off easily.
“Don’t look down on me!”
He unleashed [Shinra Tensei] with the power of the Six Paths, and the clones were all blown away at once. But before he knew it, Madara was already right in front of him.
“Too soft!”
Madara gathered chakra at his fingertips.
“Kuh!”
Then he drove his fist forward, and it pierced straight through Issei’s body. The difference in real combat experience was obvious. In the end, Madara had reached into all the Ten-Tails chakra inside Issei, but—
[Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost]
Light spilled from the still-active [Boosted Gear], and in that instant—
“!!”
Even Madara, who had become the Ten-Tails, could not have imagined the overwhelming power that erupted forth. At the same time, Issei’s body was further reinforced. He seized Madara’s arm.
“I expected as much, but to think you had this much power...”
Madara, who still did not know the exact nature of the Sacred Gear, was thrown into confusion by the sudden surge in chakra and strength. Once Issei grabbed his arm, Madara could not move at all. In fact, it felt as though his arm might snap.
“Tch!”
He formed a seal with one hand, trying to swap places with a [Limbo] clone, but before he knew it, one of Issei’s [Limbo] clones had grabbed Madara’s arm. And then Issei immediately activated—
[Preta Path]
Using the power of the Preta Path, he began draining not only the stolen Nine-Tails chakra, but all of Madara’s chakra as well.
“Kuh!”
A groan escaped Madara’s mouth, but—
“So that’s how it is. You can steal chakra and render your opponent unable to fight. Not bad. But that only applies to someone who doesn’t possess the [Rinnegan].”
As Madara said, anyone without the [Rinnegan] would have been helpless. But if one [Rinnegan] faced another, the outcome depended on chakra quantity, mastery, and experience. In the first place, the strength of the absorption itself varied according to mastery and experience, regardless of chakra amount. And Madara, whose experience far surpassed Issei’s, was—
“!!”
—absorbing even more than Issei was.
Feeling chakra being pulled out in reverse, Issei let go of Madara and widened the distance.
“So this is the Ten-Tails chakra fused with the [Sacred Gear]. Not bad.”
Madara admired the chakra, which felt even stronger than when he had become the Ten-Tails in the past, and then made it his own.
“!! Th-that’s impossible...”
“If you know what happened in the past, then you should know as well.”
Madara’s skin changed. Behind his back, nine black orbs appeared, along with the same [Truth-Seeking Orb] staff as Issei’s. It was the very form Madara had taken when he became the Ten-Tails in the past. Issei stared in disbelief at the fact that there were now two Ten-Tails jinchūriki.
“To revive the Ten-Tails, all you need are the chakra of the nine tailed beasts and the Gedō Mazō. If I fuse the chakra of the tailed beasts inside you with my Gedō Mazō, it’s not impossible.”
Back on the five ninja continents, when Obito became the Ten-Tails jinchūriki, he had revived the Ten-Tails with only part of the Nine-Tails’ and Eight-Tails’ chakra. Of course, it became unstable, but the difference between a normal state and the Ten-Tails state was heaven and earth. That had been Madara’s goal from the start.
“And thanks to the enhancement from your [Sacred Gear], it seems the half-finished version has become fairly stable.”
Because the [Sacred Gear] enhancement had raised the upper limit, he had gained power on the level of Obito’s Ten-Tails form. And with Issei’s chakra lowered and Madara’s chakra raised, the overwhelming gap in power had vanished. The only thing waiting for Issei now was defeat. As Issei frowned—
“Well, I only stole the enhanced chakra. It’ll return to normal after a while, but this is enough for now!”
After all, his purpose was not to kill, but to test power and enjoy a battle after a long time, so he had not touched the Ten-Tails itself, since that could affect Issei’s life. While Issei and Madara fought without regard for their surroundings, the sky itself had been transformed. Just from exchanging attacks, one mountain after another had been blown away as if it were nothing. The angels, unable to find a chance to intervene, could only stare in stunned silence. But when the one who had suddenly appeared and become their last hope, Issei, was pushed into a corner—
“!! You people...”
“Hyoudou Issei-sama, correct? I am Uriel. I will join the battle.”
Uriel, one of the four archangels, appeared leading the remaining angels.
“This feels familiar.”
It was like the ninja alliance that had gathered when Naruto and Bee were cornered on the five ninja continents. Personally, Madara would have liked to drive away anyone who interrupted his long-awaited enjoyment, but in the long run, it was also important to unite them against a common enemy. In other words, if he used himself here to create a situation like the ninja alliance, then at the very least it would bring Hashirama, Naruto, and Issei closer to the peace they desired. Issei, startled by the sudden intrusion, looked to Madara as if demanding an answer, but Madara did not bother with words. He showed it through action.
“No matter how many rabble you gather, they will never reach me, Uchiha Madara! If death is your wish, I’ll turn you all to ash right here! Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!”
Before the angels could even form ranks, Madara’s original Fire Release erupted and swept over them all, only to be blocked by a wall of holy light from Uriel.
“Oh? Not bad.”
He judged her to be quite capable, considering she had blocked a Fire Release used in Sage Mode, and moved at high speed to enjoy himself.
“!!”
Uriel panicked as Madara flew through the air at incredible speed despite having no wings, and hurriedly cast a defensive spell.
“Too slow!”
Just as Madara was about to pierce through her—
“!”
A golden spear descended from the sky and stopped Madara in place. Where the spear had been launched from—
“Gabriel!?”
Uriel stared as if asking why someone who should have been on a business trip was here. With long, wavy golden hair, flowers adorning her ears, a figure even more voluptuous than Raynare’s, and a dress of pure white and gold, one of the most beautiful of all angels, the archangel Gabriel had arrived in elegant splendor, leading reinforcements. Issei glanced at her once and was instantly dazed, staring at her without blinking.
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