Nagato's strength exceeded not only Obito's expectations but also Madara's. He hadn't expected the Wood Dragon, which once suppressed the Nine-Tails, to be effortlessly destroyed in a single blow.
In that half-second of shock, the Six Paths of Pain surged against his Wood Clone. They took it down and silently slipped beside Madara, one hand reaching for the back of his head.
Madara felt his soul being sucked. His Edo Tensei body began to tear apart.
He reacted quickly, kicking away from Human Path before his soul could be extracted.
Even so, his Edo Tensei body took a while to stabilize.
Edo Tensei granted infinite chakra and immunity to most ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, allowing continuous regeneration. Its only weaknesses were sealing jutsu and soul-based attacks.
Human Path's Soul Absorption Jutsu was exactly that, a soul-targeting technique.
Beyond extracting souls, Human Path's greatest ability was gathering information through soul extraction. In that single moment, it had already obtained the intel it wanted.
"So... Yahiko's death really was connected to you." Nagato's expression shifted for the first time. He slowly turned toward them, raw anger appearing on his face.
"This incident didn't just involve Hanzo and Danzo... you were part of it too."
"Then you all shall know pain."
"Damn it, Nagato's main body is about to move!" Obito was alarmed. After watching Nagato and Madara fight, he'd realized his own strength was far from a match for Nagato.
If just the Six Paths could hold off Madara's attacks, how terrifyingly powerful was the original body?
At least he still had the Kamui dimension, if he couldn't win, he could run.
Obito felt grateful for his ability.
Nagato extended his right hand toward Obito's position: "Almighty Pull!"
'Now!' Obito thought, a vortex forming around his eye.
'You want to catch me? You're a million years too early.'
'Intangibility... ineffective?' Before Obito could enter the Kamui dimension, his body froze as if struck by an Immobilization Jutsu.
He could only watch helplessly as his body flew toward Nagato.
"Almighty Push!" First came the attractive force, then the repulsive force. The original version of this combo could easily bring an elite jonin to the brink of death, and under this amplified chain of attacks, Obito couldn't even grunt before his body shattered on impact.
"Next!" Nagato aimed his hand at Madara. "Almighty Pull!"
Three hundred Kms from Amegakure, a pale blue figure suddenly appeared in the sky. Toneri Otsutsuki sensed the battle between Nagato and Madara, flying toward their location, but he hadn't traveled far before another golden figure blocked his path.
"Sorry." Naruto shrugged, then stuck out his thumb and pointed behind him. "This road's closed today."
"Human." Toneri, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened them. Where empty sockets should have been, there was now an extraordinary pair of Byakugan, brilliant and beautiful.
This was the evolved form of the Byakugan, the Tenseigan.
In theory, the Tenseigan was an existence on par with the Rinnegan.
If the Rinnegan was formed by combining the Mangekyo Sharingan, then the Tenseigan was formed by combining the Byakugan. However, the Tenseigan had extremely high purity requirements for the Byakugan.
The synthesis formula was as follows:
Rinnegan = Mangekyo Sharingan + Yang Release Chakra (Hashirama's or Otsutsuki Chakra)
Tenseigan = High-Purity Byakugan + Otsutsuki Chakra
"What do you want by stopping me?"
"Nothing too major. Just want you to go back. Earth doesn't welcome you." Naruto gestured toward the moon above. "And while I'm at it, I'm taking back my sister-in-law's eyes."
Toneri had stolen Hanabi's eyes while the Land of Whirlpools was vulnerable.
'I wonder if Hanabi's Byakugan will evolve into a Tenseigan when she gets them back.'
Thinking this, Naruto grinned savagely as he transformed into a muscular man and walked toward Toneri. Then golden light enveloped the entire sky.
"If you're not willing, I'll just have to forcibly deport you."
The Yellow Flash 2.0 has arrived!
Though both were called the Yellow Flash, one represented the pinnacle of speed, the other the pinnacle of power.
"You can try, human of the surface." Perhaps sensing danger, Toneri's entire body was enveloped in green chakra.
'Tenseigan Chakra Mode'
On the other side, half of Madara's body was already gone, and even with Edo Tensei active, it couldn't regenerate.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Why is this happening?" Madara stared at his body in disbelief.
"You only obtained my eyes. Why have you become so powerful?"
"Why?" Nagato's eyes dimmed for a moment, as if thinking of someone, and his thoughts drifted into memory. "Maybe... because I have a good grandfather."
Madara didn't understand he also had a good grandfather but he didn't get this powerful, then his mind raced, considering ways to deal with Nagato.
'I still have a chance!'
There was actually one more method, but Madara wasn't sure about it. Now he could only take a gamble.
Madara gritted his teeth and forced out a few words. Then he slammed one hand against the ground.
"Edo Tensei!"
Several coffins slowly rose from the ground, each marked with numbers 1 through 9.
"Tobirama didn't have much talent, but the jutsu he developed are pretty useful."
The coffin marked with the number 1 opened, and a monk slowly walked out. This was Bunpuku, the previous one-tail jinchuriki.
Next was the one marked with the number 2, the two-tail jinchuriki.
Then number 3.
Except for the six-tail, five-tail, and four-tail, the coffins with the corresponding numbers all held previous jinchuriki. For example, number 8 was Blue B, the previous eight-tail jinchuriki.
Finally, the coffin marked with number 9 slowly opened.
The Kinkaku and Ginkaku Brothers stepped out.
These were either former jinchuriki or people connected to them, the very task Madara had assigned to Obito before.
In the original story, Obito never captured the Eight-Tails or Nine-Tails, yet he still became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. He'd found substitutes instead, the severed tentacle of the Eight-Tails and Kinkaku, who carried Nine-Tails Chakra.
So becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki didn't require gathering all nine Tailed Beasts. Finding substitutes was enough to merge with the Ten-Tails.
Summoning these jinchuriki, who possessed Tailed Beast Chakra, was only the first step.
Step two.
"Edo Tensei: Form Alteration!" Madara clasped his hands together. His body began to change at visible speed. Jet-black long hair shifted to ashen in an instant. Skin on his body became loose and wrinkled. His once-straight posture hunched over.
This was the elderly form Obito had seen when he first met Madara.
He slowly opened his eyes. Where the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan had once been, they now held the shape of the Rinnegan.
This was the second pair of Rinnegan on the field.
The younger version of Madara was indeed his most powerful form, but Madara at that age didn't have the Rinnegan.
No matter how you exploited the loophole, Edo Tensei couldn't simultaneously achieve young Madara and the old form's Rinnegan. He could only choose one.
Since he couldn't snatch the Rinnegan back from Nagato's hands, he had to find another way. If Madara wanted the Rinnegan, he could only revert to the age where he'd possessed them.
The Old Madara state.
"Obito, stall Nagato." Having transformed into Old Madara, his aura weakened significantly. In his current state, he didn't even need Nagato to act personally, just the Human Path among the Six Paths could easily defeat him.
"Madara..."
Obito lay speechless on the ground. Most of his bones were already broken. Without using Izanagi, his recovery speed meant lying here for at least a few more days. If he used Izanagi, he'd gain five minutes of invincibility, but he'd lose one eye. The moment those five minutes were up, Nagato would finish him.
If he didn't use it, he could barely stand.
Stalling Nagato, those words sounded simple, but he, Obito, really couldn't do it. Once Kamui was countered, he'd have to take on Nagato head-on with no tricks left.
"Obito, let me give you a hand." A familiar voice sounded in Obito's ear. Then Obito's body sank, sinking straight into the ground.
Soon, Obito crawled out of the earth, wearing his spiral mask and wrapped in what looked like a plant coat.
"This should work, Obito. Draw on my power."
"Tobi..." Hearing the voice in his ear, Obito understood who had arrived.
"Hey, I also brought a whole bunch of White Zetsu," Black Zetsu's voice rang out. Countless White Zetsu burst up from the ground one after another, sprouting like seeds.
Hundreds of White Zetsu combined, kneaded together, forming a massive fused monster. It radiated a considerable amount of chakra.
'This should buy some time.'
A sliver of confidence gradually grew in Obito's heart. If worst came to worst, he could still use Izanagi.
"Almighty Push!"
One move. Just one move. Nagato didn't even act personally, it was only a casual strike from the Deva Path that took down the fused White Zetsu monster.
And this? Stall Nagato? Hilarious. Absolutely impossible.
At least Madara was holding up his end.
"Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!" Even through his labored breathing, he summoned the Ten-Tails shell, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
It was a giant humanoid monster with a hint of horrific dread.
Countless chains shot from the Demonic Statue's mouth, piercing the Edo Tensei summons one by one, then sucking them into its body. Madara absorbed the massive statue into himself.
The process moved at a crawl. By now, Obito was already being overwhelmed by the Six Paths of Pain.
As Madara absorbed the statue, his body stabilized and transformed. His ravaged form gradually recovered until a brand-new Madara stood before everyone. His age had reverted to his youth, his appearance completely changed, like a different man entirely. Gone was the red armor, replaced by cloth garments and a shakujo. Six Truth-Seeking Balls floated behind him, orbiting his body.
"So this is the power of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Madara stared at his own body in disbelief. The power was so overwhelming he could barely accept it.
In the end, they'd still let Madara successfully transform into Six Paths Madara.
Honestly, Six Paths Madara didn't look as imposing or oppressive as Edo Madara.
By now, Obito was at death's door. Tobi had vanished somewhere, and Obito had already used Izanagi once. He had only one breath left.
"The world is about to know true peace." Six Paths Madara rose slowly into the air, looking down at Nagato, who had made only one move before fixing his gaze on him.
Nagato simply stated, "The world is already at peace now."
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