"Kurama!"
Seeing Six Paths Madara charge at him with overwhelming, mountain-crushing force, Natsuro couldn't even follow his movement for a moment. His mind shouted instinctively.
"Got it!"
Yin Kurama instantly understood the urgency. Even though it hadn't fully recovered, it quickly channeled its chakra to Natsuro.
In the next instant, Natsuro's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode reappeared, along with his nine blazing chakra tails.
"Swift Release: Instantaneous Steps!"
Natsuro growled lowly, no hand seals needed, the Swift Release chakra had already surged throughout his body, especially around his eyes.
Very soon, he could finally make out Madara's movements. As Madara swung down his Six Paths staff, Natsuro narrowed his eyes and raised his Ink Blade, infused with Sage Fox chakra, to block it.
"Bang!"
In an instant, the ground behind Natsuro split open in a massive shockwave. This time, he was clearly at a disadvantage in the clash.
To think that Madara could achieve this level of power with physical strength alone…
Bear in mind, Natsuro was currently using Sage Fox Mode, combined with superhuman strength techniques. He was already pushing the limits of what he could muster physically.
Against Six Paths Obito, he'd still held the upper hand in raw power.
But now, facing Six Paths Madara, he was overwhelmingly outmatched. Though he wasn't blown away by the attack, he was forced to skid backward a long distance before coming to a halt.
Just then, Natsuro's senses flared with alarm, his hair stood on end, and his pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he vanished from sight.
And it wasn't a false alarm.
The three severed chakra tails still floating in the air proved it. if he had stayed put even a moment longer, he would have been sliced by something far more lethal.
Six Paths Madara raised an eyebrow in surprise, though he seemed pleased. While the tails hadn't yet dissipated, he reached out and absorbed the Sage chakra from them with his Rinnegan.
"As I thought… this is Sage Chakra. No wonder you could stand your ground against Six Paths power," Madara muttered. After absorbing that chakra, he now likely had the ability to use Sage Jutsu himself.
"But… I'm not Obito." Madara grinned at Natsuro, who had reappeared in the distance. His dual Rinnegan emanated overwhelming pressure.
His meaning was clear... even if you could match Obito with this power, you'll never match me.
Madara was genuinely pleased. Until now, he had always been on the receiving end of Natsuro's bizarre and unexpected jutsu. But now, he had finally landed a hit.
"Limbo: Border Jail!"
This was the hidden ability of the Rinnegan. Madara had deliberately held it back until now, waiting to give Natsuro a surprise. He only activated it the moment they made contact.
Madara had hoped it would do even more, he didn't expect to kill him outright, but at the very least it should have seriously wounded him in a surprise ambush.
Yet even he hadn't anticipated how terrifying Natsuro's danger sense truly was, he'd escaped in a flash using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Still, Madara had succeeded in absorbing some Sage Chakra from Natsuro. This round wasn't a waste.
Truly, Natsuro deserved the title of the strongest in this era, the man Madara himself acknowledged.
As for Madara? He no longer considered himself human. He was now a god.
"Huff…"
As Natsuro reappeared, he immediately noticed that several of his chakra tails had been severed.
His expression turned grim. He closed his eyes, focusing with all his might. Only then did he barely perceive the four shadows drifting near Madara.
"So this is Six Paths Madara's Limbo: Border Jail… the ultimate god-tier move for beating down anyone below Six Paths level," Natsuro muttered, somewhat in awe.
Sure, he was currently fighting on the level of Six Paths users, but that was thanks to his unique composition of Sage Chakra, Nine-Tails Mode, and a vast arsenal of jutsu.
In terms of raw chakra attributes alone, he was still at best peak Kage level.
And that seemed to be the absolute limit of his current body, no matter what kind of boosts he stacked on top of each other, he probably wouldn't break into the true Six Paths tier physically.
But that wasn't the biggest issue.
The real problem was that Natsuro could only sense the four Limbo clones when he was fully focused on chakra perception.
And in the chaos of battle, there was no way to keep that kind of focused sensing up.
Meaning he could only detect the Limbo shadows' general positions, making it extremely difficult to counter them effectively.
But Natsuro drew in a long breath.
At this point in the battle, the word "retreat" had no place in his dictionary.
He would push forward. No matter what.
A steely resolve flashed in his eyes. And in the next instant, the ground beneath his feet began to crack and melt, searing lava bubbled up and devoured the earth.
"Hm? Is he going to use that Susanoo again? Pity… that won't help against me now," Six Paths Madara mused with interest. His desire for a worthy battle made him pause rather than strike immediately, he wanted to see just how far Natsuro could go.
At this point, he was the only one who could give him any enjoyment in battle, and Madara didn't want to end that too quickly.
But Natsuro never intended to use the Susanoo Madara had seen before.
Instead, the roiling lava at his feet suddenly erupted and surged toward him, enveloping his entire body.
"Oh?" Madara raised an eyebrow. This was… different. His eyes lit with anticipation.
Was Natsuro about to unleash an even greater power?
This was thrilling.
Soon, the lava receded, and Natsuro's new form was revealed to all.
His base body remained in Sage Fox Mode, complete with feathered armor and a sleek, glowing helm. But now, his body was clad in flame-like scale armor, flickering and dancing like fire.
The Ink Blade in his hand had fused with the Susanoo's ethereal longsword, radiating with fiery energy.
Behind him, a majestic phoenix wing unfurled, his nine tails had transformed into nine flame-wreathed feather blades.
A fiery crest had appeared on his forehead.
"Susanoo: Armor Form!" (須佐能乎・威装)
This was the Susanoo's power compressed to the extreme, then directly overlaid onto his Nine-Tails Mode body... not a towering samurai avatar, but a streamlined, ultra-dense armor form for close combat.
Though massive size had its advantages, when facing Six Paths Madara, sheer bulk meant nothing... only extreme power mattered now.
Natsuro took a deep breath, feeling the searing heat radiating through his body.
It wasn't an illusion, it was the scorching blaze of this new power.
But he also understood… this power wasn't stable. Even before this moment, Natsuro hadn't been sure he could maintain this state.
He had no choice but to try, for the sake of fighting Six Paths Madara.
And now, it seemed… he had succeeded.
"I can probably maintain it for five minutes… that should be enough." Natsuro murmured, estimating this new power level.
It had undoubtedly surpassed the peak of Kage-level strength, but had yet to reach true Six Paths-tier.
He hovered somewhere in between.
"Hahaha! Sixth Hokage, you truly are the best!"
Six Paths Madara grinned broadly as he watched Natsuro, especially the armor cloaking his body.
With his discerning eyes, how could he not recognize that this was Susanoo?
What shocked Madara was that even he had never compressed Susanoo to this degree...Yet Natsuro had managed it.
But that wasn't even the most astonishing part.
More importantly, Madara could feel that Natsuro's aura had grown even stronger than before!
Natsuro had grown stronger...again!
"Huuuh!" Natsuro let out a sharp exhale. With a flap of the phoenix wings on his back, he vanished into a fiery streak and launched himself at Madara.
Behind him, shockwaves and flames trailed in his wake, along with the sounds of successive sonic booms.
"Come, fight!!" Six Paths Madara's blood was boiling.
Facing Natsuro's charge, he didn't hesitate, he sprinted forward as well.
With his first step, the ground beneath Madara's feet exploded, blowing apart like a bomb had gone off.
In the blink of an eye, though they had been separated by a vast distance just moments earlier, the two collided.
Madara's Six Paths Staff and Natsuro's flame-shrouded Ink Blade clashed violently.
"BOOM!!"
A violent eruption of flames engulfed the entire battlefield.
The space around them seemed as though it was about to ignite, tearing apart with earth-shaking shockwaves.
The sheer force sent tremors rippling through the land and all the onlookers had to brace themselves just to stay standing.
Yet the two figures in the center of the storm never stopped for a second.
They continued their furious battle, unshaken by the trembling earth.
"Is this… really a level humans can reach…?"
Everyone watching, gazing at the inferno in the sky and the nonstop detonations, couldn't help but gulp.
Their eyes could no longer track the movements of either fighter.
By the time they saw the explosions, the combatants had already appeared somewhere else.
What kind of battle was this…?
If Madara Uchiha had only reached this level by gaining the power of the Sage of Six Paths...
Then what about the Sixth Hokage?
Sure, he had half of the Nine-Tails, but these were seasoned shinobi. They knew what tailed beast chakra could do.
And what Natsuro was displaying went far beyond anything even a jinchūriki should be capable of.
Even without the Nine-Tails, Natsuro's strength already placed him among the absolute peak of mankind, right beside those few beings who had attained Six Paths power.
If Six Paths Obito and Madara brought despair, proving that only by becoming a Ten-Tails jinchūriki could one gain such strength, then Natsuro brought hope.
Hope that even as mere humans, they could reach beyond the limits of mortality, without sacrificing everything.
"Tsk tsk tsk… yes, yes! That's it, that's the power I've been dreaming of!"
Far from the battlefield, in a quiet, deserted place... Orochimaru was trembling with excitement.
Though his eyes couldn't see the battle, the horns on his head said it all...
He had completed the Sage Transformation of Ryūchi Cave: Dragon Sage Mode.
His enhanced sensory perception allowed him to just barely detect the true intensity of the clash between Six Paths Madara and Natsuro.
And it was Natsuro's power that completely fascinated him.
This… this was the future!
Sure, Orochimaru had once dreamed of becoming a Ten-Tails jinchūriki too.
But with his deep research, he knew, if he ever did absorb the Ten-Tails, he'd be devoured immediately.
There was no second outcome.
That path was a dead end for anyone not born as a god.
But the power Natsuro had just demonstrated was not far from that of a jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails.
And most importantly, he had proven that it was possible to walk this path.
It may be difficult… But compared to a road that led only to death, this one was filled with hope.
"Go, Natsuro… let's see you create another miracle," Orochimaru said, his crazed movements finally stilling.
He licked his own cheek with a long tongue, staring toward the battlefield.
Then… he began forming hand seals.
The time for holding back had ended.
For example, Edo Tensei.
Orochimaru was preparing the release seal for Edo Tensei.
But then… he froze mid-seal.
He looked toward the forest where a tall figure emerged.
With long white hair, a forehead protector bearing the kanji "油" (oil), and two toads perched on his shoulders, his body brimming with amphibian features…
It was none other than Jiraiya, in full Sage Mode.
"Tch. Jiraiya? I've got no interest in you right now," Orochimaru chuckled.
"Hmph! I don't care if you're interested. I'm here to stop you and put an end to Edo Tensei!" Jiraiya shouted.
He had sensed Orochimaru's presence moments ago.
After chasing him for years, no one understood Orochimaru better than Jiraiya.
So, he had summoned Fukasaku and Shima, entered Sage Mode, and finally tracked him down.
"Heh… you? Not a chance." Orochimaru grinned.
Though he had originally planned to release Edo Tensei, he suddenly changed his mind.
Now he wanted to see just what the Mount Myōboku Sage Mode was capable of.
And as Orochimaru and Jiraiya clashed once again, far away....
The battle between Six Paths Madara and Natsuro raged on.
They faced each other in midair…
And then both laughed.
"Come, lets FIGHT!!
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Currently on Chapter 423 - Challenging Unohana