Madara of the Six Paths stood high in the sky, pointing his Six Paths staff directly at Natsuro.
It wasn't that Madara particularly favored this weapon, he had no choice but to use the staff forged from Yin-Yang Release against Natsuro.
Because whether barehanded or wielding another weapon, such as the Uchiha fan, any of them would be directly marked by Natsuro's Flying Thunder God seals.
Though his physical form had been greatly enhanced, he no longer possessed the ability to regenerate from total bodily destruction. As such, he had to rule out certain combat strategies.
The Six Paths staff, was forged from the same material as the Truth-Seeking Orbs through the Yin-Yang Release, and thus had an absolute suppressive effect on chakra. That meant any chakra-based markings from the Flying Thunder God technique, even if using Sage chakra, could not be placed upon it.
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If previously he relied on Magnet Release to remain airborne, now he could genuinely fly like a bird, and more agilely at that.
Birds are constrained by the laws of flight and inertia. But Natsuro still retained Magnet Release on top of his flame wings. He hadn't abandoned it.
Though Magnet Release couldn't match the speed of the flame wings, it enabled feats birds could never achieve, such as sudden lateral shifts in mid-air.
Behind Natsuro, his nine Feather Blades hovered, all pointed at Madara of the Six Paths.
The two warriors locked eyes, both could see the overwhelming will to fight burning in the other.
"BOOM!!"
In the next instant, two sonic booms exploded from their respective positions as they clashed again.
Beyond the assault of the nine Feather Blades, Natsuro himself pressed forward with his Ink Blade, using his Shattered Space technique to collide with Madara's Six Paths staff.
He noticed that with each clash, a nick would appear on Madara's staff, which was proof that his attacks had surpassed its defensive threshold.
However, by the second strike, the nick had already vanished, leaving Natsuro somewhat frustrated.
Madara was, after all, the true wielder of the Rinnegan and genuinely possessed all chakra natures and given time, and with his Six Paths power, Madara would undoubtedly figure out how to create genuine Truth-Seeking Orbs, unlike Obito or Naruto, who could only expend them.
Even if he hadn't yet figured it out, Madara could already rapidly repair any damage to the Truth-Seeking Orbs. And since the Six Paths staff was made of the same material, it too could be instantly restored.
Meanwhile, Natsuro's nine Feather Blades had been tasked with dealing with Madara's four Limbo clones.
Though he couldn't fully sense their actions, the Feather Blades, bolstered by Susanoo, were tough and numerous. Even a blind strike imbued with Shattering Space toward their general direction couldn't be ignored.
"You actually noticed the presence of Limbo: Border Jail?" Madara said with surprise.
Natsuro didn't respond. If he could fully sense them, he wouldn't be locked in such a deadlock. The Feather Blades were beginning to falter under the pressure, and even with Susanoo and Nine-Tails Mode, he was nearing his limit.
In fact, not only were the Feather Blades cracking, but even the tails connecting them showed signs of fracturing.
"This is… troublesome." Natsuro took a deep breath.
Natsuro took a deep breath. If the Feather Blades shattered, those Limbo clones, whose movements he couldn't fully sense, would all converge on him. At that point, his only option would be to escape with Flying Thunder God. He'd have no second chance.
But his current mode had a time limit. Once he fled, that was it, no coming back and he couldn't accept that.
So, on his red armor, a dark material began to spread, silently repairing the cracks... It was, Truth-Seeking Orb essence.
"Come! Let's continue!" Madara exclaimed.
"Gladly!" Natsuro opened his eyes wide, and his sword flared with light.
Natsuro inhaled deeply, eyes snapping open. The Ink Blade in his hand emitted a brilliant light. Though he had no time to activate the Dimensional Blade, his prolonged assault had allowed him to gather enough chakra and spatial energy.
"Dimensional Blade!"
In the blink of an eye, the Ink Blade released a slash capable of cutting space itself, hurtling straight at Madara.
"So this is the power that killed Obito?!" Madara's eyes widened as he swung his Six Paths staff to intercept, but under the Dimensional Slash, it sliced apart like tofu.
And the slash, infused with the essence of space, continued toward Madara. Not even Truth-Seeking Orbs or Susanoo could stop it.
"No wonder it killed Obito," Madara muttered in awe.
A faint smile crossed his lips as his figure vanished from in front of Natsuro.
The blade crashed down, severing one of Madara's Limbo shadows.
Natsuro wasn't surprised, he had never expected the Dimensional Blade to hit Madara directly.
Madara had used Limbo Clone Position Switch to escape and Natsuro had known he would.
That's why he hadn't used the slashing attack earlier, it was too easy to avoid but now that he was losing ground, he took the risk.
Sure enough, Madara had dodged.
But now, the nine feather-blades, glowing with slicing power, crashed down on the real Madara and the three remaining clones.
From the beginning, Natsuro had never counted on the Dimensional Slash.
But at that moment, the nine Feather Blades, each glowing from the building Shattering Space technique, slashed toward the now-exposed Madara and his remaining three shadows.
From the beginning, he had never banked on the Dimensional Slash to hit. The Feather Blades' Shattering Space attack, that was the true kill strike.
"BOOM!!"
Caught off guard by the incoming assault, Madara was shocked. He hadn't triggered a position-swap, so Natsuro had predicted his move?
Was it instinct? Foresight?
He couldn't tell.
But!
Madara's eyes flared.
"Shinra Tensei!!"
The force that once split the earth itself surged outward. But the Feather Blades only paused briefly, then continued their deadly arc toward him.
Not even the unstoppable force that was Shinra Tensei could stop them.
But—
Madara grinned. He only needed a moment.
And in that moment, he had enough time to manipulate the Truth-Seeking Orbs behind him. They quickly swirled and encased his body.
Natsuro's Feather Blades struck the orbs. Though the incredible force caused cracks to appear, the orbs instantly regenerated, halting his assault.
And yet, Natsuro smiled faintly.
Madara's three Limbo clones halted, returning to his side to defend the true body.
Around him, the Truth-Seeking Orbs slowly dispersed. Madara's voice came from within.
"An impressive strike... but it just fell a little short," he said, clearly seeing the instability in Natsuro's current form. He could tell that he wouldn't last much longer.
While, his Limbo clones were also time-limited, but they would certainly outlast Natsuro's form.
So Madara wasn't too concerned about losing this battle due to time.
"That's not for you to decide," Natsuro suddenly said.
Madara of the Six Paths suddenly froze, an ominous feeling surged in his heart.
Yet...
Even as he pushed the perceptive power of his Rinnegan to the limit, he still couldn't detect the source of the threat.
At that moment, both Natsuro's Ink Blade and the nine Feather Blades behind him were radiating a terrifying aura, but it wasn't his Dimensional Slash. Madara didn't believe he could unleash ten Dimensional Slashes at once.
If the opponent could truly do that, he would have used it from the beginning to simultaneously cut down Madara and his four shadows. There would've been no need to waste so much time.
So... was Natsuro just bluffing?
Still, an unease grew in Madara's heart. And even so, he would not stay on the defensive forever. If Natsuro was bluffing, then this window of time would allow him to eliminate the remaining three Limbo shadows.
Once those shadows were gone, and without Limbo: Border Jail to aid him, Madara didn't believe he was that far above Obito in power.
At last, the black sphere formed by the Truth-Seeking Orbs surrounding him began to dissolve, dispersing into nine orbs again, floating protectively and ready to respond.
Suddenly, Madara's eyes widened.
Something was wrong.
There were not nine orbs, but ten.
Madara knew with certainty that he only possessed nine Truth-Seeking Orbs. So where did the extra one come from?
And then, he noticed it.
That single orb he couldn't control, it was already radiating an ominous, violent energy.
"A Truth-Seeking Orb... explosion!"
Madara's pupils contracted.
The blast radius, he instantly swapped places with the furthest of his shadows.
"Boom!"
In the very instant Madara switched positions, the explosive Truth-Seeking Orb unleashed a blinding, annihilating light.
In a flash, the explosion engulfed Madara's figure, and Natsuro, who had encased himself within the nine Feather Blades that now included a black Truth-Seeking Orb, was consumed as well.
Natsuro hadn't fled with Flying Thunder God, not because he didn't want to, but because their prolonged battle had carried them high into the sky. The closest seal was already beyond the explosion's range of control.
It had taken everything just to infiltrate one explosive orb into Madara's set of orbs, he wasn't about to let distance waste all that effort.
This explosion tore through heaven and earth.
After a long while, the blast finally subsided. The Truth-Seeking Orb that detonated reformed and slowly floated back to Natsuro's side.
His armor, resembling blazing flame, was now riddled with cracks, but it still burned fiercely. He turned to look at Madara and saw that half of his body had been obliterated by the explosion.
And yet, the remaining half was completely intact.
The reason?
Natsuro saw the black shield formed from Truth-Seeking Orbs still flickering in front of Madara. He sighed.
So in the end, Madara had still managed to block the blast with a Truth-Seeking Orb, saving his own life at the last moment.
As expected of Madara of the Six Paths, his reflexes were unbelievably fast.
When the Feather Blades had struck Madara's sphere of Truth-Seeking Orbs earlier, one of Natsuro's own black orbs was used to patch his damaged blades and had silently merged into the enemy's orbs.
Then Natsuro had deliberately drawn Madara's attention—provoking him, distracting him, even using Shattering Space as a diversion to mask the trap.
In the end, it worked. He successfully detonated the orb in the exact position he intended.
But the core issue was, Truth-Seeking Orbs take time to explode. The delay was short, but against someone like Madara, who operated on a level beyond mortals, it was enough.
So of course Madara noticed the foreign orb just in time, and acted, saving himself.
Sure, he looked terrible now. Half of his body was gone.
But with the body of the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, regeneration was happening at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the end, his's plan hadn't delivered a perfect result, but at the very least, it should have wiped out the Limbo shadows, right?
Without them, and with Madara in this weakened state, now would be the time to finish the fight.
Just as Natsuro was about to move in, he froze.
He could feel them. Three Limbo shadows... had reappeared.
Eyes wide, he was shocked, they hadn't been destroyed?
How could that be?! How could Limbo shadows possibly survive a Truth-Seeking Orb explosion?
Unless... they didn't endure the explosion.
Madara must have recalled all three shadows into his Rinnegan the moment after the position switch, in the instant before detonation?
In that most critical, life-or-death moment... he still had the clarity to do that?
"…No wonder. It's Madara Uchiha…"
After a long silence, all he could do was mutter in awe.
He had planned to kill Madara while he was wounded. But now, with those three shadows back, he knew that chance was gone.
Because that last explosion had pushed him to the limit too. His Susanoo was at the verge of collapse.
If it had just been a wounded Madara, he might've still managed to finish it.
But now, with three shadows back, his window of opportunity had closed.
Madara, panting heavily, blood streaming from his mouth, didn't seem to care about his wounds. His expression was wild and feverish as he stared at Natsuro.
Then, bursting into laughter, he shouted:
"That line should be mine to say, Natsuro Shindōkawa! I admit it… You nearly killed me, a god, with nothing but a mortal's body!"
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Next Chapter Title:Chapter 372 -When Titans Collide...