Though Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji held the upper hand for a time, Uchiha Madara had remained on the defensive throughout the fight.
However, as the Six Paths Madara, he now possessed the body of an Ōtsutsuki. Coupled with the protection of the Truth-Seeking Orbs and his Limbo clones sharing the burden, the damage he sustained was far from fatal.
Despite appearances, he wasn't actually being overwhelmed. In fact, thanks to the Rinnegan-Sharingan on his forehead and the projection from the Divine Tree and the moon, Madara was continuously absorbing strength from the Shinobi World and gradually restoring his power to its prime.
Thus, Madara's strength was steadily increasing.
Among Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji, Neji experienced the sharpest drop in power.
After breaking his own shackles and giving up his original strength in exchange for the latent power of the Shinobi World, Neji had grown immensely stronger at a rapid pace.
But the cost was high. When Infinite Tsukuyomi began extracting energy from the Shinobi World, his borrowed power also diminished drastically.
This consequence had been foreseen long ago—by Uchiha Kirin.
As for Naruto, even with the Six Paths Yang Power granting him seemingly limitless stamina, he still lost several Truth-Seeking Orbs in the process.
Surprisingly, Sasuke was the one with the least consumption. Thanks to Amenotejikara, he could repeatedly gain windows for recovery and counterattacks, allowing him to deal maximum damage at minimal cost.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At a certain moment, the balance of power shifted.
The pendulum swung in Madara's favor.
With a single blow, all three were sent flying, and Neji collapsed, unable to continue.
Only Naruto and Sasuke remained, both highly alert now. They split their remaining strength into fragments, carefully conserving it to continue the fight against Uchiha Madara.
However, just when Madara felt his power had reached its absolute peak...
His body suddenly froze.
Splurt!
At some unknown moment, Black Zetsu had appeared behind him—his pitch-black palm pierced straight through Madara's heart.
A stream of black liquid surged out violently.
In an instant, Madara's body was filled to bursting, swollen like a balloon.
It was just like when Obito first became the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki—an overflow of power far beyond both physical and mental limits, signaling complete loss of control.
The power of Six Paths Madara was immense—but the moment Kaguya's strength descended, it instantly pushed his body to the brink of collapse!
Everyone on the battlefield was utterly stunned.
What was going on? What had happened to Madara?
Of course, none of them would be sad if Madara's power failed him.
Even the Sages, watching from the shadows, turned their attention to one point—Kaguya's power.
It was the same power that had once consumed the Shinobi World for tens of thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—of years.
From the Ancient War of the Gods up to just a thousand years ago... countless seasons and eras passed under its shadow...
And this was only the portion of power Kaguya had managed to recover after being sealed before she could even fully digest the chakra fruit.
Even this fragment of power had already surpassed both the White Snake Sage and the Toad Sage. Only Uchiha Kirin, the Slug Sage, and the Sage of Six Paths could face it directly.
The untapped portion of her power made the immortal sages present salivate. This was the true purpose of the grand game across the Shinobi World's board:
To divide up Kaguya's power.
Having just been revived, Kaguya possessed little intelligence. Reclaiming Black Zetsu, she felt as though she had awakened from an eternal slumber.
She immediately mistook Naruto and Sasuke for her own children...
Perhaps it was love, anger, hatred, confusion—some overwhelming flood of emotion—as she gently reached out, cupping both their chins.
She seemed to want to reclaim their chakra, but hesitated.
So, just like in the original timeline, she pulled them into an alternate dimension linked through Yomotsu Hirasaka.
Obito then teleported Kakashi and the others in to assist them.
Uchiha Kirin and the spiritual form of the Sage of Six Paths followed them in as well, moving through different spatial zones and observing the battle—a purely numerical clash of power levels.
It could be said that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had zero combat intelligence. Perhaps it was her lingering emotions from a thousand years ago clouding her judgment, causing her to hold back.
With such overwhelming power, it was no wonder that she was ultimately outmaneuvered and sealed by the Sage of Six Paths and the immortal sages of the Shinobi World.
At last—
Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei!
With the Six Paths Yin-Yang chakra infused into their palms, Naruto and Sasuke successfully resealed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki within the origin sphere.
This seal, crafted by the Sage of Six Paths after a thousand years of training, was even stronger than the one he had once enacted with Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
It was powerful enough to sever Kaguya's connection to the Divine Tree and the Shinobi World—ultimately ending her life and turning her into the long-anticipated nourishment for the immortal sages.
Just as Black Zetsu was about to be sealed within the sphere of stone, Uchiha Kirin acted quickly, summoning a Kamui vortex and pulling him into his own space.
Black Zetsu possessed Kaguya's memories regarding the Ōtsutsuki Clan—information that was far too important to lose.
The spiritual form of the Sage of Six Paths glared at Kirin, only to be stared down right back.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had already become prey within the grasp of the Five Great Sages.
With the dust settled—who was afraid of who now?
...
As the people of the world awoke from the grip of Infinite Tsukuyomi—some rejoicing, others grieving—the origin sphere space remained anything but peaceful.
Here, on the brink of eruption, was an unknown yet ferocious battle—the most intense and secretive in the history of the Shinobi World!
All five sages entered one by one after the battle concluded, each using their own methods to infiltrate the sealed space and begin dividing up the spoils they had plotted for millennia.
The White Snake Sage was the first to exit, saying she only wanted a portion of Kaguya's flesh and rule-based power...
Next was the Slug Sage—not because of a lack of strength, but because she disliked conflict. She claimed the remaining root system of the Divine Tree and demanded a share of power extracted from Kaguya to repair the damage done to the Dragon Veins—
To restore the Shinobi World to its former balance.
Before Uchiha Kirin could even speak, the Toad Sage impatiently interrupted, asking the Sage of Six Paths to just assign him something and send him on his way.
After all, he was the one who had entered this game of fate millennia ago—ever since Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was just a child—by virtue of his natural-born gift of prophecy.
He was a founding figure and partner of the Sage of Six Paths—if he didn't deserve the second share, who did?
With the Sage of Six Paths backing him, the Toad Sage feared nothing—not even Uchiha Kirin, who had only recently awakened and resumed his divine identity.
"So... what exactly do you plan to give me?" Kirin asked calmly.
The Sage of Six Paths suddenly stroked his beard and replied kindly,
"There's still a hidden trap left in your body—one left behind within the Uchiha clan. If you want to unlock it and gain access to the full potential of the Rinnegan, I can help."
"You think I'm a three-year-old?" Kirin sneered.
Faced with these two old schemers trying to take advantage without giving anything, Uchiha Kirin no longer held back.
In an instant, he activated all ten layers of the Battle Saint Scripture and opened the Eight Gates !
His power surged to the peak—so intense that even the origin sphere space began to tremble under the pressure!
One must remember—this place was a world born from the Divine Tree's millennia-long extraction of chakra from the Shinobi World. It was unimaginably stable and tough!
"In that case," Kirin said coldly, "why don't we settle this with one final battle? Winner takes whatever they want..."
At this point, there was no avoiding the conflict.
The Sage of Six Paths stepped forward. He was confident—after cultivating his power for a thousand years—that he had more than enough strength to subdue Uchiha Kirin.
And perhaps, in defeating Kirin before his power had fully returned...
He might even claim a new force—one rivaling even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki herself.