"Now you look kinda desperate, Madara."
Guts voice cut through the air just as the blinding silver beam of Light Release surged toward him.
Madara's eyelid twitched.
A heartbeat later, the silver light swallowed Guts whole.
'This… attack? Tch. Not even close to Kizaru.'
With a violent pulse, advanced Armament Haki erupted from Guts body, shattering the Light Release as if it were made of paper.
Smoke and shards of light scattered into the sky.
He dusted himself off casually.
"I think you should've realized the gap between us by now, Madara."
High above, Madara's Rinnegan narrowed.
He was thinking but he couldn't hide the flicker of caution in his eyes.
"You brat… I have to admit, after Hashirama, you're the first to make me feel like this." Madara's lips curled into a wicked smile.
"But don't get arrogant in front of me—!"
He was about to rush forward when
"Too late."
Suddenly, Guts was right in front of him.
His left hand, wrapped in advanced Haki, clamped around Madara's face.
"Blue Hole."
BOOOOOOM!!!
Madara's eyes went wide as Guts smashed him into the ground, pulverizing his Reanimated body in a single earth-shaking impact.
Then… shockingly enough, Madara realized his Edo Tensei body wasn't regenerating.
"…What… did you do, Guts?" His voice wavered slightly. He hadn't used any sealing jutsu. No tags were placed on him either. And yet… his body refused to reform.
Guts tilted his head with a mocking grin.
"What's this? The legendary Madara Uchiha… making that kind of face?"
He exaggerated his expression with a smug smirk.
"Flattering, really."
Of course, he knew exactly why. Advanced Conqueror's Haki was negating Edo Tensei regeneration.
Madara's expression hardened. He forced his Rinnegan back into its Eternal Mangekyō state, and his form flickered an illusionary afterimage taking his place.
"…Huh?" Guts blinked.
"Wait. Did you just—?"
He turned, and sure enough, Madara was running.
"YOU'RE RUNNING AWAY!?"
The absurdity stunned him for a second before his veins bulged in irritation.
That bastard had used Izanagi to undo his miserable state and dipped.
A red lightning streak tore the sky as Guts vanished in an instant, leaving only destruction in his wake.
Madara glanced back mid-flight and saw a nightmare.
Guts's face... red-eyed, veins popping with rage closed in on him, now just inches away.
"…"
Even Madara's eyes twitched slightly.
Guts grabbed Madara by the leg.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?"
Then came the HULK TREATMENT.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
He smashed Madara into the ground, over and over, like a ragdoll.
'Damn it…! This brat… he's even stronger than Hashirama!' Madara thought, dazed, while being bludgeoned like Loki.
Finally, Guts flung Madara upward, then launched after him. His right fist, wrapped in red lightning-infused Conqueror's Haki, met Madara's face midair.
KRAAAAAASH!!!
Madara's head exploded, and his Edo Tensei body collapsed.
Just like when Susanoo loses its chakra supply like a car running out of fuel it could no longer maintain its complete form.
Like a raging fire suddenly doused by water, it began to dissipate rapidly.
Madara's body couldn't recover this time and was on the verge of vanishing completely.
Although Kabuto had boldly claimed in the anime that Madara's current strength had far surpassed his previous life's peak,
the truth was different.
Yes, this Madara was stronger than the one who fought at the Valley of the End but he was definitely not at his absolute peak.
To keep powerful Impure World Reincarnation summons under control, the caster must suppress their abilities through spells and bindings.
Kabuto was no exception.
Guts stared at Madara, and with his advanced Observation Haki, he foresaw the future Madara was about to use Izanagi for the last time.
Izanagi, while undeniably powerful, can only be used twice, each use costing an eye… and this was Madara's final chance.
Sure enough, Madara reappeared... this time at an even greater distance than before.
"You really look pathetic right now, Madara. This is just a meaningless struggle," Guts said, walking toward him with unhurried steps, his expression deadly serious this time.
"But… my goal has already been achieved!"
Madara pressed his hands together, and several black orbs instantly scattered around him. Then, spreading his palms wide, he hurled them toward the approaching Guts.
"Planetary Devastation!"
One, two, ten miniature moons burst into the air, pulling the land itself into orbit. Rocks, trees, and even clouds were devoured by gravity.
Even for a Reanimation, Madara's chakra output was monstrous.
Guts braced himself against the constant pull of the black holes, tearing them apart with raw force, while his Observation Haki noted something else
Their battle had drawn them closer and closer…
…to the fight between Minato and Obito.
Madara was moving with purpose.
Even in retreat, he was angling toward his real plan to become the Ten Tails Jinchūriki, to ascend from Super Kage to Six Paths peak in an instant.
Deep in the stalactite cave, Kabuto's body stood motionless, his eyes glassy under Shisui's genjutsu.
Shisui exhaled, a bead of sweat dripping down his temple.
Controlling Kabuto's vision had been no easy feat.
"…Let's hope it's not too late."
His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spun, locking onto Kabuto's eyes.
"Now… end the Impure World Reincarnation."
----
On the other side
Hinata, Hanabi, Konan, and the others finally arrived as reinforcements.
With their arrival, the tide of battle began to turn.
After quickly arranging the roles of the Allied Shinobi Forces, Kakashi also brought Naruto to the front.
From his first clash with the masked man, Kakashi had already realized something shocking his space-time ninjutsu and the enemy's were connected.
This revelation startled Namikaze Minato.
"Are all space-time jutsu users connected like that?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask.
Kakashi shook his head, his voice heavy.
"No… I'm afraid it's only between me and him. The Sharingan in his right eye… isn't it?"
As he spoke, Kakashi's voice trembled. He stared into the masked man's eye, disbelief swirling in his gaze, and whispered his guess:
"Are you…?"
"Shut the hell up!"
The masked man suddenly snapped, as if Kakashi had ripped open a wound he didn't want touched. His voice shook with rage.
"You… always so full of talk… Fine! I'll show you the true power of Kamui!"
"Kakashi, I'll support you!" Minato called out.
He shared the same suspicion as Kakashi, though he kept it to himself.
In the next instant, he flung dozens of Flying Thunder God kunai across the battlefield in a golden blur, vanishing and reappearing like his legendary moniker the Yellow Flash.
But every strike passed harmlessly through the masked man's body.
Kakashi's shout rang out:
"His space-time jutsu lets him phase parts of his body into another dimension! But we've confirmed the limit... only five minutes!"
A heartbeat later, Kakashi's left Sharingan flared to life.
He couldn't maintain it like the other man without Hashirama's cells, overuse would destroy him but for now, it was enough.
One by one, the Flying Thunder God kunai vanished, sucked into his Kamui.
The masked man's hidden face twisted with irritation.
Suddenly Minato disappeared completely, vanishing along with that blinding flash of gold.
Kakashi muttered under his breath:
"If I'm right… if my space is linked to his… then this is possible."
In the next moment, Minato reappeared behind the masked man.
"I'm here!" he shouted.
The masked man's eyes widened. He whipped his head around instinctively and all he saw was a Rasengan swelling in his vision.
BOOM!
The mask shattered in an instant.
"…Are you really… Uchiha Obito!?"
Even Minato, usually calm and composed, couldn't suppress the shock in his voice.
When he landed and the fragments of the mask fell away, the battlefield fell silent.
The face revealed beneath, hidden for more than a decade, stunned everyone.
Even after all these years, it was still the face burned into their memories... scarred on the right cheek, the same face that had haunted Kakashi's thoughts since that day eighteen years ago.
"You… Obito?" Kakashi's voice shook, his eyes wide.
Minato was just as frozen.
"Huh… Obito? Is it really… Obito?"
Might Guy, Anko, and the other shinobi of their generation stood in disbelief.
"He's… Uchiha Obito… but he died so long ago!"
…
At that very moment, far away
"Impure World Reincarnation: Release!"
Shisui, still holding Kabuto in the grip of his genjutsu, forced him to finally undo the Impure World Reincarnation.
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