He had already heard Black Zetsu talk about it before:
Shigeo was clearly born into the Hyuga clan, yet he didn't have Byakugan.
Not only that, he'd started out as a blind kid—
Then somehow awakened the Rinnegan and Sharingan, switching between them however he liked.
If that wasn't a bloodline mutation, then what was?
When Madara heard all that, he just snorted coldly.
He'd noticed Shigeo long ago, but he'd been busy fighting Hashirama and hadn't had time to bother with him.
Now, he had become the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, the Divine Tree had already taken root, and Infinite Tsukuyomi would soon be activated.
When that happened, no matter how powerful this guy was, he would still be trapped in an eternal dream.
"It doesn't matter. Once Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi) is activated, the shinobi world will finally know peace.
A dangerous existence like his will be erased as well…"
After saying that, he raised the shakujo in his hand and aimed it at Shigeo on the opposite side.
Just as he began his attack, the ever-growing Divine Tree suddenly stopped expanding.
And it was all Little Ten's doing.
"What's going on? Shigeo, it's your Ten-Tails!"
Black Zetsu roared in anger.
On the side, White Zetsu was furious as well, shouting, "Madara, kill him!"
Even as he yelled, he sank into the ground.
Being a product of the Divine Tree himself, he could feel its presence clearly.
When other people became Jinchūriki, the tailed beasts couldn't just casually leave their bodies.
But Shigeo was a complete outlier—
His Ten-Tails could not only freely leave his body, it could dive underground and attack the roots of the Divine Tree directly.
Truly nasty.
White Zetsu tunneled downward and soon located Little Ten.
Just as he was about to attack, a suffocating, indescribable presence surged in from all directions—
And then there was only fear.
Up above, Madara charged forward, shakujo sweeping.
The nine Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs) behind him shifted forms in rapid succession as he launched them all at Shigeo.
At the same time, other ninja also rushed in.
This was a battle for everyone.
Shigeo had been holding the line for far too long; they needed to contribute something to this war as well.
But they forgot—
Even Obito in his Ten-Tails state had already been like a god, completely immune to ordinary ninjutsu.
And this was Madara.
Still, there were people who could hurt him—
Like Guy and Jiraiya.
Ninjutsu attacks were useless.
But taijutsu and Senjutsu?
Those still worked.
Combining their efforts, the two of them actually sent Madara flying—
But at the same time, the Gudōdama behind his back morphed into lethal weapons, leaving both of them covered in wounds.
In terms of raw chakra, the gap between them and Madara was like the difference between a candle and the sun.
It couldn't even be compared.
Underground, Little Ten killed White Zetsu.
Not only that, it planted a type of fungus inside his body before tunneling back up.
From that point on, every White Zetsu connected to this one would be infected by that mycelium, eventually die, then sprout as a two-headed mushroom out of the earth—
For humans to eat.
Little Ten surfaced, then vanished with a single leap, diving back into Shigeo's body.
The moment it returned, Shigeo's entire body blazed with golden light.
His deep-blue Rinnegan shone brilliantly as he floated into the air, wrapped in a sacred radiance from head to toe.
He had no Gudōdama.
No horned silhouette.
Just white robes fluttering in the air.
And even so, just seeing him there made people feel he was utterly divine—
Overflowing with godlike power.
In the distance, countless shinobi were being knocked around like rag dolls, unable to stand against Madara at all.
Now that he had become even stronger, they were even more helpless.
Even Tobirama and Hashirama had been pinned to the ground by black chakra rods, unable to move.
Shigeo hadn't rushed in to fight Madara immediately for one reason:
He was waiting for a certain very important person—
But after all this time, with the battlefield covered in wounded, that person still hadn't appeared.
What's wrong, Rikudō Sennin (Sage of Six Paths)?
You skipping out on this too?
This is kind of a big moment, you know.
You're really not planning to show up and explain what's going on with your "mother"?
Or is the timing still not right and we have to wait a bit longer?
Thinking that, Shigeo raised a finger.
"Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull)!"
Sage power, Ten-Tails chakra, and the Rinnegan all in one—
An overwhelming gravitational force yanked Madara toward him from afar.
Behind Madara, the nine Gudōdama reshaped themselves into conical weapons, lining up along the pull of Banshō Ten'in and spearing forward.
A dome of Jiton (Magnet Release) rose in front of Shigeo, the clash outside ringing with a murderous "clang, clang, clang," enough to make onlookers' hearts clench in terror.
Because Magnet Release alone couldn't stop those Gudōdama cones at all.
They tore through layer after layer of magnetic defense and drove straight toward Shigeo's chest.
"Watch out!"
On the battlefield, voices rose in panic.
From where they stood, Shigeo stood calmly behind the Magnet barrier, seemingly unaware that those conical points had already broken through.
Just as everyone drew a sharp breath—
Right as the transformed Gudōdama lunged in—
Shigeo's other hand snapped up and caught the cone in front of him in an iron grip.
At the same time, his free hand was already reaching for Madara.
Madara felt his weapon being seized and exerted force of his own, creating a reactive pull around him.
He also possessed the Rinnegan, and though he had only one eye and lacked Shigeo's overwhelming strength, when combined with the Ten-Tails he could still struggle fiercely.
"—Hnghh!"
A faint sound escaped him as his eyes flew wide.
He was sure he had slipped free of Shigeo's Banshō Ten'in.
So how—
How had he ended up like this?
Because behind Madara's back, space warped open—
A series of pitch-black portals appeared.
Black chakra rods shot out like spikes, following right behind him.
The moment he resisted the pull of Banshō Ten'in, those waiting spikes were right there to greet him.
It was the method Shigeo had used against Obito—
Now applied to Madara himself.
Madara had fully intended to guard against Shigeo's space-time tricks this time.
But he hadn't expected Shigeo to attack on two fronts at once, leaving him with nowhere to run.
He tried to protect himself by forming the Gudōdama into a black sphere around his body, hiding himself within.
The result?
Shigeo's black rods appeared inside the sphere as well.
A turtle in a jar, stabbed from all directions.
"Oi oi, what the hell, Shigeo, you're not playing fair at all—my butt!!"
Madara shouted in outrage as he fled out of the black orb, flipping and twisting midair, desperately dodging the rain of black rods chasing him.
He tried to use space–time ninjutsu as well.
He had a Sharingan on his forehead, after all.
He might dodge for a while.
He might dodge twice.
But could he really dodge forever?
Yet in the midst of weaving through the storm of black rods, Madara caught sight of Shigeo's back for a brief instant—
And his eyes flashed with icy delight.
In the very next second—
Grinding his teeth through the pain of a rod embedded in his rear—
He triggered space–time transfer.
His body vanished.
"What the hell just happened?!"
Jiraiya rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Kakashi explained, "He's got a Rinnegan–Sharingan combo. He can pull off short-range space–time jumps too."
Jiraiya understood, and immediately shouted, "Shigeo! Behind you!"
(End of Chapter)
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