Chapter 431: Two Destructive Kids
"What is that?!" Tobirama asked instinctively.
Madara showed no interest in answering, but when Hashirama echoed the question out of curiosity, Madara finally explained:
"Truth-Seeking Orbs, a power that combines all chakra natures—yin, yang, and the five elements. It's the legendary power of the Six Paths."
"This is a power I glimpsed through the Gedo Statue."
Madara only explained this much, without elaborating on the use of the Truth-Seeking Orbs. He then expended more of his Six Paths power, conjuring a new orb, which began to swell, and floated away lightly.
The Truth-Seeking Orb, like the Tailed Beast Bomb, shares a similar destructive trait. The former is a combination of all elements, while the latter consists solely of yin and yang.
But with its more complex nature, once the Truth-Seeking Orb goes out of control, its explosion is far more terrifying than a Tailed Beast Bomb.
In an instant, the orb emitted a blinding white light and exploded, enveloping the entire Valley of the End in its range.
A massive mushroom cloud formed, and Madara floated high above, overlooking the explosion from above.
He gazed down at the Valley of the End, now reduced to ashes, with only the skeletal remains of Susanoo left. His eyes shifted to the sky, where a meteor began its descent.
Madara ignored Hashirama's distant call and turned to leave.
Itachi was indeed an outstanding successor, but...
For the sake of his ideals, Madara was willing to abandon everything—friends, brothers, and even children.
"I should take back the One-Tail, Four-Tail, and Nine-Tail beasts," Madara murmured to himself in the sky. But at that moment, a golden light and a green light flashed simultaneously.
The meteor was sliced in half!
At the same time, a golden figure transformed into the complete form of the Nine-Tails, provocatively tossing the meteor fragments towards Madara.
Madara instinctively activated Susanoo, slicing the meteor fragments apart, furrowing his brow as he looked back.
It was the two children he hadn't paid much attention to before—one the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the other...
"Izuna?"
Madara's eyes softened as he looked at Sasuke's adorable face.
Sasuke bore a striking resemblance to his brother, Izuna, and Madara's original dream had been to build a village with Hashirama to protect his brother.
Madara hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to turn back into battle.
He needed to capture the Nine-Tails to fulfill his true dream.
Once again, the complete form of Susanoo appeared, and Madara drew his sword, swinging it towards Naruto in his golden Nine-Tails form.
At that moment, Sasuke activated his Tenseigan Chakra Mode again, summoning a Truth-Seeking Orb.
Golden light flared as the Truth-Seeking Orb transformed into a longsword, slicing Madara and his Susanoo in half.
"Sasuke! Madara is an Edo Tensei; he can only be sealed!" Itachi reminded.
"I know, Nii-san. This time, it's my turn to protect you," Sasuke confidently smiled back at Itachi.
He summoned a statue as large as the Nine-Tails, with Hamura's face, lifelike in detail.
The statue charged at Madara's Susanoo, grappling its arm. The blue and gray giants began a fierce struggle.
Naruto condensed several Tailed Beast Bombs, launching them consecutively at Madara.
As soon as the Tailed Beast Bombs touched Susanoo, they exploded, causing Susanoo to begin disintegrating, while the statue also crumbled.
But as long as Sasuke lived, the statue would not perish.
The statue reformed itself, and Madara, shocked, could hardly believe this power came from two children.
What had happened in Konoha, in the ninja world over the years?
How did even Konoha's children appear more talented than Itachi?
Madara couldn't understand, but there was no time to dwell on it.
Countless vine-like giant trees sprouted from the ground beneath him, entangling his Susanoo and sapping his chakra.
Madara tried to fight back, but each attempt was thwarted by the stone figure.
At the same time, Konoha's "F4" assembled, each taking a corner. A fiery red barrier rose to the sky.
It was the Four Red Yang Formation!
A sealing jutsu performed by four Hokage, trapping Madara within!
"Madara, it's over. My dream continues, but yours has ended," Hashirama declared.
"Hashirama! People's dreams never end!!"
Madara turned his gaze to the green-glowing Sasuke. The statue Sasuke had summoned was restraining him. If he could eliminate Sasuke, he could easily turn the tide.
Madara had never viewed the Nine-Tails as a real threat.
He activated his Rinnegan to cast genjutsu, aiming to deal with Sasuke, but...
The genjutsu rebounded!
Sasuke's eyes glowed with brilliant white light—the light of the Tenseigan!
And along with that came black flames and Kotoamatsukami, forcing the will of others to bend.
Madara's mind wavered instantly.
When he came to his senses, he found Minato already closing in, trying to breach Susanoo and seal him.
He quickly left Susanoo and ascended into the sky.
Then he noticed Minato's position had been switched with Orochimaru, one he had previously ignored, who had nearly sealed him!
Fortunately, Minato and the others couldn't fly. As long as he stayed in the air, he would be invincible.
After all, Flying Thunder God could only teleport through marked locations.
But a green light flashed, and Madara was kicked back into Susanoo, just in time to meet Minato's sealing tag.
Sensing danger, Madara quickly used Shinra Tensei to push everything away.
At the same time, his Rinnegan targeted Naruto. The Rinnegan had a powerful suppressive effect on tailed beasts.
Madara had once subdued the proud Nine-Tails with just his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
And the Rinnegan was even stronger than the Eternal Mangekyo!
But...
Naruto wasn't the only one controlling the Nine-Tails. Inside the mental space were Minato and Kushina.
Minato, who had once reconciled with the Nine-Tails in the belly of the Death God, had been a perfect Jinchuriki and could easily control the beast.
Kushina, as the long-term Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, was also adept at controlling its chakra.
Ironically, among them, Naruto was the least experienced with the Nine-Tails!
"Mere beasts... How is this possible?!"
Madara was stunned as both Naruto and the Nine-Tails simultaneously broke free from the genjutsu.
Sensing the situation, Madara realized that Naruto housed several strong chakra presences, and only two had just acted!
There was an even stronger presence yet to make a move.
In that chakra, Madara sensed a terrifying aura, reminiscent of that man.
Uchiha Haneda!!!
Madara's brows furrowed. The current situation was slipping out of his control.
He had thought that upon his revival, he would sweep across the land unchallenged. Yet, the ninja world had changed drastically in these few years.
All of this, Madara suspected, was closely linked to that younger Haneda!
Even the fact that he had been able to roam between the Land of Wind, Rain, and Fire so easily might have been within Haneda's calculations!
Madara knew he couldn't afford to linger any longer.
For the sake of his ideals, he abandoned his pride, once again consuming the power of the Six Paths to conjure a Truth-Seeking Orb, aiming it at the Four Red Yang Formation.
Madara followed the orb to the barrier.
The orb emitted a bright light—a sign of imminent explosion.
Tobirama instantly understood Madara's intent. He shouted to Minato:
"Stop him! He wants to use the explosion to briefly break through the Four Red Yang Formation and escape, exploiting the immortality of Edo Tensei to stall you!"