The colossal battle between Perfect Susano'o and the Juubi raged on.
In just two waves of their clash's aftermath, most of Konoha Village had been reduced to ashes, and the few ninjas who couldn't escape in time perished within.
As Tsunade had predicted, regardless of the battle's outcome tonight, Konoha was utterly finished.
Similarly, Kabuto watched the battle with glee, his entire body trembling with excitement, unconsciously praising:
"Is this Uchiha Madara's power?"
"Incredible!"
"No wonder Orochimaru-sama was so obsessed with this strength!"
"And this is still the complementary fusion of Uchiha and Senju's Yin and Yang. No wonder it can rival the Juubi!"
With the power of one ninja, matching a monster combining the strength of nine Tailed Beasts.
This man named Madara was, in a sense, no longer human.
To restore as much of Madara's living strength as possible, Kabuto had invested heavily in this Edo Tensei body, even incorporating Hashirama's cells. It could be said he'd gone all out.
Even so, he couldn't restore 100% of Madara's original power.
But it was likely over 90%...
Kabuto's desire for that adorable Uchiha Sasuke grew stronger.
He was determined to get Sasuke, no matter what. Even if he couldn't win his heart, he'd have his body!
'Right, where's my Sasuke?'
'While Madara and Nagato are locked in fierce combat, this is the perfect chance to kidnap Sasuke!'
Kabuto immediately began searching, quickly locking onto Sasuke's position. His body flickered, and he vanished from the Hokage Rock.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
On the other side, the unconscious Sasuke was, of course, carried away by Edo Itachi, far from Konoha Village.
He also encountered the heavily injured Kisame.
As they moved, Kisame glanced back at the battlefield, clicking his tongue in awe:
"It can actually rival the Juubi."
"This power is just too much! The Uchiha Clan—are they all this abnormal?"
Itachi didn't respond, only silently quickening his retreat. He knew Kisame wasn't calling him abnormal, but it still felt strange.
On the battlefield, Madara, with his extraordinary combat awareness and vast experience, was controlling Susano'o and momentarily suppressing the Juubi, even severing two of its tails and many tendrils.
"If this keeps up, won't the leader lose?" Kisame wondered with interest.
He didn't care much about who won or lost, but subconsciously, he didn't want Konoha to win. After all, if Konoha truly won, Itachi might not stay with the organization!
However, it was hard to say if Edo Madara represented Konoha's side...
"No way. If it's just like this, the ancestor will struggle to defeat the Juubi!" Itachi's sharp eyes and insight were undoubtedly more experienced and keen, differing from Kisame's perspective.
Though Madara's Perfect Susano'o seemed ferocious, as if pummeling the Juubi, a closer look revealed that all the chakra emitted by the Susano'o was being absorbed by the Juubi!
Simply put, the Juubi, capable of absorbing all chakra, grew stronger the longer it fought, its HP thickening...
Meanwhile, Madara, despite the rapid chakra recovery of his Edo body, couldn't sustain the long-term consumption of the massive Perfect Susano'o.
If this dragged on, the Susano'o would likely be drained first!
Of course, Madara's rich combat experience also noticed this, so he frequently used close-quarters combat, reducing chakra-based energy attacks to slow the Juubi's absorption.
But this only delayed the Juubi's absorption rate, not a permanent solution.
Moreover, Madara's Perfect Susano'o was ultimately smaller than the Juubi's entire body, putting him at a significant size disadvantage, far inferior to the Rikudo Sennin's Ultimate Susano'o.
"Then what do we do?"
"Stay calm and wait for the outcome."
Itachi replied calmly, advising against anyone rushing in to court death.
Patting Sasuke on his shoulder, the latter finally woke up groggily.
"My head…"
"Shh! So dizzy… Right! I was fighting Naruto; that bastard, he…"
"Wait, that?!"
!!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ
Sasuke, waking up dazed and still furious, was clearly upset with Naruto.
But the next second, he saw the Perfect Susano'o in the distance and the familiar Uchiha ancestor. Sasuke instinctively clenched, his entire body trembling unconsciously.
Memories of the merciless beating from last time flooded his mind, making him wonder if he'd been sent back to Parallel World 1.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Is this the Juubi's power?"
"It's only so-so, still far behind Hashirama's giant Buddha statue."
Madara, enjoying the fight, mocked Nagato and the Juubi.
The Juubi's power was indeed beyond imagination, but without intelligence, it was just a massive beast with raw strength. Nagato couldn't fully control it either.
Compared to Hashirama in his prime, such a Juubi had a significant gap.
Simply put: The Juubi's maximum energy was 100,000, but it could only output 10,000.
Hashirama's maximum was 10,000, but he could output 15,000, even 20,000...
This was the biggest difference between a Tailed Beast and a perfect Jinchuriki.
"Though your arrogance hasn't changed, compared to the one with flesh and blood, you're far behind."
Nagato ignored Madara's provocations, focusing all his effort on controlling the Juubi.
He had no dignity or pride; even the Rinnegan wasn't his own power. Everything Nagato had was solely to change Amegakure's future!
"Hm? Which one?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Wait… you're an Edo body too? You're dead as well?"
Gradually, Madara noticed something odd about Nagato atop the Juubi's head. The opponent was, like him, an Edo Tensei!
"Correct. I'm dead, and I even used Rinne Tensei to revive many Konoha ninjas!"
"What did you say?!"
Edo Madara was struck hard, unable to believe the pawn he'd carefully chosen and nurtured had used the precious Rinne Tensei on Konoha's people?
This wasn't just foolishness—it was blatant betrayal!
"What, angry that your pawn defied your plan?"
"Then where's my Rinnegan?"
"Gone."
Nagato's "gone" meant it no longer existed in this space and time.
But to Edo Madara's ears, it sounded like his Rinnegan had been destroyed!
How could he tolerate that?
"What?! Impossible!"
"You're lying to me—you're courting death!"
Madara was furious. Without the Rinnegan, how could he cast Mugen Tsukuyomi?
His entire plan would stall.
He absolutely couldn't accept it!
"Courting death? You can't even defeat the Juubi—what can you do?"
The Juubi's near-infinite energy and near-immortal regeneration gave Nagato immense confidence. He wouldn't lose!
"Hmph! Just a mount—think you're the only one with one?"
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Madara formed hand seals and cast the jutsu. He'd long sensed the Juubi before him was incomplete.
It was missing a significant portion of chakra, clearly because the opponent hadn't absorbed one of the Tailed Beasts...
The next second, Madara sensed the summoning contract's connection and abruptly looked up at the giant meteorite ball in the distant sky.
"So it's there! Easy enough."
Madara grinned, suddenly controlling Susano'o. Its massive, brilliant double wings flapped, lifting the Susano'o into the air.
It flew toward the Chibaku Tensei meteorite in the sky.
*SWOOSH!*
A long sword sliced through the air, a deep blue crescent blade light blooming in the night sky.
Blazing chakra split the giant meteorite with force, smooth as cutting butter. The shattered meteorite scattered like fireworks in the sky.
With one strike, a third of the massive Chibaku Tensei meteorite was cleaved.
It hit exactly where the Kyuubi was sealed.
"Roar—!"
A ferocious yet ecstatic Kyuubi broke free, howling at the sky.
But before its joyous howl ended, the Kyuubi and a very confused Naruto were forcibly yanked from the meteorite by Susano'o's giant hand!