During the execution of Ultimate Ghost Sword Art: Storm Style, the twenty-four weapons rapidly dwindled in number, while the wounds on Madara's body steadily increased.
After consecutively deploying two Limbo clones, Madara looked at the many blades still remaining around him and felt his scalp go numb.
No… I can't keep using Limbo clones to evade this.
The recovery of Limbo clones takes time. No matter what, I have to reserve the final clone to guard against Hoshiyomi's finishing move.
With that thought, Madara forcibly suppressed the urge to use his last Limbo clone to absorb damage. Instead, enduring two direct slashes, he forcefully summoned his Susanoo.
The Perfect Susanoo enclosed Madara within it. At a glance, it looked secure—but in reality, it was utterly insufficient.
Even the Perfect Susanoo struggled against Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands. How could it possibly withstand a higher-level technique like Ultimate Ghost Sword Art: Storm Style?
Even as Madara desperately poured his ocular power into repairing the Susanoo, it still visibly began to crumble at an alarming rate.
Within the sword formation, the twenty-three weapons rapidly decreased, while Madara's Susanoo gradually collapsed under wave after wave of sword light.
When only three or four blades remained before Storm Style ended, Madara's Susanoo finally shattered completely. Yet Madara still did not summon a Limbo clone to redirect the damage.
He knew that unless all the blades were expended, the sword formation would not disappear. Gritting his teeth, he chose to withstand the final sword lights with his own body.
At last, all the blades in the sky were exhausted. At some unknown moment, Hoshiyomi appeared beside the central Mikazuki Munechika, while the battered Madara finally began to fall from the air.
Watching Madara rapidly descend, Hoshiyomi's eyes were devoid of emotion. He pulled Mikazuki Munechika from the ground. The instant it left the sheath, blue-silver light visibly spread outward.
Feeling the blazing blue-silver radiance radiating from Mikazuki Munechika, an emotion called fear surfaced in Madara's heart.
It was as if every cell in his body was screaming at him—Do not try to tank this final strike. In his current, shattered state, there was absolutely no way he could endure its power.
Sensing his final Limbo clone, Madara knew he could not take another hit.
Gritting his teeth, he summoned his last Limbo clone in the very final second before landing.
The blue-silver sword light unleashed by Mikazuki Munechika was completely blocked by the Limbo clone. Seizing the opportunity, Madara shot skyward and shouted:
"Die, Gekko Hoshiyomi! Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang!"
Facing Madara's Light Fang, even Hoshiyomi was taken aback. While he had anticipated Madara using his final Limbo clone to block the last strike, he hadn't expected that after enduring so many impacts, Madara would still have the strenght to release a high-level Sage Art like Storm Release Light Fang.
At this moment, Hoshiyomi had just swung his final strike; his old strength was spent, and his new strength had yet to rise.
Consequently, he had no effective way to block the Light Fang. He could only activate Dance of the Startled Swan as fast as possible, using the displacement of the sword-shadows to escape the range of the attack.
Although Hoshiyomi successfully opened the distance, the Light Fang—which was sharp enough to easily sever Truth-Seeker Orbs—still bypassed the blue-silver sword-shadows rotating around him. It left a massive wound on his shoulder blade, nearly severing his entire left arm.
Separated by dozens of meters, neither of them dared to move rashly. Both gasped for breath, rapidly recovering from their injuries.
Although Hoshiyomi had been caught off guard by Madara's Light Fang at a critical moment, overall, Madara had suffered far more severe damage.
At this moment, Madara looked far more battered than he did in the original storyline after forcibly tanking Might Guy. His body was covered in wounds of all sizes, the most severe one cutting across him from left to right, nearly splitting him in half.
It was only because the Ten-Tails inside him was continuously restoring his injuries that he was still alive. Without that regeneration, a wound like this alone would have been enough to kill him.
Madara no longer dared to underestimate Hoshiyomi. This was no "bootleg" version of Six Paths power—just moments ago, that terrifying sword formation had nearly taken his life.
He no longer attacked recklessly. Forcing himself to appear calm, Madara floated in the air and laughed loudly as he spoke:
"Worthy indeed of being a man I acknowledge, Gekko Hoshiyomi. When it comes to swordsmanship, I am willing to call you the strongest in the shinobi world."
On the surface, Madara looked carefree, but in truth he was secretly buying time. Recovering his injuries was only secondary—the real priority was his Limbo clones.
One minute. Just one more minute, and Limbo: Border Jail would be usable again. Limbo was practically four extra lives for him.
As long as he could use Limbo again, now that he had grasped Hoshiyomi's trump cards, he was confident he could kill Gekko Hoshiyomi.
With that mindset, Madara put on an indifferent expression and continued looking down at Hoshiyomi:
"What's wrong? Did that sword technique just now drain all your stamina? If that's all you've got, then I'll be taking your head."
Seeing that Hoshiyomi remained motionless below, Madara secretly rejoiced. Looks like Gekko Hoshiyomi has used up a lot of energy too.
Five seconds. Just five more seconds, and Limbo: Border Jail would be ready again. After five seconds, the outcome would be completely rewritten.
Just as Madara was thinking this to himself, Hoshiyomi suddenly looked up at him and broke into a wide grin.
Hoshiyomi hadn't spoken earlier for any other reason—he was simply recovering the injury to his left arm, waiting for his final attack.
Seeing that his left arm was barely usable again, Hoshiyomi immediately activated Dance of the Startled Swan.
He crossed the dozens of meters of space in a single blink, appearing instantly before Madara. Looking at the horrified Madara, Hoshiyomi gripped the Mikazuki Munechika with both hands and said:
"Do you think I can't tell you're stalling for time, waiting for that 'Limbo: Border Jail' to recover? Unfortunately, even if that move is ready, it's impossible for you to dodge my attack.
Ultimate — Swallow Reversal (Tsubame Gaeshi)!"
As he spoke, time itself seemed to freeze. Between heaven and earth, only Hoshiyomi moved.
In that instant, his figure split into three, completely transcending the limits of space, delivering slashes simultaneously from above, the left, and the right.
Madara looked at the incoming blades with an expression of pure terror. He suddenly realized Hoshiyomi was right—even if the Limbo cooldown had reset, there was no way to dodge this.
While Limbo clones existed in the "Limbo world," projecting them into reality still required a fraction of time. Even if Madara forcibly released them now, it was too late.
Hoshiyomi's attack sealed off every possible path of escape. Even if Limbo were deployed, all four Limbo clones would be cleaved apart by these three slashes—
because this move, just like Limbo: Border Jail itself, was not an attack launched from the current space at all.
...
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