"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The battle between the two intensified.
Dōjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu.
Technique after technique collided in rapid succession, and thunderous explosions echoed across Kirigakure.
The shockwaves roared like furious dragons, crashing down from above and destroying building after building.
Even the dense mist that perpetually covered the Hidden Mist Village was blown apart, revealing an unusually clear sky.
"Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!"
"Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Lightning Release Rasengan!"
Six Paths Senjutsu collided head-on with Seiryū's Senjutsu.
On one side, terrifying violet lightning branched wildly through the air.
On the other, a massive sphere of Lightning Release Chakra several dozen meters across hurtled forward.
"BOOM!"
Thunder exploded across the sky.
Lightning flashed like the wrath of a thunder god, illuminating the surroundings in stark white.
A massive shockwave erupted from the point of collision and tore apart the clouds overhead.
"Again!"
Seiryū grinned.
"Dragon Fist Burst!"
Beneath the lightning-filled sky, Seiryū's dragon-transformed body was wrapped in a crimson Chakra cloak.
His physique had become frighteningly powerful.
The muscles in his right arm bulged.
Chakra erupted.
He threw a punch.
A dragon-shaped blast of force tore through the air, destroying everything in its path.
This was Seiryū's strongest Taijutsu technique while using the Eight Inner Gates Formation.
Its power was even greater than Guy's Night Guy from the original story.
Madara's pupils contracted.
He had already experienced this attack once.
He knew exactly how dangerous it was.
Naturally, he had no intention of simply taking it.
The nine Truth-Seeking Balls instantly transformed into layered shields.
One after another, they stacked in front of him, forming a defense even more formidable than Susanoo.
"RUMBLE!"
A deafening shockwave shook the entire Hidden Mist Village.
Even though this was merely Taijutsu, the destructive force behind it was enough to resemble a natural disaster.
Crack!
Crack!
Truth-Seeking Balls could nullify ordinary Ninjutsu.
But they could not completely withstand a punch powerful enough to distort space itself.
Cracks spread across the black shields one layer at a time.
The fist force tore through all nine layers.
Although much of its power had been weakened, what remained was still terrifying.
"You won't hit me that easily now!"
Madara shouted.
He raised his Six Paths staff and smashed it forward.
Boom!
The impact exploded through the air.
Madara's body had undergone a fundamental transformation after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.
His Taijutsu was no longer comparable to that of an ordinary shinobi.
With a single strike, he shattered the weakened fist force completely.
The remaining energy scattered in every direction.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The ground below trembled repeatedly as the shockwaves struck.
"You blocked it?"
Seiryū showed no surprise.
"Then take another!"
With Dragon-Human Hollowification and the Eight Inner Gates Formation stacked together, Seiryū possessed Six Paths-level combat power.
Madara had also reached the Six Paths level.
Naturally, one attack was not going to decide the battle.
In the original story, Madara had taken Night Guy directly largely because Naruto's group had already interfered with his Truth-Seeking Balls.
More importantly, Madara's own arrogance had made him willing to experience Guy's attack personally.
That was why half his body had been destroyed.
And even then, he recovered.
A Six Paths-level lifeform had already undergone a qualitative transformation.
Killing one was not easy.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Seiryū began throwing punches continuously.
Each strike shattered the air and produced a piercing blast of fist force.
In an instant, he launched more than a hundred punches.
A dense barrage of compressed force swept toward Madara, threatening to tear apart everything in its path.
"Shinra Tensei!"
There were too many attacks to dodge.
Madara exhaled softly.
His Rinnegan gleamed.
An enormous repulsive force erupted outward and slammed into the incoming barrage.
Every punch was stopped.
"Yomotsu Kazutsu!"
Madara immediately activated another Rinnegan Dōjutsu.
A filthy crimson mist spread through the surroundings.
Flowers resembling blood-red spider lilies bloomed beneath them.
The entire area abruptly transformed into another realm.
Even though the two had been fighting high above Kirigakure, solid ground now appeared beneath their feet.
The stench of death and decay filled the air.
Hiss.
Hiss.
Hiss.
A crimson sea surged across the ground.
Everything it touched was corroded.
The liquid then evaporated into more blood-red mist carrying a powerful aura of death.
The entire realm had become deadly.
Contact with either the blood or the mist would erode a person's vitality.
A space-time Dōjutsu of the Rinnegan.
"It's stronger than before."
Seiryū swept one arm outward.
A violent gale erupted and scattered the approaching mist.
Although more of it continued forming, it could not easily reach him.
"The restrictions on space are stronger too."
Madara's Dōjutsu had become noticeably more powerful.
The spatial interference was now strong enough to hinder Seiryū's Flying Raijin Jutsu to a certain degree.
"Back then, it was my first time using this technique."
Madara smiled coldly.
"I wasn't familiar with it yet."
"And my strength is far greater now."
"Naturally, my Dōjutsu has become stronger as well."
He raised one hand.
"Die in this dimension!"
His Rinnegan flared.
The endless sea of blood surged upward.
Massive crimson waves rose like walls and crashed toward Seiryū with enough force to overwhelm mountains.
"Banshō Ten'in!"
At the same time, Madara unleashed another Dōjutsu.
An invisible gravitational pull locked onto Seiryū and tried to drag him toward the approaching sea.
"If it were that easy to kill me, I would have died a long time ago."
Seiryū anchored himself to the ground with Chakra.
His body did not move.
Then he formed a one-handed seal.
"Hadō #66: Hyōga Seiran!"
Hum!
An overwhelming wave of cold erupted.
Everything in its path froze instantly.
The advancing sea of blood transformed into ice.
Although the deathly aura within it rapidly corroded the frozen surface, the ice still bought Seiryū enough time.
Clatter!
Golden chains shot into the sky like living tentacles.
At the tips of the chains, bows formed.
Arrows were nocked.
Then countless Wind Release-enhanced Heilig Pfeil tore through the air.
They rained down in a dense barrage.
Without space-time Ninjutsu, dodging them would be extremely difficult.
"Tch."
Madara frowned.
"Senjutsu really is troublesome."
During their previous battle, he had already learned that Senjutsu could damage Truth-Seeking Balls.
And every one of Seiryū's arrows contained Senjutsu Chakra.
"Still."
"As long as it's Ninjutsu, the Rinnegan can absorb it!"
Madara activated Absorption Seal.
This time, however, he remained far more cautious.
He was already anticipating Seiryū's next trick.
This boy's tactics were infuriatingly deceptive.
Once, he had hidden a Flying Raijin formula on an arrow.
Another time, he had transformed himself into the arrow.
Madara had been fooled by both.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Pfft!
Absorption Seal erupted with powerful suction.
Fueled by Six Paths-level ocular power, its effectiveness had increased dramatically.
Every Heilig Pfeil that approached Madara was absorbed.
None reached him.
But the arrows did not stop.
More continued firing.
And more.
There was no end in sight.
"If I remember correctly."
Seiryū smiled coldly.
"This Dōjutsu is difficult to stop halfway through, isn't it?"
Absorption Seal could absorb Ninjutsu.
But once activated against a continuous technique, interrupting it was difficult.
Forcing the Dōjutsu to stop could cause backlash.
And the remaining Ninjutsu would immediately strike the user.
That was a weakness.
Boom!
Seiryū stepped forward.
The air shattered beneath his foot.
He crossed the distance between them in a fraction of a second.
Heilig Pfeil required no hand seals.
As long as Seiryū had sufficient Chakra, Fullbring: Heaven's Chain could continue firing them indefinitely.
His hands remained completely free.
"Dragon Fist Burst!"
Madara was still maintaining Absorption Seal.
Seiryū's speed was simply too fast.
By the time Madara realized what had happened, he no longer had enough time to defend properly.
Boom!
Seiryū's fist struck Madara directly.
The compressed power exploded on impact.
If Madara had still possessed an ordinary human body, he would have been blown apart instantly.
Even with his Six Paths body, the impact was devastating.
Half of Madara's body shattered.
"Guh!"
He spat out a large mouthful of blood.
His body flew backward uncontrollably.
He was sent through the Sanzu River created by Yomotsu Kazutsu and continued flying.
Finally, he slammed into a distant mountain.
Boom!
The entire mountain shattered and collapsed around him.
"Gran Rey Cero!"
A full Cero Oscuras required Seiryū to compress Chakra in a way similar to a Tailed Beast Ball.
That took a little time.
Gran Rey Cero also required preparation, but as Seiryū's strength had increased and his control over the Dragon Vein had become complete, that preparation time had shortened dramatically.
It was not as fast as an ordinary Cero or Bala.
But now it required less than a second.
A deep purple light flashed.
Then a brilliant beam tore through the world.
It descended directly toward the mountain where Madara had crashed.
The strength of a technique ultimately depended upon its user.
The stronger Seiryū became, the stronger his techniques became.
Although he had not yet truly crossed the Six Paths threshold in terms of life level, the Gran Rey Cero he unleashed in this state had already touched the level of a Sage.
"RUMBLE!"
The already-collapsing mountain was completely erased.
Countless boulders were blasted into fragments.
The resulting explosion expanded like an enormous inverted bowl.
Its force resembled a volcanic eruption.
Then a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
It climbed thousands of meters.
The surrounding mountain peaks were flattened by the shockwave.
The entire region became a vast plain.
Aside from the gigantic crater at its center.
"As expected."
Seiryū looked at the destruction and gave himself a thumbs-up.
"I'm ridiculously strong now."
This Gran Rey Cero was even stronger than the Cero Oscuras he had used against Madara in the past.
The reason was simple.
His current explosive output had reached the Six Paths level.
His fundamental existence had not yet reached that realm.
But his raw combat power had.
Previously, he had only managed attacks approaching the Six Paths level.
There was another reason as well.
Dragon-Human Hollowification was a deeper application of Dragon Vein Chakra.
It naturally increased the power of Cero-based attacks.
So producing a stronger Cero now was entirely reasonable.
His base strength had increased.
Boom!
An invisible force suddenly tore through the rising mushroom cloud.
The smoke dispersed.
Madara stood in the middle of the crater.
More than half his body was missing.
Blood poured from his mouth.
The injuries were horrifying.
An ordinary person would have died many times over.
But Madara was no longer ordinary.
His Six Paths body contained overwhelming vitality.
Yang Power.
Even injuries this severe were not enough to kill him.
His body regenerated visibly.
"I had only watched your strength before."
Madara stood proudly within the crater.
"Now that I've experienced it personally, I finally understand."
"Even in my current state, dealing with you is difficult."
Within two seconds, Madara's body had completely regenerated.
Even his Chakra fluctuations had barely weakened.
He remained close to peak condition.
A Six Paths-level being whose existence had undergone a qualitative transformation was not so easy to kill.
"You're not bad either."
Seiryū smiled.
"At least you're stronger than Urashiki."
"If it had been him, he probably wouldn't have survived that combination cleanly. I might already have had him sealed."
Dragon Fist Burst alone had been brutal.
Then came Gran Rey Cero.
Yet Madara had managed to survive both.
His combat instincts and experience were vastly superior to Urashiki's.
If Seiryū had continued pressing the attack, Madara likely still would have found a way to respond without wasting too much Chakra.
After all, Seiryū's current state had one weakness.
His Chakra reserves were far inferior to Madara's.
If he merely maintained Dragon-Human Hollowification and the Eight Inner Gates Formation without fighting intensely, Seiryū could probably sustain them for several days.
But under continuous high-intensity combat, half a day was likely his limit.
And even that was only possible because Quincy Vollständig and Yang Power had dramatically improved his recovery.
Without those abilities, lasting even an hour would have been difficult.
Still, half a day was more than enough.
Shinobi battles almost never lasted that long.
Even during the Fourth Shinobi World War, the final battles against Six Paths Obito, Six Paths Madara, and Kaguya had all taken place over the course of a single night.
"Urashiki Ōtsutsuki."
Madara narrowed his eyes.
"Have you learned more about him?"
The memory of Urashiki remained vivid.
That man had also possessed power at the level of a Sage.
Then Madara shook his head.
"Of course."
"That Uchiha from the other space-time is currently in Konoha."
"It doesn't matter."
Madara's expression became dismissive.
"If someone at that level could be defeated so easily by you, then even if he is a Sage, he is a weak Sage."
"In terms of realm alone, Urashiki is actually above the Six Paths level."
Seiryū replied calmly.
"He's simply terrible at fighting and incapable of bringing out the full power of Kekkei Mōra."
Seiryū mocked Urashiki constantly.
But he had never genuinely underestimated him.
During their battle, Seiryū had fought seriously from the beginning.
"Kekkei Mōra."
Madara's expression sharpened.
"The realm of the Rabbit Goddess, the Progenitor of Chakra, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
"The realm beyond the peak of the Sage of Six Paths."
"One cannot reach it simply by becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki."
He looked at Seiryū.
"You certainly know a great deal."
"Yeah."
Seiryū replied casually.
"My great-uncle researched this kind of thing and left notes behind."
Madara sneered.
"Heh."
"Other people might believe that excuse."
"But I knew Tobirama Senju."
"That man treated myths and legends as nonsense. How could he possibly have researched something like this?"
Seiryū fell silent.
He could not be bothered arguing about it.
Instead, he licked his lips and stared at Madara with a grin.
"Finished regenerating?"
"If you're done, let's continue."
"I still have some new techniques I want to test against a Six Paths-level opponent."
That was one of the main reasons Seiryū had come here personally.
First, he wanted to confirm whether Madara had truly reached the Six Paths level.
Second, he wanted to measure his own current combat power.
Knowing exactly how strong he had become was just as important as knowing the enemy's strength.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)