"Is this the power of the Sage of Six Paths?"
After becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, Madara Uchiha felt the power within his body and glanced at the nine Truth-Seeking Balls floating around him, murmuring with a hint of realization, "So that's why it has such terrifying power."
Only after mastering the Truth-Seeking Balls did Madara understand why those small orbs could unleash such devastating force upon detonation.
The Truth-Seeking Balls were the product of the fusion of the seven nature transformations of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. This was essentially power from another dimension.
After all, Kekkei Genkai only involved the fusion of two nature transformations, and the Dust Release of the Second Tsuchikage and Ōnoki was merely the fusion of three. Even his Rinnegan only encompassed six nature transformations.
But these small orbs contained the fusion of seven nature transformations.
Moreover, this wasn't a Kekkei Genkai or a Kekkei Tōta, but a ninjutsu.
The power of Yagyu's Sage Art: Five Great Elemental Rasenshuriken was already world-destroying.
The Truth-Seeking Balls, formed from the fusion of seven nature transformations, naturally unleashed such power upon detonation.
Fortunately, Madara had now mastered this technique.
Thinking of this, Madara couldn't help but smile slightly.
Only Madara knew just how powerful he had become.
Though both were Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, Obito Uchiha wasn't even fit to tie Madara's shoes.
The gap between them was like heaven and earth—one in the sky, the other in the dirt.
Not only had Madara regained both eyes, bringing his ocular power to its peak, but the Ten-Tails within him had also reclaimed the complete chakra of all nine tailed beasts.
The difference between a Ten-Tails with the chakra of eight tailed beasts and a sliver of the Nine-Tails, and a Ten-Tails with the full chakra of all nine tailed beasts, was immense.
This gap was even larger than the difference between Nagato, who possessed a pair of Rinnegan but couldn't use Limbo: Border Jail, and Madara, who had regained both eyes.
As the true owner of the Rinnegan and a being who stood between the pinnacle of the Super Kage level and the Six Paths level, Madara faced no so-called "test of will."
After absorbing the Ten-Tails, he instantly became a perfect Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.
His strength leaped from the boundary between mortals and gods to a level just below Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.
If Madara wished, he could instantly soar into the sky, reveal the Rinne Sharingan hidden beneath his forehead protector, and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi to control the entire shinobi world. Whether strong or weak, all would be instantly annihilated by him.
Then, he could cast the Divine Tree's Descent, which could also cover the entire world, either severing the world's cause and effect or reclaiming the chakra of the shinobi world.
With a single thought, he could destroy the world; with another, he could reshape its order, turning the entire world into his playground... This was the level of power Madara now possessed.
His dream was within reach.
However, before severing cause and effect and creating a world of eternal peace, he had to eliminate the final threat.
Looking at Yagyu, who had flown in from a distance and was now looking down at him with the same Rinnegan, Madara grinned, his expression filled with appreciation. "I thought I was the only one in this world who knew the secret of the fusion of the two poles. I didn't expect you, a junior, to also know this secret. Was it a hidden legacy left by Hashirama, or did Tobirama discover it by studying my body? Or perhaps you, brat, can also decipher the Uchiha clan's stone tablet?"
"Unfortunately, none of your guesses are correct," Yagyu replied with a grin.
"It seems you still have unknown methods up your sleeve."
Madara nodded thoughtfully, but he felt no fear in his heart.
Because his current strength was simply too overwhelming.
If he were to be resurrected through Edo Tensei and see Hashirama Senju also resurrected, he would only feel excitement and a desire to show off the power of his Rinnegan to his old rival.
But now, even if Hashirama were resurrected, Madara would feel nothing.
The gap between them had become an insurmountable chasm.
Hashirama could no longer comprehend Madara's current level of power and thinking.
Not just Hashirama, but even his former self was like a frog at the bottom of a well, unaware of the vastness of the sky.
Even Yagyu, in Madara's eyes, was only a minor threat.
But he was not yet worthy of making Madara feel fear.
In Madara's eyes, the chakra within Yagyu was pitifully small.
Compared to his "infinite power," it was like the light of a firefly.
The only thing worth praising was Yagyu's Rinnegan, which was the same as his, as well as the Truth-Seeking Balls and the special mode similar to his current form.
But that was all.
Though both possessed the Rinnegan, the power of a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki was not something a pair of Rinnegan could compare to.
Feeling the omnipotent power within him, Madara grinned again. "Boy, you can only blame your own arrogance. The battle is over!"
If Yagyu had killed Obito Uchiha and immediately used the Ten-Tails Coffin Seal to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, Madara wouldn't have been able to obtain this level of power so easily.
One misstep, and the entire game was lost.
Now, Yagyu would pay the price for his arrogance.
With that, Madara glared at Yagyu and shouted, "Limbo: Border Jail!"
In an instant, four shadows, invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by even the strongest senses—only visible to those with perception on the level of another dimension or the supreme ocular techniques—shot into the air and charged toward Yagyu.
Moreover, unlike the Limbo: Border Jail Madara had used when he had just been resurrected and only regained one Rinnegan, these four shadows were an entire dimension stronger than the shadow he had used before.
After all, the Limbo shadows were special shadow clones, possessing strength on par with the original body.
The stronger the original body, the stronger the Limbo shadows.
Except for lacking the Ten-Tails and Kekkei Mōra, as well as various god-level techniques, the Limbo shadows could use any technique Madara could, and all of them would become invisible attacks.
These four shadows were the ultimate technique.
This was why Madara was so confident that the game was over.
But in the next moment, Madara, who had believed that a single Limbo: Border Jail would be enough to annihilate Yagyu, was shocked.
Yagyu, floating in the air, smiled slightly and murmured, "Limbo... Border Jail!"
In an instant, from Madara's Rinnegan perspective, four black shadows identical to him flew out of Yagyu's body and engaged in battle with the four shadows charging toward him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of muffled thunder continuously rang out in the air.
But there was no visible collision in the sky, which was clear and cloudless, with only a blood-red full moon and countless stars.
Madara's gaze shifted from the eight shadows battling in the inner world to Yagyu, his expression filled with shock and disbelief. "Why do you also have Limbo?!"
"Simple, you just dropped it," Yagyu replied with a light laugh.
"What do you mean?!"
Madara was confused, then began to speculate, his expression shifting to one of realization. "I see, so your Rinnegan's exclusive technique is a copying ability?"
Other than this explanation, Madara couldn't imagine how Yagyu had obtained Limbo: Border Jail, unless Rinnegan exclusive techniques were like Mangekyō Sharingan exclusive techniques, where two people could potentially possess the same ability.
But from Yagyu's tone, it wasn't hard to see that his Rinnegan exclusive technique wasn't Limbo: Border Jail. Yagyu had obtained it through some other means.
Thinking of this, Madara, who had previously dismissed Yagyu as a threat, now felt a sense of unease.
Limbo: Border Jail was one of his trump cards. If the opponent also had it, then he had lost a sure-kill technique.
However, feeling the innate abilities of the Ten-Tails within him, Madara quickly regained his confidence, a look of battle intent appearing on his face. "Very well, then I'll use you to test the power of the Sage of Six Paths!"
With that, Madara, holding the Six Paths Staff, shot into the air.
At the same time, he stretched out one hand toward Yagyu and, without forming any hand seals, shouted, "Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!"
In an instant, purple lightning shaped like tree branches, containing destructive power far beyond that of normal Lightning Release, formed a large net and swept toward Yagyu.
Unlike the Six Paths Madara in the original story, who only had one eye and hadn't absorbed the Divine Tree, this Madara had regained both Rinnegan, and the Ten-Tails within him had reclaimed the full chakra of all nine tailed beasts.
Thus, like the Ōtsutsuki clan, Madara could now use ninjutsu without forming any hand seals.
In response, Yagyu also extended his right hand and said with a light laugh, "Outer Path Maru!"
A small black hole appeared in his palm, releasing a powerful, invisible gravitational force. However, it didn't pull Madara toward him but instead sucked in the purple lightning net, converting it into purple Sage chakra that seeped into Yagyu's body.
In an instant, this Six Paths Sage Art-level Lightning Release technique was mastered by Yagyu.
Not only that, if Yagyu's mastery of Lightning Release nature transformation hadn't yet reached the level of this Six Paths Sage Art, his proficiency in Lightning Release and Six Paths Sage Art would instantly skyrocket to that level.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Outer Path Maru.
Even Truth-Seeking Balls could be devoured and instantly digested and mastered.
However, this was only the defensive and auxiliary function of the Outer Path Maru.
As mentioned earlier, the Outer Path Maru was an all-purpose technique, combining offense, defense, and support.
If the quality of colored light spheres was determined by the number of colors, with a maximum of nine, then Yagyu's Rinnegan exclusive technique, the Outer Path Maru, was the highest-level colored light sphere.
It could devour anything, turn the enemy's power into his own, and imprint it with his own mark rather than simply copying it. Moreover, the Outer Path Maru also possessed immense offensive power.
Yagyu raised his other hand toward Madara and uttered the name of a technique that once again caused Madara's expression to change. "Sage Art... Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!"
Whoosh—
A mini black hole reappeared, emitting a dazzling purple light.
Then, a purple beam containing terrifying destructive power shot out from the black hole, charging toward Madara. Even a mountain would be pierced and shattered like paper if struck by this beam.
The speed of the purple laser was incredibly fast, and it contained powerful Sage chakra. Even Madara would need to dodge or use Truth-Seeking Balls to block it.
And indeed, Madara did just that.
He manipulated several Truth-Seeking Balls around him, turning them into a black shield to block the incoming purple beam.
After the lightning beam dissipated, Madara, who had now seen through the essence of the technique, couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "An upgraded version of the Preta Path? Is this your exclusive technique?"
The Preta Path was one of the Six Paths Techniques of the Rinnegan and one of its most basic abilities.
Yet, this basic ability had become one of Nagato's ultimate techniques, allowing him to completely counter Ōnoki and become the gatekeeper of the Super Kage level, surpassing the Five Kage.
The Preta Path had the ability to absorb any ninjutsu.
As long as one's will was strong enough or their body could withstand it, they could absorb any technique, whether it was Yin-Yang Release, the Five Elements, or even Sage Art ninjutsu.
Of course, this only applied to energy-based techniques, not physical attacks like Wood Release.
Moreover, the ninjutsu absorbed by the Preta Path would be converted into the Rinnegan user's chakra.
If the Rinnegan user's chakra was depleted, the Preta Path could restore it by absorbing ninjutsu.
In the original story, Edo Tensei Nagato even used the Preta Path to absorb Killer Bee's tailed beast chakra, transforming from a skeletal, sickly man back into a youthful and handsome boy.
If it weren't for Kabuto not knowing how to fully utilize Edo Tensei Nagato, and the fact that Naruto's side had Itachi Uchiha with the Totsuka Blade, Edo Tensei Nagato alone could have easily defeated Killer Bee and Naruto.
With just a glance, Madara saw the essence of this technique, which was also called Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch but wasn't the purple lightning branches.
This beam of light was indeed named Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch.
Because this purple lightning was what he had just released.
The Sage chakra contained within this purple lightning beam was on the same level as his own.
In fact, this chakra was also his Ten-Tails chakra.
Yagyu had absorbed all the purple lightning and compressed it into a beam to return it to him.
This was something the Preta Path couldn't do.
Thus, Madara uttered those words.
Just as Limbo: Border Jail was a special shadow clone, Yagyu's exclusive technique was essentially a special, or rather, a perfected version of the Preta Path.
But if this was Yagyu's exclusive technique, then why did he also have Limbo: Border Jail?
As if realizing something, Madara's expression changed drastically as he looked at Yagyu. "Your exclusive technique can not only absorb ninjutsu but also copy ninjutsu, and even... ocular techniques?!"
Hearing this, Yagyu couldn't help but look at Madara with slight surprise, exclaiming, "Impressive! You figured out the Outer Path Maru's abilities with just one move."
Seeing Yagyu admit to it, Madara was even more shocked, and his wariness skyrocketed.
Because he had thought of something!
That was... Black Zetsu had only brought back the Rinnegan. Obito's body was still there.