Itachi never expected to defeat Madara, not in a battle where both sides fought with everything they had.
But Madara didn't know that. Every tactic Itachi was executing had already been rehearsed.
Even this traditional ninja-style duel between Itachi and Madara was a strategic decision made after Konoha's think tank analyzed Madara's personality.
As long as Itachi provoked him in the right way, Madara would take the bait, because his pride wouldn't allow him to lose to anyone other than Hashirama or Aoba.
Within just ten minutes, Itachi and Madara had exchanged hundreds of blows.
Surprisingly, despite the intensity of the battle, neither of their clothes had a single tear.
Madara was starting to realize something was wrong. His opponent's every attack and countermeasure wasn't aimed at defeating him, it was meant to show him something.
"Aoba, that brat, always playing these cryptic games." Madara had figured out Aoba's intentions, and it annoyed him. But at the same time, he found himself unable to ignore it.
If someone weak had tried to use such tricks, Madara would've crushed them without hesitation.
But when someone strong used them, it forced Madara to reflect.
Now, he was starting to understand Aoba's message.
From the very beginning, Aoba had no intention of going to war with Kirigakure. That was one of the things that irritated Madara about him, Aoba was too soft-hearted sometimes.
And yet, he had to admit… that very kindness made people trust him more.
This fight wasn't about determining a winner. It was about demonstrating power.
Before meeting Aoba, Madara had believed there were only two true ninjas in the world, himself and Hashirama. After meeting Aoba, that number became three.
To Madara, everyone else in the ninja world was nothing more than insects.
But Aoba orchestrated this battle specifically to shatter that belief.
Aoba himself didn't even step in, he let his subordinates fight instead. And they still managed to hold their own against Madara.
The most crucial part?
The core of this battle wasn't Kakashi with his dual Kamui. It wasn't the Fourth Hokage with his Flying Thunder God. It was Itachi, someone who, in Madara's eyes, was nothing more than a nobody.
Though he didn't want to admit it, Madara knew the truth.
The six people opposing him were holding their ground. Which meant, in a way, he had already lost.
Because Konoha still had Aoba.
If Madara was being stalled here, and Aoba made a move against Kirigakure, the entire village wouldn't stand a chance. Realizing this, Madara chose to stop fighting. He knew Aoba had been trying to convince him to work together against the elusive Sage of Six Paths.
Madara had never fully believed in the Sage's existence. But according to the intelligence Konoha had gathered, there was indeed a powerful, unknown enemy lurking somewhere in the ninja world.
Whether it was the Sage of Six Paths or not, Madara didn't care. What he did care about was that someone like that existed.
And that was something he could never tolerate.
Still, he had ignored Aoba's invitations to work together. Not because of logic, but because of pride.
Madara believed most of the ninja world wasn't even worthy of working with him.
Aoba was strong enough, sure.
But Aoba wanted to bring Konoha with him, to absorb Kirigakure into a unified ninja world under Konoha's leadership.
And that was something Madara couldn't stomach.
He acknowledged Aoba's strength, but seeing him achieve what he and even Hashirama had failed to do? That left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
So, Madara had pretended not to see Aoba's hints. Instead, he buried himself in Kirigakure's development, aiming to surpass Konoha and make Konoha join Kirigakure instead.
But today's battle had finally convinced him.
Madara had thought Konoha wasn't worthy of cooperating with him.
But now?
Konoha had six people who could hold him off, just six, and they fought him to a draw.
That alone proved they had earned the right to stand on equal ground.
These six people were Aoba's way of proving his sincerity.
They were proof that Konoha had the strength to unify the ninja world.
At this moment, even Madara had to admit, Kirigakure could never compare to Konoha.
Even after he personally trained an elite force, Kirigakure's ninjas simply couldn't keep up.
Konoha had something they didn't, chakra cloaks.
Regular ninjas were becoming obsolete.
This wasn't just a battle, it was a loss.
But Madara wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat.
Since his resurrection, he had come to understand that the ninja world had changed.
This was no longer his era.
This was Aoba's era.
What puzzled him, though, was why Aoba hadn't shown up.
At that moment, Aoba was elsewhere, focused on absorbing and integrating his newly acquired power.
He had absorbed nearly all the divine authority scattered across the ninja world.
And as a result, he was no longer the same as before.
He had purged all chakra from his body.
Now, the only power within him was natural energy.
And for the first time, he saw the world with absolute clarity.
Even with chakra, his perception had been powerful, greater than any sensor ninja. Only the Uzumaki clan's Kagura Mind's Eye and the Hyūga clan's Byakugan could compare.
But in this pure natural mode, he had gained an entirely different kind of perception.
He was now seeing the world from a deeper perspective.
To Aoba, the ninja world looked both unified and divided.
Unified, because chakra had now completely merged with the world, suppressing natural energy and becoming the dominant force.
There was still a fundamental rift between natural energy and chakra.
The native forces of the ninja world were still resisting, which was why, after Aoba's transformation, natural energy actively responded to him.
In mere minutes, he had completely mastered all the divine authorities derived from natural energy.
Beyond elemental forces like fire, ice, and storms. He now controlled strength, illusion, and even matter, all of it was at his command with a single thought.
At this moment, he had become the most complete god the ninja world had ever seen.
But… he still wasn't perfect.
There was one authority he lacked, the power of the Shinigami.
The Shinigami had been instrumental in facilitating his transformation. However, the current Shinigami was no longer the true god of death.
The reason was simple: the Pure Land, the Death God's domain, his divine kingdom, was already under the control of the Sage of Six Paths.
In other words, the Sage of Six Paths had stolen a large portion of the Death God's authority.
This meant that Aoba's power remained incomplete. But at the same time, it also meant that the Sage of Six Paths could no longer complete his grand scheme of merging all chakra authorities.
Even if Aoba refused to release Kaguya, the Sage could no longer accomplish his plan.
Because Sasuke, who had received all of Aoba's chakra, had now completed his final transformation.
He had successfully created the Truth-Seeking Orbs on his own.
In chakra-based systems, the Truth-Seeking Orbs represented authority, any ninjutsu that touched them would instantly disintegrate because they embodied the fundamental laws of chakra itself.
By mastering the Truth-Seeking Orbs, Sasuke had, in essence, gained control over a portion of chakra's fundamental authority.
This meant that as long as Sasuke remained alive, the Sage of Six Paths could never complete his chakra fusion plan.
As the reincarnation of Indra, Sasuke had now reached a combat level almost equal to the original Indra.
But it still wasn't enough.
Based on his analysis of the original storyline, Aoba estimated that the Sage of Six Paths' true power would be far beyond anything previously seen.
After all, he had merely granted a fraction of his power to Naruto and Sasuke, yet they had still been able to defeat both Madara and Kaguya.
If that was the result of just a fraction of his power…
Then his full power had to be on an entirely different level.
Even with his current strength and Sasuke by his side, victory was still not guaranteed.
But unlike Madara, Aoba didn't care about proving himself.
His goal was simple, defeat the Sage of Six Paths.
At any cost.
By any means necessary.
If you would like to read more...
The novel has be completed (Chp. 362) on the patreon -> SaintXI