"It seems you two failed to divide the spoils."
Yagyu floated over, teasing with a smile before exuding an overwhelming aura of dominance. "There's no need to fight over it. Both of you will die by my hand anyway."
"Hmph... You dare speak so boldly, brat."
Seeing Yagyu dismiss both him and Obito Uchiha so casually, Madara Uchiha, who had reclaimed one of his Rinnegan and believed his strength far surpassed his reanimated self, sneered disdainfully. Then, with the same domineering attitude as Yagyu, he declared, "In that case, I'll start with you."
As if responding to Madara's words, the Limbo shadow immediately abandoned its attack on Obito's protective shell and shot toward Yagyu like an arrow.
However, Madara had no idea that the Limbo shadow's movements were completely exposed to Yagyu's perception.
Even without activating his Rinnegan, Yagyu, in his Six Paths Sage Mode, could clearly detect the presence of the Limbo shadow.
Just as Karin's Sensory Mind Eye, though lacking the Byakugan's long-range vision, could perceive vague shadows through chakra, Yagyu's senses picked up a black afterimage speeding toward him like an arrow.
A faint smile curled on Yagyu's lips as three of the nine Truth-Seeking Balls surrounding him liquefied and merged into a thick black rope, lashing out to bind the approaching shadow.
Perhaps because the Limbo shadow thought Yagyu couldn't see it, or perhaps because it lacked consciousness and only followed the caster's commands, it charged at Yagyu head-on.
The black rope caught the Limbo shadow off guard, binding it tightly.
"What?!"
Seeing this, Madara, who had been confident just moments ago, was stunned. "The Limbo shadow was detected? How is that possible?!"
"So this is your Rinnegan's unique ocular technique? How underwhelming!"
Yagyu mocked with a laugh, then flicked his finger.
In an instant, Yin-Yang Release infused life force into the earth from a distance.
Boom, boom, boom...
Just as Madara, after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, could use the Divine: Deep Forest Emergence to cover the entire ninja world and even the surrounding islands, the ground shook violently, splitting into massive fissures. Countless tree branches surged forth, rapidly forming an expansive, dense forest dotted with enormous red flowers.
As the petals bloomed, invisible pollen spread rapidly, quickly enveloping the entire forest.
Vine-like branches, seemingly with a mind of their own, shot toward Madara, attempting to bind him. Although Madara easily dodged them, the spreading pollen forced him to activate the third stage of his Susanoo to shield himself.
In truth, Madara could have used a single eye to activate the Complete Body — Susanoo, just as Itachi Uchiha had done, though it would require some charging time.
But Madara wasn't that foolish.
If Yagyu and Obito hadn't grown stronger, he might have considered it.
However, after witnessing the power of the Truth-Seeking Balls, activating the Complete Body — Susanoo would only make him a slow-moving target, wasting vast amounts of chakra.
On the ground, the Complete Body — Susanoo would be constantly drained of chakra by the Divine: Deep Forest Emergence.
Flying into the air, the Complete Body — Susanoo would be far more vulnerable to a Truth-Seeking Ball explosion than to Dust Release.
Dust Release was merely a fusion of three chakra natures, but those black spheres contained at least five, if not six or seven, chakra natures fused together.
The rules they embodied far surpassed Dust Release.
While Dust Release could be absorbed, Madara wasn't sure about the black spheres.
He wasn't about to test it.
Now that he was in a living body, he wouldn't take the reckless risks he had as a reanimated corpse.
So Madara chose to play it safe, lowering his presence and using the Divine: Deep Forest Emergence to hide himself, hoping Yagyu and Obito would fight each other first.
Regardless of who won, Obito would be weakened.
Moreover, Madara leaned toward Obito, hoping he could defeat Yagyu, as Yagyu could see the Limbo shadow.
If Yagyu couldn't see the Limbo shadow, Madara wouldn't have hesitated to crush him and Obito, forcing Obito to hide inside his Truth-Seeking Balls.
But there were no "ifs."
With the Limbo shadow exposed, Madara became a target Yagyu could easily counter.
Now, the three of them were in a stalemate: Madara countered Obito, Yagyu countered Madara, and Obito countered no one.
This was the tragedy of being a Six Paths gatekeeper.
Against weaker opponents, it was a one-sided slaughter. Against equals, weaknesses were exposed.
Madara's plan was immediately clear to Yagyu, but instead of pressing the attack, Yagyu silently played along, turning his attention to Obito, who had finally emerged from his Truth-Seeking Ball shield after sensing the danger had passed.
Madara was a versatile tool, and Yagyu had gone to great lengths to ensure his revival, even creating a special clone named Hundred Faces to infiltrate the Akatsuki and work under Nagato and Obito for years.
To ensure Madara's revival, Yagyu had put on an elaborate act throughout the war, all leading to this final showdown.
Madara was the most crucial piece of the puzzle, a piece that could be used twice.
Extracting the Rinnegan from him to awaken his own Rinnegan early was only part of the plan.
More importantly, Yagyu needed Madara to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, just as in the original story, and then serve as the vessel for Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's resurrection.
With both Rinnegan and the Ten-Tails, Madara's overall strength might far surpass Kaguya, who lacked combat experience and relied on the weakest of the Ōtsutsuki, Black Zetsu, for advice.
But no matter how strong Madara was, he was still just a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, not the progenitor of chakra.
As the one who had consumed the chakra fruit, Kaguya had ascended to the pinnacle of the Six Paths, possessing several Kekkei Mōra and even the Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball capable of destroying the world.
If not for her lack of combat experience, with her power, the Ōtsutsuki clan from outer space would have been no match for her.
If Madara had her level of power, any Ōtsutsuki who came to Earth would be annihilated.
This also showed just how powerful the energy of this planet was.
Only such immense energy could allow Kaguya, after consuming a single chakra fruit, to rival the strength of other Ōtsutsuki who had consumed numerous pills.
And the Kekkei Mōra within Kaguya was Yagyu's ultimate goal.
Yomotsu Hirasaka, Amenominaka, Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist, All-Killing Ash Bones, Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball...
Each of these abilities was a game-breaking power.
Yagyu didn't know if the game system could drop the Rinne-Sharingan. If it could, he might grow a third eye, or his eyes might evolve beyond the Byakugan, Sharingan, and Rinnegan into a new form.
At that point, he might be able to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Divine: Deep Forest Emergence.
If that happened, Yagyu's strength would rival Kaguya's, the progenitor of chakra, even if his chakra reserves fell short.
The entire ninja world, and perhaps even the planet, would become Yagyu's playground.
With his combat experience and knowledge of the plot, even if Hagoromo and Hamura Ōtsutsuki returned from the afterlife, they wouldn't be a match for him.
The same went for Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, who was hiding somewhere in the ninja world or another dimension.
After all, Isshiki's current body was too weak and fragile.
If he dared to show himself, Yagyu would drop everything to eliminate this threat.
The only ones who could make Yagyu wary were the Ōtsutsuki clan from outer space.
Not the ones from Boruto's era, but the unknown number of Ōtsutsuki who might have transcended the world or failed and remained hidden.
Only these hypothetical enemies were worthy opponents for Yagyu.
But they were still far off.
For now, Yagyu's goal was Kaguya.
To ensure her resurrection, Yagyu had to help Madara eliminate Obito.
Thus, Yagyu stopped playing around and decided to end things quickly.
With a flick of his finger, the lush forest below began to tremble violently.
Countless towering trees sprouted green branches, which intertwined and surged upward, forming a massive wooden hand the size of a mountain, slamming down toward Obito.
This wooden hand was akin to the hands of the Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands — Top Transformation, so large that even the Nine-Tails, the Wood Human, or the Complete Body — Susanoo would be mere toys in its grasp.
As the hand opened and descended, it was as if the sky itself was falling, blocking out the moonlight and creating distorted air currents that sparked flames from the friction.
The sheer destructive power of this strike was terrifying. If it landed on the forest, it would reduce the vast expanse of trees to rubble.
Even Madara, hidden within the forest and using his Susanoo to block the pollen, felt the familiar pressure.
It was like facing Hashirama's Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands — Top Transformation.
But unlike Hashirama's technique, Yagyu's strike, infused with natural energy and Wood Release chakra at the Six Paths level, far surpassed Hashirama's.
This strike wasn't just Wood Release—it was Six Paths Sage Art Wood Release.
The addition of two words made all the difference, just as the gap between Sage Mode and Six Paths Sage Mode.
Yet, faced with this world-destroying strike capable of obliterating any village, large or small, Obito didn't dodge or flee. He remained floating in the air, his back to the descending hand, motionless.
As the pressure from the colossal hand's descent enveloped him, two of Obito's Truth-Seeking Balls shot upward, glowing with a blinding white light that tore through the darkness cast by the hand, unleashing a force capable of annihilating all creation.
Seeing Obito's arrogance, not even using the Cross Fire Technique or the Sword of Nunoboko, a weapon created by Hagoromo during his time as the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki and marked on the Gedo Statue, Yagyu almost laughed out loud.
This was one of the pitfalls of a weakling suddenly gaining immense power, and one of the reasons Yagyu had no desire to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki and gain near-infinite chakra and innate abilities.
Before becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, Obito had been far too weak.
The sudden influx of such overwhelming power left him unable to control it as effortlessly as Madara.
For years, Obito had relied on Kamui's intangibility, simply hiding in the Kamui dimension to avoid any attack.
This habit likely led Obito to transfer his dependence on Kamui to the Truth-Seeking Balls after discovering their immense power.
He likely assumed Yagyu's strike was similar to Madara's Sage Art Wood Release, which the Truth-Seeking Balls could easily disintegrate upon contact, let alone the explosive, world-destroying power they could unleash.
What Obito didn't realize was that Yagyu's strike contained two Six Paths Sage Techniques capable of harming a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, as well as physical force.
These Six Paths Sage Techniques were among the few things the Truth-Seeking Balls couldn't completely erase.
Even if the Truth-Seeking Balls self-destructed, they couldn't fully negate these techniques.
And this was exactly what Yagyu wanted.
Boom—
As the deafening explosion reverberated across the Land of Rain, the blinding white light rapidly expanded, engulfing the descending wooden hand and the lush forest below.
Madara, looking up at the scene, quickly used his Limbo shadow to protect himself while attempting to absorb the roaring energy with the Preta Path.
Even someone as powerful as Madara had to defend with everything he had.
This was a world-destroying strike.
Within the white light, the forest's shadows rapidly disappeared, as if erased by an invisible hand.
Only the shadow of the massive hand remained, breaking apart into countless small black dots that rained down like a torrential downpour, passing by a humanoid shadow.
Any black dots that tried to land on the shadow were erased.
At that moment, another humanoid shadow appeared beside the first, wielding a sword that slashed at the instinctively dodging shadow, severing one of its arms.
"Yomi: Soul Slash!"