The Sage of Six Paths coughed up a mouthful of blood, his head turning with imnse difficulty. His gaze fell upon Uchiha Madara, who stood behind him, and his eyes blazed with a mixture of fury and disbelief. "Madara," he rasped, "how dare you betray ? Do you no longer care for your brother's soul?"
He had always known Madara despised him, but he never fathod that the Uchiha would choose this precise mont to strike. It made no sense. According to the future he had foreseen, Madara was not supposed to act now!
While his precognitive eyes allowed him to see the threads of fate, any action he took to alter that future created a montary blind spot—a single second where he was completely unaware of the new tiline. In that brief window, he could not see what was to co.
Monts ago, he had foreseen Kagami's devastating Space-Ti attack. Instead of defending against it as the original tiline dictated, he had opted to imdiately transfer his consciousness into Hashirama Senju. This deviation created that one-second gap in his foresight, a fatal opening he never expected Madara to exploit. He had believed that holding Izuna's soul hostage would guarantee Madara's obedience, at least for now.
But he was wrong. Madara chose this exact mont to strike, and his attack had been devastatingly successful.
This sudden turn of events caused even Kagami's assault to pause, a flicker of surprise flashing across his otherwise cold expression. It seed that not even he could have predicted such a dramatic betrayal at this critical juncture.
"Silence, you old coot! Izuna is already gone!"
At the ntion of his brother's soul, Madara's rage boiled over. He thrust several more Truth-Seeking Orbs through the Sage's body. He hadn't originally planned to intervene yet, but a powerful premonition had seized him—an unshakable feeling that the Sage was about to do sothing terrible to Hashirama. He had to act imdiately.
The Sage dared to target his dearest friend. For Madara, that was unforgivable. He launched his ambush without a shred of hesitation. He had intended to betray the Sage from the very beginning; acting now simply ant he could save Hashirama in the process.
The Sage of Six Paths would die never knowing that his choice to attack Hashirama Senju was the very act that triggered Madara's betrayal. It was a bitter irony; he who played with the flow of ti was ultimately consud by it.
Under the fatal wounds inflicted by the Truth-Seeking Orbs, the Sage's body began to disintegrate as if consud by an invisible fire. His face was a mask of pure, undiluted rage and frustrated ambition. With a deafening, silent roar that shook the very air, his form crumbled into nothingness, leaving only fine ash drifting slowly to the ground.
Without the support of its creator, the Yin-Yang Release Barrier shattered like fragile glass. The light vanished, the spatial distortions settled, and an unnerving silence fell over the battlefield.
For reasons unknown, Hashirama Senju suddenly collapsed, falling unconscious to the ground.
Kagami watched as the Sage of Six Paths turned to dust, a sense of numbness washing over him. He still needed to extract the Asura chakra from Naruto. Now that Naruto's body was gone, what was he supposed to do about his Rinnegan?
His eyes shifted to the unconscious Hashirama on the ground. Kagami paused, wondering aloud, "Does Hashirama Senju still possess Asura's chakra?"
Although Hashirama was a previous reincarnation of Asura, he had been dead for a long ti, and the chakra had since passed to Naruto. Kagami had no idea if the reanimated Hashirama would still retain a remnant of that power.
Still, Kagami did not worry excessively. Absorbing Asura and Indra's chakra was rely the most convenient path to awakening the Rinnegan. If the Asura chakra was truly lost, he would simply find another thod. Besides, there was still a chance Hashirama held what he needed.
Across the field, Madara was startled to see his friend collapse. He rushed to Hashirama's side, quickly checking his condition. Finding that he was rely unconscious, Madara breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned to face Kagami and stated calmly, "Stop. There is no longer a reason for us to fight."
After a mont of consideration, Kagami nodded and dispelled his territory technique. Maintaining the ability consud a massive amount of chakra, and with the Sage dead, it was an unnecessary drain. He was confident he could defeat Madara without it, so there was no need to waste his power. Besides, based on their earlier battle, he sensed that Madara had no real desire to fight him to the death. This was why he had allowed Madara to leave before.
Furthermore, a deep sense of confusion gnawed at him. Sothing about the recent events felt wrong, and he needed Madara to help confirm his suspicions.
Unseen by anyone, dark, intricate patterns began to appear over Hashirama Senju's heart, slowly spreading across his entire body.
anwhile, Kakashi's eyes were locked on the spot where Naruto had disintegrated. Overwhelming grief and guilt flooded his senses. His hands were clenched into fists so tight his knuckles turned bone-white, and his entire body trembled as if wracked by so unspeakable pain. Kakashi couldn't believe it. The only child left by his sensei had just died right in front of him. He could bla no one but himself, hating his own weakness and powerlessness.
His gaze, burning like twin flas of anguish, shifted to fixate on Madara's stoic face. Taking a deep breath, as if to channel all his sorrow and fury into a single point, he charged.
"You bastard… I'll kill you and avenge Naruto!"
Kakashi didn't realize that Naruto had already perished the mont the Sage took his body. He wrongly believed Madara's final attack had obliterated Naruto's form, erasing any chance of survival.
"Stop it, Kakashi! He is not soone you can handle!" Might Guy's anxious shout echoed from behind, but it was too late.
Without a flicker of hesitation, Kakashi unleashed his signature S-rank jutsu.
"Lightning Blade!"
A storm of brilliant blue lightning erupted in his palm. The signature, high-pitched chirping of a thousand birds filled the air as the chakra writhed and coiled, hungry to be unleashed. The electrical energy pulsed with a heart-stopping power, tearing at the very air around it.
In the blink of an eye, Kakashi's form rged with the lightning. His speed was phenonal, a blur almost beyond the limits of human sight. A sharp shriek ripped through the atmosphere as his body broke the sound barrier, his figure becoming a bolt of pure azure energy that shot across the sky, leaving a dazzling afterimage as he appeared instantly before Madara.
However, facing Kakashi's ferocious assault, Madara rely narrowed his eyes, the corner of his mouth twisting into a disdainful smirk.
The mont Kakashi's Lightning Blade was about to make contact, ti itself seed to freeze.
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