After his wild laughter faded, Madara suddenly glanced up at the blood-red moon, as if he’d sensed sothing new. A satisfied smile crept across his face.
"Sixth Hokage," he said calmly, "that technique you just used wasn’t free. Even you had to pay a price. Which ans... you no longer have the strength to stop ."
In truth, Madara had planned to clash with Tōma once more before completing his final objective. But the pressure in his heart, the instinct urging him forward, crushed that thought.
Now. It has to be now.
"Our battle can wait," Madara continued. "The mont when everything becos one has arrived. If you still exist after that..."
With those words, he shot upward toward the crimson moon.
Tōma watched him go in silence.
His body still ached from the dinsional slashes, muscles screaming as regeneration chased the damage. But pain didn’t an helplessness. He could have stopped Madara if he wanted to.
The real question was—
Why would I?
A faint smile tugged at Tōma’s lips as he murmured to himself, "You really don’t want to think about why the Divine Tree fell in your direction, do you?"
Of course it wasn’t an accident.
Tōma had planned it that way from the start.
He needed Madara to absorb the Divine Tree and complete that technique. Just like Madara, Tōma was also waiting for the mont when everything rged.
High above, Madara drew close to the moon and stared at its massive, blood-red surface.
"The stone tablet was right," he said softly. "When one who holds the Rinnegan approaches the moon, the Eye of the Moon opens... and the infinite dream begins."
His forehead throbbed as the crimson Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan pulsed.
"Shine upon the world," Madara roared. "Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
The moon changed.
A massive Rinnegan pattern blood across its surface, mirroring the eye on Madara’s forehead.
The Moon’s Eye had opened.
Below, panic erupted.
"What’s wrong with the moon?!"
"Did he... succeed?!"
Tōma looked up at the transford moon, thoughtful. Part of him was curious. By his estimation, Infinite Tsukuyomi shouldn’t work very well on soone at his level. Even if it did, breaking free should be possible.
In theory.
But theory wasn’t enough when the fate of the world was on the line.
"Better not gamble," Tōma decided quietly.
Nine Truth-Seeking Orbs rose behind him, forming a massive black sphere that sealed him inside.
His voice echoed across the battlefield, reaching the frightened shinobi below.
"Don’t panic. Just think of this as taking a nice dream. This will be over soon."
As the sphere closed, everyone saw the blazing kanji on his back.
Sixth Hokage.
That alone steadied their hearts.
If anyone could stand outside the dream, it was him.
Fear slowly gave way to calm. They trusted him. After everything they’d seen in this war, how could they not?
High above, Madara noticed it too. The panic faded. Resolve took its place.
"Tch."
He glanced toward the black sphere around Tōma. Who else but him could inspire that kind of confidence?
Still, Madara didn’t believe Infinite Tsukuyomi could penetrate Truth-Seeking Orbs. Which ant...
We’ll still have to fight.
And that suited him perfectly.
"Now," Madara declared, standing beneath the crimson moon, "let everything truly beco one!"
His Rinnegan flared.
Blinding white light poured down from the moon, piercing the sky, the land, the oceans—nothing blocked it. It reached the battlefield, hidden shelters, the depths of the sea, even underground.
No living being escaped its glow.
Eyes turned white. Consciousness faded.
Naruto and Sasuke struggled—but stopped. They trusted Tōma. That trust was enough.
"So it’s co to this," the Great Toad Sage murmured, gazing up at the moon. "The mont that decides everything..."
Monts later, even the Three Sages succumbed.
The world fell silent.
No cries. No movent. Only the wind brushing through leaves.
Madara laughed alone in the sky.
"This light passes even through shadows. Hiding is aningless," he said, bringing his hands together.
Clap.
The sound echoed unnaturally loud in the empty world.
"Divine Tree: Advent!"
Roots erupted everywhere—land, sea, mountains—wrapping every sleeping being in thick bindings, lifting them like cocoons onto the colossal tree. Those underground were no exception, bound to the roots below.
This ti, there was no Edo Tensei. No one was immune.
Except one.
When the light finally faded, the moon returned to normal.
Tōma opened his eyes as the Truth-Seeking Orbs withdrew.
Before him stood a world transford. Countless bound figures hung from the towering Divine Tree.
"All of them," Tōma said quietly. "Every being with physical and ntal energy."
Infinite Tsukuyomi didn’t care whether soone could mold chakra. If they had the components, they were prey.
Given enough ti, the tree would drain them dry. Humans would beco White Zetsu. Other creatures would simply beco nourishnt.
Which ant—
I don’t have much ti.
Madara descended, stopping level with Tōma.
"Now," he laughed, "it’s just you and ."
"Are you sure?" Tōma replied. "What about Black Zetsu?"
Madara scoffed. "A tool. Nothing more."
Tōma only clicked his tongue. Even now, Madara believed that.
"Maybe," Tōma said mildly. "But what if there are others out there? Not from this world."
Madara frowned. "aning?"
"Kaguya wasn’t alone," Tōma said. "So why assu she was the last?"
Madara considered it—then dismissed it outright. "If they co, I’ll kill them too."
And the terrifying part was—he probably could.
Madara inhaled deeply, chakra pouring into him from the bound world. His power kept climbing, body and spirit reinforcing each other without limit.
"I lost the last exchange," he admitted, eyes locked on Tōma. "But this is a new . A new round."
He vanished.
The speed was monstrous, far beyond his previous peak.
"So I really can’t relax," Tōma muttered, stepping forward to et him.
Madara could now follow his movents. Not surpass them—but keep up.
And that was enough.
Tōma’s eyes burned with excitent. His plan had reached its final stage.
Their clash shook the heavens.
The final round had begun.
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