"This guy... his strength is far beyond my previous estimations!" Alarm bells rang in Madara's mind.
Takuno effortlessly dismantled the power of Limbo: Border Jail, silently making a proclamation.
The power Six Paths Madara took such pride in was perhaps not unshakable before this mysterious Collector.
The other party's unfathomable Ocular Power and strength made Madara, who had just ascended to 'godhood', clearly sense a threat from a higher level for the first time.
The light of the blood moon still blanketed the earth, and the white cocoons on the God Tree swayed silently.
But the air at the center of the battlefield completely froze due to the appearance of those heterochromatic eyes, leaving only the surging wariness and immense questions about unknown power within Six Paths Madara's heart.
His confrontation with Takuno instantly shifted from a victor's downward gaze to the start of a true duel between two beings who had surpassed the mundane.
Tobirama struggled to move his Edo Tensei body, every step accompanied by the falling of fine dust, as he finally reached his brother, Hashirama, who was pinned firmly to the ground by pitch-black long spikes.
The regenerative power of the Edo Tensei body allowed him to barely escape the heavy damage from the Black Rods earlier, but he was powerless against the imprisonment imposed by Six Paths Madara—those Black Rods contained the power of Yin-Yang Release.
He tried several times, but the moment his chakra made contact, it was like a mud cow entering the sea, unable to budge them in the slightest.
"Big brother..." Tobirama whispered, his voice raspy.
Though Hashirama could not move, the nature of the Edo Tensei allowed his consciousness to remain, but his eyes were filled with frustration and worry.
Tobirama's gaze then shifted toward the sky, which was the center that would decide the fate of the entire Shinobi World.
Six Paths Madara hovered there, the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan on his forehead radiating a heart-palpitating pressure.
However, his opponent, that mysterious Collector Takuno, appeared exceptionally calm.
Seeing Madara's shocked and solemn expression, a thought that could almost be called 'gratifying' flashed through Tobirama's mind.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly, forming a cold and nearly imperceptible arc.
Six Paths Madara... it seems you've really kicked a steel plate this time.
Takuno's identity was like a mountain peak shrouded in mist to Tobirama and the entire Allied Forces—mysterious and unpredictable.
He called himself 'The Collector', his power was unfathomable, and his motives were even harder to guess.
He had once watched the great war from the sidelines, seemingly uninterested in anything;
He had saved a dying Might Guy, using that miraculous Yang Release technique to reverse the certain-death outcome of the Eight Gates' Gate of Death;
Even earlier, he had intervened to save Naruto when his life hung by a thread after the Nine-Tails chakra was extracted...
These fragments flashed through Tobirama's mind and were calmly analyzed.
Compared to Six Paths Madara, who intended to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi to drag everyone into an illusory dream and completely erase the bonds of reality...
This Collector... though his goals were unclear, at least so far, his actions seemed more inclined toward 'observation'.
His two critical interventions had directly saved key combatants of the Allied Forces, preventing irreparable losses.
"An ally... perhaps not quite," Tobirama calmly assessed in his heart.
"But at this moment, he is undoubtedly the only existence capable of keeping Madara in check.
Moreover, compared to Madara's destructive 'perfect world', the unknown of The Collector is, at least for now... not as lethal."
The aura of the two men confronting each other in the sky continued to climb, an invisible storm brewing between them.
Six Paths Madara's eyes were filled with wariness and a re-evaluated fighting spirit, while Takuno remained calm, those heterochromatic eyes seemingly able to pierce through all falsehoods.
Tobirama's heart settled as his gaze locked onto Takuno's figure.
In the desperate situation where the main forces of the Allied Forces had all fallen, and before the powerlessness of his brother being imprisoned...
This former Hokage's only and strongest hope at this moment was placed upon this mysterious and unfathomable Collector.
He undoubtedly hoped that Takuno could defeat Six Paths Madara and tear open a possible dawn for this reality that was on the brink of shattering.
...
Above the ruins of the wasteland, the massive shadow cast by the God Tree loomed over the battlefield.
Madara's gaze was firmly locked on the existence opposite him who was always like a mist, The Collector Takuno.
There was no expected exchange of world-destroying Ninjutsu, nor was there a bizarre clash of Rinnegan Ocular Power.
After a brief, suffocating silence, Six Paths Madara's figure suddenly vanished.
In the next instant, he appeared before Takuno, his fist wrapped in Six Paths Power tearing through the air, smashing down with a momentum capable of crushing mountains!
Takuno seemed to have anticipated this; he did not dodge, but merely raised his left arm seemingly at random to block.
"Bang!!!"
An extremely dull explosion erupted, as if two giant mountains of steel had collided.
Centering on the point where the fist and arm met, a visible circle of terrifying shockwaves violently expanded, grinding the already broken rocks on the ground into powder and blowing them into the distance.
Six Paths Madara's pupils suddenly constricted!
He had expected the opponent to take this punch, but he never imagined it would be in such an understated manner!
What shocked him even more was that the counter-shock force transmitted from the opponent's arm was like a vast, boundless ocean—heavy and majestic!
This purest form of power... actually surpassed his own body as the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki with Six Paths Power?!
"How is this possible?!" A monstrous wave rose in Madara's heart.
After becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, he believed his physique had reached the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, where every gesture held the power to split mountains and cleave seas.
Yet at this moment, he felt the power he took pride in was actually somewhat... weak before this person?
Takuno's expression remained calm, even carrying a hint of taking it for granted.
His right fist was like lightning, carrying a whistle that tore through the air, striking directly at Madara's chest and abdomen.
The speed of this punch was so fast and the power so concentrated that Madara instantly felt a lethal threat!
"Hmph!"
Madara was, after all, a battle-hardened legend; though surprised, his combat instincts were etched into his marrow.
He twisted his waist, sidestepping at an incredible angle to narrowly avoid this fatal blow.
Simultaneously, his right leg was like a venomous dragon emerging from its cave, sweeping toward Takuno's lower body with a sharp gale of chakra.
Takuno did not seem surprised that Madara could dodge; he shifted his footsteps slightly, his body moving laterally like a ghost, also avoiding the sweep.
But in Madara's eyes, his movements carried a trace of imperceptible lag.
It wasn't a lack of power, but more like... a lack of refined skill?
It was as if a giant possessing peerless divine strength had not yet reached the realm of total control when finely manipulating that power.
"So that's it!" Madara instantly captured this flaw, understanding it in his heart.
The opponent's physical strength was indeed incredible, far surpassing his own.
But combat experience, especially close-quarters combat between top-tier Taijutsu experts, was far inferior to his own, as he was an Asura who had crawled out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood of the Sengoku era!
"Your power is indeed astonishing," Madara's voice was cold, but his offensive unfolded like a violent storm.
He no longer tried to clash head-on with that inhuman strength, but instead brought his tempered Taijutsu skills to their absolute limit!
Fists, palms, fingers, elbows, knees, legs... every part of his body became a lethal weapon.
Coupled with the ultra-high-speed movement and reactions brought by his Six Paths body, his moves were tricky and ruthless, blending feints with reality.
It was as if he had woven a dense, airtight net of death, enveloping Takuno within it.
Takuno, on the other hand, was like a boulder, and also like a thunderclap.
He blocked, parried, dodged, or evaded, his movements grand and powerful, every strike containing the mighty force to shatter mountains.
His power was overwhelming; every block made Madara's arms go numb, and every counterattack forced Madara to temporarily avoid his edge.
However, before Madara's exquisite and ever-changing Taijutsu skills, Takuno's ferocious and unmatched power sometimes appeared too 'straightforward'.
It was parried and guided away by Madara's clever techniques, who even used the reaction force of that power to create opportunities for counterattacks.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom!"
The two figures collided and separated at high speeds in the air and on the ground.
Every collision erupted with a dull thunderous boom and a visible shockwave.
The ground beneath their feet constantly collapsed and cracked.
Takuno's power was like crashing waves, constantly battering Madara's defenses;
While Madara's skill was like the toughest reef, searching for gaps to counterattack amidst the crashing waves.
This Taijutsu duel had no brilliant light or shadows, but it had earth-shaking explosions and the most primitive, purest collision of power and skill.
Yet its level of danger far exceeded that of an ordinary Ninjutsu duel.
The power contained in the fist of either one of them could easily shatter mountains and rocks!
A single moment of carelessness would result in being ground to dust.
Six Paths Madara grew more alarmed as the fight went on; the opponent's bottomless power seemed infinite, and every collision made his blood surge.
And Takuno also nodded inwardly; Madara's combat skills had indeed reached the pinnacle.
If not for this body of his, which had been tempered to the limit, and the supreme foundation laid by the Eight Gates that also originated from pushing potential to the extreme, he might have already lost on skill alone.
The two of them actually fell into a strange stalemate in this peak contest of pure power and skill.
Takuno could not use absolute power to crush Madara's tempered skills, and Madara could not break through Takuno's indestructible physique and unstoppable power.
At the center of the battlefield, only two blurry figures remained, along with the continuous, heart-shaking sounds of physical collision.
This Taijutsu battle that surpassed the mundane had only just begun, yet it already left all onlookers feeling suffocated.
Even if it was just a Taijutsu battle, the aftershocks produced by the collision between the two left the two people below very shocked as they dealt with it.
This kind of power was truly too terrifying!
Six Paths Madara's figure moved at high speed among the ruins, his fists tearing through the air again and again with destructive power, only to be parried or brushed aside by Takuno's seemingly casual palms or arms the moment they touched him.
The shockwaves from the collisions were like physical giant hammers, plowing deeper furrows into the already broken earth.
But gradually, Madara's combat instincts, tempered and fused with the Ten-Tails' power, captured something strange.
"Something's not right!"
The pupils of Madara's Rinnegan suddenly constricted.
The opponent's actions were not just crushing him with power; his skills, reactions, and anticipation of chakra flow...
Were actually improving at a visible rate!
Where Takuno initially had to respond cautiously, he could now dodge half a beat ahead, and even use the attack trajectory to counter his movements.
A focused and cold light flowed in those heterochromatic eyes; every exchange and every feedback from the energy collisions seemed to be greedily absorbed, analyzed, and integrated into himself by the opponent.
He is actually learning and evolving during this life-and-death struggle with me!
He's treating this battle, which is enough to destroy the world, as a trial ground to temper himself!
This realization exploded in Madara's mind like a thunderclap.
Shock instantly flooded all other emotions.
He had thought that with the Six Paths Power, there were no true opponents left in the world; even the Edo Tensei Hashirama was but a shadow of the past.
The Collector's strength was certainly beyond expectations, but he had originally thought it was just some deep-seated foundation or talent.
However, at this moment, he was facing a monster that was growing rapidly in battle!
After the shock, the expected rage did not surge.
On the contrary, an unprecedented, almost fanatical sense of excitement burst from the depths of Madara's chest, turning into a hearty and uninhibited laugh that rang across the battlefield:
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
The laughter shook away the pervasive dust, filled with the pure ecstasy of discovering prey.
"Interesting! Too interesting! Collector!"
Madara's laughter subsided, but his eyes were as hot as fire, firmly locked on the figure opposite him that was still as calm as a deep pool.
"I, Uchiha Madara, have spent my life pursuing power and challenging the peak. I thought that fellow Hashirama would be my final opponent... I didn't expect fate to send you to me!"
His majestic Six Paths chakra surged out like boiling lava, and the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan on his forehead seemed to tremble slightly due to its master's excitement.
"Come! Collector! Let me see what height you can reach at the end of this trial!"
Madara's voice carried an indisputable decisiveness and expectation. The nine Truth-Seeking Orbs around him hummed, arranging themselves into an unprecedented offensive formation as destructive energy condensed frantically within them.
He completely cast aside his obsession with Hashirama, viewing this unfathomable and even constantly evolving opponent before him as the ultimate battle he had sought all his life!
Six Paths Madara's hearty declaration was still echoing on the battlefield.
However, facing this ultimate power that was enough to make anyone's heart and soul split with fear, the corner of Takuno's mouth slowly curled into an arc.
"Heh..."
A light laugh, initially low, quickly turned into a clearly audible low chuckle filled with playfulness and recognition.
Takuno's laughter was not full of wild fighting spirit like Madara's; instead, it carried a hint of distance and reflection.
His heterochromatic eyes gazed at the Madara whose fighting spirit was soaring to the skies, as if looking at an extremely precious collectible, or rather... a perfect whetstone he had finally found.
Just as Madara had said, Takuno had certainly experienced no small number of battles in his life.
However, ever since that crucial 'Plan' was initiated, his power level had climbed frantically at a speed that surpassed common sense, leaping to an unimaginable realm.
Since then, no matter what kind of strong enemy he faced—be it a peak Kage-level expert of the Shinobi World, a legendary Tailed Beast, or even a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki controlling the Rinnegan—the battles had become dull and uninteresting.