Four shadows emerged from Madara, rushing toward Kaito in perfect unison, each attacking from a different angle. Above them all, Uchiha Madara's real body floated calmly, Rinnegan locked on his opponent.
"So this is Limbo: Border Jail?" Kaito muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Finally, I get to see it for myself."
To the naked eye, the shadow world was invisible, but Kaito's Six Paths-enhanced electromagnetic perception painted it clearly. His vision in this state saw no color, only black and white fields of force. And yet, it was enough. Even without sight, he could perceive the flow of chakra and the magnetic fields of every living being.
Losing his eyes would not matter. His electromagnetic induction allowed him to sense the world in absolute clarity. In the same way, he could feel the unnatural distortion that was Madara's Limbo world.
His right hand flicked outward. Lightning infused with yin and yang nature crackled into existence, condensing into four sharp blades of thunder. They materialized directly above the shadows and cut down instantly. One shadow was bisected, dispersing like liquid into the Limbo world.
Madara's eyes widened slightly. "You can perceive Limbo?"
He had assumed that at the Six Paths level, he would crush Kaito easily, perhaps even overwhelm him in a single strike. But reality was proving otherwise. Kaito had not only sensed his Limbo clones, but had also destroyed one instantly.
"This will not be the easy victory I expected," Madara thought grimly.
More concerning, Kaito's lightning seemed to strike directly at his shadows. Even though they existed in another plane, his attack reached them as if they were tangible. That meant Kaito's thunder had been developed to the point where it affected Six Paths-level beings directly.
"Hmph," Madara's voice was cold. "It has been more than ten years since I've seen you. To think you've refined your lightning to such a degree."
With a flick of his black scepter, the air itself rippled like water. Four more Limbo shadows appeared, launching themselves toward Kaito. At the same time, Madara's Rinnegan glowed. In an instant, his body swapped positions with one of his clones, reappearing directly before Kaito.
His scepter and a black Truth-Seeking Orb surged forward like a spear, aiming to crush Kaito head-on.
Kaito met him without fear. Gray lightning danced across his body, his chakra flaring with overwhelming force. The thunder shaped itself into four swords once again, slashing at the surrounding shadows. At the same time, he raised his own Truth-Seeking Orb spear to intercept Madara's strike.
The two weapons collided with a dull, thunderous hum.
Their Six Paths chakra erupted outward, space itself rippling from the impact.
Madara sneered, convinced of his superiority. In his mind, the outcome was inevitable. He was the Ten Tails' jinchūriki, the true successor of the Sage of Six Paths. Kaito, despite his power, was no more than a pretender — a man who had stumbled into power through unknown means.
But Kaito's eyes glimmered with amusement. He could read Madara's thoughts as clearly as the energy fields around them. "You think too highly of yourself, Madara."
The next instant, a surge of gray lightning burst from Kaito's spear.
Cracks spread across Madara's Truth-Seeking Orb scepter. His eyes widened in shock.
"Impossible—!"
The lightning leapt from his weapon into his body, engulfing him in a torrent of crackling arcs. His form blackened, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air as his body withered to a mummified husk. Only his Rinnegan remained untouched.
And then, with a hum, Madara's body was restored. The abundant vitality of the Ten Tails coursed through him, repairing the damage in moments. He stood whole once again, his expression dark and his pride wounded.
"As expected of the opponent I acknowledge," Madara admitted, his tone grim. "Even the Six Paths' power bends before your thunder."
His gaze dropped to his scepter, now riddled with cracks. "Your lightning has reached the level of the Six Paths itself. Otherwise, it could not have broken through so easily."
Kaito remained calm, his eyes unblinking.
Madara frowned again as he realized his four Limbo shadows had vanished once more, destroyed as easily as the first. Worse, the faint clicking of his Truth-Seeking Orb weapon grew louder.
Crack. Crack.
The fractures spread until, with a deafening snap, the scepter shattered entirely. The fragments fell to the ground like shards of black glass. Wherever they landed, the soil dissolved away, leaving bottomless pits as if the earth itself had been erased.
Madara stretched out his hand. The fragments rose like liquid, gathering and fusing together once more. In moments, a new scepter solidified in his grip.
Kaito's eyes, however, were fixed on Madara's technique. Limbo intrigued him. It reminded him of something else — the terrifying Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb wielded by Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. That ultimate technique could erase all things, return existence to nothingness, and even form the seed of a new world.
Madara's Limbo did not hold such absolute might. It conjured a shadow world, overlapping reality, summoning invisible clones to act in that hidden dimension. The difference was vast — creation and destruction of worlds versus shadows that moved unseen.
Still, Kaito studied carefully. Power like this could be a path to something greater.
"With the strength I have now, I could destroy this world easily," he mused silently. "But creating one… that is something far beyond reach."
Limbo was not the same as Kaguya's ability, but perhaps it contained fragments of the truth. And if he could understand it fully, maybe he could shape something of his own.
____
Send Power stones 🥀
Advanced chapters are available on patreon
Patreon.com/Zphyr