Chapter 634: The Divine Tree
Madara instructed the Zetsu to take the Hyūga to the rendezvous point he had arranged with Toneri Ōtsutsuki. With that, the transaction was complete. When the other party came to pick him up and how they used him was none of his concern.
Whether Toneri was friend or foe didn't matter. The Infinite Tsukuyomi would solve all problems. This had been his driving conviction for the decades he had hidden away after his defeat at the Valley of the End.
The Ten-Tails was summoned again, this time to the Land of Earth. Its target: Fū, the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
According to the alliance's agreement, the other four villages were obligated to help defend against Madara. But just as Ino had been the only one to reinforce Kumo, the other villages, led by Konoha, were pinned down by the White Zetsu army and had no strength to spare.
The Iwa shinobi were as stubborn as their namesake. Kitsuchi, the Third Tsuchikage's son and Kurotsuchi's father, faced the Ten-Tails alone. He immediately used his ultimate technique.
"Earth Release: Sandwich Technique!"
Two massive, semi-spherical halves of earth slammed together from the left and right, clamping down on the Ten-Tails. Under Kitsuchi's control, they pressed inward, trying to crush the Ten-Tails into paste.
"Hahahaha—!" Madara laughed, arms crossed. "To master a basic Earth Release to this level, truly impressive. In this field, few can match you. But you severely underestimate the power of the Ten-Tails!"
Madara didn't even move. He watched as Kitsuchi poured chakra into reinforcing the jutsu. Iwa ninjas rained attacks on the trapped beast—Fire, Water, and Earth Release. But their jutsu, usually devastating, couldn't even scratch the Ten-Tails' bark-like hide. Fireballs left only a scorch mark; lightning, at best, bored a tiny hole.
Compared to the Ten-Tails' immense body, these were papercuts.
Fū, the Jinchūriki who always wanted to "make 100 friends," flew into the air and spat a cloud of brownish-yellow blinding powder at the Ten-Tails.
"Child's play," Madara sneered.
The next second, the Ten-Tails flexed and shattered the Sandwich Technique. Kitsuchi cried out, vomiting a large mouthful of blood. Several of the Ten-Tails' tails shot out over a hundred meters and grabbed Fū. A massive suction force erupted. The Seven-Tails inside her trembled violently as the Ten-Tails' chakra, like invisible chains, wrapped around it from all directions and began to rip it out.
The Ten-Tails already possessed the chakra from Two to Six, Eight, and half of One and Nine. That half of the Nine-Tails was critical. With this much Tailed Beast chakra, the Ten-Tails' power far exceeded the Seven-Tails'. As the last piece of the puzzle slotted into place, the Ten-Tails' "Imperfect Stage 2" began to shift toward "Complete Stage 2."
Its gaunt body swelled with muscle. Its ten tails lashed the ground, sending thunderous booms across the landscape.
When the last of the chakra was absorbed, Fū, pale as death, fell from the sky and didn't move again.
This time, Madara did not laugh. His expression was serious.
He formed seals, trying to force the Ten-Tails to absorb the final remaining halves of the One-Tails and Nine-Tails, to become truly complete.
But he had underestimated the beast's savagery. Even though he was its summoner, its "creator," the beast was "biting the hand that fed it." It was beginning to resist his commands.
"Damn it!" Madara cursed. If he had both Rinnegan, his control would be stronger. With only one, he was losing his grip on the Ten-Tails.
He weighed his options and quickly made a decision.
"Let's begin!" he yelled, focusing his will to suppress the Ten-Tails.
"Six Paths Ten-Tails Coffin Seal!"
He used his own body as the vessel, sealing the Ten-Tails' power into himself.
Under his pressure, the Ten-Tails dissolved into a mist of chakra and was rapidly inhaled into his body.
A person of weak will could never hope to dominate the Ten-Tails; its chaotic, insane thoughts would instantly overwhelm the Jinchūriki's mind. But Madara's will was iron. He had never seen the Tailed Beasts as anything more than tools. His mind was calm as the Ten-Tails' consciousness thrashed before him; his own will was unshakable.
The process was fast. In less than thirty seconds, he suppressed the Ten-Tails' consciousness. Thirty seconds after that, he had fully integrated its chakra into his own pathways.
Endless, boundless power surged through him.
His black hair turned white. His red Warring States armor transformed into an ancient white robe. His gloves and shoes turned black. Tomoe markings appeared on his collar, cuffs, and back. Lacking a weapon, he willed it, and several Truth-Seeking Orbs appeared behind him. He took one and stretched it into a Shakujō (Buddhist staff).
He closed his eyes for a moment. "So that's how it is... This is troublesome."
He had to balance two things: his own combat power and the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Defeating Ino was a task he had to complete, but it was not the goal. The goal was the Infinite Tsukuyomi. If he defeated Ino only to find he had no chakra left to activate the genjutsu, what was the point of all this?
Madara, now the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, expelled the Ten-Tails' empty husk, along with a portion of its chakra and its rabid consciousness, back into the world.
Now mindless, the husk became much more docile. Under Madara's control, the beast's ten tails and four limbs burrowed deep into the earth like roots. The Ten-Tails' back arched high, and the energy within it surged. Finally, vines bursting with immense life force broke free. The thick vines twisted together, spiraling upward, forming a trunk that shot straight into the heavens.
This was the true source of all chakra in the ninja world: the Divine Tree, which bears the Chakra Fruit.
Madara looked up. From his angle, he couldn't even see the top.
"Go. Absorb the chakra. This world is yours," Madara sneered.
The Divine Tree lacked nutrients. It needed a lot of chakra.
From its roots, thousands of vines, as thick as a human arm, burst from the ground. The Iwa ninjas couldn't dodge in time. Over 1,500 of them were entangled. In less than five seconds, their chakra was completely drained, leaving behind only desiccated corpses. Kitsuchi, carrying the dying Fū as he fled, was also caught. Their life force was rapidly siphoned away by the tree.
Within a ten-mile radius, Madara was the only living person left.
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