Chapter 618: Sacrifice
"This situation is the worst!"
Minato has an ugly expression on his face.
"What I feared the most has happened?" Minato glances at the apocalyptic sight and shakes his head.
"The battle between Madara and Gai has affected the tectonic plates of the planet. Major earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions are the least disasters we can expect. In the worst case, the entire continents might break and fall apart.
A major portion of them might even sink to the bottom of the ocean without the support of major landmasses. I am afraid after this battle; we have to redraw the map of the entire world. Even now, we have a new continent that broke free from the previous landmass after Ten-tail's cataclysm."
Minato states a few disasters.
"But that's a problem for later. For now… Madara!"
"Gai Sensei!" Lee clenches his fists and wipes the tears from his eyes.
Shua…
At this instant, a bolt of lightning flickers beside them and morphs into Sasuke.
Hmm…
Minato, Kushina, and Itachi glance at Sasuke in surprise.
"Sasuke… you…"
Kushina and Itachi are surprised to see the changes in Sasuke.
"Where is Madara?" Sasuke clenches his fists.
"There!"
Minato points towards a massive hurricane of chaotic blood-red energy.
"At least… that was where he was supposed to be!"
"Minato, do you think Madara survived that last attack?" Kushina turns to Minato.
"I don't know!" Minato shakes his head.
"Logically, there is no way that Madara should survive that attack. Gai's last attack already surpassed the boundaries of what a mortal human should be capable of. I will go as far as to state that this attack was even stronger than Izuna's attack inside the 'HOLE'. However, it's Madara we are talking about. So, we can only talk about possibilities."
SHUA…
Suddenly, another wave of powerful energy burst forth from the epicenter of the massive hurricane and fly towards the group.
"Let me block it!" Itachi activates his Susanoo to protect everyone.
"I will do it!"
Sasuke walks in front of the group and extends his left arm.
Whoosh…
He dispels the burst of energy before it can touch the group. The energy wave scatters and disperses into the surroundings.
"Even if Madara is alive, I will take him down," Sasuke speaks with a cold expression.
Fwoosh…
A portal opens beside the group and Naruto falls out of it.
"Damn it! At least let me make a cool entrance, Dattebyo!"
Naruto raises his hand in fake fury.
"NARUTOO!!"
The group is surprised to see Naruto.
"You are alright!" Minato and Kushina heave a sigh of relief.
"Yeah!" Naruto clenches his fists.
"Not only that, I am even stronger than before!" Naruto clenches his fist.
"This brat is speaking the truth!" Yin Kurama's voice echoes in the mind of the group.
"Now, where is Madara? I will beat his ass and save the world!" Naruto is ready to rush towards the hurricane.
"Now, hold your horses, Naruto!" Kushina creates an Adamantine chain and pulls Naruto back.
"This blood-red energy is the remnant of Gai's technique. Even Madara had to be careful while dealing with it. So, needless to say anything about you…"
"Huh?!"
Suddenly, Naruto realizes something and looks around.
"Where is Izuna Nii-san? I thought he was with me." He looks around to search for Naruto's traces.
"Be careful! Something is happening in the center of that vortex."
Sasuke has a serious expression on his face. The massive hurricane disperses to reveal a massive crater spanning several kilometers.
Suddenly, at the center of the crater,
A swirl of energy gathers and slowly transforms into a figure.
"That's…"
The group's expression turns ugly as they recognize the figure.
"MADARAA!"
Lee grits his teeth.
"I am alive!" Madara clenches his fists and feels his body. Suddenly, the sclera of his right eye turns white.
"It was a really exciting battle. I didn't expect someone with the strength to kill me to appear after becoming the Ten-tail's Jinchuriki."
Madara raises his head and glances in the group's direction.
"Now then… with the final obstacle out of the way. It's time for me to complete the plan."
Madara ignores the group and flies in Kakashi's direction. The Zetsu is keeping a close eye on Kakashi's movements.
"We have to stop him!"
Naruto and Sasuke rush towards the crater.
"Stop you two!"
Minato hurriedly stops the duo.
"Dad, we can't let Madara continue!" Naruto clenches his fist.
"Madara wants to recover his left eye and casts an extremely powerful Genjutsu on the entire shinobi world using the moon as the medium."
Sasuke recalls the content of his conversation with the Sage of Six Paths.
"I know you two are desperate to stop him. Even I don't want Madara to succeed after so much sacrifice. But inspect your surroundings."
Hmm…
Sasuke hears Minato's concern and uses his Rinnegan to gauge his surroundings. Even Naruto pauses and inspects the area in front of him.
"Spatial cracks…"
"The space here is so broken!"
Sasuke observes several broken spatial rifts and cracks with his Rinnegan, while Naruto senses several broken space fragments with his space affinity.
"The space here destabilized after the clash between Madara and Gai. Even I can't use the Flying Thunder God jutsu to bypass this area or I might end in another dimension or even void. The space is recovering steadily. According to my estimates, it will take another minute or two." Minato shakes his head.
"But by that time, it will be too late!" Naruto grits his teeth.
"We have no choice!"
"Why don't we ask Izuna Nii-san to send us across? It was him who teleported me here."
"I am here!" A voice echoes in their surroundings.
The group raises their head and notices floating above them.
"Nii-san!" Sasuke also returns to his usual expression.
"Naruto, there are other important things to do before beating Madara's ass!" Izuna shakes his head.
He lands on the ground.
"Even without Madara's intervention, the world will be destroyed as it is now. The intensity of Madara's and Gai's battle wasn't something the planet could bear. As a result, several natural calamities are ravaging the entire world as we speak. Also, this is the reason I always lead my opponent away to another dimension to prevent harm to the world."
"Then… then… what should we do?" Naruto and Sasuke glance at each other.
"I have already stabilized the movements of the tectonic plates. The only task left is to repair the ley lines and fill the numerous cracks and crevices on the crust of the planet and stop this new continent from drifting."
Izuna raises his foot and stomps on the ground.
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
A powerful shockwave spread across the entire continent, shaking everything. A large amount of chakra flows out of Izuna's body and enters into the ley-line node directly beneath them.
Izuna's chakra stabilizes the chaotic nature energy in the leylines and returns them to their normal functioning. Not only that, he even connects the broken link of these ley lines to the massive structure of the entire planet.
"This will stop these natural disasters! Now for repairing the damage to the crust…"
Izuna crouches down. Brown chakra gathers in his palm as he places it on the ground.
The brown chakra seeps into the earth and slowly spreads across the entire continent, filling numerous cracks and crevices and plugging the leakage of lava.
While Izuna was doing all of this, Minato and others had a few questions to ask of him.
"Izuna Nii-san, do you know what happened in the final clash between Madara and Gai?" Itachi asks him.
"Yes, Izuna-kun. I clearly felt both Madara's and Gai's chakra dissipate and extinguish completely. Even the pressure from the Ten-tail chakra was gone. So, how did he…" Kushina mumbles.
"Sigh… the battle between Gai and Madara did end with Gai's victory. Using the last vestiges of his chakra, vitality, and will, Gai destroyed Madara down to his last atoms."
Izuna recalls the final clash between Gai and Madara, which he witnessed in the sky. Madara vaporized under Night Gai while Gai dissipated into atoms due to the overload of the technique.
"However, Madara… he had a backup plan. Moments before his and Gai's death, he sacrificed his Rinnegan to alter the reality itself."
"Nii-san, do you mean… he used that Forbidden Jutsu of the Uchiha clan?" Itachi has a serious expression on his face.
"Yes, since Madara's power is greater, the cost to alter reality is also great. Moments before his death, he cast Izanagi. In the end, both Madara and Gai died together. However, moments later, Madara returned to reality after sacrificing his Rinnegan.
He doesn't truly need his eyes intact to cast the 'Infinite Tsukiyomi'. He can even cast the jutsu without his eyes. However, it will take a longer preparation and time and is bound to get interrupted. Madara's current objective is to recover his other eye to awaken the 'Eternal Rinnegan' or 'Rinne-Sharingan', as we call it."
Izuna explains to the group.
"So, for Madara, the sacrifice of his eye was well worth it to survive such a fatal encounter and claim the life of the last person who had a chance to stop him."
"Madara… he… he is insane!" Kushina silently mumbles these words.