Chapter 162 (Patreon)

“Truth-Seeking Balls…”

At Mihawk’s words, Madara’s expression stiffened slightly.

Of the nine Truth-Seeking Balls floating behind him, three immediately changed shape and merged into a black dome that closed around his body.

The recovery period for Limbo: Border Jail had not yet ended, leaving Madara no choice but to defend himself this way.

Before the black dome could close completely, Madara controlled another Truth-Seeking Ball and sent it flying through the remaining gap toward Mihawk.

Whether used for offense or defense, the Truth-Seeking Balls posed an enormous threat to Mihawk.

Even he did not know whether Nemesis, despite being coated in Haki, could withstand the power of a Truth-Seeking Ball that reduced anything it touched to nothingness.

Mihawk had no intention of gambling with his life merely to test it.

He abandoned the opportunity without hesitation. Nemesis stopped halfway through its downward swing, and Mihawk instantly disappeared.

“Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!”

The moment Mihawk withdrew, Hinata appeared on the opposite side of the black dome.

A glowing green orb rested in her hand. Golden light poured from it and extended into a radiant sword as she thrust it toward the dome.

Shhk!

The Truth-Seeking Balls could withstand even the Evening Elephant, yet the black dome appeared as fragile as paper before the golden blade.

The blade pierced straight through the dome, and its tip emerged from the opposite side.

From a distance, it looked as though Hinata had skewered a black sphere with an enormous golden spear.

The Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion was a technique born from the Tenseigan’s ultimate control over repulsive force.

The extent to which the Tenseigan’s gravitational and repulsive powers surpassed those of the Rinnegan could be seen through the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, which represented the ultimate application of gravitational force, and the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, which represented the ultimate application of repulsive force.

At its full power, the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion could cleave even the moon in two.

However, like the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, it required the use of the green orbs that resembled Truth-Seeking Balls.

The golden blade Hinata created was only three or four meters long. She had used only one orb and had most likely held back a considerable portion of the technique’s true power.

Whoosh!

While Hinata’s golden blade pinned the dome in place, Mihawk reappeared.

Nemesis transformed into a streak of white light and pierced the black shell. Its tip struck one of the lines of death Mihawk could see running across its surface.

The dome formed from the three Truth-Seeking Balls made no sound.

It simply began to disintegrate before gradually vanishing into nothingness.

Madara was revealed inside, disbelief written across his face. Hinata’s golden blade had already pierced through his body.

Madara looked down at the radiant weapon protruding from his torso.

“Is this a unique dōjutsu belonging to your Tenseigan?”

Hinata did not answer.

Still gripping the glowing orb, she controlled the golden blade and swept it upward.

Riiip!

The sound of cloth being torn echoed across the battlefield as Madara’s body was split apart from the middle, dividing him into two halves.

“Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!”

Despite being cut in two, Madara remained capable of speaking.

Both halves of his body moved at once. He raised his hands and released an enormous web of branching purple lightning toward Mihawk and Hinata.

Hinata’s expression changed.

She instantly appeared in front of Mihawk. Several green orbs floated behind her, and two of them transformed into black hemispheres that joined together, enclosing them inside a protective sphere.

The branching purple lightning crashed against the black barrier.

Only after the last arcs of lightning had disappeared did the hemispherical shell separate and return to the form of two green orbs.

By then, Madara’s severed body had already regenerated completely.

The contemptuous expression he had worn after becoming the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki was gone. He now regarded Mihawk and Hinata with complete seriousness.

“So those two brats were still holding back during the earlier battle,” Madara thought.

“Those two techniques must be that girl’s trump cards. Even with both Rinnegan, confronting both of their dōjutsu head-on while Limbo is unavailable puts me at a disadvantage.”

Whether it was the Sharingan or the Rinnegan, its true power could only be displayed when both eyes were reunited.

Madara had already regained both Rinnegan. However, despite his overall power far surpassing Obito’s, his Ten-Tails transformation was still incomplete in much the same way.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had not fully evolved, and the Ten-Tails still lacked the other half of Kurama’s chakra.

Mihawk and Hinata naturally had no way of knowing what Madara was thinking.

Standing beside Mihawk, Hinata spoke softly.

“Mihawk-kun, his regeneration is troublesome. If this continues, we might not be able to wear him down.”

Mihawk nodded slightly.

“First, we’ll destroy all of his Truth-Seeking Balls. I have an attack that should be capable of seriously injuring him.”

“Then I’ll lead the attack this time. Mihawk-kun, wait for an opening.”

Hinata trusted Mihawk without hesitation and immediately rushed toward Madara.

“They’ve changed their approach,” Madara thought as he narrowed his eyes. “What are they planning?”

He gripped his Six Paths staff and charged forward to meet Hinata.

“Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!”

Two green orbs spun rapidly above Hinata’s palm.

She suddenly raised her hand and thrust it forward. Dazzling golden light erupted from the orbs, transforming into a radiant beam that roared toward Madara.

“A wide-range attack?”

Madara did not evade.

He raised his Six Paths staff horizontally in front of him.

The roaring golden beam struck the staff and split into two streams.

Golden waves surged around Madara from the front, back, left, and right, completely surrounding him.

Ten seconds later, the golden waves finally dissipated.

Madara did not look toward Hinata.

His gaze immediately shifted toward the place where Mihawk had been standing moments earlier.

Mihawk was already gone.

Whoosh!

The familiar sound of something cutting through the air came from behind and to his left.

Madara’s expression darkened.

A silvery-white arc of sword light swept toward him. Madara was about to summon a Limbo shadow to intercept it when he noticed something unusual.

This attack carried no killing intent whatsoever.

The blade swept past his body without touching him.

Madara’s confusion lasted only an instant before his expression changed.

“Not good! He’s after the Truth-Seeking Balls!”

Six Truth-Seeking Balls had been floating behind Madara.

In a single instant, two of them vanished.

Mihawk immediately turned Nemesis toward a third.

Whoosh!

Before his blade could reach it, a shadow invisible to ordinary eyes rushed toward him.

Mihawk altered his attack in midair and swung Nemesis toward the unseen figure. A dazzling dark-red Ranged Slash erupted from the blade, and the force of the collision hurled him backward through the air.

However, his reaction had still been a fraction too slow.

As Mihawk flew backward, an enormous invisible force struck him. His body spun violently before being sent hurtling in another direction.

At the same time, the dark-red Ranged Slash continued forward and completely engulfed Madara.

Relying on the regeneration granted by his Six Paths body, Madara had deliberately accepted Mihawk’s attack in exchange for landing one of his own.