Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

A tremor from the Gedo Statue being pushed back snapped Madara out of his daze.

Seeing the Ultraman Tiga before him and Izayoi floating in midair, the killing intent in Madara's heart unwittingly morphed into battle fervor. He couldn't help cracking a smile:

"I never thought that aside from Hashirama, this world would have a second person who could make me feel such pressure. This is…simply fantastic!"

He roared out those last few words. Then, his hands formed seals as he shouted:

"Wood Release: Smothering Binding Technique!"

Thick, twisting roots burst from the lunar soil and, like ropes, coiled upward around Tiga, pinning him. Before Tiga could break free, the Gedo Statue opened its mouth and unleashed a purple chakra dragon, piercing straight through its target in a flash.

With Tiga's immortality from being a created entity, the chakra Orbs within Tiga were instantly devoured by the chakra dragon. Deprived of its sustaining chakra Orbs, Tiga lost the ability to move. And the chakra dragon still had momentum to spare, hurling itself skyward at Izayoi.

Facing that ever-intensifying chakra dragon enlarging in his field of view, Izayoi frowned slightly—he had almost forgotten that the Gedo Statue possessed that trump card. In the same breath, he wasted no time conjuring a chakra Orb into a teal-green "wheel" and shouted:

"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

With a bang, the wheel shattered into a giant tornado which clashed violently with the ascending chakra dragon. Yet there was no scenario of the tornado knocking the dragon away or the dragon forcibly dispersing the tornado. Instead, a portion of the tornado's power got shaved off as it tore through the chakra dragon, continuing on toward the Gedo Statue's head.

Izayoi, sensing a small advantage, ascended to evade the fiercer and fiercer chakra dragon's pursuit. Meanwhile, that leftover twister crashed onto the top of the Gedo Statue, whose blue-plated armor began to show extensive cracks from the impact.

"So it really is a natural disaster," murmured Madara, fully certain of his guess. Those black spheres must be a higher-level Yin–Yang Release, able to create not only objects but also literal natural calamities. No wonder the Preta Path had such difficulty absorbing them.

Coming to that conclusion, Madara then directed the Gedo Statue to reabsorb the chakra dragon. He pointed a finger, conjuring a massive blue blade that whirled upward, demolishing the remnants of the tornado that battered the Gedo Statue's head. The giant statue, sheathed in Susanoo plating, unfurled its wings and soared at high speed toward Izayoi.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

Attaining the right distance, Madara raised a hand at the still-speeding Izayoi and called out. Invisible gravitational force seized Izayoi's figure midair, summoning meteor fragments from outer space on all sides, rocketing toward him at incredible speed.

Izayoi capitalized on this move, going along with it. His body froze in place, both hands forming a seal. Approaching meteors halted at a fixed range, then reversed course and rained down at breakneck speed upon the Gedo Statue.

Seeing that, Madara's eyes narrowed:

"Spatial manipulation? Or the same repulsion/attraction we saw? That doesn't matter—here it comes…"

The Gedo Statue, brandishing its giant blue sword, unleashed a tremendous slash, splitting the meteors and shattering them entirely. The lingering slash soared onward toward Izayoi.

Izayoi maintained that same hand seal. As the slash neared, its speed abruptly slowed and then came to a halt—yet didn't disperse—in midair.

"Go back!"

With a single finger point, the slash took a sharp turn, shooting back down at the Gedo Statue.

"Gravity? No…this is some sort of space–time power!"

Madara finally perceived the principle behind Izayoi's maneuver, also noticing this technique's limit: it could manipulate objects in a certain radius but seemingly not living beings. It even left the slash itself only partially slowed. Still, it was plenty troublesome—he'd have to remain alert, but in his mind:

"Not a deal-breaker!"

The Gedo Statue's blade swung once more, deflecting the returning slash aside. It opened its mouth again to fire a purple chakra dragon at Izayoi. Yet Izayoi had already prepared, molding a chakra Orb inscribed with a Flying Thunder God formula. Timing the Gedo Statue's speed, he muttered:

"Heavenly Transfer Technique!"

The small metal piece in his hand vanished without warning, and Izayoi's body did likewise a heartbeat later. Madara's eyes went wide with alarm at the sudden presence materializing near him, a fist smashing down.

Frantically, he tried to call out Limbo: Border Jail, but by that point Izayoi had drawn near, arm raised.

A Limbo shadow managed to block the immediate punch, but Izayoi gave a faint grin and opened his palm to reveal a black sphere swirling with chakra.

Boom!

He channeled chakra into the sphere, turning it teal-green, which burst in a swirling glow.

Instantly, yet another raging tornado manifested, flinging both Madara and the Limbo shadow backward.

That vacuum forcibly tore away the white tube linking Madara to the Gedo Statue, severing it. Without Madara's direction, the Gedo Statue—like Tiga below—went inert, losing consciousness without stored tailed beast chakra.

Falling from midair, Madara stabilized himself with Preta Path. Observing Izayoi hurrying over, Madara used gravitational flight alongside his Limbo shadows to evade the residual tornado, simultaneously shifting his body into mechanical form to launch a volley of missiles.

He knew ninjutsu was worthless against Izayoi, so in desperation he used the least dignified technique: the Asura Path's arsenal.

But he forgot Izayoi had yet another unstoppable skill. Izayoi merely formed a one-handed seal, and the missiles all froze in midair—then reversed direction straight back at Madara. Forced to hurl a Shinra Tensei–like a repulsion wave, Madara detonated the missiles mid-flight in a powerful explosion while also intending to fling Izayoi away.

At that moment, Izayoi brought forth nine chakra Orbs, merging them into a single black sphere that he then fed with his boundless chakra. Rays of intense brilliance flared from it, no longer teal but a golden hue.

"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

Izayoi shouted, delivering his ultimate blow. He channeled that sphere's energy into a "beam" from both palms: a colossal golden stream, hurtling downward. Its speed—faster than a laser—locked onto Madara.

Sensing mortal danger, Madara reflexively conjured Susanoo armor around himself, also summoning two Limbo shadows to help withstand the blow. Even so, he had grossly underestimated that wave's terror.

Boom!

Like a space-based weapon, the golden beam struck the joined Susanoo armor. The thunderous roar hammered Madara as if by a tsunami, halting his breathing—his entire body lost control, forcibly sent downward. Stones and armor shards flew in all directions.

Barely regaining motor control, Madara beheld the glaring golden torrent. He marshaled all his Yin chakra to keep repairing the fracturing Susanoo plating, summoning two more Limbo shadows to help. Finally, his descent slowed somewhat.

Yet right as he was about to fully break his fall, the golden glow brightened, intensifying. Susanoo, carrying Madara, was once again shoved down as if by an unstoppable drill, smashing through more layers of rock.

Desperate, Madara tried using the Preta Path to repel or absorb the unstoppable beam, but each attempt failed. He tried forming a "Chibaku Tensei" meteor, but the embryonic mass was instantly sliced into rubble. He attempted layering it with Wood Release barriers, to no avail.

In the end, with the Limbo clones about to vanish, Madara considered summoning the Gedo Statue anew to spit a chakra dragon at the golden torrent. But before he could, all four Limbo shadows abruptly timed out, returning to his body. Losing those immortal blockers, Susanoo's plating was cut to ribbons as if made of paper.

Seeing the beam about to penetrate him, Madara raised both hands, mustering the Preta Path's absolute barrier. Inside the battered Susanoo, a transparent white film confronted the golden wave. It just barely kept the destructive force from slicing him apart. But the shock drove him still faster downward, slamming through columns of bedrock. Shattered Susanoo armor demanded continuous repairs.

No one knew how long that terrifying drop persisted—at some point, Madara realized he no longer felt collisions behind him. He was no longer forced to spend chakra repairing Susanoo. Yet the golden wave in front still blazed relentlessly. He blinked, seeing that the beam had retracted like a lens, revealing a "silver disc" behind it.

With a closer look—that wasn't a disc, it was the moon. For a fleeting instant, Madara couldn't fathom why, from the moon's surface, he was once again seeing the moon at a distance, yet high in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, friction had set Susanoo aflame, its plating fracturing repeatedly as he poured in more Yin Release to restore it.

All across the ninja world, those who were awake beheld an incredible phenomenon: a massive golden beam connecting the moon to the Earth. Even from the ground, it looked as though a golden line was shining from the heavens. Many onlookers noticed a visible crack in the moon's surface.

Such an event instantly spread by word of mouth, with countless men and women running outside to witness. In the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Kage felt heavy dread, gazing at the spectacle.

"Just…what sort of technique is that?"

"That's no jutsu—this is divine power!"

"That level is beyond us. Not even in the same dimension."

Those with weaker resolve stood trembling. Some fell to their knees, unable to remain upright. Even the Five Kage shared that sense of powerlessness.

Soon the golden shaft fully linked the moon and Earth, but not for long. The beam then swiftly contracted back, not straight downward, but shifting. When it vanished entirely, the entire world saw an unforgettable sight: the moon had been sliced by roughly one-third.

It looked as if a perfect blade had carved it like a mooncake. Every last living soul—civilians and ninjas alike—fell silent.

A strike from the moon to Earth was stunning enough. But on the retraction, it incidentally cleft a third of the lunar mass. That power once again upended the world's comprehension.

At that instant, they realized that "super" S-rank might not actually be the top. Cutting a planet—that was the power of a true god. All wondered: who unleashed this "judgment from the heavens"?

The general populace felt despair. Was it Toneri of the moon, or was it Madara who'd gone there, or the Akatsuki leader and Konoha's Wood ninja? None could say, only feeling utter insignificance.

…

"Th-that couldn't have been Onii-chan, right? Is that Tenseigan's power…?"

At Izayoi's house, Hanabi stared up in shock at the moon now missing a third. Her mouth fell open. "Mmph…"

An equally stunned Karin, possessing Kage-level skill, was at a loss for words. Hinata too—who'd reached that top-tier level—stood gazing skyward.

The two had endured countless shocks from the likes of "Deep Forest Creation," "Shinra Tensei," and "Wood Golem Jutsu," believing them top-tier "super-spec" feats. Yet this phenomenon—bisecting a planet—completely dwarfed any previous concept of power.

"Not good!"

Hanabi and Karin both sensed multiple familiar chakras approaching the estate. Allies, presumably. They certainly came to look for Izayoi. But, right now, Izayoi wasn't home. With his monstrous power, they couldn't possibly fake it with a shadow clone.

Hinata and Karin glanced at each other anxiously, at a total loss. But just then, they heard a familiar voice:

"Don't worry. My main body is prepared for everything."

They looked in unison to see…Izayoi's wood clone, the same one who'd been watching over the yin half of the Nine-Tails, stepping inside with a vast chakra swirling about him.

Relief crossed Hinata and the others' faces:

"Izayoi-kun / Onii-chan!"

The crisis of being discovered was resolved in an instant.

~~~

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