Chapter 248: The Way to Deal with Him
After all, this was Uchiha Madara—completely unlike ordinary ninja. Even the most basic ninjutsu in his hands could rival a cataclysmic ultimate move.
When he unleashed his Majestic Destroyer Flame, the flames surged like a tidal wave, and from Madara's perspective, they swallowed his opponent in an instant.
However, Madara merely turned his head slightly to the right and said casually, "Dodged, huh…"
The moment the words left his mouth, Namikaze Minato's figure appeared a short distance ahead to his right.
The instant Madara locked eyes on him, he immediately attempted to cast a genjutsu on Minato.
As expected, it had no effect.
"This kid's awareness is indeed exceptional."
Inwardly, Madara acknowledged Minato's strong combat instincts.
But Madara's hands showed no hesitation—he launched a new offensive almost instantly.
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Minato. His speed might not surpass the Flying Thunder God, but it far exceeded that of any ordinary Body Flicker.
After a brief exchange, Minato had already realized that the Madara before him was stronger than himself.
He had also noticed something unusual—Madara clearly wasn't in a normal state. The signs of Edo Tensei were obvious.
Minato had read the Scroll of Seals.
Back when he was learning the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had also considered studying other forbidden jutsu, including Edo Tensei.
However, the technique required a living human sacrifice for each summoning. Every time it was used, one had to take a life to summon a deceased soul.
That went against Minato's principles, so he had never pursued it.
Still, he was familiar with the basics and nature of the technique.
"In other words, Madara right now is likely in an 'immortal body' state… which means only sealing techniques can deal with him."
Very quickly, Minato had figured out the way to deal with Uchiha Madara.
His wife, Uzumaki Kushina, was an elite of the Uzumaki clan, whose sealing arts were renowned across the shinobi world. And sealing techniques happened to be his specialty as well.
Not daring to waste time, Minato began looking for an opening to seal Madara.
The two clashed again soon after.
Meanwhile, in a hidden laboratory on the outskirts of Konoha, Orochimaru had already learned of what was happening outside.
Seeing so many people coming for him in such a menacing manner, he smiled faintly. "Heh heh…"
That sinister smile, paired with his golden, slit-pupiled eyes, lent him an unmistakably evil air—almost as if this incident really did have something to do with him.
"Orochimaru, you didn't actually resurrect Uchiha Madara, did you?" Uchiha Obito asked in a low voice.
"That wasn't my doing."
"However… judging from the chakra signature, whoever cast Edo Tensei has clearly mastered the jutsu. The results are… remarkably good, heh heh…"
Orochimaru's words carried a tone of admiration, but they were far from what Obito and the others wanted to hear.
"Can you stop him?" Uchiha Fugaku asked.
"Since I wasn't the caster, Uchiha Madara theoretically isn't under my control."
"It seems the village has quite the problem on its hands. Heh heh… Edo Tensei grants a form of immortality—the reincarnated body can't be killed, and their chakra is nearly limitless."
His words made everyone present tense up again.
Madara was already terrifying enough to make anyone wary. Now, with such an overwhelming advantage, how could he possibly be stopped?
"Is there a way to stop him? Just answer that, Orochimaru—don't dodge the question!" Fugaku said darkly.
Orochimaru's smile turned wicked. "No."
Hearing this, Fugaku and the others felt a heavy weight settle in their chests.
Without hesitation, Fugaku said to the others, "It doesn't matter. Our only option now is to stall him by any means necessary. Once the Fourth returns, we'll have a way to deal with him!"
"Let's go!"
Since they couldn't defeat an Edo Tensei Madara, the only way to protect the Tailed Beasts was to keep him away from them.
Fugaku quickly led Obito, Shisui, and the others out of the underground lab.
Only after they left did Orochimaru's casual expression turn solemn.
"Who improved that jutsu? To bring back such a dangerous individual…"
"How interesting. I suppose I'll have to see for myself."
With a playful smile, he crossed his arms and strolled leisurely outside.
…
Through meditation on the nature of sealing techniques, Uchiha Dali had grasped countless varieties—Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Nine-Dragon Seal, Four Symbols Seal, Eight Trigrams Seal, and many other legendary techniques.
But no matter how many times he tried, none of them allowed him to escape the strange dimension he was trapped in.
It was clear that Jigen's sealing art was fundamentally different from ordinary techniques—this wasn't something a normal unsealing method could break.
Thinking carefully, he recalled that Jigen's abilities included many strange and powerful techniques, among them "divine arts."
It was likely that his sealing technique was also a type of divine art.
"Am I going to be stuck here forever?"
Dali felt deeply frustrated.
Of course, he had no intention of giving up. His mind was still racing with possibilities.
"Divine art… divine sealing technique…"
"The biggest difference between divine arts and ordinary jutsu is the chakra used, right?"
"What if I used Yin–Yang Release to perform a sealing technique? Could that break the seal of this space?"
With that thought, he began to test it out.
The first attempt failed.
There was no effect at all.
Even with sealing techniques infused with Yin–Yang Release chakra, he couldn't break the spatial seal.
"Could it be that the chakra isn't the problem, but that my unsealing formula is wrong?"
With that in mind, he tried other methods one by one.
Nothing worked. Time slipped by, second by second.
Elsewhere, hiding in another dimension, Jigen suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Clutching his chest, he panted heavily. The world spun before his eyes, and darkness closed in, as if reality itself was about to collapse around him.
"My chakra is almost completely gone… damn it!"
"To think that neither of those two can be controlled easily."
He was furious.
His painstakingly built dimensional headquarters had been destroyed—an infuriating loss.
"Fortunately, this body still has at least twenty years of life left."
"I still have a chance to rise again."
Sitting down heavily, Jigen decided not to move, silently collecting his thoughts.
Then, raising a hand, he summoned a shimmering light screen before him.