After gaining the power of the Six Paths, Uchiha Madara had felt a trace of disappointment when he couldn't sense the chakra of Hashirama Senju. He hadn't had the chance to showcase his newfound power before Hashirama, nor face off against him in battle.
But now, Kaede's sudden appearance filled that void at just the right moment. With his Tenseigan and Six Paths power, Kaede rekindled the battle-hardened blood that had lain dormant in Madara since his resurrection.
"Among all the shinobi I've faced, none have been stronger than you…"
Bathed in golden sage light, Kaede held the Truth-Seeking Blade with both hands. Calmly, he looked at Madara and said,
"Let me enjoy myself a little."
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Kaede vanished.
He reappeared at Madara's left side, his sword already mid-swing, slashing straight toward Madara.
"Fast… as expected!"
Madara's pupils contracted slightly.
He had already deduced that Kaede's speed was astonishing, and reality confirmed it. Even with the clarity of the Rinnegan, he could barely track Kaede's movements.
"I can't keep up…"
That thought flashed through Madara's mind. His body couldn't react fast enough, so without hesitation, he let his form slide forward abruptly.
Kaede's slash failed to strike Madara's body, intercepted by an unseen force in the air.
It was Madara's Limbo: Border Jail.
Kaede's gaze remained calm. Through the Tenseigan's vision, he could clearly see Madara's Limbo clones. Four of them surrounded Madara, shielding him from all directions.
Slash! Slash!
Kaede's sword flashed, and in an instant, the radiant arc of his blade shredded the nearest Limbo clone into countless fragments.
Madara, who had avoided the attack with the help of the Limbo, swiftly clapped his hands together and exhaled, a beam of violet lightning burst from his mouth like a laser, hurtling toward Kaede.
"Sage Art: Storm Release – Light Fang!"
Zzzt!
Kaede tilted his head slightly to evade the attack with ease.
Madara shifted his aim, and the purple beam swept across toward Kaede's neck, carving a deep chasm through the earth below, like a gaping abyss.
Clang!!
Kaede swung his Truth-Seeking Blade horizontally, intercepting the beam mid-air. Sparks flew, and the beam shattered under the force of his slash.
Immediately after, his figure flickered again as he charged toward Madara.
"Too fast…"
Madara's expression darkened. Forced to swap places once again with a Limbo clone, he reappeared behind Kaede and swept his Truth-Seeking Ball toward Kaede's back.
Swish!
Kaede's body disappeared, dodging the blow completely. He reappeared at Madara's left side, slashing once more.
Still unable to counter Kaede's strikes through physical means, Madara relied again on his Limbo clones. Using the four clones granted by his Mangekyo and Rinnegan, he continued to shift positions rapidly. The clones Kaede destroyed would regenerate over time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!
Kaede, glowing in golden light, and Madara, shrouded in an ethereal white aura, flickered across the battlefield like afterimages, each movement faster than the eye could follow, locked in a relentless aerial clash above the ruins.
And in the midst of that high-speed battle,
Splat!
A section of the shattered ground near the ruins of Kumogakure suddenly split open, and a battered figure crawled out. It was the First Raikage of the Hidden Cloud.
With his emergence, a few other survivors also began to climb from the wreckage. Aside from the reanimated shinobi like the First Raikage, the remaining survivors, ordinary people, were drenched in blood and gravely wounded.
"Cough…"
The Fourth Raikage, missing an arm and a leg, also dragged himself out from beneath the rubble. His powerful physique had barely allowed him to survive the aftermath.
With one arm, he hauled himself onto the ground and looked up toward the sky.
But all he could see were two streaks of light moving so fast he couldn't make out anything.
He looked around.
All that met his eyes were ruins and a massive crater, where Kumogakure once stood, not a single structure remained. Everything had been obliterated by the clash between Kaede and Madara.
The Fourth Raikage clenched his fist tightly. The last image burned into his mind was that of Kaede descending from the heavens, golden sword in hand, clashing with Madara in a single awe-inspiring strike.
Was it that strike…?
Just one strike… destroyed the entire Kumogakure?!
He found it hard to breathe.
The sheer force of Kaede's attack had far exceeded his imagination. And it wasn't just the destructive power. The speed Kaede displayed in his fight against Madara now, that speed was so far beyond his own that he couldn't even follow the battle.
This scene…
Filled his heart with a profound sense of bewilderment.
The gap was so vast that, in that moment, he felt like all his years of effort had been utterly meaningless, like a bucket of cold water thrown onto the ground, evaporating into nothing.
"A gap like this…"
His clenched fist slowly loosened.
His mind blank, he stared up at the sky, overcome with a surreal sense of confusion.
Where am I?
What am I even doing…?
That same daze was reflected on the First Raikage's face. He stood frozen in place, his thoughts no different from the Fourth's.
Who is that ninja fighting Madara?
He wasn't Hashirama Senju…
Even without the power of the Tailed Beasts, Madara had already far surpassed the First Raikage. After obtaining the Ten Tails, Madara had felt like an insurmountable force, utterly hopeless to oppose.
And yet, this Kaede had descended from the sky and delivered a devastating blow to Madara.
Even though no one could clearly see the two of them fight, it was obvious,
Kaede could battle on equal footing with Madara, who had become the Ten Tails' Jinchuriki!
Was there really a shinobi this powerful in the current era?!
Flash!
Minato's figure appeared in a marked Flying Thunder God spot nearby.
His left arm, shattered by Madara's Truth-Seeking Ball, had not regenerated. Holding a Flying Thunder God kunai in his remaining hand, he stared at the sky, emotions churning in his chest.
"There's no mistake…"
"That's Kaede… but this chakra…"
He could feel it.
The chakra Kaede wielded now was immense, so vast that even the Nine Tails paled in comparison. No… it completely surpassed the Nine Tails.
In all the years since his death,
Kaede had reached this height…?
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria