Two sharp whooshes cut through the air as kunai with steel wires attached shot toward Yūshin's back from an unexpected angle.
The attacker was Uchiha Izuna, who had just gotten back to his feet. Though Yūshin and Senju Tobirama had worked together to suppress him moments before, that didn't mean he was helpless.
But with two metallic clangs, Tobirama deflected the incoming kunai.
He'd just had some chakra drained by Yūshin, but it wasn't enough to affect his combat ability for now.
Tobirama turned to deal with Uchiha Izuna.
Yūshin, meanwhile, wouldn't waste his Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan on the younger brother—he didn't want Izuna's head and neck area to be injured. As for why he had no such concerns about Uchiha Madara... this was differential treatment based on strength. After all, big brother and little brother were different.
Yūshin felt this move would at least force out Madara's Susanoo, but just then the terrain beneath his feet suddenly changed dramatically. A square earth pillar lifted the crouching Uchiha Madara into the air, while countless conical earth spikes stabbed toward Yūshin.
With no choice, Yūshin had to turn offense to defense, pushing his Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan forward and instantly destroying those earth spikes.
The Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan swept away everything ahead, but still couldn't prevent Uchiha Madara from ascending unharmed to higher ground.
"You actually forced me to use Earth Release that I'm not very good at... Quite an excellent ninjutsu."
Madara stood atop the earth pillar, looking down with his usual calm expression, radiating an inner pride as if everything was under his control. If you asked whether his waist hurt from that earlier kick, his answer would definitely be that it didn't hurt at all.
He thought the Rasengan was a good ninjutsu—not based on character design, but because this kind of technique with simple, direct usage and effective power was exactly his preferred type.
Madara was calmly showing off here, but someone found this behavior very disagreeable.
After Yūshin used the Rasengan, Uchiha Sasuke immediately remembered he had indeed heard the name "Yūshin" before, but that wasn't what concerned him now.
A special high-frequency sharp whistle suddenly reached everyone's ears, making even Uchiha Madara instinctively turn his head.
Then they saw Uchiha Sasuke not only surrounded by crackling lightning, but also holding an even more brilliant ball of lightning in his hand.
Next, a beam of light charged straight toward Yūshin.
But Sasuke's Chidori wasn't aimed at Uchiha Madara to settle scores—his target was... Senju Tobirama.
Well, well—Sasuke, who had seemed overly obedient since being summoned, was finally having an episode.
Sasuke had watched historical short videos... ahem, someone had fed him "little knowledge" about the period before and after Konoha's founding with personal bias. From his standpoint, he believed all of the Uchiha Clan's misfortunes in the Konoha era stemmed from the Second Hokage's discriminatory policies.
So the key question was: what was the Second Hokage's name? And what should he do after having the honor of meeting him?
Rationally speaking, most of the conflicts between the Uchiha and Konoha were "it takes two to tango," but as an Uchiha, Sasuke's perspective wasn't necessarily wrong.
Rationality? He would just tell the fence-sitters to get lost.
Sasuke's figure became a straight bolt of lightning, charging directly at Senju Tobirama, who was fiercely battling Uchiha Izuna.
In Chidori—or rather Lightning Cutter—state, Sasuke's speed surpassed Tobirama's Body Flicker Technique, but don't forget that Tobirama was an extremely formidable sensory ninja. At his peak, his sensing ability could cover most of the shinobi world.
He couldn't do anything that exaggerated now, but comprehensively grasping the entire battlefield situation from multiple dimensions was as simple as breathing for him.
Sasuke was indeed faster, but Tobirama could easily predict his attack trajectory.
So he was seen easily dodging Sasuke's killing blow, even wearing a somewhat curious expression.
Sasuke's figure passed between Tobirama and Izuna, then instantly reached back, but still couldn't catch Tobirama.
"Sharingan... how is there a third Uchiha?"
In the instant they crossed paths, Senju Tobirama glimpsed Sasuke's Three Tomoe Sharingan.
Actually, even without seeing the Sharingan, Tobirama would consider Sasuke an Uchiha ninja. If you put Madara, Izuna, and Sasuke together, the latter two looked more like real brothers, while the former seemed more like an outsider... In terms of temperament, Izuna and Sasuke were very similar.
Actually, there was a fourth Uchiha ninja present—Lan—but Lan had lost her Sharingan.
Logically, Lan should have been grateful to Madara, but after the attack incident, everything changed. She had already deeply hated the Uchiha Clan, and now hated them even more... This hatred wouldn't lessen even if distributed equally among every Uchiha ninja.
Izuna didn't know what had happened, but regardless, having a stray Uchiha ninja suddenly turn against them was a good thing.
He asked nothing and said nothing, just joined Sasuke in fiercely attacking Senju Tobirama.
Now Tobirama was the one in a one-against-two situation.
Madara leaped down from his high position, returning to Yūshin's side... So why did he climb so high? Couldn't he defend against the Rasengan on the ground?
Yūshin pressed his right hand to his sword hilt. The Edgeless Sword unsheathed instantly, slashing at Uchiha Madara's waist from the side—a move both sneaky and fast.
Given his habits, he naturally preferred swinging his sword at enemies' heads, but Madara was different. As long as his movements were slightly larger, there wouldn't be the slightest possibility of hitting.
Madara instantly raised his knee, using the armor covering his thigh to block Yūshin's long sword.
With a tremendous crash, Madara's raised right leg fell back at even greater speed. He couldn't help but frown slightly, his gaze falling on Yūshin's sword... as expected, this thing was very heavy.
Having encountered this once before, Madara thought he had sufficiently respected Yūshin's arm strength, yet this direct confrontation told him he had still underestimated his opponent.
But so what?
As Madara's right leg retreated, his left leg was already whipping toward Yūshin's neck. Caught off guard, Yūshin could only raise his sword to block.
Uchiha Madara's chakra truly erupted—Yūshin had already assumed a defensive stance, but was still instantly knocked down.
Damn, I seem unable to outdance him... Yūshin was first surprised, but then felt his mindset was problematic. Madara was a veteran dancer; wasn't it normal for a young rookie to be unable to outdance his opponent?
In this world, only one person could dance with Madara, and that person certainly couldn't be Yūshin.
Yūshin's left shoulder slammed hard into the ground. With a thunderous crash, this area instantly caved in, but immediately his body seemed to use the ground's cushioning to bounce back up.
Facing his Edgeless Sword again, Madara didn't take it head-on this time.
Madara simply sidestepped to avoid the blade, then stepped forward, instantly placing his right hand lightly on Yūshin's sword-gripping hand.
With just a casual downward press—crack—Yūshin's wrist was instantly broken.
This wasn't over. Uchiha Madara gripped Yūshin's wrist and pulled back. Yūshin stumbled forward, his body losing balance and leaning forward.
At this moment, Madara raised his knee again, driving it hard into Yūshin's neck.
Despite having excellent chakra control ability, Boil Release and Weighted Rock Technique enhancements, Yūshin was instantly suppressed in the taijutsu duel with Madara... What did Madara do? Madara was simply erupting chakra.
The gap in technique was manageable, but the difference in basic stats between both sides was simply too great.
With this level of strength, did his earlier big talk mean anything... Madara still gripped Yūshin's wrist, about to pull the knocked-away Yūshin back again, preparing to deliver a fatal blow.
Clang—the Edgeless Sword fell to the ground.
However, just as Madara was about to act, he felt a chill in his chest.
Wait, what was that thing in this guy's left hand?
Yūshin's left hand seemed to grip an invisible sword, which had already sliced through the armor in front of Madara's chest, its tip piercing deep into Madara's body.
The key point was that Madara felt almost no pain during the process. This invisible sword was so sharp that it barely triggered nerve reflexes when cutting through flesh.
Madara only felt like he'd been bitten by a mosquito before realizing he'd been ambushed.
But at this moment, he was pulling his arm back, bringing Yūshin toward him. If he continued now, it would be equivalent to driving his own chest onto the invisible blade—tantamount to suicide.
Madara didn't think Yūshin had much strength, but this person was too devious.
This person held an Edgeless Heavy Sword in his right hand, engaging in close combat from the start, creating the impression that he was a brute. However, his personality was actually the complete opposite—he was as devious as possible... This high-density chakra weapon in his left hand was actually invisible!
Madara immediately realized he'd been deceived. Right, someone who could train stealth abilities to that level could only be devious—how could he possibly be reckless?
He still didn't know exactly how his unfilial father had died.
Uchiha Madara felt that invisible blade cutting through his chest cavity, heading straight for his heart—now was not the time to conserve strength.
Boom!
Madara's chakra erupted at full power. He released Yūshin's wrist, and Yūshin was instantly blasted away as if he'd hit an invisible energy barrier.
As the Three Tomoe changed shape and the Mangekyō Sharingan activated, he finally used Susanoo.
And it was the third stage right from the start, formed almost instantly.
Yūshin was blasted away by this suddenly erupting massive energy, his body spinning and heavily crashing into a distant large tree. With a thunderous impact, his body stuck to the trunk like a tape measure.
"Cough, cough cough..."
He struggled twice on the spot before climbing back up.
His left hand first pressed against his throat. As abundant life energy alleviated the throat abnormality, his broken right wrist was also gradually straightening.
Looking at Uchiha Madara again, blood was gushing from the wound in his chest like a small waterfall.
Unfortunately, it looked like he was just a little short, yet this "little bit" was actually an unbridgeable chasm.
That chakra jet move was extremely energy-consuming. From now on, Yūshin's condition and combat power would only get worse and worse—and this was even after he'd stolen some chakra while holding hands with Madara.
No choice—Madara's Susanoo was already out. What chance was there now?
However...
It should be about time, right?
Yūshin glanced at Tobirama, who was becoming increasingly desperate under the two-Uchiha pincer attack.
"You actually made me use the pupil power of both Mangekyō. I have to say, you're just as detestable as that Senju brat over there."
Although the chest wound looked severe by any measure, Madara's spirit seemed increasingly excited. In a few more minutes, he might evolve to "Laughing Quartet" form.
Just then, continuous thunder seemed to echo faintly from the distance.
The earth and mountains began to surge.
Green that devoured everything, like a tsunami, rapidly surged toward the battlefield from the horizon.
At the very front of the continuously spreading forest and rapidly advancing curling vines, a figure could vaguely be seen standing... What a novel way of traveling.
The White Zetsu who didn't dare come to the battlefield and only observed from afar still died. But honestly, they could accept this way of dying—after all, basically all living creatures in this range died.
No discrimination, no targeting, no refusal—everyone just died equally.
Senju Hashirama had finally arrived. Although he didn't mean it that way, his entrance seemed to say...
I'm not targeting anyone specifically—I'm just saying everyone present is (garbage).
Yūshin's eyelids twitched. Are you here to help or not?
The sea of trees came from the horizon, seemingly slow but actually fast. In an instant, green filled everyone's field of vision—Sharingan or not, everyone had to see green.
Honestly, Yūshin could accept Uchiha Madara, but had some difficulty accepting Senju Hashirama... When actually facing the "God of Shinobi's" techniques, anyone would feel this guy might not be a ninja at all—he was probably a high-dimensional alien.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The sea of trees mercilessly submerged this small battlefield. When the dust settled slightly, besides the just-arrived Senju Hashirama, only three others remained.
No, it should be said only "three Susanoo" remained.
Except for Uchiha Madara being relatively composed, Uchiha Izuna and Uchiha Sasuke both had bloodshot eyes, faces covered in blood, panting heavily, their Sharingan bulging like fish bubbles.
The latter two's Susanoo were only in first form. Although they maintained the reputation of "absolute defense" and barely blocked the sea of trees attack, they were now almost completely broken... and this was even with Senju Hashirama truly not targeting anyone—he had simply spread the sea of trees over.
"Where's Tobirama? Where are you?" Senju Hashirama shouted loudly.
However, Tobirama had already been buried deep in the forest by him.
Among those present, one person was clearly the most displeased. He hid all his shock and anger, leaving only final wild arrogance in his heart...
What kind of person was this? Coming up and nearly killing him for no reason—anyone would feel angry, let alone the easily emotional Uchiha.
Moreover... did you not take Susanoo seriously?
Sasuke's closed left eye suddenly opened. He looked at that reckless fool charging over, blood flowing from his eye socket like it cost nothing...
"Amaterasu!"
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