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The Great Fire Annihilation was a tidal wave of flame. The Vacuum Flame Break was a pillar of fire.
When the fire releases of these two pinnacles of the Uchiha clan collided on the open plains of Sai Riverbank, a phenomenon was born—a T-shaped inferno.
BOOM!
The explosions echoed. The scorching winds swirled.
Izuna watched from the sidelines, eyeing the figure shrouded in black next to his brother. "Who are you? And why are you with my brother?"
The figure remained unperturbed. A calculating glint, indecipherable to Izuna, lay deep within its dark eyes. It spoke with a humble tone. "My name is Black Zetsu. I am… the embodiment of Lord Madara's will. You may consider me his utterly loyal and filial child."
Izuna accepted this. "Black Zetsu, is it? Tell me everything that has happened to my brother."
Black Zetsu smiled. "That… is a long story. Let us enjoy this battle while I explain it to you."
BOOOOOOM!
The opposing fires, neither able to fully consume the other, finally detonated at the point of convergence. The accumulated, terrifying thermal energy erupted into a sky-filling shower of meteoric fire.
Amid the roaring flames, MadaraNaruto laughed in approval. "Not bad! A Fire Release that can match mine. It seems you too have benefited from Hashirama's cells!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Through the dissipating firestorm, a streak of crimson light shot forward.
A giant skeletal fist from a Susano'o hurtled towards him.
"Hahahahaha! Crimson Susano'o chakra! A first for me!!!"
MadaraNaruto's azure Susano'o flared to life, meeting the blow with its own devastating punch.
CRUNCH!
Fists collided. The shockwave tore through the land.
Both figures retreated, steadying their stances. Beads of glowing energy—magatama—formed and stretched along the arm of MadaraNaruto's skeletal giant.
"Try this!!!"
—Yasaka Magatama!
Itachi gave no quarter. The arm of his own crimson Susano'o shifted into its second stage. Three spinning magatama coalesced in its palm before being hurled forward.
—Yata Magatama!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!…
The Yasaka Magatama had numbers. The Yata Magatama had raw power. Upon impact, each of Itachi's three magatama deflected the trajectory of the oncoming ones, shattering one after another. Three… annihilated nine.
MadaraNaruto wasn't annoyed. His fighting spirit soared. "As expected! Only combat like this makes my blood boil…!!"
ROAR!
The ribcage of his Susano'o was covered in swirling muscle. The skull formed sharp horns. The arms crossed before its chest. Two more arms sprouted from its shoulders. Four curved blades of chakra condensed in its four hands, then slashed forward as one.
—Fourfold Slash!
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Four devastating azure arcs of cutting wind tore through the earth, racing towards Itachi's Susano'o.
Itachi's eyes gleamed. His Susano'o shifted. Muscle enveloped its frame as it rapidly grew in height, sprouting legs.
"Hm?" MadaraNaruto's gaze sharpened. "Transitioning from a torso to a legged form directly… Those eyes truly are no ordinary Mangekyō."
SHING! A crimson shield formed in the left hand of Itachi's towering Susano'o. It raised the shield. The cutting winds struck it. A red light flashed across the shield's surface. The wind blades instantly disintegrated.
The legged Susano'o lunged. Its right hand gripped a red gourd. From its mouth, a blazing crimson greatsword shot forth like a divine spear, aiming to pierce MadaraNaruto's chest!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK…!
"!?" MadaraNaruto's Susano'o… liquefied. It flowed like a viscous fluid, sliding along the length of the sword, and was rapidly sucked into the gourd.
"I see…" MadaraNaruto retreated, his eyes burning with intensity. "A magatama weapon more powerful than the Yasaka's, a shield that reflects my Fourfold Slash, and a sealing sword that pierced my Susano'o… Your Susano'o is blessed by divine power, wielding the Three Sacred Treasures: the Yata Magatama, the Yata Mirror, and the Sword of Totsuka!"
CRUNCH.
As MadaraNaruto faded from view, the chest armor of Itachi's Susano'o suddenly split open. A single, massive magatama was embedded within. And at its very center point stood Itachi himself.
MadaraNaruto's pupils contracted. "Hm?"
On Pale Moon Island.
Orochimaru chuckled. "That magatama structure is a feature of Shisui's Susano'o… Its original function was to fire high-speed 'arrows'! But Itachi felt the Yata Magatama rendered that obsolete. So, he repurposed it… turned it into a launch system for the Susano'o itself."
Sasuke saw the brilliance. "A Susano'o's mobility is inevitably hampered by its size. This allows for a rapid shift in combat modes. That's my brother for you."
POW!
Itachi shot out like a cannonball from the heart of his Susano'o…!!!
—Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Nail Crimson!
Shuriken wreathed in flames scattered forward like blooming flowers.
"Executing Phoenix Flower while launched at high speed…" MadaraNaruto's Sharingan spun furiously. "And the trajectories… they seal off all my escape routes!"
Excitement overwhelmed him. A burst of Wind Release scattered the flaming blossoms. He didn't retreat. He charged forward, meeting the descending Itachi in a storm of close-quarters combat.
THUD! THUD!…!
Masters recognized masters at first touch.
"This level of taijutsu… Unthinkable he was the sickly man Black Zetsu described!"
THWACK!
Blocking Itachi's side kick with his forearm, MadaraNaruto summoned a ninjato into his hand, thrusting it straight for Itachi's chest!
CLANG!
Itachi parried the blade with a kunai. A lightning-fast knife-hand strike chopped at MadaraNaruto's wrist. As he retracted his leg, he tossed his kunai, caught the falling ninjato in mid-air, spun, and stabbed at MadaraNaruto!
MadaraNaruto bent backward at the waist, the thrown kunai grazing past his face. But the follow-up stab with the ninjato was near-impossible to evade.
The corner of his mouth quirked up. He twisted, offering his arm as a sacrifice.
SHINK!
The blade plunged into his forearm.
MadaraNaruto closed his eyes. His unique sensory perception activated.
"So that's it… One of the abilities of those eyes… is 'Kotoamatsukami,' isn't it?"
Kotoamatsukami… It had bloomed briefly, like an ephemeral flower, within the Uchiha clan during the Warring States Era.
Madara knew of that technique.
"Absolutely… I absolutely must not meet his gaze!"
WHOOSH! The golden glow of Nine-Tails Mode ignited around him!
MadaraNaruto pivoted, delivering a powerful spinning kick!
"!?"
Itachi hastily crossed his arms to block.
BAM!…
He skidded backward, feet digging furrows in the earth. His gaze focused.
"The Nine-Tails' Chakra Mode… and that shroud of black cursed mist from the Black Cursed Seal. That's the chakra mode he awakened half a month ago, after facing Kabuto…"
SCHLICK! MadaraNaruto yanked the ninjato from his arm. The black cursed mist swirling around his golden form grew indistinct, shimmering.
Itachi's eyes deepened. "That black mist… It's not mere decoration. Its function is to act as a proxy, absorbing natural energy for him. Allowing him to enter and maintain Sage Mode rapidly during combat."
Zzzzt…!
The horizontal eye patterns of a toad manifested within the centers of MadaraNaruto's Eternal Mangekyō.
Against the backdrop of the black mist, his presence grew even more sinister and domineering.
THUNK!
He drove the ninjato into the ground. The writhing black cursed mist… coalesced over his eyes, forming a blindfold-like ribbon.
Itachi murmured to himself. "He detected my possession of Kotoamatsukami, so he decisively abandoned vision, now relying entirely on Sage Mode perception for awareness. While I had no intention of using Kotoamatsukami on him from the start… Seizing the initiative, leaving no openings. That is the mark of a true powerhouse."
Uchiha Madara… lived up to his name as the peer of the First Hokage.
"Then… I shall also show my true capabilities."
—Shikkotsu Forest Sage Mode!
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