Mastery!

As a man who had lived through the chaotic era, combat had become ingrained in Uchiha Madara's instincts.

No matter what angle Kagami Uchiha attacked from, Madara could always use the most appropriate method at the perfect moment.

This was the first time Sukuna had extended his power into the outside world.

Previously, Kagami Uchiha had drawn upon his Cursed Energy either before or after battle.

But now,

merely drawing upon it was no longer enough.

He covered Sukuna's Cursed Energy with his own chakra, forcibly using it as a wartime power supply.

It was a shift from a fixed power source to a mobile one.

If Sukuna's previous perspective had been like watching through a screen, now he could experience it firsthand.

His true body remained within the Seal, while vast amounts of Cursed Energy were being extracted.

In truth, if Sukuna resisted fiercely, he could still cause delays in the energy supply.

But Sukuna was more than happy to see it happen.

Use more...

Use even more!

Sooner or later, you'll become intoxicated by this power!

Kagami Uchiha had no objection to using Sukuna's power.

What master would reject his own mount?

The twin blades clashed with the scythe's edge, sending wave after wave of sound rolling outward.

Uchiha Madara's body did not allow for broad, sweeping movements. He shifted like a ghost, and no one knew when his scythe would descend.

He truly seemed like...

the God of Death!

By comparison, Kagami Uchiha leaped and flashed through the air. Every movement was flawless, graceful as a startled swan, supple as a wandering dragon.

Gorgeous battles had always been the filter through which outsiders viewed the Uchiha Clan.

Looking at Kagami Uchiha, Uchiha Madara seemed to see his younger self from long ago.

"I once encountered a Ninja Clan that controlled Demon Qi. They raised Evil Beings, carving Cursed Seals into their own bodies and borrowing the Evil Beings' power in battle."

"Kagami, as a member of the Uchiha Clan, are you really borrowing the power of something so filthy?"

Uchiha Madara could not see Sukuna, but with his experience, he could identify the nature of any energy the moment it came into contact with him.

He could still be certain that something incomparably evil resided within Kagami Uchiha's body.

"Filthy..."

"Brat! Kill him! Cut that old bastard to pieces!!"

"Take all the power you want!!"

Kagami Uchiha ignored Sukuna's rabid barking and said with a soft laugh,

"I can even master the Sharingan. Why would I fail to master a mere Evil Being?"

"That's true." Uchiha Madara accepted Kagami's words as a matter of course.

At the same time, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spun madly.

"Then let me test the power you possess as an Uchiha!"

Boom!!

Terrifying ocular power poured forth!

In an instant, a bloody battlefield filled with the sounds of slaughter appeared.

Within the battlefield,

an indescribable hand appeared, draped in the curtain of time, constantly shifting between old age, strength, and youth.

It gripped a pure-black spear, its tip sharp enough to pierce time and space!

Screech!!

Intense pain shot through his nerves. Kagami Uchiha felt as if his heart had been pierced by a sharp weapon!

A massive hole appeared in his chest.

Genjutsu—the Uchiha Clan's most renowned ability.

With Uchiha Madara's mastery of genjutsu, only Hashirama Senju had been immune to it.

A pair of crimson eyes stretched across the battlefield, vast beyond measure.

Compared to them, Kagami Uchiha was like a grain of sand before a star.

Within the oceanic ocular power, strands of black-red thread wove themselves into a canopy.

Then came a carriage and warhorses.

Kagami Uchiha stood atop the chariot, the hole in his chest already filled.

The torrential ocular power descending from the heavens was blocked by the chariot's canopy.

"You... haven't even awakened the Mangekyo?!"

This time, Uchiha Madara was genuinely somewhat shocked.

Whether through White Zetsu earlier or their taijutsu clash just now,

the ocular power Kagami had displayed had unquestionably far surpassed the Three-Tomoe!

Madara even felt that when he had first awakened the Mangekyo, his ocular power had not been this strong.

Yet now, in a true genjutsu clash, with their ocular powers intertwined...

this brat had not awakened the Mangekyo!

He was only a Three-Tomoe!

"Because I don't want to hurt my brother."

Kagami Uchiha looked up at the bloody eyes above the battlefield.

"I want to directly obtain ocular power that will never run dry! That is also one of the reasons I came to find you."

"Good."

"Very good!"

"Outstanding, Kagami!"

The blood-colored eyes shone like the moon.

The young Uchiha Madara

stepped forth after shattering the blood moon.

His scarlet lamellar armor was steeped in an incomparably intense fighting spirit.

Uchiha Madara charged toward the chariot with wild laughter, thrilled beyond measure.

"Then I, Uchiha Madara, will be your opponent!!"

As fellow users of ocular techniques, in a clash of consciousness through genjutsu, the moment one side revealed emotions such as fear, dread, or admiration, they would swiftly be defeated.

Mental energy was the strongest power the current Uchiha Madara could bring forth.

And this was precisely Kagami Uchiha's greatest field of expertise!

Kagami Uchiha extended both hands, interlacing his fingers like a pair of wings. His smile grew increasingly savage.

Darkness surged atop the chariot, as though something utterly vicious and evil was being conceived within it.

With an ominous eagle's cry, the first monster burst out of the darkness.

It had the face of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the limbs of a tiger, the tail of a snake, and a pair of enormous eagle wings.

That was what the Nue of legend looked like.

One Nue Beast after another rushed forth. Endless darkness swept over the bloody battlefield like a tide!

"Yin Release - Nue Extermination!"

Whoosh!!!

Azure blades cleaved the nearest Nue Beasts into Black Water.

A massive Susanoo blade stretched for hundreds of meters, illuminating the gloomy space!

A simple skeletal frame covered Uchiha Madara.

"You do not have the Mangekyo, so let me tell you."

"This is the ultimate ocular technique that resides within the Mangekyo, a perfect method that combines offense and defense."

"It possesses power comparable to a Tailed Beast!"

"Susanoo!"

Kagami Uchiha's hand sign remained unchanged as endless Nue Beasts charged like moths into flame, dying beneath the Susanoo blade.

"Forgive me for asking, but when you say comparable to a Tailed Beast, you mean the Nine-Tails, correct?"

The young-looking Uchiha Madara's expression became noticeably more animated.

He frowned.

"Of course. Do those other beasts even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Susanoo?"

"You're right."

The corner of Kagami Uchiha's lips rose slightly. The Black Water formed from the Nue Beasts Uchiha Madara had cut apart gradually gathered into a mass.

The black markings on his body became increasingly distinct as he intensified the extraction of Sukuna's power.

Sukuna watched coldly, even actively assisting Kagami Uchiha.

He was waiting.

This might be an opportunity...

If Kagami Uchiha lost, then using Space Severance at that instant might allow him to cut through this damned Seal!

"Nue Extermination - Modified!"

"Calamity of Nine Beasts!"

The scattered Black Water gathered at extreme speed, even sweeping up the phantoms fighting across the battlefield!

Roar!!!

The earth-shaking roar made the entire genjutsu space tremble!

An incomparably massive ferocious beast raised its head and howled at the sky!

Nine tails swayed like flames, black to the utmost extreme.

"The Nine-Tails..."

"So you have seen it too."

Crack, crack...

The skeletal frame gradually took shape, followed by woven tendons and flesh.

A deep-blue Susanoo stood upon the battlefield, several sizes taller than the massive beast.

"Kagami, what master uses livestock to fight his master? How laughable."

At some point, the black-red chariot had arrived atop the beast's head. The nine-tailed beast opened its eyes, revealing a flash of crimson.

"Whether it is laughable or not, we will only know after trying."